Lenia - Real-Time GPU-Accelerated Artificial Life Simulator

A high-performance, real-time implementation of Lenia, a continuous cellular automaton system that produces life-like emergent behaviors. This project leverages GPU compute shaders for massively parallel simulation, enabling smooth interactive exploration of complex artificial life patterns.

Features

Core Simulation

• Multiple Lenia Variants: Classic Lenia, Multi-channel Lenia, Game of Life, SmoothLife, Larger-Than-Life
• 548 Pre-loaded Species: Extensive library including Orbium, Scutium, Hydrogeminium, and multichannel creatures
• 11 Growth Functions: Lenia Gaussian, Step, SmoothLife, Polynomial, Exponential, Double Peak, Asymptotic, SoftClip, Quad4, and more
• 10 Kernel Types: Gaussian Shell, Bump4, Multi-ring variants, Mexican Hat, Cosine Shell, and custom ring configurations

Multichannel System

• Support for 1-3 independent channels (RGB visualization)
• Up to 16 simultaneous interaction rules
• Cross-channel growth dynamics
• Channel-specific kernel configurations

Visualization

• 12+ Colormaps: Viridis, Magma, Inferno, Plasma, Jet, Lenia, Rainbow, Grayscale, and custom colormaps
• Display Modes: Normal, Kernel overlay, Growth field, Neighbor sums, Delta view
• Real-time Colormap Controls: Range, power curve, offset, reverse
• Mouse Hover: Real-time cell value display with coordinates

Analysis & Monitoring

• Live Analysis: Mass, alive cell count, centroid tracking, speed, direction
• Pattern Detection: Periodic behavior detection, stability monitoring, auto-pause
• Graphs with Axes: Professional visualizations with labeled axes, ticks, and grid lines
• Performance Metrics: FPS, frame time statistics, throughput (Gcells/s), efficiency rating

User Interface

• Searchable preset browser with category filtering
• Species preview with current colormap
• Grid transformations (flip horizontal/vertical, rotate CW/CCW)
• Placement options: Center, corners, scatter, grid, random
• Real-time parameter adjustment with slider markers for default values

Requirements

Build Requirements

• Compiler: MinGW-w64 (MSYS2 UCRT64) with GCC 13+ or GCC 15 recommended
• Graphics: OpenGL 4.5 compatible GPU (4.6 preferred)
• OS: Windows 10/11

Runtime Requirements

• OpenGL 4.5+ capable graphics card
• GPU with compute shader support

Building

Quick Build

.\build_windows.bat

Build Options

.\build_windows.bat --clean      # Clean rebuild
.\build_windows.bat --no-pause   # No pause at end (for scripts)
.\build_windows.bat --help       # Show options

The build script automatically:

• Detects MSYS2/MinGW-w64 installation
• Downloads and sets up required libraries (GLFW, GLAD, GLM, Dear ImGui)
• Compiles with optimizations (-O3, LTO)
• Links statically for easy distribution

Manual Build

If you prefer using Make directly:

mingw32-make -j8

Usage

Controls

Key	Action
Space	Pause/Resume simulation
S	Single step (hold for continuous stepping)
Shift+S	Fast continuous stepping
R	Reset with current preset
C	Clear grid
Arrow Keys	Pan view
Scroll	Zoom in/out
Middle Mouse	Pan view (drag)
F	Fit view to grid

Getting Started

1. Launch bin/lenia.exe
2. Browse presets in the Presets section
3. Select a category (e.g., "Multichannel") and choose a species
4. Press Space to start the simulation
5. Adjust parameters in real-time using the UI panels

Architecture

GPU-Accelerated Pipeline

Input → Kernel Generation → Convolution (Compute Shader) → Growth Function → State Update → Render

• Zero-Copy Simulation: Grid state lives entirely in VRAM
• Double-Buffered State: Ping-pong rendering for consistent updates
• Compute Shaders: Massively parallel simulation (millions of cells per frame)

Key Components

Component	Description
LeniaEngine	Core simulation controller
SimulationState	Double-buffered texture management
KernelManager	Kernel generation and caching
Renderer	Display and colormap application
AnalysisManager	Pattern tracking and statistics
UIOverlay	Dear ImGui interface

Performance

• Typical performance: 60+ FPS at 512×512 grid with R=13 kernel
• Throughput: 10+ Gcells/s on modern GPUs
• Minimal CPU overhead (GPU-bound simulation)

Project Structure

Lenia/
├── src/                   # C++ source files
│   ├── Main.cpp           # Entry point
│   ├── Application.*      # Main loop and coordination
│   ├── LeniaEngine.*      # Simulation engine
│   ├── KernelManager.*    # Kernel texture generation
│   ├── Renderer.*         # Display rendering
│   ├── UIOverlay.*        # ImGui interface
│   ├── AnalysisManager.*  # Pattern analysis
│   └── Presets.*          # Species database
├── assets/
│   ├── shaders/           # GLSL compute and fragment shaders
│   └── init/              # Initialization patterns
├── colormap/              # Custom colormap files
└── libs/                  # Pre-built libraries

Technical Details

Simulation Parameters

Parameter	Range	Description
R (Radius)	1-50	Kernel radius in cells
μ (mu)	0.0-1.0	Growth function center
σ (sigma)	0.001-0.3	Growth function width
dt	0.01-1.0	Time step per update

Supported Grid Sizes

• Minimum: 64×64
• Default: 350×350
• Maximum: 2048×2048 (GPU memory dependent)

Credits

Lenia Research

• Bert Wang-Chak Chan: Creator of Lenia (Original Paper)
• Lenia community for documenting species and parameter spaces

Libraries

• GLFW - Window and input handling
• GLAD - OpenGL loader
• GLM - Mathematics library
• Dear ImGui - Immediate mode GUI