Download Setup.exe(424k)     Download Windows MSI Installer(512k)

I made this screensaver in C# with the Tao Library so I could use OpenGL graphics to do cool 3D stuff. It is based on Conway's Game of Life cellular automaton. Click above to download the installer. I have been having some trouble getting it stable on some systems, so please contact me using the links below if you have any problems with it. Here's some screenshots and instructions below.

After installing the screensaver, you will see it in the Display control panel in the list under the screen saver tab. It will be listed as JazzySaver2. These are the options:

  • Rotation Speed - A floating point number with larger numbers indication faster rotations. Numbers under 5 are best. Set this to 0 for no rotation.
  • Max Gens/Sec - Number of Life generations to generate per second - does not affect frame rate or animation smoothness. To get maximum generation speed, set this to something big like 1000.
  • Grid Size - width and height of the grid in cells. Grids are always square. Numbers between 25 and 500 are best here, but large grids suffer from display problems and bad framerates.
  • Reset Interval - Some patterns stabilise at different times. This is the number of generations to run before starting over.
  • Rainbow - This enables a Groovy Rainbow Effect.
  • 3D - In square grid mode, the cells are displayed as tiny 3D boxes. With this option cleared, the cells are displayed as flat polygons.
  • Toroid - Wrap the edges of the square together to form a torus. It will still be displayed as a grid.
  • Framerate - Show the framerate in the window.
  • Cubical - Displays the grid on the surface of a cube.
  • Cube Background - Fills the faces of the cube with color. The color changes if you turn off rainbow effects. If you turn off backgrounds, the cube is displayed as wireframe, and you can see through it.
  • Translate - this causes X and Y translation to occur.
  • Show Emptys - shows the empty cells as dots.
  • Presets
    • Dropdown list - Select from a few preset patterns, or a randomly generated pattern
    • Pick File - allows you to load a pattern file
    • Use File - Clearing this box will reset your initial pattern back to the preset from the dropdown

This shows the "cubical" rendering mode

This shows the "2X Blocklayer" after 2000 and 3000 generations on grids of 300 and 400.

Showing the 2D mode