@RULE StateInvestigator
@TABLE
n_states:21
neighborhood:Moore
symmetries:permute
var a1 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,15,16,17,19}
var a2 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,15,16,17,19}
var a3 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,15,16,17,19}
var a4 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,15,16,17,19}
var b1 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,18,20}
var b2 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,18,20}
var b3 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,18,20}
var b4 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,18,20}
var b5 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,18,20}
var b6 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,18,20}
var b7 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,18,20}
var c1 = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20}
var c2 = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20}
var c3 = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20}
var c4 = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20}
var c5 = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20}
var c6 = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20}
var c7 = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20}
var c8 = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20}
var d1 = {2,3,6,7,14,16}
var d2 = {8,9,12,13,14}
var e1 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,17,19}
var e2 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,17,19}
var e3 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,17,19}
var f1 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,15,16,18,20}
var f2 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,15,16,18,20}
var f3 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,15,16,18,20}
var f4 = {1,2,4,6,8,10,12,15,16,18,20}
var g1 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,17,19}
var g2 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,17,19}
var g3 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,17,19}
var g4 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,17,19}
var g5 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,17,19}
var g6 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,17,19}
var g7 = {0,3,5,7,9,11,13,17,19}
0, 1,a1,a2,b1,b2,b3,b4,b5, 1
0, e1,e2,e3,b1,b2,b3,b4,b5, 1
1, c1,g1,g2,g3,g4,g5,g6,g7, 0
1, f1,f2,f3,f4,c1,c2,c3,c4, 0
1, d1,c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7, 0
0, d2,c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7, 1
6, c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7,c8, 7
7, c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7,c8, 6
10, c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7,c8, 11
11, c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7,c8, 10
12, c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7,c8, 13
13, c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7,c8, 12
19, c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7,c8, 20
20, c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7,c8, 19
@COLORS
1 0 236 91
2 0 192 254
3 254 0 0
4 254 254 254
5 75 75 75
6 233 41 254
7 64 0 128
8 254 230 0
9 150 128 0
10 130 200 0
11 0 120 40
12 254 140 0
13 140 70 0
14 0 0 254
15 192 192 192
16 128 128 128
17 254 112 140
18 174 0 168
19 0 152 127
20 0 73 59
Explanation of the rule
State 0: off cell
State 1: on cell (B3/S23)
State 2: killer on cell (kills any adjacent cell, treated as on considering births of cells)
State 3: killer off cell (kills any adjacent cell, treated as off considering births of cells)
State 4: eternal on cell
State 5: eternal off cell
State 6: P2 killer on cell (changes into state 7 in next generation)
State 7: P2 killer off cell (changes into state 6 in next generation)
State 8: egg on cell (gives birth to all neighboring cells unless already on, treated as on considering survival of cells)
State 9: egg off cell (gives birth to all neighboring cells unless already on, treated as off considering survival of cells)
State 10: P2 on cell (changes into state 11 in next generation, not killer, not egg)
State 11: P2 off cell (changes into state 10 in next generation, not killer, not egg)
State 12: P2 egg on cell (changes into state 13)
State 13: P2 egg off cell (changes into state 12)
State 14: Inverter (inverts all neighboring cells)
State 15: Catalyst (like state 4, but it requires State 1 cells to give birth)
State 16: Catalyst killer (like state 2, but it requires State 1 cells to give birth)
State 17: Treated as on for births, off for survival
State 18: Treated as off for births, on for survival
State 19: Like state 17, but P2 (changes into state 20 in next generation)
State 20: Like state 18, but P2 (changes into state 19 in next generation)
States 2-5, 8-9, and 14-18 never change. States 6-7, 10-11, 12-13, and 19-20 always toggle.
This rule is really similar to ExtendedLife. Despite that, StateInvestigator was made totally independent of LifeExtendedFancy when EV1 was trying to make a rule with multiple states that could allow stable bumpers, bouncers and small and fast syringes.
Versions:
2018 Beta (6 states, self testing phase)
2019 1.0 (8 states)
2019 1.1 (10 states)
2020 2.0 (14 states)
2020 2.1 (17 states)
2021 3.0 (21 states)
Beta and 1.0
When StateInvestigator was in Beta, EV1 was looking for ways of turning Life patterns into StateInvestigator. For example, and eater 1 can usually be replaced with two state 4 cells and two state 5 cells. He also noticed that by using state 5 cells, gliders can be one lane closer to a still life that would have obstructed the glider in Life.
He started with 4 states: 0, 1, 2, and 3. This started when he was using state 6 cells in LifeHistory, and he wanted to make an on version of that. Then he realized that adding two more states, 4 and 5, would make the technology a lot simpler and faster. In fact, most technology in StateInvestigator today still only use the first six states.
He realized that there was a very strong P4 sparker that need the states 6 and 7 to work, so he added these in as "testing".
1.1
During that time, StateInvestigator's biggest rival was ExtendedLifeFancy, which was in fact 3 states ahead. ExtendedLifeFancy already has the first six states "albeit in a different order", and had three extra states: 8, 9, and 14. During that time, he added states 8 and 9 to StateInvestigator, since that makes it more compatible with ExtendedLifeFancy. The P4 sparkers fail to work due to an update to the behavior of states 6 and 7. At that time, StateInvestigator is two states ahead and one state behind.
2.0 and 2.1
Then, 2.0 came. StateInvestigator rapidly grew in states with the P2 cells (which started from states 6-7). States 10 and 11 are the P2 version of state 4 and 5, and state 12 and 13 are the P2 version of state 8 and 9. This was version 2.0. Even though StateInvestigator now has 6 extra states, it is still missing the ExtendedLifeFancy inverter.
This inverter was added in 2.1, along with two more states, based on the mention of a "catalyst" state [1]. 2.1 has been the latest version of StateInvestigator for quite a long time.
3.0
The latest version of StateInvestigator is 3.0, which added four new cells. This was based on post on the forums.
Other rules that can be converted
Patterns made in ExtendedLife or ExtendedLifeFancy that are converted into StateInvestigator are called "Prehistoric".
Patterns made using LifeHistory's state 6 cell that are converted into StateInvestigator are called "Historic".
Patterns made using Symbiosis that are converted into StateInvestigator are called "Symbiotic".