This query is a part of Conway’s game of life. Currently, this program takes about 70 lines of code in Python to return the functionality of the game, which can be simplified to fewer lines of code and it ends when a keyboard interrupt occurs. I eventually want to eliminate the keyboard interrupt and improve this code with maybe a try and except function to have the game show a message stating that it is over. Any recommendations for cleaning this code up with maybe some additional functions?
Like any game, there are rules! Here's a quick overview. At the heart of this game are four rules that determine if a cell is live or dead. It all depends on how many of that cell's neighbors are alive.
- Births: Each dead cell adjacent to exactly three live neighbors will become live in the next generation.
- Death by isolation: Each live cell with one or fewer live neighbors will die in the next generation.
- Death by overcrowding: Each live cell with four or more live neighbors will die in the next generation.
- Survival: Each live cell with either two or three live neighbors will remain alive for the next generation.
Rules apply to all cells at the same time.
# Conway's Game of Life
import random
import time
import copy
WIDTH = 60
HEIGHT = 20
# Create a list of list for the cells:
nextCells = []
for x in range(WIDTH):
column = [] # Create a new column.
for y in range(HEIGHT):
if random.randint(0, 1) == 0:
column.append('#') # Add a living cell.
else:
column.append(' ') # Add a dead cell.
nextCells.append(column) # nextCells is a list of column lists.
while True: # Main program loop.
print('\n\n\n\n\n') # Separate each step with newlines.
currentCells = copy.deepcopy(nextCells)
# Print currentCells on the screen:
for y in range(HEIGHT):
for x in range(WIDTH):
print(currentCells[x][y], end='') # Print the # or space.
print() # Print a newline at the end of the row.
# Calculate the next step's cells based on current step's cells:
for x in range(WIDTH):
for y in range(HEIGHT):
# Get neighboring coordinates:
# `% WIDTH` ensures leftCoord is always between 0 and WIDTH - 1
leftCoord = (x - 1) % WIDTH
rightCoord = (x + 1) % WIDTH
aboveCoord = (y - 1) % HEIGHT
belowCoord = (y + 1) % HEIGHT
# Count number of living neighbors:
numNeighbors = 0
if currentCells[leftCoord][aboveCoord] == '#':
numNeighbors += 1 # Top-left neighbor is alive.
if currentCells[x][aboveCoord] == '#':
numNeighbors += 1 # Top neighbor is alive.
if currentCells[rightCoord][aboveCoord] == '#':
numNeighbors += 1 # Top-right neighbor is alive.
if currentCells[leftCoord][y] == '#':
numNeighbors += 1 # Left neighbor is alive.
if currentCells[rightCoord][y] == '#':
numNeighbors += 1 # Right neighbor is alive.
if currentCells[leftCoord][belowCoord] == '#':
numNeighbors += 1 # Bottom-left neighbor is alive.
if currentCells[x][belowCoord] == '#':
numNeighbors += 1 # Bottom neighbor is alive.
if currentCells[rightCoord][belowCoord] == '#':
numNeighbors += 1 # Bottom-right neighbor is alive.
# Set cell based on Conway's Game of Life rules:
if currentCells[x][y] == '#' and (numNeighbors == 2 or
numNeighbors == 3):
# Living cells with 2 or 3 neighbors stay alive:
nextCells[x][y] = '#'
elif currentCells[x][y] == ' ' and numNeighbors == 3:
# Dead cells with 3 neighbors become alive:
nextCells[x][y] = '#'
else:
# Everything else dies or stays dead:
nextCells[x][y] = ' '
time.sleep(1) # Add a 1-second pause to reduce flickering.
if
statements and just summing the neighboring cells. \$\endgroup\$