twegner@mwunix.mitre.org (Timothy Wegner) (08/03/90)
Release 14 of FRACTINT, the IBMPC fractal-generating program, has been
uploaded to Compuserve in the COMART forum, lib 2. Files don't become
visible immediately, and I may not be able to get the official version
to upload to the net until I get back from SIGGRAPH. So if anybody has
both Compuserve and Internet access, I would appreciate their downloading
it and distributing around the net. I could also use suggestions of FTP
sites to put it that are accesible for uploading via anonymous FTP. I always
sent it to wsmr-simtel20.army.mil, but that is not accessible to everyone and
is *VERY* busy.
The following is from the "new features" section of the docs:
NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 14.0
LAST MINUTE NEWS FLASH!
Compuserve announces the GIF89a on August 1, 1990, and FRACTINT
supports it on August 2! GIF files can now contain fractal
information! FRACTINT now saves its files in the new GIF89a format
by default, and uses .GIF rather than .FRA as a default filetype.
Note that FRACTINT still *looks* for a .FRA file on file restores
if it can't find a .GIF file, and can be coerced into using the old
GIF87a format with the new 'gif87a=yes' command-line option.
Pieter Branderhorst mounted a major campaign to get his name in lights:
Mouse interface: Diagonals, faster movement, improved feel.
Mouse button assignments have changed - see the online help.
Zoom box enhancements: The zoom box can be rotated, stretched, skewed,
and panned partially offscreen. See "More Zoom Box Commands".
FINALLY!! You asked for it and we (eventually, by talking Pieter into
it [actually he grabbed it]) did it! Images can be saved before
completion, for a subsequent restore and continue. See "Interrupting
and Resuming" and "Batch Mode".
Off-center symmetry: Fractint now takes advantage of x or y axis
symmetry anywhere on the screen to reduce drawing time.
Panning: If you move an image up, down, left, or right, and don't
change anything else, only the new edges are calculated.
Disk-video caching - it is now possible, reasonable even, to do most
things with disk video, including solid guessing, 3d, and plasma.
Logarithmic palette changed to use all colors. It now matches regular
palette except near the "lake". "logmap=old" gets the old way.
New "savetime=nnn" parameter to save checkpoints during long calculations.
Calculation time is shown in <Tab> display.
Kevin Allen, of Antipodean origin, did the following:
Made Bifurcation/Verhulst into a generalised Fractal Engine (like
StandardFractal, but for Bifurcation types), and implemented
periodicity checking for Bifurcation types to speed them up.
Added Integer version of Verhulst Bifurcation (lots faster now).
Integer is the default. The Floating-Point toggle works, too.
Added NEW Fractal types BIFLAMBDA, BIF+SINPI, and BIF=SINPI.
These are Bifurcation types that make use of the new Engine.
Floating-point/Integer toggle is available for BIFLAMBDA.
The SINPI types are Floating-Point only, at this time.
Corrected the generation of the MandelLambda Set. Sorry, but it's
always been wrong (up to v 12, at least). Ask Mandelbrot !
Added NEW Fractal types MAGNET1M, MAGNET1J, MAGNET2M, MAGNET2J from
"The Beauty of Fractals". Floating-Point only, so far, but
what do you expect with THESE formulae ?!
Added new symmetry types XAXIS NOIMAG and XAXIS NOREAL, required by
the new MAGNETic Fractal types.
Added Finite Attractor Bailout (FAB) logic to detect when
iterations are approaching a known finite attractor. This is
required by the new MAGNETic Fractal types.
Added Finite Attractor Detection (FAD) logic which can be used by
*SOME* Julia types prior to generating an image, to test for
finite attractors, and find their values, for use by FAB logic.
Can be used by the new MAGNETic Fractal Types, Lambda Sets, and
some other other Julia types too.
Mike Burkey sent us new tweaked video modes:
VGA - 400x600x256 376x564x256 400x564x256
ATI VGA - 832x612x256
New HP Paintjet support from Chris Martin
New "FUNCTION=" command to allow substition of different transcendental
functions for variables in types (allows one type with four of these
variables to represent 7*7*7*7 different types!
ALL KINDS of new fractal types, some using "FUNCTION=": fn(z*z), fn*fn,
fn*z+z, fn+fn, sqr(1/fn), sqr(fn), spider, tetrate, and Manowar. Most
of these are generalizations of formula fractal types contributed by
Scott Taylor and Lee Skinner.
Distance Estimator logic can now be applied to many fractal types using
distest= option. The types "demm" and "demj" have been replaced by
"type=mandel distest=nnn" and "type=julia distest=nnn"
Added extended memory support for diskvideo thanks to Paul Varner
Added support for "center and magnification" format for corners.
Color 0 is no longer generated except when specifically requested with
inside= or outside=.
Formula name is now included in <Tab> display and in <S>aved images.
Bug fixes - formula type and diskvideo, batch file outside=-1 problem
Now you can produce your favorite fractal terrains in full color instead of
boring old monochrome! Use the fullcolor option in 3d! Along with a
few new 3D options.
New "INITORBIT=" command to allow alternate Mandelbrot set orbit
initialization.jml00458@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jean Michael Liddle) (08/18/90)
In article <twegner.649691827@mwunix.mitre.org> twegner@mwunix.mitre.org (Timothy Wegner) writes: >Mike Burkey sent us new tweaked video modes: > VGA - 400x600x256 376x564x256 400x564x256 > ATI VGA - 832x612x256 Could someone post or e-mail me hints, sources, and/or other info on how to go about setting up these "tweaked VGA modes" and writing a pixel to the screen under these modes? I am currently writing applications (destined ultimately for the public domain) and would be interested in extending them to include these nonstandard modes. Any help would be greatly appreciated! --Thanks in advance, Jean M. Liddle e-mail jml00458@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
joe@proto.COM (Joe Huffman) (08/18/90)
In article <1990Aug18.032113.11706@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>, jml00458@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jean Michael Liddle) writes: > In article <twegner.649691827@mwunix.mitre.org> twegner@mwunix.mitre.org (Timothy Wegner) writes: > >Mike Burkey sent us new tweaked video modes: > > VGA - 400x600x256 376x564x256 400x564x256 > > ATI VGA - 832x612x256 > > Could someone post or e-mail me hints, sources, and/or other info on how > to go about setting up these "tweaked VGA modes" and writing a pixel to the > screen under these modes? Most vendors have technical reference manuals that give you this sort of information. I have paid from $0.00 (Hercules last week) to $50.00 (Video 7 VEGA VGA 2 years ago). You might also want to contact VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association). They have standardized many of the "Super VGA" (more common than "tweaked") modes and how to access the pixels in these modes. Ask for their spec on SUPER VGA BIOS EXTENSION. Many of the older boards will not support the VESA standard without a ROM upgrade or a TSR program but nearly all the new ones support at least one of the VESA modes (800 x 600 x 16 colors). Another possibility is to purchase a graphics library that supports those modes. I wrote the graphics library that comes with the Zortech C/C++ library and it currently supports the VESA 800 x 600 x 16 color mode. Some of the other modes are planned for the future (some time after I get the UNIX port done). VESA Suite D 1330 South Bascom Avenue San Jose, CA 95128-4502 Voice: (408) 971-7525 FAX: (408) 286-8988 -- joe@proto.com uunet!proto!joe FAX: 208-263-8772