Thus we have here some still-unfinished investigations into the mind- numbing irrelevancies of:
After the first Round of moves, rufus ended up with the first viruspoint. If left to evolve, rufus would have gained another viruspoint the next Round, but after that ThinMan would have gone on to win over the next twelve rounds, with a brief challenge from Slakko, who would gain one viruspoint in Round 9 and tie with ThinMan in Round 10. However, the question of long-term survival would be settled somewhat differently. breadbox's and The Gingham Wearer's viruses had died out already by Round 3, but ThinMan's would be next to go in Round 26, and /dev/joe's in Round 30. rufus's and Slakko's were left to coexist, and were still going strong and showing few signs of slowing down, covering an active area of 94 rows and 89 columns(some of that admittedly because of a rufus-glider heading off to the northeast), by Round 250.
If you start after the second round(in which nobody scored a viruspoint), Slakko wins by Round 14, with breadbox stealing a point in Round 8 and /dev/joe in Round 11. In long-term survival, there was a steady stream of disappearances, with rufus in Round 5, Balsamic Dragon in Round 6, The Gingham Wearer in Round 7, two-star and Thinman in Round 8, and then else...if in Round 14 and breadbox and Red Barn in Round 15, leaving only Slakko and /dev/joe. By Round 19 Slakko had been left with only a block of four, but miraculously this square remained until /dev/joe's sprawling pattern settled down by Round 483 with one glider, seven blocks, four blinkers, and two boats.
From after the third round, things get more interesting. rufus and Slakko each had a gamepoint already, but got no more. two-star picked one up in Round 4, but then The Gingham Wearer took Rounds 6 and 8(5, 7 and 9 being tied). And then, Red Barn took a surprise lead. The Gingham Wearer had a glider, but eir other cells dwindled away as Red Barn soon had the only other non-stable pattern. Unfortunately, by Round 15 Red Barn's pattern had overtaken the glider, and e scored eir seventh and last viruspoint in Round 16. Eir virus was gone entirely by Round 19, and The Gingham Wearer's new pattern evolved rapidly until by Round 25 e had won. Interestingly, The Gingham Wearer was also the long-term winner; ThinMan had disappeared in Round 6, /dev/joe in Round 7, Slakko in Round 8, else...if and rufus in Round 9, breadbox in Round 13, and Red Barn in Round 19 as mentioned above, but two-star had maintained a hexagon since Round 12 and Balsamic Dragon a blinker since Round 9, which still remained at the end. By Round 35 The Gingham Wearer had four hexagons, and the overall pattern was settled.
From after the fourth round, when Slakko had a second viruspoint, e continued to gain until Round 7, when The Gingham Wearer and Balsamic Dragon both had more cells(but also tied, for no score). However, Slakko regained eir lead and coasted to a victory in Round 13. In terms of survival, rufus, breadbox and ThinMan had all washed out in Round 7, /dev/joe in Round 8, and Red Barn in Round 10. else...if hung on until Round 19, The Gingham Wearer until Round 23, and Balsamic Dragon until Round 24. two-star retained a four-cell block until the end, though, in Round 33, when Slakko's pattern settled down to a flasher(not to be confused with a blinker; you know, two diagonally adjacent blocks).
From after the fifth round, when The Gingham Wearer had gotten eir first viruspoint, e got two more in Round 6 and 7. two-star snuck ahead to get one in Round 8, but The Gingham Wearer regained eir lead in Round 9 and retained it until Round 13, when two-star stole another. The Gingham Wearer got a point in Round 14, then tied with two-star in Round 15. two-star took another two points in the next two rounds, and then the two leaders' patterns fell apart and other jumped in. Slakko took two viruspoints in Rounds 18 and 19, then /dev/joe in Rounds 20 and 21, Slakko again in Round 22, /dev/joe in Round 23. Then ThinMan came out of nowhere to take three viruspoints in Round 24-26, before the return of two-star in Round 27, although ThinMan grabbed another in Round 28. two-star took one more in Round 29, but Round 30 saw the return of The Gingham Wearer. two-star took another in Round 31, but Round 32 saw The Gingham Wearer score eir tenth point at long last. All in all, perhaps the closest competition so far. In terms of survival, Red Barn disappeared in Round 6, rufus in Round 7, and breadbox in Round 11; else...if hung on until Round 20, and Balsamic Dragon until Round 26. All the others were still going strong, though, as the above scoring results indicate. ThinMan lasted until Round 41, and Slakko until Round 185. At Round 320 things had settled down; the Gingham Wearer had one loaf, /dev/joe a block and a blinker, and two-star two hexagons and two blocks.
From after the sixth round, when Balsamic Dragon got eir viruspoint, eir virus still almost disappeared in Round 7, and /dev/joe's did disappear altogether, as The Gingham Wearer got a viruspoint. And continued to do so until obtaining ten points in Round 15. In terms of survival, things got a bit more interesting. rufus's virus disappeared in Round 9, Balsamic Dragon's in Round 12, breadbox's in Round 14, Slakko's in Round 17, and ThinMan's in Round 23. Interestingly, two-star's seemed to be doing well until it contacted else...if's stationary block. The result, however, was that two-star's virus disappeared in Round 36, while else...if's was thriving from the contact. In fact, by Round 83 it had overwhelmed The Gingham Wearer's, and continued to evolve until by Round 564 it had achieved a stable pattern with eleven blocks, seven blinkers, three loaves, a hexagon, and two gliders.
(Research to be continued...)
The Den of Ubiquity / Aaron V. Humphrey / alfvaen@telusplanet.net