
Wireworld - vmorgulis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireworld
======
dested
This is my favorite cellular automata. The simplicity and elegance that allows
for such complex logic.

I ported the famous wireworld computer[0] to javascript a few years back[1].
The source[2] is in c# transpiled to javascript so it may be a bit hard to
follow, but still an interesting read of how to squeeze every draw call out of
2d canvas.

[0] [http://www.quinapalus.com/wi-index.html](http://www.quinapalus.com/wi-
index.html)

[1] [http://dested.com/projects/wire/](http://dested.com/projects/wire/)

[2] [https://github.com/dested/WireWorld](https://github.com/dested/WireWorld)

~~~
abrookewood
[1] is soo enthralling. In case it isn't obvious to everyone, you can add an
electron with left click and reset things to copper with the right click. It's
loads of fun to introduce a few random errors and watch them cascade through
the system.

------
DonHopkins
If you like wireworld, you'll love Factorio's conveyor belts [1]!

Also check out John von Neumann's 29 state cellular automata [2] and universal
constructor [3].

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mGdL4XKXew](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mGdL4XKXew)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_cellular_automaton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_cellular_automaton)

[3]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_universal_construc...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_universal_constructor)

~~~
TeMPOraL
Factorio is great. You a few dozen minutes or so thinking that this is a
typical RTS with a twist, and then you suddenly realize that the opponent in
this game is not really those hostile critters - the true challenge is
_managing complexity_ of your logistics.

This game is _hard_ fun. I.e., the kind of fun that makes you want to write an
autorouting programm for the converyor belts.

~~~
teh_klev
I just got a copy on last week's Steam sale. It's tremendously good fun and a
real time soaker :)

~~~
sleepybrett
That's my main complaint with it. Because you can only act locally around your
little man you have slog all over the map, which doesn't add to gameplay much
(the attacking monsters are infrequent, as far as i've gotten in the game, and
easily dealt with by turrets).

I'm more interested, when playing the game, in making clever and efficient
systems to move my bits around and the game, because of it's interface, makes
that hard. Eventually I realize how many hours it's going to take to rearrange
all my conveyers and I quit.

~~~
jitl
The late-game tech really helps with this - you eventually get technologies
that all you to blueprint and paste groups of buildings. This doesn't
alleviate all of the issues, but it allows for component re-use and
standardization. I do think some of the limits in Factorio are what make it
fun, and differentiate it from a pure programming game.

I usually struggle to play any game that's too similar to brainteasers,
puzzling, or thinking about systems optimization: I would rather spend those
hours just programming, which is just as fun, and far more rewarding. But
Factorio is sooo much fun... especially if you set up a server and play with
friends.

I learned Chef getting my Factorio server running :) It's turtles all the way
down in automation land.

------
lytedev
This is awesome! I made a sort of action puzzle game loosely based on this a
while back (without realizing it, as I had no idea about Wireworld) for a
Ludum Dare. Cool to see this concept somewhere else!

I still want to, someday, flesh it out. I think it would make a pretty fun
mobile game!

Source: [https://github.com/lytedev/ld26-almost-
nothing](https://github.com/lytedev/ld26-almost-nothing)

Somebody "speedrunning" an earlier in-dev version of the game:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z33Rmx8QHQ8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z33Rmx8QHQ8)

~~~
jypepin
I never thought about making a puzzle game out of those automata. that's
pretty awesome! :)

------
josephg
I've been working on steamdance[1] for the past few years, which is a little
logic simulator a lot like wireworld. The project started as a way to teach
digital logic and evolved from there. (It used to be called boilerplate, but
we renamed it for obvious reasons.)

Its still not ready for prime time, but we've been making some cool stuff with
it anyway:

Simple logic gates:
[https://steam.dance/nornagon/logic](https://steam.dance/nornagon/logic)

2 full adders:
[https://steam.dance/josephg/adder](https://steam.dance/josephg/adder)

A compacted 8 bit adder:
[https://steam.dance/josephg/alu](https://steam.dance/josephg/alu)

The purple boxes in the top left are dragable. Hit play to see it calculate
out.

[1] [https://steam.dance/](https://steam.dance/) Source:
[https://github.com/josephg/steamdance](https://github.com/josephg/steamdance)

------
trevyn
I cannot view things like this and
[https://niginsblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/new-spaceship-
sp...](https://niginsblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/new-spaceship-speed-in-
conways-game-of-life/) and
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2vgICfQawE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2vgICfQawE)
without coming to the conclusion that we, and life, are just massively complex
self-replicating patterns.

May you find peace in the oscillations.

~~~
pkaye
I find this to be quite amazing. Life within life.
[https://youtu.be/xP5-iIeKXE8](https://youtu.be/xP5-iIeKXE8)

------
n1c
I did an implementation of this a really long time ago (Github says 3 years)
to play with Dart.

[http://nicmalan.com/wireworld/](http://nicmalan.com/wireworld/)

[https://github.com/n1c/wireworld](https://github.com/n1c/wireworld)

------
Frqy3
Golly [0], an open source, cross-platform application for exploring cellular
automata, includes the Wireworld ruleset and some example starting patterns.

[0] [http://golly.sourceforge.net/](http://golly.sourceforge.net/)

------
gwern
If you liked that, you might also find interesting Drescher's 'Quantish' model
where he demonstrates how you can implement quantum effects using simplish
circuits: [https://xorshammer.com/2010/02/17/quantish-physics-a-
discret...](https://xorshammer.com/2010/02/17/quantish-physics-a-discrete-
model-of-quantum-physics/)
[http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6486/AIM-1026a...](http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6486/AIM-1026a.pdf?sequence=2)

------
tim_hutton
I often think that this is what Minecraft should have used instead of
redstone.

------
taneq
This similar thing was posted here a while ago:
[https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-
logic](https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-logic)

------
jypepin
This reminds me also of Conway's game of life. I love those kind of automata
systems. I did an implementation of it a few years ago (it's pretty simple and
bad I was just learning how to program) but it works
[http://www.jonathanfromgrowth.com/lifebb](http://www.jonathanfromgrowth.com/lifebb)

------
a3n
There was a book (which I had and lost) back in the eighties or nineties, and
I think Wireworld was featured in the chapter on cellular automata. Other
variations included Life with multiple levels of health, not just dead or
alive.

Anyone remember it?

------
FreeFull
See also [https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-
logic](https://github.com/martinkirsche/wired-logic) which isn't a cellular
automaton, but was inspired by Wireworld.

