Iteration guides

Possible iterations of the extensible puffer and spaceship families: which wing lengths work, and which must be anchored.

Key. Black cells are necessary in any iteration (the minimum length of extensible wings is marked by the first colored cell). Blue cells mark wing lengths which cannot be anchored. Green cells mark wing lengths which can be anchored or non-anchored. Red cells mark wing lengths which must be anchored. Circled cells mark wing lengths that produce no output if non-anchored, in objects that can be spaceships or eaters. Gray cells are caused by phase offsets in wings; wings should be extended and anchored in their empty phase, which may not be the phase shown. To see how the phase offsets work, consult the smallest iteration.

The diagrams are redrawn cell for cell from the original July 2008 images. Next to each is the smallest iteration, running live.

The earlier, tabular form of the same information, which the diagrams replaced. X – non-anchored puffer · O – non-anchored spaceship · r – right-anchored puffer · l – left-anchored puffer · b – bi-anchored puffer. Rows are the left (upper) wing length; columns the right (lower).