[PD] cellular automata with pd

[wwcarpen]

Hello everybody. I've been interested in doing some experiments with cellular 
automata scpecifically visual but maybe i could journey into different 
controls for sound and composition as well. I'm interested in starting simple, 
and then seeing where i could go with it, but i don't know quite where to 
begin. I'm thinking GEM is what i want to use here for my output. what is the 
best way
to set up a grid to have the fill of the blocks alternate their color 
according to rules? I don't have much expirience with coding so i get hung up 
on the most effective way to do it. Maybe someone has started a framework like 
this i could take a look at? Also I'm thinking that maybe there is a simpler 
way of outputing the graphics, because all I want is 2D for now. I thought 
about using plain text symbols in the console window but that isnt really 
elegant enough, and the data structures always seem to get unstable on my 
machine when the patch becomes complex (i guess this could be poor coding on 
my part)

anyway. thanks for any info,
walter carpenter

ps, in the time I took attempting to send this message (long, pointless 
story..) i did find the cellular automata external that comes with maxlib. I 
think it will help me out a lot, although it still doesnt explain how i should 
go about setting up a basic array for the visual output.