The main screen

gLife begins with a window displaying a 25x25 grid on the left. On the right a window with a selection of buttons beneath it: Continue, Pause, Terrain info and Animal info. Two Co-ordinate boxes complete the choice. A standard menubar is at the top of the gLife window.

To begin a simulation, open the File menu and select Start simulation. The Pause button will become available from the main screen, and the simulation will begin. You can watch your animals growing and moving in the varied terrain of the main grid and watch the summaries for each turn in the window to the right.

The simulation will end naturally, unless you have made your animals immortal, but you can halt it yourself if you want. To end a simulation, open the File menu and select End simulation. The animals must stop moving before you can end the turn. This means it will be harder to end a simulation with really fast timeouts.