Category : Windows 3.X Files
Archive   : LIFEWRKS.ZIP
Filename : README.WRI
Welcome to the Life Workshop. This Windows program will allow you to experiment with two-dimendional cellular automata which live by summation rules. You can modify the rules and observe large colonies of the life forms evolve, or assign life to specific cells in Workbench and watch different patterns evolve with different sets of rules.
All you need is a Windows system capable of 800 x 600 pixel resolution (or better), a mouse or other pointing device, the LIFEWS.EXE file and the VBRUN!00.DLL dynamic link library. The VBRUN100.DLL should be in the same directory as the LIFEWS.EXE file or in any directory in your PATH. Your Windows directory is a good place to keep all your dynamic link libraries (DLL files). You can install the LIFEWS.EXE in a program manager group and double click its icon to run Life Workshop.
Cellular Automata
Cellular automata are very simple simulated single cell life forms. Each cell exists autonomously and lives, dies, or is born depending on a set of rules, which the creator defines. The cellular automata in Life Workshop are two dimensional, but systems with one or three or more dimensions have been used. Life Workshop includes two options for the two dimensional grid plane where the cellular automata live: a classic grid, and a hexagonal grid.
Classic Grid
The classic grid is a regular rectangular matrix made up of rows and collumns. Each cell not on the border has eight neighbors. The sum of living neighbors determines the future state of any particular cell. A cell in the classic grid is arranged like this:
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