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GAME OF LIFE FOR WINDOWS

Overview

This is an implementation of J. H. Conway's cellular automata game of life. Source code uses the basic Win32 API and compiles under Cygwin.

Game of Life Screen.

The program is displaying a glider gun. Counters in red are in a steady state.

Features

Simple user interface: add and delete counters with mouse clicks.
Settings for changing life rules, counter size, and speed.
Source code is well-commented and easy to modify.
Uses the Life 1.05 file format, compatible with Johan Bonte's Life32 program.

Drawbacks:

No drag-and-drop capability.
Game grid size is fixed (it's a constant in the source code which can be changed). Cannot read life patterns from file larger than the game board.

See my design notes for a description of how to run the game and how it is designed.

Download

Source code is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License The current version number is 2.0

Click on the symbol to view and download the source files below.
winlife.c	Main program which contains just about everything.
winlife.h	Header file containing constants for the game board size, counter display size, time between generations, etc.
resource.h	Windows resource include file.
winlife.rc	Windows resource file.
winlife.cur.bin	Windows cursor file. Strip off the .bin extension before using.
winlife.ico.bin	Windows icon file. Strip off the .ico extension before using.
makefile	Makefile for Cygwin on Windows
winlife.zip.bin	Executable for Windows in a PKZipped file. Strip off the .bin extension and unzip.

On my Windows XP PC system, I use the makefile which is tailored for the Cygwin compiler. I also use the Bloodshed C++ compiler. In Bloodshed C++, create a new Project of the Windows Application type, use the C language, and load the source files above into the project.

Download gun30.lif

Example Life 1.05 format file for the original glider gun. Glider gun picture

Download sample patterns with Conway Rules: pulsar, puffer, spaceship, escort, barber pole, oscillators and still lifes Download sample patterns with Highlife rules: replicator, glider gun, bomber.

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