Help
Game of 3D Life is a
3D cellular automaton
inspired by
Conway's Game of Life. Simulation and rendering run entirely on the GPU via
WebGPU.
Notes
-
Comfort warning: Lantern
lighting and Screen show can include pulsing light and
continuous camera motion. If you are sensitive to
flashing/pulsing light or prone to motion sickness, enable
with care.
-
On mobile, start with a smaller Grid edge and
a slower Run speed for smoother performance
and lower battery use.
-
Run speed sets the target delay between
generations. If the GPU cannot keep up, the simulation will
run as fast as it can.
Main controls
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Run / Pause: Start or pause continuous
simulation. Starting Run closes Settings and Help
automatically.
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Step: Advance one generation (also closes
Settings and Help).
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Reset: Create a new Generation 0 and reset
counters.
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Settings: Open/close the Settings panel.
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Fullscreen: Toggle fullscreen (subject to
browser support).
- Help: Open/close this Help panel.
Navigation
- Drag: Rotate the view.
- Shift / Alt / Right-drag: Pan.
- Wheel / pinch: Zoom.
-
When Screen show is enabled, manual
navigation is disabled while the simulation is running.
Keyboard shortcuts
-
Space: Run / pause (unless the Settings panel
is open).
- S: Step one generation.
- R: Reset (new Generation 0).
- F: Fullscreen toggle.
- C: Center view.
-
B: Reset view (disabled while Screen show is
actively running).
Settings explained
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Run speed: Target delay between generations.
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Auto-stop when stable: Pause automatically
when no cells change.
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Grid boundaries: Show the cube “walls” to
help with depth perception.
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Grid edge: Grid dimension (N×N×N).
Larger grids require more GPU memory and compute.
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Gen0 edge: Size of the randomized cube used
when resetting.
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Gen0 density: Fraction of cells set alive in
the initial cube at reset.
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Cell colors: Gradient applied to living cells
(top → bottom).
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Background: Background gradient (top →
bottom).
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Haze: Distance haze visual effect
that fades distant geometry toward the background.
-
Lantern lighting: Warmer look with
candle-like flicker (continues even while paused).
-
Screen show: Cinematic camera autopilot while
running. Starting Run always fades out before a new pass.
Turning Screen show off leaves the camera where it is.
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Game rule preset: Select a predefined
survival/birth rule set.
-
Survival / Birth: Comma-separated numbers and
ranges (e.g.,
4-6,8).
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Wrap around: Wrap edges so the grid behaves
like a 3D torus (no borders).
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Copy URL with your settings: Copy a shareable URL
snapshot of the current Settings values.