		    WinLife32 -- README.TXT
		    -----------------------

		Program, this file and all related material
		Copyright (C) 2002, John Harper

Introduction
------------

This program allows you to play John Conway's "Game of Life". You can create
patterns and watch them grow according to the rules of the game. Thanks to
its powerful editing facilities, you can make changes to complex patterns
without re-entering them, and you can save them to disk so that you can
re-play them later.

Installation from downloaded file
---------------------------------

Create a directory to contain WinLife (C:\Program Files\Winlife32 is suggested).
Switch to this directory, and PKUNZIP the .ZIP file into the directory.

If you want, you can install WinLife on the desktop or in the Start menu, but this
is not necessary.

Full instructions for using WinLife are included in the Help file.

The Game of Life
----------------

The rules of the Game of Life are described in the Help for the program. The
Game was first publicly described in Martin Gardner's column in the Scientific
American for October 1970. This and two other Martin Gardner articles are
reprinted in "Wheels, Life and Other Mathematical Amusements" (Martin
Gardner, W.H. Freeman, New York, 1983). A treasure trove of material on
the game is contained in the newsletter "Lifeline", produced for eleven
issues between March 1971 and September 1973 by Robert T. Wainwright, if
you can get hold of them.

Some configurations, some simple and some more complex, are included with
the program, in the Patterns directory. To try them, click the File Open
button and select one. Many, many more patterns are available on the Web.
Take a look at www.winlife32.com for a starting point.

The supplied pattern library syslib.lfl contains all common small objects
which are likely to be generated, for example, from running a random broth.

   
Contact Information
-------------------

I would be delighted to hear suggestions, complaints and (with slightly less
delight) bug reports. You can send them to feedback@winlife32.com.

Bug reports should be accompanied by as much relevant information as
available.

Please note also that the program is copyright material and is not
in the public domain. Ownership is not transferred.

