Transport

Game of Life

B3/S36

Birth counts

Survival counts

Dead-origin cells use these counts only. Alive-origin cells live if their compass matches OR this Life rule permits it. Both read the same current field. An empty row disables that Life pathway.

Rotation

1 / 1

Compass stride1

Rotation cadence1

Turn 1 of eight positions every Step. Compare on every Step, after any turn. Each cell keeps its assigned rotation sense.

Pattern matching

B≤1 / S≤2

Birth mismatches allowed

Survival mismatches allowed

Zero requires all eight positions to match, including empty positions. Eight accepts every arrangement for an included target. This measures positional differences, never neighbor count. Targets remain fixed through birth and death.

Uniform targets

Include all-off target (00000000)Include all-on target (11111111)

All-off: excluded. All-on: excluded. Exclusion disables only the compass match; the Life rule still applies. These switches affect alive-origin cells only. Both cases may be excluded.

018GOL

Compass Rose

Cells that start dead follow Life. Cells that start alive carry a rotating opening pattern and live when either their compass matches or Life permits it.

Explore the collection Rules & reproducibility

Current composition

01Every position keeps a seeded heading, permanent rotation sense and permanent opening target.
02Initially living cells capture their eight neighbors clockwise from their own heading. Initially dead cells follow Life only, even after later births. Opening classes never change during evolution.
03Rotate first when due. Compare the oriented target with the frozen neighboring field, then commit all cells together.
04Alive-origin cells match an included compass target with at most 1 mismatches when currently dead, or at most 2 when currently alive. A failed compass match falls back to B3/S36.
05All-off targets are excluded; all-on targets are excluded. Exclusion blocks the compass path only; Life can still produce birth or survival.

Field: 160 × 160 · toroidal

Selected compass

Selected: (80, 80) · Dead
Opening class: Dead-origin: Life only
Stored target: 00000000 · clockwise from heading
Target rule: Inactive for dead-origin cell
Compass: S (4) → SW (5) · clockwise
Next turn: Rotation due before comparison
Actual pattern: 00000010 · from next heading
Mismatches: 1 of 8 · SE
Life result: B3/S36 · 1 neighbors · Dead
Compass result: Inactive: dead-origin cell
Next result: Dead · Neither rule
Last comparison: No completed comparison

Bit	Direction	Actual	Match
0	SW	0	Yes
1	W	0	Yes
2	NW	0	Yes
3	N	0	Yes
4	NE	0	Yes
5	E	0	Yes
6	SE	1	No
7	S	0	Yes

For dead-origin cells this table is diagnostic only; Life uses the living-neighbor count. For alive-origin cells, bit zero is the next compass heading. Both rotation senses read the bits clockwise. Bounded positions outside the field read as dead.

Experiment index018 / 100

Game of Life: Compass Rose

Paused · turn then compare

160 × 160 · generation 0

Lime is established life; cream is birth. Inspect compass pauses painting. For alive-origin cells it outlines matching inputs in solid mint and mismatching inputs in dashed coral, and points a gold arrow at the next heading. Dead-origin inspection highlights living neighbors for Life. The written inspector reports the Life result and the final rule source. The table compares all eight required and actual positions. Arrow keys select; Enter paints without changing opening classes or targets when inspection is off; P plays or pauses; S advances one rotate-then-compare Step. Clear creates a dead-origin field governed only by Life; it stays empty under B3/S23.

Established lifeBirthMatching inputMismatch

Watch Life spread around cells carrying their opening compass pattern. Click or drag to paint; opening classes and targets remain fixed.