Langton's Ant

Grid: 400x400 pixel grid, one cell per pixel
Rendering: Direct pixel manipulation via loadPixels/updatePixels — only changed cells are redrawn each frame
Rules: Generalized Langton's Ant with multi-color cyclic states. Each character in the rule string (R or L) defines the turn direction for that state.
Colors: Classic RL uses black/white. Multi-color rules use an HSL ramp from deep blue to warm gold.
Highway: The classic RL ant produces chaotic behavior for ~10,000 steps, then suddenly builds a repeating diagonal highway pattern — an example of emergent order from simple rules.

Langton's Ant — a two-dimensional Turing machine with emergent behavior. Watch chaos resolve into a diagonal highway, then explore multi-color rule strings and multiple ants.

How to use: Watch the classic ant build its highway (~10,000 steps). Use the speed slider to fast-forward. Try different rule strings for wildly different patterns. Add more ants to see interference. Click the grid (while paused) to paint initial conditions.

Ants: 1
Steps/frame: 1
Rule:
Wrap edges Steps: 0