/* Creates further generations */
public static void NewGeneration(ref Cell[,] currentGeneration)
{
Cell[,] nextGeneration = new Cell[COLUMNS, ROWS];
for (var i = 0; i < Game.COLUMNS; i++)
{
for (var j = 0; j < Game.ROWS; j++)
{
var currentCell = (Cell)currentGeneration[i, j].Clone();
var state = currentCell.State;
/* Calculate neighbors of the current cell and store the returned value. */
var neighbors = Game.CountNeighbors(currentGeneration, i, j);
/* Rule #4: Any dead cell with exactly 3 neighbors becomes an alive cell. */
if (state == Cell.DEAD && neighbors == 3)
{
nextGeneration[i, j] = currentCell;
nextGeneration[i, j].State = Cell.ALIVE;
nextGeneration[i, j].Age = 1;
}
/* Rule #1 and #3: Any alive cell with fewer than 2 or more than 3 alive neighbors dies. */
else if (state == Cell.ALIVE && (neighbors < 2 || neighbors > 3))
{
nextGeneration[i, j] = currentCell;
nextGeneration[i, j].State = Cell.DEAD;
nextGeneration[i, j].Age = 0;
/* Later WasAlive property will be used to distinguish cells which were once alive from dead ones. */
nextGeneration[i, j].WasAlive = true;
}
/* The rest stays same. Follows Rule #2: Any alive cell with 2 or 3 neighbors lives on the next generation. */
else
{
nextGeneration[i, j] = currentCell;
/* Increase age of the alive cell as it'll keep living on the next generation. */
if (currentCell.State == Cell.ALIVE)
{
nextGeneration[i, j].Age++;
}
}
/* Regenerate colors based on changed properties. */
nextGeneration[i, j].ChangeColor();
}
}
currentGeneration = nextGeneration.Clone() as Cell[, ];
}