borneo@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Tane' Tachyon) (06/28/90)
"Mandelbrot 3", from Midnight Beach, is a fast, powerful and innovative
program for exploring the Mandelbrot and Julia sets on IBM-compatible
computers. Yes, this message is basically going to amount to an ad for a
commercial program, but hopefully you can bear with me on this, because:
1. I'll try to be as tasteful as possible!
2. I think there are a lot of people out there who haven't heard about this
program and would like to.
3. Who knows, this message may spark some interesting discussions on the
Mandelbrot set, writing fractal programs, or other related subjects.
4. Don't worry ... I'm only going to post this once!
Mandelbrot 3 has gotten some wonderful reviews, but it's not very well known
yet in comparison with some of the other fractal programs out there, mainly
because the author, Jon Shemitz of Midnight Beach, is one of those "addicted
to programming, allergic to marketing" types.
It is very possibly the fastest Mandelbrot and Julia set explorer available
for MS-DOS systems. It uses assembly language routines for all its
calculations, and will use a math coprocessor if you have one. The "walker"
option speeds computation by tracing the edges of the set. Shallow zooms
use 32-bit fixed-point math for speed, while deep zooms use 64-bit fixed
point (or the math chip, if available) for accuracy.
In addition to raw speed, Mandelbrot 3 features an incremental draw (called
a "conceptual breakthrough" by one reviewer), starting with a very sparse
image and then doubling the resolution until it's done. This lets you see
where you are in seconds: you can then either let it continue to flesh out
the picture, making the image brighter and more detailed, or immediately
move, zoom or unzoom to another area of interest.
It is also very easy to use, featuring a graphic mouse-based (you can use
the cursor keys if you don't have a mouse) user interface, with most
commands always visible as "buttons" on the screen.
Mandelbrot 3 requires a 350-line EGA or a VGA, and can take full advantage
of VGA 480-line and 256-color modes. It has several standard palettes and
also a Lissajous cycle mode for producing a continuous stream of new semi-
random palettes. You can select different image-processing functions to
enhance the details of a picture. "Psychedelic" is the word usually used to
describe its color cycling mode.
**************** Some comments from a few recent reviews ****************
"startlingly fast ... absolutely gorgeous ... Recommended." - Jerry
Pournelle, Byte Magazine, June 1990 issue
"RECommend this very strongly as one of the most wonderful programs you can
acquire this year for a PC with EGA or VGA ... I ran the program on my '386
with VGA and was absolutely delighted." - Dr. Mike Ecker, editor, The
Recreational and Educational Computing newsletter, Volume 5, #3&4 (double
issue)
"possibly the fastest Mandelbrot set maker you can find for any MS-DOS
computer" - John Pilge, ibid
"one of the best values in recreational software I've ever seen ... all the
little touches it needs to be a great program ... The manual is clear and
includes theory as well as practice." - Mike Gunderloy, Factsheet Five
issue 36
************************* Ordering & Info info **************************
Mandelbrot 3 is $25, which includes shipping to anywhere in the world. (But
if it's going to a California address, you have to add another $1.56 for
California sales tax.)
If you'd like to order a copy of Mandelbrot 3, you can send a check to:
Midnight Beach
1805A Felt St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Or call (408) 479-9916 to charge your order on Visa or MasterCard.
If you'd like more information, you can, again, call (408) 479-9916, or send
mail to midnight@gorn.santa-cruz.ca.us (I made this the "Reply-To" address
of this message, BTW.)
If you'd like a glossy flyer describing (in both photographs and text)
Mandelbrot 3 in much greater detail, send your name and (postal) address to
midnight@gorn.santa-cruz.ca.us
If you want to flame me for shameless self-promotion on the net, I'm
tachyon@gorn.santa-cruz.ca.us