[life] Real-time Life Proposal (v1.1)

[Eric Shultz <swift_4@yahoo.com>]

I'm reproposing Real-Time life.  This proposal is much the same as I 
suggested before.  I've changed positions on the three different color 
reproduction debate, thanks to Noseynick's proof that a neutral cell 
would not take over the board.  I've seen a couple of people offer to 
code the game, but haven't done a gamerz module before.  If there's 
anyone with gamerz experience willing to do this, please say so.  
Otherwise we'll get one of the other willing people.

The game is still up for discussion.  I would like very much to see the 
game implemented on gamerz.  If it comes down to minor details, perhaps 
someone could start coding it and we could get into beta testing to see 
how it works out.

** Real-Time Life **

First, if you're not familiar with Conway's game (simulation
actually) of Life, there's a whole Yahoo category for it.  I
assume people know about cells and what it takes for them to
live, reproduce, or die.

http://dir.yahoo.com/Science/Artificial_Life/Cellular_Automa
ta/Conway_s_Game_of_Life/

Number of players - Theoretically infinite.  Practically, I
would say 26 (each gets a letter of the alphabet), or
however many letters, numbers, and symbols can be displayed
on everyone's email.

Playing field - Again, theoretically infinite.  Practically,
it should be as wide as an email message.  The length could
vary according to number of players.

Start - players can start anytime, anywhere (which may
require a "join" command in addition to "Challenge").  A
player gets 10 cells to start.  They can place those 10
cells anywhere on the grid, as long as they are touching
(horiz, vert, or diag)

How play works:

Each real-time hour, a game tick goes by. You get movement
points each tick, based on the number of cells you have.
You get one movement point for every 10 cells (never less
than 1).  You can use the movement points to move cells.
One movement point moves a cell one space (horz, vert, or
diag).  A cell can be moved more than one space, provided
you have enough points.  A cell cannot move through or over
another cell or group of cells, but can go around. 


A generation occurs every 12 ticks (which would be 12 real-
time hours).  When it comes to life, reproduction, or death
of one player's cells the game follows Conway's rules.  When
you've got two or more players involved, it gets slightly
complicated.

If a cell has 0 or 1 neighbor, it dies.

If a cell has 2 or 3 neighbors, even if the neighbors are
from another player, it lives.

If a cell has 4 or more neighbors, even if the neighbors are
from another player, it dies.

If an empty space has three neighbors, it MAY reproduce.
This is a slight change from classic rules.  Read on...

If an empty space has three neighbors all from the same
player, it reproduces a cell for that player.

If an empty space has two neighbors from Player A, and one
neighbor from Player B, it reproduces a cell for Player A.
(2 cells beats just one)

If an empty space has one neighbor from Player A, one from
Player B, and one from Player C, a neutral cell is reproduced.  It has 
been proved fairly conclusively that a neutral cell will soon die out 
and not take over.


Score and "Winning"

Immediately after each generation, a player gets points
added to their total score.  Each generation, a player gets
the number of cells they have, divided by the number of
turns they have been in the game. Yes, this means a player
that has 100 cells after 10 turns gets 10 points, and a
player that has 10 cells after one turn gets the same 10
points.  Remember that the score is cumulative.  New players
need some sort of ability to catch players.  Plus, players
that have been around for generation have movement points to
increase their score.

A game can only be "won", by the total annihilation of all
other groups.  If we allow the game to be open and players
to come and go, this may be unlikely to happen.  I would
recommend there be an option for a generation limit.
Whoever has the most points at the end of the generation
limit wins.


X-Mozilla-Status: 0011

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com