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- WINDOWS POOL
-
- Mark Lutton September 3, 1990
- Compuserve: 73106,1627
- Bix: MarkLutton
-
- Copyright (c) 1990 Mark Lutton
- All Rights Reserved
-
- This is not a game; you just watch it. It produces
- absolutely amazing graphics (if I do say so myself) using
- the simplest possible rules. You'll see Scots plaids,
- lace, weaving patterns, flowers, Arabian tiles, Op Art
- checkerboards, baroque carvings, and optical illusions.
- Patterns constantly change from one to the other.
- Wallpaper for your mind; LSD for your computer.
-
- WINDOWS POOL is based on a program by Tim Peters for the
- Tandy Model 100, which in turn was based on an article by
- Ken Marks in the June 1984 issue of 80 Micro magazine.
-
- Imagine an idealized pool table of an arbitrary size where the
- ball goes on a diagonal path, never slows down and always bounces
- off the cushion with no loss of speed. As the ball goes along
- it draws a line -- or to be more precise, it XOR's a line. Now
- reflect that table three times and put the four reflections in
- the four corners of the window, possibly overlapping.
-
- "Window width" and "Window height" are the dimensions of the
- client area of the window. You can resize the window in the
- usual way, or you can set the numbers in the Options box.
- If both numbers are even, there will be no black spots in the
- pattern; only gray. The mathematically inclined can figure
- out why.
-
- "Table Width" and "Table Height" are the dimensions of the
- imaginary pool table. If each dimension is less than half of the
- window dimension, the four reflected tables will not overlap. If
- any dimension is greater than the window, only part of the
- pattern will be visible.
-
- "Start X" and "Start Y" are the starting points of the ball
- within the table.
-
- Press "Random" to get random table dimensions and starting point.
-
- A tiny difference in the parameters can make a huge difference
- in the pattern. If you find a pattern you like, write down the
- parameters. The same parameters will always produce the same
- pattern. This is pure chaos: totally deterministic and completely
- unpredictable.
-
- Here are some astounding pool patterns:
-
- Window Width 462
- Window Height 299
- Table Width 337
- Table Height 264
- Start X 60
- Start Y 95
-
-
- Window Width 545
- Window Height 353
- Table Width 526
- Table Height 176
- Start X 136
- Start Y 73
-
-
- Window Width 566
- Window Height 349
- Table Width 491
- Table Height 342
- Start X 12
- Start Y 288
-