Games Index > Real Life

Real Life, a paper which will explain the rules for Real Life.
Real Life is a multi-valued generalization of John Conway's game of Life,
Here is a link by Paul Callahan containing further information on the two valued game as well as various Java programs.

The Controls

The Playing field
The playing field is the large, white area in the center of the screen, click on any square within this area to give that square the value designated by the Slider Bar. Clicking on that square again returns the value to zero. Dragging the mouse with the mouse button down will give multiple squares values. Real Life must be stopped in order to edit the playing field.

The Slider Bar
The slider bar, located on the right-hand side of the screen, controls the value that a square within the Playing field will take if clicked on. The current value of the slider is given by the "Slider =" caption at the bottom of the screen. If the slider's value is left at 1 Real Life reduces to Conway's game of Life.

The Start/Stop button
After entering a pattern into the Playing field click the Start/Stop to begin the game, clicking the same button again stops the game. Real Life will not recongnize stabile patterns, if one appears you should press stop in order to edit the playing field. The status of Real Life (either stopped or running) appears to the left of the Start/Stop button.

The Clear button
Clicking on the clear button resets the value of every square in the Playing field to zero.