Generation0

Population2592

Moved0

Transport

Orbit radius13

Euclidean distance in grid units. At the boundary, influence is 1 / radius; outside it, zero.

Steering strength94%

Percent of the combined proximity influence. Zero keeps every heading fixed.

Movement distance4

Grid steps per turn. Starts at one; longer moves check collisions at every intermediate step.

Blend all nearby headings, then round to eight directions. Cancellation and exact angular ties keep the old heading. Edits pause and preserve the field.

030GOL

Orbital Drift

Travelers bend toward nearby headings. Distance-weighted influence steers eight compass directions, while collisions preserve every cell.

Explore the collection Rules & reproducibility

Current composition

01Read every cell within radius 13 from the same frozen field. Weight = max(1, radius − distance) / radius.
02Average unit heading vectors by proximity. Blend with the current heading at 94% × min(1, total weight).
03Round to the nearest compass heading. Cancellation or tied directions retain the previous heading.
04Attempt 4 adjacent grid moves. Occupied or contested destinations block. Everyone survives; blocked cells keep their new heading.

Influence aligns direction, without pulling toward positions. Close cells may align, separate, exchange headings or jam. No continuous steering accumulates between turns.

Pause and enable Inspect cell for its values.

Experiment index030 / 100

Game of Life: Orbital Drift

Paused · Toroidal

160 × 160 · generation 0

NNEESESSWWNW

Nearby headings bend travel. Arrows and colors show compass direction; collisions preserve every cell.

Paint cells or enable Inspect cell. Arrow keys select; Enter paints; P plays/pauses; S steps.