Twitch Plays Conway's Game of Life
Turning the most famous zero-player game into a Massively Multiplayer Online Game
Play Twitch Plays Conway's Game of Life when the stream is on.
How to play Twitch Plays Conway's Game of Life:
- Login in to Twitch.tv and join the BZH314 channel chat (https://www.twitch.tv/bzh314)
- Enter chat commands to turn cells alive or dead. All commands start with an exclamation mark and are case insensitive.
Command structure:
!<COMMAND> coordinate1 coordinate2 ...
Examples:
- !on 0,0
- !on 0,0 -1,-1 0,1
- !off 5,5
See the list of commands below for all the commands.
- The World is a square grid. Its size is displayed at the top of the video stream.
- the top left is at -50,+50
- the top right is at +50,+50
- the bottom right is at +50,-50
- the bottom left is at -50,-50
The World origin (coordinates 0,0) is at the center of the square, so for a 101x101 grid, the coordinates of the cells range from -50 to +50.
Example with a 101x101 Grid:
NOTE: There can be up 10 seconds delay between a chat command and its result on screen.
Learn more:
- Watch Twitch videos of players making their own shape or battling for world domination.
- Watch Youtube videos of players.
Stay tuned for updates:
- Follow BZH314 on Twitch.tv
- Subscribe to the BZH314 Youtube channel
- Follow @BZH314 on Twitter
List of Commands
!ON
Description
Turn on cell(s).
Note that turning on a single cell might not be enough for it to survive the next generation if it does not have at least two live neighbors (underpopulation) or if it has more than three live neighbors (overpopulation).
Format
!ON coordinate1 coordinate2 ...
The coordinates can be comma separated (ex: 0,0) or period separated (ex: 0.0) for faster use with the numpad.
Ranges: Coordinates support ranges with the colon separator. Example: !on 0:2,5 is equivalent to: !on 0,5 1,5 2,5
Wildcards: Coordinates support the * wildcard. Example: !on *,0 will turn on the whole horizontal line where y=0 (the x axis)
Keywords: Coordinates support the all keyword. Example: !on all will turn all the cells on (resulting in clearing the whole grid)
Examples
- !on 0,0
- !on 0,0 -1,-1 0,1
- !on 5,5
!OFF
Description
Turn off cell(s).
Note that turning off a cell might lead to it being reborn right away on the next generation. For instance in the case of a block, turning only one of its cell off will not destroy the block.
Format
!OFF coordinate1 coordinate2 ...
The coordinates can be comma separated (ex: 0,0) or period separated (ex: 0.0) for faster use with the numpad.
Ranges: Coordinates support ranges with the colon separator. Example: !on 0:2,5 is equivalent to: !on 0,5 1,5 2,5
Wildcards: Coordinates support the * wildcard. Example: !on *,0 will turn on the whole horizontal line where y=0 (the x axis)
Keywords: Coordinates support the all keyword. Example: !on all will turn all the cells on (resulting in clearing the whole grid)
Examples
- !off 0,0
- !off 0,0 -1,-1 0,1
- !off 5,5
!SHOW
Description
Display a marker at the location of cell(s).
When too many markers are requested, ECS (Entity Component System) markers are displayed for performance reasons. These markers do not display the coordinates.
Format
!SHOW coordinate1 coordinate2 ...
The coordinates can be comma separated (ex: 0,0) or period separated (ex: 0.0) for faster use with the numpad.
Ranges: Coordinates support ranges with the colon separator. Example: !on 0:2,5 is equivalent to: !on 0,5 1,5 2,5
Wildcards: Coordinates support the * wildcard. Example: !on *,0 will turn on the whole horizontal line where y=0 (the x axis)
Keywords: Coordinates support the all keyword. Example: !on all will turn all the cells on (resulting in clearing the whole grid)
Examples
- !show 0,0
- !show 0,0 -1,-1 0,1
- !show 5,5
!STATS
Description
Display your statistics.
Format
!STATS
Examples
- !stats
@BZH314: #2 overall with 0.31% cells owned. You played in 1 Battle Royale and won 1 (100.0%).
!OWNER
Description
Display the owner of cell(s).
Format
!OWNER coordinate1 coordinate2 ...
The coordinates can be comma separated (ex: 0,0) or period separated (ex: 0.0) for faster use with the numpad.
Ranges: Coordinates support ranges with the colon separator. Example: !on 0:2,5 is equivalent to: !on 0,5 1,5 2,5
Wildcards: Coordinates support the * wildcard. Example: !on *,0 will turn on the whole horizontal line where y=0 (the x axis)
Keywords: Coordinates support the all keyword. Example: !on all will turn all the cells on (resulting in clearing the whole grid)
Examples
- !owner 0,0
- !owner 0,0 -1,-1 0,1
- !owner 5,5
!HELP
Description
Quick help for each command.
Format
!HELP <COMMAND>
Examples
- !help on
ON: Turn on cell(s). Example: !on 0,0 0,1 1,1 # creates a block at the center
SHOW: Display a marker at the location of cell(s). Example: !show 0,0 1,1
!TTL
Description
Natural death of cell(s) after N generations.
Format
!TTL <GENERATION COUNT> coordinate1 coordinate2 ...
The coordinates can be comma separated (ex: 0,0) or period separated (ex: 0.0) for faster use with the numpad.
Ranges: Coordinates support ranges with the colon separator. Example: !on 0:2,5 is equivalent to: !on 0,5 1,5 2,5
Wildcards: Coordinates support the * wildcard. Example: !on *,0 will turn on the whole horizontal line where y=0 (the x axis)
Keywords: Coordinates support the all keyword. Example: !on all will turn all the cells on (resulting in clearing the whole grid)
Examples
- !ttl 42 0,0 0,1 1,1
!RANDOM
Description
Randomize the life of cell(s).
Format
!RANDOM coordinate1 coordinate2 ...
The coordinates can be comma separated (ex: 0,0) or period separated (ex: 0.0) for faster use with the numpad.
Ranges: Coordinates support ranges with the colon separator. Example: !on 0:2,5 is equivalent to: !on 0,5 1,5 2,5
Wildcards: Coordinates support the * wildcard. Example: !on *,0 will turn on the whole horizontal line where y=0 (the x axis)
Keywords: Coordinates support the all keyword. Example: !on all will turn all the cells on (resulting in clearing the whole grid)
Examples
- !random 0,0 0,1 1,1
!RLE
Description
Run Length Encoded (RLE) is a short way to represent patterns in the Game Of Life.
o means a live cell, b a dead cell and $ is the new line character. Each of these (o, b and $) can be preceded by a number which indicates how many times a dead/alive cell (or new line) occurs.
Twitch has a limit of 500 characters per chat message. Some RLEs are longer than this (example: Sir Robin). Twitch Plays Conway's Game of Life supports these long RLEs automatically if you split them in less than 500 characters chunks:
If an RLE command does not end with !, the game will expect more RLE strings in the next command. You will have 60 seconds to complete the RLE command, otherwise the previous chunks will get dropped.
Format
!RLE <RLE STRING> <ROTATION> coordinate1 coordinate2 ...
The coordinates can be comma separated (ex: 0,0) or period separated (ex: 0.0) for faster use with the numpad.
The rotation is optional and in degrees. Positive numbers rotate clockwise.
Ranges: Coordinates support ranges with the colon separator. Example: !on 0:2,5 is equivalent to: !on 0,5 1,5 2,5
Wildcards: Coordinates support the * wildcard. Example: !on *,0 will turn on the whole horizontal line where y=0 (the x axis)
Keywords: Coordinates support the all keyword. Example: !on all will turn all the cells on (resulting in clearing the whole grid)
Examples
- !rle bo$2bo$3o! 0,0 # Creates a glider at the origin
- !rle bo$2bo$3o! 0,0 5,5 10,10 # Creates 3 gliders at 3 different locations
- !rle bo$2bo$3o! 90 0,0 # Glider rotated 90 degrees clockwise
- !rle bo$2bo$ # Glider Multiline RLE: Fragment 1 !rle 3o! 0,0 # Glider Multiline RLE: Fragment 2
!RRLE
Description
Reverse Run Length Encoded, or Negative RLE, treats a RLE string and flips the cell status: live cells are dead and dead cells are alive.
This silly command allows to reuse the whole RLE catalog while performing a "negative" filter on them.
Format
!RRLE <RLE STRING> <ROTATION> coordinate1 coordinate2 ...
The coordinates can be comma separated (ex: 0,0) or period separated (ex: 0.0) for faster use with the numpad.
The rotation is optional and in degrees. Positive numbers rotate clockwise.
Ranges: Coordinates support ranges with the colon separator. Example: !on 0:2,5 is equivalent to: !on 0,5 1,5 2,5
Wildcards: Coordinates support the * wildcard. Example: !on *,0 will turn on the whole horizontal line where y=0 (the x axis)
Keywords: Coordinates support the all keyword. Example: !on all will turn all the cells on (resulting in clearing the whole grid)
Examples
- !rrle bo$2bo$3o 0,0 # creates a block at the origin using the RLE of a glider
!PATTERN
Description
List some of the patterns in the pattern database. Use the command multiple times for more patterns.
Each pattern name is a command. For example, the pattern "Glider" can be made with !GLIDER
When adding a specific pattern name as argument, it prints the help for that specific pattern.
Format
!PATTERN <name>
The name is optional. If provided, it prints the help for that specific pattern.
Examples
- !pattern
There are 446 patterns in the database. Use them as commands. Example: !Glider 0,0. More patterns: AircraftCarrier, ...
Glider: SPACESHIP http://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Glider
Creates a Glider at the origin
Aircraft Carrier: STILLIFE http://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Aircraft_carrier
!PLAY
Description
Start or join a Battle Royale game with !play.
Once the first player starts a new Battle Royale game, additional players have 60 seconds to join the current game.
A minimum of 2 players is required to start a game.
A player joining while a game is in progress will be entered to play in the next game.
The gameplay is similar in spirit to Fortnite, PUBG, Realm Royale, ... or any of your favorite Battle Royale game: last one standing wins.
A Battle Royale game in Twitch Plays Conway's Game of Life works as follows:
- The Join Phase: while waiting for more players to join, you can practice your landing by making shapes on the board. Use the !ON, !RANDOM, !RLE, ... commands to create cells you own. You don't need to do anything in that phase as the board will be wiped out at the end of the Join phase to start everyone on a level playing field.
- The Jump Phase: you have a limited time to get on the board. During this phase, a player can be killed completely (no cell left on the board), but needs to be alive (at least one cell) when the Jump phase is over. A player not on the board when the Jump phase is over is eliminated.
- The Battle Phase: you need to maintain live cells at all time. If all of your cells die, you are eliminated.
- The storm shrinks periodically to reduce the size of the board.
- The last player standing wins.
- During a game, a single command can only touch 20% of the total cells in the eye of the storm.
Format
!PLAY
Examples
- !play
<MYSTERY COMMAND>
Description
The mystery command has not been found by @ian07_ and @WiFiPunk
Can you find it too?
HINT: emoji