KOALA_NET21 wrote: ↑August 9th, 2020, 7:22 pm
I just arrived so there are many things I don't understand
What does that mean? Did I discover a new spaceship?
How to encode a pattern in RLE "Run Length Encoded"?
Welcome to the forums! Good to have you here.
Unfortunately, your pattern doesn't seem to function as a spaceship. The starting pattern:
Code: Select all
x = 11, y = 17, rule = B3/S23
b2o2b2o$3b2o$3b2o$obo2bobo$o6bo2$o6bo$b2o2b2o$2b4o$6bob2o$3b8o$3b8o$3b
3obob2o$3b8o$3b2o3bo$4b2o3bo$6b4o!
does become this after 4 generations, as in your post:
Code: Select all
x = 10, y = 18, rule = B3/S23
3b2o$2bo2bo$b2o2b2o$b2o2b2o$bob2obo$3b2o$bo4bo$2ob3obo$3b2ob3o$3b2o$2b
obo$4b2o$2b3o2$2b2o$3bobo$3bobo2b2o$4bo3b2o!
but after 9 generations it looks like this:
Code: Select all
x = 10, y = 18, rule = B3/S23
b2o2b2o$b2o2b2o$5b3o$5b2o$3o2b2o$obob3o$2b3o$4b3o$7b3o$5bo3bo$7b2o2$2b
2o$bo2bo$2bobo$3bo$8b2o$8b2o!
If the starting pattern were a period 9 spaceship, it would reappear at the ninth generation looking exactly the same, except shifted in some direction. This pattern doesn't, so it isn't a period 9 spaceship. I should note that new spaceships, especially high-period ones, are
very hard to find. Sadly, drawing a bunch of cells next to a
copperhead is highly unlikely to make a new spaceship, especially one with a different period from the copperhead itself. Dedicated spaceship search programs like
gfind,
zfind/
qfind,
WLS/
JLS, and
LSSS are basically the only feasible way to find
elementary spaceships, and even then ones with periods above about 6 (except at
c/2 orthogonal) will usually require both skill and days to months of searching. (If the pattern you posted is from a search program, I apologize — although if so there seems to be a significant bug in it.)
(Sorry, some of my explanation is redundant with dvgrn's, since I started writing my post before he posted his.)
Anyway, encoding a pattern in RLE is simple if you're using Golly (see the download link at the top of the page) or a similar program — just select the pattern you want to encode and copy using ctrl- (or command-) C, or iirc there's a copy button on mobile, to set your clipboard to the RLE for your pattern. If you don't have Golly or can't use it for whatever reason, you can also use LifeViewer (the thing that pops up when you click "show in viewer"), with a bit more hassle — open up any viewer window, like the ones above in my post, click on the dashed-square button (select mode) at the top of the window, press ctrl-a or click the "All" button at the top right to select all, then click on the leftmost of the two dashed-square buttons at the bottom right of the window (clear inside selection) to get rid of whatever pattern was in the viewer before. Then cancel the selection by clicking anywhere, and click on the pencil icon (draw mode) at the top left and draw your pattern (it may also help to toggle grid lines using the "Grid" button at top right). Finally, copy using ctrl-C, or on mobile enter select mode, then select all, then tap the copy button (the one with an icon of two identical patterns on separate sheets of paper, right below the one with the hand icon.)