I was unable to find the application that Will Wright was using in the video, but I found several others that do a similar thing. Conway's Game of Life is available free online and was written in 1970. It is a game of "cellular automaton" and has the same basic rules as the program that Wright was using.
http://www.bitstorm.org/gameoflife/
Here is a link to an embedded applet that you can play online.
My preferred option for opening this application is playing in directly in Mac os X, as it is embedded in emacs a command line editor located in the terminal of Mac os X.
to do this:
1.go into Terminal- its in utilities in your applications folder (I just type it into spotlight).
2. Load emacs by typing "emacs" into the terminal window then pressing [En].
3. Select the command line by pressing [esc] then [x].
4. To load life type "life" then press [En].
Life will begin immediately.
Editing the cells in emacs is a bit trickier, and involves some knowledge of how it works. Here is are intermediate level instructions on how to edit in it.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sound project
Last week I made a device that was intended to make a noise. It started with a weight being let go that was attached to a tripod. The weight had been spun around many times to that in order for it to reach the ground it had to spin around to unwind the tieline, while it unwound it scratched into a wiffle ball bat and make a fun noise. Once it reached the ground it fell into a mouse trap that released a coffee can filled with bottle caps that rolled down a ramp and set of another mouse trap loaded with ping pong balls which would fly everywhere.
With my first sound creating project I sort of set out to create a rube gold-berg device. What interested my was a series of events that triggered each other and where designed to create a specific outcome. Something else I was trying to achieve was a sense of anticipation as the weight slowly lowered to the ground. We all knew that it would eventually hit a mouse trap, and the rest of the machine would *snap* into action doing god knows what with the ping pong balls.
The weight ended up going down too quickly and the effect wasn't terribly successful as I would have wanted, however I was interested in how my machine interacted with gravity. Or was completely put into motion because of gravity.
I'm looking out to make a machine that makes a mark using roughly the same Idea. Using a tripod and a wight as a pendulum with some sort of marking device on the bottom. Either a marker or even a sharp implement that will scratch whatever in on the ground.
gravity
I could try the same thing but in the entrance way of the gym from the second floor. The weight would move for a lot longer. If I did this I would probably use a marker.
With my first sound creating project I sort of set out to create a rube gold-berg device. What interested my was a series of events that triggered each other and where designed to create a specific outcome. Something else I was trying to achieve was a sense of anticipation as the weight slowly lowered to the ground. We all knew that it would eventually hit a mouse trap, and the rest of the machine would *snap* into action doing god knows what with the ping pong balls.
The weight ended up going down too quickly and the effect wasn't terribly successful as I would have wanted, however I was interested in how my machine interacted with gravity. Or was completely put into motion because of gravity.
I'm looking out to make a machine that makes a mark using roughly the same Idea. Using a tripod and a wight as a pendulum with some sort of marking device on the bottom. Either a marker or even a sharp implement that will scratch whatever in on the ground.
gravity
I could try the same thing but in the entrance way of the gym from the second floor. The weight would move for a lot longer. If I did this I would probably use a marker.
Monday, January 12, 2009
On The Brian Eno and Will Wright on Generative Systems video
I found it interesting how delicately balanced this program and pattern was. Since it was effectively an entire predetermined interaction then a simple change could destroy the symmetry in a matter of generations.
It also reminded me of the various "falling sand" flash games online these days. Not only will free falling particles (or sand) move down at a constant velocity, the different materials will intact with each-other differently. For example, fire will spread to a particle that it is touching of a material that burns. then the fire particle will go away and the other particle that is ignitable will be replaced with fire. This interaction continues over the next interval of time.
Here is one of the simpler ones out there:
http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/
On this particular game there is also a material called "???" which reacts in a chain reaction with itself and can form fascinating waves and patterns. This can be seen to the right.
It also reminded me of the various "falling sand" flash games online these days. Not only will free falling particles (or sand) move down at a constant velocity, the different materials will intact with each-other differently. For example, fire will spread to a particle that it is touching of a material that burns. then the fire particle will go away and the other particle that is ignitable will be replaced with fire. This interaction continues over the next interval of time.
Here is one of the simpler ones out there:
http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/
On this particular game there is also a material called "???" which reacts in a chain reaction with itself and can form fascinating waves and patterns. This can be seen to the right.
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