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RECURSIVE REALM - FRACTAL EXPLORATION SYSTEM
Version 2.5
Copyright 1989, 1990, 1991 - All Rights Reserved
By Scott A. Jones
Austin Software Design
_______
____|__ | (R)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| Member
USER'S GUIDE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INSTALLATION AND REQUIREMENTS ........................ 1
PROGRAM FEATURES ........................ 2
REGISTRATION ........................ 3
SHAREWARE INFO ........................ 5
ABOUT THE PCX FORMAT ........................ 6
PROGRAM HISTORY (WHAT'S NEW) ........................ 6
PICTURE COMPATIBILITY/CONVERSION ........................ 7
VERSION 1.0 ........................ 7
VERSION 1.5 ........................ 8
FILE CHART ........................ 9
FUNCTIONAL CHANGES IN V.2.0+ ........................ 10
OVERVIEW ........................ 11
A QUICK LOOK (NEW USER TOUR) ........................ 12
TERMINOLOGY ........................ 14
BASIC OPERATION ........................ 15
STARTING RECURSIVE REALM ........................ 16
MAIN MENU CHOICES ........................ 17
TASK MENU CHOICES ........................ 18
COLORING ........................ 19
A TYPICAL COLORING SESSION ........................ 20
SMOOTH VGA PALETTE ........................ 21
STARTING FROM SCRATCH ........................ 22
ENTERING DATA ........................ 23
MAGNITUDE AND CENTER POINT ........................ 25
THE ESCAPE-TIME ALGORITHM ........................ 26
MANDELBROT SET PICTURES ........................ 27
WARPED MANDELBROTS ........................ 28
JULIA SET PICTURES ........................ 29
NEWTON'S METHOD PICTURES ........................ 31
MODELS FOR MAGNETISM PICTURES ........................ 32
MANDELBROT UNIVERSALITY ........................ 32
3-D, SPHERES, AND CONVOLUTION ........................ 33
3-D PROJECTION ........................ 33
SPHERE PROJECTION ........................ 33
CONVOLUTION ........................ 34
JIGSAW PUZZLES ........................ 35
RAPID EXPAND ........................ 35
PICTURE BUILDING TIPS ........................ 36
ALL PICTURES ........................ 36
MANDELBROT SET PICTURES ........................ 37
JULIA SET PICTURES ........................ 37
NEWTON'S METHOD PICTURES ........................ 38
MODELS OF MAGNETISM PICTURES ........................ 38
USING A MOUSE ........................ 39
GETTING THE LATEST VERSION ........................ 39
TROUBLESHOOTING ........................ 40
COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ........................ 40
CONTACTING ME ........................ 41
FRACTINT ........................ 42
POSSIBLE UPCOMING FEATURES ........................ 42
APPENDIX A: HOT KEYS ........................ 45
MAIN MENU ........................ 45
DATA-ENTRY MENU ........................ 46
WHILE BUILDING OR VIEWING ........................ 46
ZOOM MODE ........................ 47
ANIMATING ........................ 48
BUILDING 3D, SPHERE, CONV. ........................ 48
BUILDING JIGSAW ........................ 49
RAPID EXPANSION ........................ 49
APPENDIX B: MISC. INFORMATION ........................ 50
FILE NAMES ........................ 50
SOURCES OF INFORMATION ........................ 50
PROGRAM SPEED ........................ 51
DIFFERENT RESOLUTIONS ........................ 51
UNATTENDED DEVELOPMENT ........................ 52
REFERENCES ........................ 53
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................ 54
REC JOURNAL ........................ 55
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................ 55
REGISTRATION FORM ........................ 56
Page 1
INSTALLATION AND REQUIREMENTS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Program file: 1. rr.exe
Picture files: any with the following extensions -
1. ".rrm", ".rrj", ".rrn", ".rrp", ".rr3",
".rrs", or ".rrc" (all in pcx format)
2. ".dat" (data file for picture)
Additional files: 1. rrwelc.ome (welcome screen)
2. rrealm.doc (user's guide)
3. rrpics20.cat (picture catalog from
version 2.0)
4. rrpics25.cat (picture catalog from
version 2.5)
To install Recursive Realm, copy the two files "rr.exe"
and "rrwelc.ome" into any desired directory. Copy any other
files (picture files) into the same directory or into the
directory in which you will want to build pictures.
If you will run "rr" from outside of this directory, you will
need to set a DOS path to it. For example, if you are using
Recursive Realm on the C drive in a subdirectory called \rrealm,
place the line "set path=c:\rrealm" (without the quotes) in your
autoexec.bat file. If you're using a hard drive, it is a good
idea to make a separate directory for pictures since you may
want to build several.
Recursive Realm can be used with any 100% IBM compatible
computer with EGA or VGA color graphics, at least 512k of
available RAM and DOS v2.0 or higher. In addition, a math
coprocessor will save you hours of picture building time but is
not absolutely necessary. Expanded memory is supported.
Page 2
PROGRAM FEATURES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Mandelbrot set exploration.
- Includes "warped" Mandelbrots.
* Julia set exploration.
- Five functions, including sin, cos, and exponential.
- Ability to select Julia set of Mandelbrot function
by "pointing" to an area while viewing a Mandelbrot
picture.
* Newton's Method exploration.
- Fourteen functions.
* Models of Magnetism exploration.
- Two functions.
* Easy-to-use front-end menu system.
* Unattended multiple-picture development.
* Help screens available at every step.
* Save pictures at any point and continue building at a later
time.
* On-screen "zooming".
* Mouse support.
* 3-D projection.
* Sphere projection.
* Convolution (skeletonizing).
* Jigsaw puzzles (just for the fun of it).
* Rapid expansion.
* Pictures saved in PCX format.
* Escape sequence tracking.
* Color while building or after completion.
* Color via a "banded" or "smooth VGA" system.
* Uses expanded memory when available.
* Uses virtual screens for fast, efficient display.
* Takes advantage of symmetry where applicable.
* Slide-show animation.
* Simple mode selection (EGA, VGA, or smooth VGA).
* Includes two catalog files of over 200 picture parameters.
* Bonus programs for registering.
* Upgrades for no more than postage.
* Supported by author.
Page 3
REGISTRATION:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recursive Realm is a shareware product. It may be freely
copied and shared with others as long as no charge is made for
the program, and it is unmodified and distributed with ALL of
it's support files intact. Vendors may charge a small fee for
an evaluation disk.
You are granted a license to try Recursive Realm for a period of
30 days. If you continue to use it after the trial period, please
register by sending the $20.00 registration fee* to:
Scott Jones
Austin Software Design
Rt. 3 22514 W. Gibson
Buckeye, Az. 85326
* Recursive Realm is FREE to teachers. If you teach, just mark
"teacher" on the registration form and send it in.
If 30 days is not enough time, please take whatever time you need
to evaluate Recursive Realm. Your registration fee entitles you
to use this software on a single computer and to make as many
copies as you wish for backup purposes or for distribution as
described above. When you register, you will receive a regist-
ration number and instructions on how to store it into your copy.
Your name will then be displayed on the welcome screen, and the
Shareware screen displayed upon exiting the program will be
suppressed. You will also receive the latest version of the
program plus the following two FREE BONUS programs:
1.) MILLER - Also from Austin Software Design. A fun and
addicting graphics program that lets you build an
infinite number of spectacular "quadric-like"
surfaces. (Normal registration fee $8.00 - You
get it free).
2.) PERUSE - An amazing TSR file browser from Falk Data
Systems, (authors of the Programmer's
Productivity Pack" and Easy Format). Peruse lets
you to read an ASCII file, (like the one you're
reading now), while using virtually any other
program. Peruse also lets you shell to DOS from
virtually any other program. A great utility!
Page 4
If you have a phone modem and don't already have a CompuServe
account, you will receive instructions on how to get a FREE
CompuServe IntroPak with a $15.00 usage credit. (NOTE: Austin
Software Design in not affiliated with, and receives no benefits
from CompuServe in any way). Last, but definitely not least,
program upgrades will be made available to registered users for
no more than a small postage fee.
To register please use the form at the end of this user's quide.
If you have any questions, please write or call. (See "CONTACTING
AUSTIN SOFTWARE DESIGN").
Page 5
SHAREWARE INFO:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software
before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue
using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs
differ on details -- some request registration while others
require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With regist-
ration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using
the software to an updated program with a printed manual.
Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software,
and the copyright holder retains all rights. Shareware authors
are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and
the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there
are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the
method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right
to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or
to a specific group. For example, some authors require written
permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their
Shareware.
So, Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software.
You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook,
whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes
fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy.
And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware
has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the
product, you don't pay for it.
This program is produced by a member of the Association of
Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the
shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve
a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the
member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can
help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member but does
not provide technical support for members' products. Please write
to the ASP Ombudsman at Post Office Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006
or send a message via Compuserve Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.
If you are unable to reach the author at the address or phone
number listed in this guide, then send a SASE to the ASP at the
above address and the correct information will be forwarded to
you.
Page 6
ABOUT THE PCX FORMAT:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The popular PCX format was developed by the ZSoft corporation
for use with their PC Paintbrush program. There are several good
commercial as well as Shareware programs available for doing just
about anything to PCX files that you could possibly want to do.
In addition to the commercial appeal, the files are, on the
average, about 50% smaller than those in Recursive Realm version
1.0. If you have a PCX graphics program such as PC Paintbrush or
Word Perfect, then you can generate very nice fractal printouts.
PROGRAM HISTORY: (What's new)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 1.0 - Released in October, 1989. Native file-saving
~~~~~~~~~~~ format. Pictures are not compatible with later
versions. If you have this version and do not
have the picture conversion file "old2new.exe",
that came with version 1.5, please let me know
and I'll send it to you.
Version 1.5 - Released in February, 1990. PCX format. Added
~~~~~~~~~~~ F7 key.
Version 2.0 - Released July, 1990. Expanded memory. Virtual
~~~~~~~~~~~ screens. Escape sequence tracking, Expanded
help system. Added two Julia set functions.
Added four Newton's method functions. Direct
graphics mode selection from data-entry menu.
Key changes (F1 to F2). Speed improvements.
Julia set zooming. Warped Mandelbrots.
Version 2.5 - Released February, 1991. 3-D projection. Sphere
~~~~~~~~~~~ projection. Convolution. Jigsaw puzzles. Rapid
expansion. Variable escape radius. Added a new
Newton's method function and one new Magnetism
function to show the "universality" of the Mand-
elbrot set. Smooth VGA coloring. Mouse support.
Page 7
PICTURE COMPATIBILITY AND CONVERSION:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you do not have version 1.0 or version 1.5, then skip
this section.
VERSION 1.0:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 1.0 pictures are NOT compatible with later versions.
Converting v.1.0 picture files to v.1.5+ (PCX) format -
1.) Back up your files!!! In order to avoid "disk
full" errors, the old picture files will be
deleted before saving to the new format.
2.) Copy "old2new.exe" onto a disk and/or directory
where you can access it.
3.) Type "old2new [path]picname.pi?" without the
quotes, where picname is the name of your picture,
the path (optional) is the DOS path to the picture,
and pi? is the extension of your picture. The
possible extensions for v.1.0 are ".pic", ".pij",
".pin", and ".pim".
Conversion Example:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following command -
old2new c:\rrealm\pics\nicejul.pij
would convert a version 1.0 picture called
"nicejul.pij" located in the C drive in a
directory called \rrealm\pics\
Page 8
VERSION 1.5:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
**IMPORTANT**
If you have any incomplete version 1.5 pictures, complete
them before using them with version 2.0 or 2.5! Coloring and
symmetry is handled a little differently in v.2.0+ so the picture
may not continue developing correctly. The Flat Range, and Band
Widths are now entered as actual values rather than percentages!
This will be automatically adjusted for in your completed
pictures, but you will need to keep this in mind for building
future pictures. You will find that you have much more color
control this way.
COMPLETED version 1.5 pictures ARE compatible with version 2.0+,
but you may find that there is an extra scan line at the bottom of
pictures created with version 1.5. To eliminate this, follow these
steps:
1.) Back up the picture (optional, but I'm a worry-wart).
2.) View the picture.
3.) While viewing, press <CTRL-F> "Fix".
4.) The picture should be resaved without the extra scan
line. If not, repeat steps 1-3.
Because of symmetry and color changes, do not use earlier
versions to view version 2.0+ pictures!
Page 9
FILE CHART:
~~~~~~~~~~~
V. 1.0 V. 1.5, 2.0 V. 2.5
-------------------------|--------|-------------|---------
Mandelbrot picture files | .pic | .rrm | .rrm
Mandelbrot data files | .dat | .dat | .dat
Mandelbrot color files | .clr | N/A | N/A
| | |
Julia picture files | .pij | .rrj | .rrj
Julia data files | .dat | .dat | .dat
Julia color files | .clr | N/A | N/A
| | |
Newton picture files | .pin | .rrn | .rrn
Newton data files | .dat | .dat | .dat
Newton color files | .clr | N/A | N/A
| | |
Magnetism picture files | .pim | .rrp | .rrp
Magnetism data files | .dat | .dat | .dat
Magnetism color files | .clr | N/A | N/A
| | |
3-D picture files | N/A | N/A | .rr3
Sphere picture files | N/A | N/A | .rrs
Convolution picture files| N/A | N/A | .rrc
(The last letter of the picture file extension corresponds to
the first letter of the main menu choice)
The files "animate.exe" and "rrealm.exe" are no longer used
in version 2.0+. If you have them from earlier versions, you
can remove them from your disk.
Page 10
FUNCTIONAL CHANGES FROM VERSION 1.5 TO VERSION 2.0+:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Flat Range and Band Widths are entered as actual values
rather than percentages. This allows much greater color
control.
* The F2 key has replaced the functions of the F1 key. F1
is now ALWAYS used for help.
* Graph Width will automatically be scaled to the nearest
size evenly divisible by 80. (For example, if you enter
130, it will be scaled up to 160.)
* VGA or EGA mode can be chosen directly from data-entry menu.
* Zoom mode is now available with Julia sets.
* Escape sequence tracking (CTRL-T) is now available.
* Newton's method pictures of the function x^3 - 1 are now
correct. (The old versions had a bug which made these
pictures look "fuzzy").
Page 11
OVERVIEW:
~~~~~~~~~
Are you ready to take a "Recursion Excursion"? Recursive
Realm Fractal Exploration System is both an educational and fun
tool for visualizing some of the amazing mathematical functions
(equations) being extensively explored by scientists on the
cutting edge of Chaos today. Sound complicated? It really isn't.
Believe it or not, most of the functions explored here are very
fundamental and don't require a strong background in math to
understand. Recursive Realm allows you to build and color the
following functions:
* The Mandelbrot set in its entirety or microscopic portions
of the beautiful border areas of the set.
* The Julia sets of 5 different functions including the
Mandelbrot function.
* Newton's Method for finding the roots of 14 different
functions.
* Models of Magnetism for 2 different functions as defined
by ref. (1) (see bibliography).
All pictures are centered around the true center of your
screen and you may define the amount of the screen to use for the
picture. Pictures can be saved at any stage of completeness and
restarted from where previously stopped. To avoid losing your
work due to power failure, pictures are automatically saved every
25 lines. Pictures can be randomly colored at any time during or
after the building process by hitting <F10> and the new palette
information can be saved with a single keystroke - <F2>.
In addition to all of the above, Recursive Realm is run from a
safe and easy to use menuing system which allows for easy file
selection, renaming, and deletion from anywhere on your drive(s).
Help screens are available from anywhere by pressing <F1>.
Once you have built some fractal pictures, you can have more
fun with them by projecting them onto a 3-D plate or block, proj-
ecting them onto a sphere, convoluting them, or mixing them up
and putting them back together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Page 12
A QUICK LOOK:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE <F1> KEY CAN BE PRESSED AT ANY STEP OF THE PROGRAM TO
GET A LIST OF KEYS AVAILABLE AT THAT POINT!
THE ESC KEY BACKS YOU OUT OF ANY STEP.
I recommend very strongly that you read the rest of this
manual but if you're like me and you want to play first, start
the program by typing "rr" (without the quotes) in the directory
in which you installed Recursive Realm. Take note of the disk
space in the upper left corner of the menu - These pictures range
in size from about 10k - 200k depending on your graphics and the
amount of detail in the picture. An average picture is about 100k.
If you think that you need to change drives - press <F10> to
change the drive and/or directory. For dual-floppy systems, place
the files "rr.exe" and "rrwelc.ome" on one disk and build
pictures on the other. When you're ready, use your arrow keys to
move to the type of picture that you want to produce and press
<RET>. Any existing pictures of that type will be listed on the
screen. Use your arrow keys to highlight the desired picture and
<RET> to view it. If you have no pictures and/or would like to
build a new one, then highlight the desired picture type and
press <CTRL-N>. A data-entry screen will then be brought onto the
screen. You may press <F2> to accept the defaults or enter the
data from one of the pictures in the enclosed catalog files
"rrpics20.cat" or "rrpics25.cat". See Appendix A for a list of
"hot key" functions. If this is your first time with Recursive
Realm, I would suggest the following tour:
1.) Select "Mandelbrot Set" from the main menu.
2.) If some picture names appear on the canvas, press <CTRL-A>
to animate them slide-show style then go to step 4.
3.) If no picture names appear on the canvas, press <CTRL-N>
to get to the data-entry menu, then press <F2> to build
the full Mandelbrot set (it will be called "mbrot" by
default - you may change this from the data-entry
screen).
Page 13
4.) After returning to the main menu, choose "Mandelbrot
Set" again and look for a picture with "full" somewhere
in the name (or "mbrot" if you performed step 3). The
picture will probably be called "EGAFULL" and is a
picture of the full set.
5.) Use your arrow keys to highlight this picture and press
enter.
6.) While viewing, press <F10> a few times to watch the colors
change. Press <CTRL-T> "Track" to track the escape sequence
and move the viewport around the screen using your arrow
keys or mouse, if you have one. Notice how the dots escape
as you cross the border of the set. The best tracking areas
are located just inside the lower or upper border of the
full Mandelbrot set.
7.) Press escape to stop tracking then press <CTRL-N> to bring
up the viewport (zoom mode). Use your arrow keys to move
the viewport and your PGUP and PGDN keys to expand or
contract it. If a mouse is present, use it to move the
frame and, when you are ready to expand the viewport, hit
your right button then move the mouse left to expand it
and right to contract it. Hit your left button to resume
moving the viewport. On the left side of the picture you
will notice a long stem with a tiny duplicate of the full
set lying within it. Move the viewport over to this
"midget" set and expand it to surround the midget. Press
<F2> to enter the data-entry menu.
8.) While in the data-entry menu, set the FLAT RANGE LIMIT to
0, the HIGH BAND WIDTH to 1, and the FLAT BAND WIDTH to 0.
Set the Max iterations to 300 and the File Name to whatever
you want. Press <F2> and watch it build the picture.
9.) You can let it finish or press <ESC> to return to the main
menu and play some more. The picture will be saved before
returning. To continue building it, just select it again.
The color keys (F7 - F10), and the rest of the fun keys
are all available while building as well as viewing. Enjoy..
Be aware that some of these pictures take a lot of time to
build. If you want to see a "quickie" version of the picture
that you are about to build you can set the graph width to about
80 and go from there.
Page 14
TERMINOLOGY:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
These are my own definitions of some of the terms in this
user's guide:
* Main Menu - The first menu you see after starting
Recursive Realm.
* Task Menu - The small menu seen when you choose an
existing picture from the main menu canvas.
* Data-Entry Menu - The menu in which you enter param-
eters for the four basic picture types - Mandelbrot,
Julia, Newton, and Magnetism.
* Function - An equation, such as x*x - 1 = 0.
* Complex Number - A number that contains a real and
imaginary part. For example 2 + 3i. ( "i" is defined
as the square root of -1).
* Recursion - The process of taking a starting number,
plugging its value into an equation then repeatedly
taking the answer and plugging it back into the
equation.
* Iteration - A single step of recursion. For example, if
you plugged the answer (as described above) back into
the equation 100 times, you have just performed 100
iterations.
* Iterative Process - The process of performing iter-
ations until some defined limit is reached.
* Dwell - The number of iterations required for a specific
point to escape the set (ie. if a certain point takes
30 iterations to reach the defined limit, it's dwell
is 30).
Page 15
* Fractal - A mathematically defined object or system
with a fractional dimension.
* Root - A value that, when plugged into an equation,
makes the equation true. For example, the roots of the
equation x*x - 1 = 0 are 1 and -1;
* Midget - Any of a myriad of tiny duplicates of the
Mandelbrot set found buried within the border areas
of the full set.
* Main Cardiod - The large, heart-shaped main body of the
Mandelbrot set.
* Main Bud - The large circular region attached to the
left of the main cardiod of the Mandelbrot set.
* Seahorse Valley - The region within the upper or lower
crack between the main cardiod and main bud of the
Mandelbrot set.
Page 16
BASIC OPERATION:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[NOTE: When you see <CTRL-#> where # is a valid key, it means]
[hold your CTRL key and the other key down at the same time. ]
[For Example, <CTRL-A> means hold down your CTRL key and the ]
["A" key at the same time. ]
[<RET> means the enter, or carriage return key. ]
STARTING RECURSIVE REALM:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the directory in which you installed Recursive Realm,
just type "rr" (without the quotes) and press enter. Another
option is to type "rr directory" where "directory" is the name
of the your picture directory. For example,
rr c:\rrealm\pics
would start Recursive Realm in a directory on the C drive
called \rrealm\pics.
To change to a different drive or directory just press <F10> and
type in the new name (<F5> will entirely erase the old directory
name). Hit <CTRL-N> to build a new picture of the highlighted
type. Hit <CTRL-A> to animate, (slide-show style), all existing
pictures of the highlighted type. Hit <F1> at any time while
using Recursive Realm to get help.
Before you build a picture you should take note of the disk
space listed in the upper left corner of the main menu. A very
detailed picture may need up to 200,000 bytes. Experimentation
will help you decide how much space you need.
Page 17
In the main menu there are eight choices across the top of the
screen. Use your arrow keys to highlight the desired choice and
hit <RET> to choose it. The choices are described as follows:
MANDELBROT - Place a list of existing Mandelbrot set
~~~~~~~~~~ pictures on the canvas.
JULIA - Place a list of existing Julia set pictures
~~~~~ on the canvas.
NEWTON - Place a list of existing Newton's Method
~~~~~~ pictures on the canvas.
MAGNETIC PHASE - Place a list of existing Models of Magnetism
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ pictures on the canvas.
3-D - Place a list of existing 3-D-projected
~~~ pictures on the canvas.
SPHERE - Place a list of existing sphere-projected
~~~~~~ pictures on the canvas.
CONVOLUTE - Place a list of existing convoluted pictures
~~~~~~~~~ on the canvas.
OPTIONS - Enable or disable sound or mouse support. If
~~~~~~~ you are in your office and don't want your
boss to know you are building fractals, you
may want to disable the sound. After choosing
options, hit any key to toggle sound or mouse
on/off then hit <F2> to record the new
information. <ESC> will abort any changes.
Page 18
As you can see, hitting <RET> on all but the last main menu
choice will produce a list of existing pictures from which to
choose. Use your arrow keys to highlight the desired picture,
then <RET> to choose it. You will then move on to the "task"
menu. In the task menu, you will tell Recursive Realm what you
want to do with the picture. The choices are described as follows:
VIEW - View a completed picture. If the picture is
~~~~ one of the four basic picture types, (first
four choices on the main menu), it will resume
building if the picture is incomplete.
3D PROJECTION - Project a picture onto a 3-D plate or block.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SPHERE PROJECTION - Project a picture onto a sphere. (ie. Make a
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ fractal planetoid).
CONVOLUTION - Convolute a picture. This has the effect of
~~~~~~~~~~~ "skeletonizing" a picture.
JIGSAW PUZZLE - Mix a picture up, then put it back together
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in jigsaw fashion.
RAPID EXPAND - Create an immediate sketchy "blowup" of a
~~~~~~~~~~~~ section of a picture.
At any time while viewing or building a picture, you may press
<ESC> to return to the main menu. If the picture is one of the
four basic picture types, (first four main menu choices), it will
automatically be saved before returning. 3-D, Sphere, and
Convolution pictures are not automatically saved and require that
<F2> be pressed to save them.
Page 19
COLORING:
~~~~~~~~~
For pictures of the Mandelbrot set, Julia sets, and Models
of Magnetism you must supply the following coloring information:
* Flat Range Limit - This is the highest iteration number
colored according to the flat range. It should
generally be below 20% of the max iterations, but you
should experiment with different values based on the
picture that you are making.
* Flat Band Width - This is the number of the iterations
within the Flat Range that you would like to see
represented as one strip. Usually this should be small
and if you enter 0, then each successive iteration will
be represented as one strip.
* High Band Width - This is the number of the iterations
within the High Range that you would like to see
represented as one strip. You should experiment a lot
with this. Low numbers give more "splash" color to the
picture but can mask out interesting features.
<<NOTE: This information is not used if you are using a
smooth VGA (CTRL-V) palette>>.
If you would like to see the picture colored in all high range
colors, just enter a 0 for both the Flat Range and the Flat Band
Width. This is particularly useful when exploring the "midgets"
found along the stem of the full set.
To color pictures while viewing or building them, use <F10>
to select a random palette, <F9> to "white-out" all parts of
the picture that are not actually in the set, <F2> to save the
current palette with the picture, <F8> to return to the last
saved palette, and <F7> to return to the last random palette.
Page 20
An example of colorization follows:
Iteration Limit = 500
Flat Range = 40 iterations.
Flat Band Width = 2 iterations.
High Band Width = 5 iterations.
0 -------------40---------------------------->500 iterations
|<-- flat -->|<-------- high range ------->|
range
Flat Range represents iterations 1 - 40. Every 2 iterations
is assigned a different hue (light or dark) version of
the same color.
High Range represents iterations 41 - 500. Every 5
iterations is assigned a different one of 13 colors (when
color 13 is reached the next set of 5 iterations starts
over with color 1).
A typical coloring session while viewing or building a picture:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.) I Press the <F10> key until I see a palette of colors
that I like.
2.) I think that I like this sequence better than the current
saved one but I press <F8> to get the saved one back to
be sure.
3.) I press <F7> then <F8> several times to compare the new
palette to the current saved palette.
4.) I decide that I like the new one better, press <F7> to
display it, then press <F2> to save it with the picture.
This new palette now becomes the "saved palette".
Page 21
SMOOTH VGA PALETTE:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have VGA graphics capability, you can use a
"smooth" VGA palette to color your Mandelbrot, Julia, and
Magnetism pictures. Since pictures of Newton's method use a
"root-coloring" method, the smooth palette is not available
with them. The smooth palette uses different shades of one
color instead of the typical bands of several colors. As you
may expect, the Flat Range and Flat and High band widths are
NOT used here. To select this coloring method, hit <CTRL-S>
instead of <F2>, <CTRL-V>, or <CTRL-E> from the Data-Entry
Menu. This method is similar to "gray scaling" and can
produce some nice results.
Page 22
STARTING FROM SCRATCH:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To start a picture from scratch, one option is to move to
the desired main menu choice, (basic picture type - first four
choices only), and press <CTRL-N>. A data-entry menu will be
brought up with a generic set of defaults which you may keep or
change. Another option is to choose the main menu selection, then
move to the name of an already completed picture and press
<CTRL-N>. The data-entry menu will be brought up with the defaults
matching the data of the selected picture (except for the file
name). The last, but definitely not least, option for building a
new picture is to press <CTRL-N> while building or viewing another
picture. This will bring a "viewport" onto the screen (look
closely, you'll see it). You can expand or contract the viewport
with the <PgUp>, <PgDn>, <Shift-PgUp>, or <Shift-PgDn> keys and
move the viewport around the screen with the arrow keys. If you
have a mouse, use it to move the viewport around the screen. Press
the right button once to allow expansion of the viewport and move
the mouse left to expand and right to contract. Hit the left
button once to again allow the viewport to move freely. When you
have boxed in the portion of the current picture that you would
like to magnify, just press <F2> (or <ESC> to abort and return to
what you were doing) and you will get the data-entry menu with
the viewport parameters already filled in. Since Julia sets of
the Mandelbrot function are derived from a single point within
the Mandelbrot set, you may go into the viewport mode while
building or viewing a Mandelbrot picture and press <CTRL-J> (in-
stead of <F2>) to build a Julia set from this picture. This will
not change the picture bounds of the new Julia set but the center
point of the viewport will define the new center point from which
to derive the Julia set.
Page 23
ENTERING DATA:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now that you have made it to the data-entry menu, the
following data fields may be entered or updated:
Graph Width - The actual screen width. For example, a full-
screen picture would have a Graph Width of
640. Graph Width will always be scaled to the
nearest number that is evenly divisible by 80.
Max Iterations - The maximum number of iterations that is perf-
ormed by the escape time algorithm. In
pictures of the Mandelbrot set and Julia sets
of the Mandelbrot function, this should
increase as the magnification of the picture
increases. For the other pictures, this should
generally remain low (25 - 300). The examples
in the enclosed catalog files "rrpics20.cat"
and "rrpics25.cat" will give you an idea of
how this parameter changes with picture type
and magnification.
Left Bound - The lowest real bound of the picture.
Right Bound - The highest real bound of the picture.
Bottom Bound - The lowest imaginary bound of the picture.
Top Bound - The highest imaginary bound of the picture.
Real Start pnt - Mandelbrot pictures only. Set to 0 for the
and "true" Mandelbrot set and anything else for
Imag Start pnt "warped" Mandelbrot sets.
Real Center pt - Julia pictures only. The real part of the
constant "c" in the listed functions.
Imag Center pt - Julia pictures only. The imaginary part of
the constant "c" in the listed functions.
Page 24
Real q Value - Models of Magnetism pictures only. The real
part of the constant "q" in the magnetism
function.
Imag q Value - Models of Magnetism pictures only. The
imaginary part of the constant "q" in
the magnetism function.
Flat Range Limit - See COLORING.
High Band Width - See COLORING.
Flat Band Width - See COLORING.
Escape Radius - Mandelbrot and Julia pictures only. The
square of this is the limit that causes the
iterative process to terminate and the point
to be colored. (see "THE ESCAPE-TIME
ALGORITHM").
Function Choice - Non-Mandelbrot pictures only.
The choice of the function that you will
be exploring. Possible choices are listed at
the right of the data-entry menu.
File Name - The picture name. This field will always be
brought up with the default name ("mbrot",
"julia", "newton", or "magnet"). To avoid
accidental overwrites, if you enter the name
of a picture that exists, you will be warned.
Page 25
MAGNITUDE AND CENTER POINT -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An alternative to entering the picture bounds for Mandel-
brot or Julia pictures is to enter the center point and
magnitude. Hit <F10> while in the data-entry menu and enter
the points when prompted. Hit <F2> to accept and the bounds
will be filled-in automatically. You can use scientific
notation to enter the magnitude, but it must be entered with
a small "e" as in the following example:
To enter 10000 in scientific notation, type 1e4
When you feel comfortable with the data, just press <F2> to begin
building the picture in the detected graphics mode, <CTRL-E> to
force an EGA picture, <CTRL-V> to force a VGA picture, or <CTRL-S>
to use the smooth VGA palette (don't use <CTRL-V> or <CTRL-S> if
you do not have a VGA card). If a picture of the same name
exists, you will be asked to confirm. "But what data should I
enter?", you ask. There are many excellent sources for data, some
of which are listed in the bibliography of this guide. In addition
to these, I have included two catalog files, "rrpics20.cat" and
"rrpics25.cat" which contains the parameters for several of the
pictures that I have explored. There should be enough there to
keep you busy for months. A word of warning! - These pictures are
addicting and can take from a couple of minutes to several days
of building time. You can turn off your monitor and go to bed
while building them but be prepared, when you wake up the next
morning and turn your monitor back on, you may be breathless for
awhile. Make sure that your cat is not in the room when you are
building fractals or you may never get him out from under the bed.
Page 26
THE ESCAPE-TIME ALGORITHM:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recursive Realm uses an algorithm known as the "Escape-Time
Algorithm". The algorithm is very simple to understand and can be
explained with the following real-function example:
Given the following three items:
1.) A function. Let's use x^2 + 5.
2.) A starting point. Let's use -1.
3.) An escape radius. Let's use 10.
Perform the following steps:
1.) Plug in -1 for x. We get 6.
2.) Plug in 6 for x. We get 41.
3.) Plug in 41 for x. We get 1,686.
4.) The square of our escape radius (100) was surpassed
on the third iteration so we assign this starting
point (-1) the third color from a list of colors.
Choose another starting point then go back to step 1.
Recursive Realm assigns a starting point to every pixel on the
screen depending on the picture type, function, and picture
limits that you set, then performs the above steps to assign a
color to that pixel.
Page 27
THE MANDELBROT SET:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Benoit B. Mandelbrot, considered to be the father of the
"fractal"(1), first described this set in 1980. The set is formally
described to be "the set of all values of 'c' in the equation
x*x + c that have connected Julia sets" (2). (See next section
for a description of Julia sets). The Mandelbrot set is gener-
ated by performing the escape-time algorithm on the function
x*x + c where x is a complex variable and c is a complex constant.
To show the function on the computer screen, we set the screen up
as follows:
|------------------------|
(Imaginary | |
part) | Computer |
| Screen |
Y - Axis | |
| |
| |
|------------------------|
X - Axis (Real part)
You supply the real bounds (left and right limits), the
imaginary bounds (top and bottom limits) and the real graph width
(ie. 640 pixels for a full screen picture). The screen is auto-
matically scaled so that each pixel represents one point within
the area bounded by your limits. For example, if you specified
-1.5 to 1.4 as your left and right (real) bounds and -1.2 to
1.2 as your bottom and top (imaginary) bounds, the pixel in the
upper left corner would represent the complex number -1.5 + 1.2i,
and the pixel in the lower right corner would represent the com-
plex number 1.4 - 1.2i.
The picture is generated by taking pixels one at a time from
top left to lower right, plugging their representative "c" value
into the Mandelbrot equation, then iterating (repeatedly putting
the answer back in for x) until the square of the real part plus
the square of the imaginary part becomes larger than the square
of the escape radius or until a maximum number of iterations is
reached. The Mandelbrot set is composed of all of the starting
values that never escape this iteration sequence (ie. never
exceed escape radius). When the end of the iteration process is
reached, the pixel is colored according to the number of
iterations that it took to escape, or if it reached the maximum
(ie. it is in the set) it is not colored at all. Since border
areas take longer to escape than areas away from the set, these
are the most interesting and make the most awesome pictures when
magnified a few hundred (or a few billion times).
You will notice that an exact duplicate (midget) of the entire
Mandelbrot set is often found in the blow-ups of the border
areas.
Page 28
WARPED MANDELBROTS -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When building the real Mandelbrot set, the value of x in the
equation x^2 + c is set to 0 before starting the escape-time
algorithm. Recursive Realm allows you to change this and create
some "Mandelbrot Monsters" that I call warped sets. In order to
build these sets, while in the data-entry menu change the
"Real Start Point" and/or the "Imag Start Point" to anything
except 0.0. Blowups of the border areas of these sets can be
just as weird as the sets themselves.
The colorization of the set can be visualized as a
topographical map with the flat lands colored by the light and
dark versions of one color, the high lands colored in strips with
the next thirteen colors, and the highest land colored in the
background color (black). This highest land is the actual set
itself and can be thought of as the volcano in the center of the
mountain. (Also see COLORING).
Remember, at any time during the building or viewing of the
picture, you may press <F10> and change the palette entirely then
press <F2> if you want to save the new palette. You may also press
<CTRL-N> to zoom in on a portion of the set and build a new
picture from it.
Page 29
THE JULIA SET:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Julia set is named for French mathematician Gaston
Julia who first studied it in the early 1900's.(3) It is des-
cribed as the set of all points of a function and starting
point that are generated by the iterative process. There are
two types of Julia sets:
1.) Values generated eventually grow towards infinity.
2.) Values generated stay within a well-defined area.
The type 2 Julia set is often referred to as the "connected" or
"closed" Julia set(4). As described in the previous section, the
Mandelbrot set is the set of all starting values of 'c' in the
complex function x*x + c that lead to connected Julia sets(5).
In addition to the Julia sets of the Mandelbrot function, Recur-
sive Realm allows you to produce beautiful pictures of the fun-
ctions c*sin(x), c*cos(x), (e^x)/e, and c*e^x where both x and c
are complex variables. The constant e is a common mathematical
constant (2.71828....) used as the base of the natural logarighm
(ie. ln e = 1). Pictures of the sin and cos functions are
some of the most beautiful and fastest to create.
Pictures of the Julia set are generated in a fashion similar
to those of the Mandelbrot set. The difference is that each
pixel in the Julia set represents a different starting point
for 'x' rather than for 'c' as in the Mandelbrot set.
You will notice some differences in the data-entry menu of
the Julia set pictures. The two new entries in the data-entry
screen are the real and imaginary center points. These values
represent the real and imaginary parts of the constant 'c' in
functions 1-3 and 5. For pictures of the Julia set of the Mand-
elbrot function, the real and imaginary values of 'c' should
come from locations in and along the border of the Mandelbrot
set. For Julia sets of the sin and cos functions, the Max iter-
ations should be set at about 100 and should not really go much
higher than that. For Julia sets of the exponential functions,
the Max iterations should be set from about 25 - 100 (function 4
will automatically be set at 25 by the program).
(Also see COLORING).
Page 30
Remember:
You can use the viewport option to box in a portion of the
Mandelbrot set then press <CTRL-J> to start a new Julia set from
the point that is defined from the center of the viewport. For
pictures of the sin and cos functions, the range of the right and
top bounds should be about the same as that of the Julia set of
the Mandelbrot function. The real value of 'c' should be kept at
or very near 1.0, and the imaginary value of 'c' should range from
about 0.0 to 3.0. For pictures of the exponential functions (4
and 5) try setting the real and imaginary c values as increments
of pi. As with all of these pictures, you should explore any set
of values that you feel like (if you enter a value that is out of
the range of the program, it will beep and return to that value
on the data-entry menu).
Page 31
NEWTON'S METHOD:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newton's method for finding the roots of a polynomial is
probably the most well-known of the function-types represented
here. The method is described as follows:
given the polynomial function f(x)=0,
f'(x)
answer = x - -----
f(x)
where f'(x) is the first derivative of the function.
Put this formula through the iterative process (answer
back in for x each cycle) and eventually the answer will
reach the value of one of the roots of the polynomial.
(As the science of Chaos has shown, there are a few excep-
tions to this rule that will appear as black holes in the
picture).
If you haven't had any Calculus and don't know what a deriv-
ative is, don't worry - all you should really understand is
that a polynomial has as many roots as its highest exponent (ref-
ferred to as the "order" of the equation). For example, the
polynomial x^3 - 2x - 1 has 3 roots.
Recursive Realm allows you to build and explore Newton's
method for 14 different functions. You enter the left, right,
bottom, and top limits and, like the last two sections, the screen
is scaled to meet these limits. Colorization of these pictures
is different. Each pixel is placed into the above formula as a
starting point and iterated until either a root or the maximum
number of iterations is reached. Each new root is assigned a dif-
ferent color. The light and dark hues of this color are used to
color all pixels leading to this root. If a pixel never leads to
any root (ie. the max iterations are reached) then the pixel
remains black. It is interesting to note that all of these pixels
that remain black make up the Julia set of the function being
explored.(6) The maximum amount of colors used to color roots is 7
(or 14 if you count the light and dark colors of each root separ-
ately) therefore, if a polynomial has more than 7 roots, the
colors for the 8th root will be the same as the colors for the 1st
root and so on. When the picture is finished you will have a
beautiful image of the "basins of attraction"(7) for the function.
Page 32
MODELS FOR MAGNETISM: (A.K.A. PHASES FOR MAGNETISM)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Models for magnetism" is the study of the phase transition
from magnetic to non-magnetic states of a material as described
by <The Beauty of Fractals pp. 128-146>. In 1952, physicist C.N.
Yang and T.D. Lee found that for a finite number of particles,
the equation c0 + c1*x +...+cnx^n = 0 gives a finite number of
zeros in the complex plane.(8) These are referred to as Yang
and Lee zeros. It can be shown that the Julia set of the "re-
normalization transformation" function of the temperature occur-
ring during the magnetic phase transition is identical with the
set of Yang and Lee zeros(9). The function studied in Recursive
Realm is the renormalization transformation -
(x^2 + q - 1)^2
x -> ------------- (10)
(2x + q - 2)^2
The mathematics behind this section are beyond the scope of
this guide but are very well explained in <The Beauty of Fractals>.
You will notice that there are two function choices available
from the data-entry menu. The first one scales the screen so that
each pixel represents the starting "x" value in the above equation
similar to Julia set pictures. These are known as "x-plane"
pictures. The second one scales the screen so that each pixel
represents the starting "q" value in the above equation similar
to Mandelbrot set pictures. These are known as "q-plane"
pictures. This second function shows the "universality" of the
Mandelbrot set (see next section). (Also see COLORING).
MANDELBROT UNIVERSALITY:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The "universality" of the Mandelbrot set is seen in the set's
appearance during the exploration of functions other than the
Mandelbrot function, f(x) = x*x + c. Recursive Realm contains
two new functions to display this universality. One is Newton's
Method, function choice 14, and the other is Magnetism, function
choice 2. See the catalog file, "rrpics25.cat" for the parameters
of a picture called "NWTBROT1" to display the universality via the
Newton function 14 and a picture called "BFMAG2" to display the
universality via the Magnetism function 2.
Page 33
3-D, SPHERES, AND CONVOLUTION:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once a picture exists on your drive, you may project it onto
a 3-D block or plate, project it onto a sphere, or "convolute" it.
During this process the <F1> key will, of course, give you a help
screen. The coloring keys <F2>, <F7>, <F8>, <F9>, and <F10> are
also available here. Since these pictures take only minutes to
build, they are NOT saved automatically. If, at any time during
building, you decide you want to save the picture, just hit <F2>
and enter the file name. Once you have done this, <F2> resumes
it's normal role as the palette-saving coloring key (See COLORING).
3-D Projection:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you select this option, you will be asked to enter the
angle into the screen, the clockwise angle, and your choice
between a "block" or "plate". 3-D blocks have a thickness
that runs to the bottom of the screen. 3-D plates have a
much smaller thickness and black holes within the picture
are surrounded by this thickness to give the picture the
illusion of "hollowness". <<NOTE: If the picture does not
run to the edges of the screen, there may be a scaling-delay
before you see the projection begin>>.
Sphere Projection (AKA Fractal Planetoids):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you select this option, you will be asked to enter
the sphere radius and whether or not you want a "halo".
To get a feeling for what type of sphere is being developed
imagine a photograph of the picture being placed upon a
baseball and folded down over the sides. Smooth out the
wrinkles and you have a "fractal planetoid". The halo option
lets you add an interesting set of rings to the planet. The
building of the sphere begins by moving data from the proj-
ection area to the other sections of the screen. This gives
the illusion that "garbage" is being placed all over the
screen, but don't worry, it will pull itself together at the
end to make the planetoid. <<NOTE: If the picture does not
run to the edges of the screen, there may be a delay before
the sphere begins building>>.
Page 34
Convolution:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The idea for convolution comes from an article in "The C
Users Journal" by Wesley Faler. When you select this option
you will be asked to enter each value of a 3x3 matrix.
Convolution has the effect of finding edges and lines in an
image by recoloring each picture with a color that is a
function of the color of the pixel's neighbors. For example,
Let's say you have a convolution matrix of
|1 1 -1| and you encounter a pixel with neighbors colored
|0 3 -1| as follows:
|1 1 -1| 3 5 2
2 4 6 (the center, 4,
7 0 1 represents our pixel)
The new color for the pixel would be:
new color = (3)(1)+(5)(1)+(2)(-1)+(0)(2)+(3)(4)+(6)(-1)+
(7)(1)+(0)(1)+(1)(-1) = 18
The effect is usually a "skeletonization" of the picture. Each
matrix element should be between -9 and 9 and the sum of the
elements should be positive or zero. <<NOTE: as with the above
pictures, there will be a delay if the picture does not run to
the edges of the screen>>.
Page 35
JIGSAW PUZZLES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What the heck are jigsaw puzzles doing in a fractal explor-
ation program, you ask? Well, every once in awhile it's fun to
take a little time off of the exploration to play. When you
select this option, the picture will be displayed, an image-
gathering delay will occur, then you will be asked to mix the
puzzle. Once the puzzle is mixed, you can use your arrow keys or
mouse, (see "USING A MOUSE"), to move the small cursor to the
piece to be marked for moving. When the cursor is on the piece,
hit a regular key (or left mouse button) to mark it. Once marked,
the border surrounding the piece will change color. Move the
cursor to the new location and hit a regular key (or left mouse
button) to place it. While playing, you may hit <F1> for help,
<F2> to mix the puzzle further, <F10> to change the marked-piece
border color, <CTRL-P> to preview the finished puzzle, or <ESC>
to return to the menu. If you have any EGA or VGA pictures in
pcx format from another source, you can give them a ".rrm" ext-
ension to fake-out Recursive Realm and make jigsaws out of them.
RAPID EXPAND:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rapid expansion lets you get a quick rough blowup of an
area of a picture. Move and expand the viewport as described in
"STARTING FROM SCRATCH". When you have the area surrounded,
hit <F2> to blow it up. There will be a small delay before the
picture is blown up. Large blowup areas will create higher
quality pictures. You may use the coloring keys, <F7> - <F10>
here, but the blowups are not saved.
Page 36
PICTURE BUILDING TIPS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ALL PICTURES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* If you are seeing too much "shapeless" black in the pic-
ture, raise the iteration limit.
* Don't make the iteration limit unnecessarily high. This
will only slow the picture down.
* Build small 80 or 160 width pictures to experiment with
different color band settings, then when you feel satis-
fied with the results, build a full-screen (640) picture.
* Experiment with the Flat Range Limit=0, High Band Width=1
and Low Band Width=0 combination for pictures with a low
iteration limit (<500). If you don't think that it's
masking out features then this often provides great re-
sults. (Of course, this doesn't apply to Newton pictures.)
* Tracking the escape sequence while building a picture can
be fun but, when you are not there, make sure that the
tracking is toggled off because it slows down the develop-
ment of the picture. Pressing <F10> while tracking can
make the dots more visible. Some pictures are in areas
that escape so fast that you will not see any dots at
all when you track them.
* Use the enclosed catalog of examples or other picture
sources to build master pictures then make use of the
zoom feature.
* When building a slow picture, if you want exit before
it is complete, wait until the current line finishes
so it doesn't have so far to catch up when building
resumes.
* When using a mouse with the viewport, keep the viewport
small while moving it around the screen expanding it
only after you move it to the area you want to zoom.
Page 37
MANDELBROT SET PICTURES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Use the "white-out" <F9> feature to locate tiny black
spots in border area pictures then zoom in on these
black spots.
* The far outskirts of the set provide some excellent
pictures at relatively low iteration limits. Try
exploring the "midgets" way out at the tip of the
stem and perched in the upper and lower branches of the
set.
* Tracking the escape sequence works best in pictures of
low magnification. View the full set then track (CTRL-T)
areas all around it.
* The area called "seahorse valley" (see Terminology
section) is, in my opinion, the most difficult of all of
areas to get the parameters just right. But, it's worth
the hassle! When exploring this area, keep the max
iterations low (150-300). Try the following parameters -
Max iter = 160, Flat Range Limit = 75, High Band Width =
25, Low Band Width = 1. Use your "white-out" <F9> key to
see if your iteration limit is set correctly. You should
see a beautiful black seahorse-like pattern. If the
pattern is faint (ie. too little black) then lower the
iteration limit. If the pattern has large, shapeless black
globs, then raise the iteration limit. Build several small
pictures until you see what you want, then build the
full-screen picture.
JULIA SET PICTURES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Make frequent use of the <CTRL-J> function while building
or viewing Mandelbrot pictures. Explore how the set
changes as you cross the border areas of the Mandelbrot
set.
Page 38
* Tracking can be very nice in Julia sets of the Mandelbrot
function.
* The iteration limit for Julia sets of the Mandelbrot
function usually works fine at only a few hundred iter-
ations. For the sin and cos functions, I usually keep
it at about 50 - 100. For the exponential functions,
25 - 100 works well. In fact, function 4 will always be
set at 25 by the program.
* For exponential function 5, use increments of pi for the
real and imaginary C points. (ie. 3.14, 6.28...).
NEWTON'S METHOD PICTURES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Zoom in on convoluted borders between different basins of
attraction (color pools).
* The iteration limit is usually fine at about 100.
MODELS OF MAGNETISM PICTURES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Repeated zooming produces pictures that are very similar
to the original picture.
* The iteration limit usually can range from only 25 - 100.
Page 39
USING A MOUSE:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mouse support is available in two basic areas of Recursive
Realm. One is while using the viewport to zoom (CTRL-N), track
a finished picture (CTRL-T), or while using the new "Rapid Expand"
function. Hit the left button once to allow the viewport to move
around the screen and the right button once to allow the viewport
to expand. The viewport will not expand while tracking. <<TIP:
keep the viewport small while moving it around the screen, ex-
panding it only after you move to the area you want to zoom>>.
The other area where a mouse is used is in the Jigsaw Puzzle
section of the program. This section uses a standard mouse cursor.
Use the mouse to move the cursor to the desired piece and the left
button to mark/place the piece. The right button will bring up
the help screen.
GETTING THE LATEST VERSION:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the benefits of registering is that you will never
have to go out and find the latest version or pay the registration
fee again. So far, I have not had to charge any postage or disk
fees for upgrades even though these doc's say "upgrades for a
small postage fee". I have just sent the upgrade to registered
users when it was finished. I hope this will continue, but
someday, I may have to charge a small postage and disk fee. If
this ever happens, I will send postcards out to everyone saying
that the upgrade is ready but I need postage. I expect that the
fee will be no more than about two dollars and sending stamps
will suffice. Regardless of whether or not I ever have to ask
for postage, I always take care of the registered users before
shipping Recursive Realm to the vendors.
Page 40
TROUBLESHOOTING:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recursive Realm is composed of over 12,000 lines of Turbo C
and Assembly language source code. I try my best to work the bugs
out before releasing a version, but occasionally one slips by. If
you find one of these bugs, don't spray Raid into your computer,
but please try to determine exactly what happened and let me know
about it. I appreciate your help very much! Some users have
reported a few strange occurrences. Here are a few commonly
asked questions and problems:
Commonly Asked Questions and Problems -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<Q> When I hit <F2> from the data-entry menu, I hear a
"blatt" and nothing happens. When I change the Graph
Width to 639 instead of 640, the problem goes away.
<A> Some computers convert the string "640" to 640.0000001
and, since this is greater than 640.0, it was flagged
as out-of-range. This has been fixed. By the way, the
"blatt" is Recursive Realm's error notification.
<Q> When I resume building an unfinished picture, sometimes
it takes a long time before I see any progress being made.
<A> Recursive Realm resumes building an unfinished picture
at the BEGINNING of the last unfinished line so you won't
see any new pixels being added until it catches up to
where it left off.
<Q> When I hit <CTRL-N> or <CTRL-T>, I sometimes get a
"divide error" and my computer locks up.
<A> Ouch! This was a confusing one. It only happened to a
few people and I haven't been able to isolate it yet.
I have, however, entirely rewritten the areas where the
problem occurs in version 2.5 and I hope I have killed
it. Please let me know if it rears its ugly head again.
If you do have a problem, please give me as much information about
your computer system, (eg. graphics card, TSR's present, etc.), as
you can, along with a description of the problem in as much detail
as you can.
Page 41
CONTACTING AUSTIN SOFTWARE DESIGN:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I love to correspond, so please contact me even if you just
want to tell me about a great picture that you found.
You have probably noticed that I sometimes use a double-address
system in my documentation. If you are unsure of where to reach
me, mail will ALWAYS reach me if it is sent to the following
address:
Scott Jones
Austin Software Design
Rt. 3 22514 W. Gibson
Buckeye, AZ. 85326
U.S.A.
I move around a lot, but this address is the permanent address of
a family member who always forwards my mail. The best ways to
contact me, in order of preference, are as follows:
1.) CompuServe Electronic Mail - My user ID is [71241,1121]
and I check my mail every day.
2.) U.S. Mail - If you are registered, you can always be
sure that you have my current address and phone number.
Again, if you are unsure, use the above address.
3.) Telephone - If you have registered, you have my number.
If not, any number listed in this guide may be out of
date. If you can't reach me at that number, use
CompuServe, or the above address.
<<NOTE: If you haven't registered, don't let that stop you
from contacting me with questions or problems. Remember,
this is shareware and you should be fully satisfied
before paying for it. >>
Page 42
FRACTINT:
~~~~~~~~~
For those of you who haven't heard of FRACTINT, it is a
"must-have" for fractal enthusiasts. You may be wondering why
an author trying to make a living writing software is plugging
a competing program. It is true that I make my living writing
software, but my number one purpose in writing Recursive Realm
is to get people excited about math and science. I would be
doing you a disservice if I didn't bring FRACTINT to your atten-
tion. FRACTINT's biggest attribute is it's speed - it uses int-
eger math to emulate floating point operations, something that I
hope to add in the future (when I learn more about programming
in assembly language). FRACTINT can build the full Mandelbrot
set in less than ten seconds with a fast 386 computer! It also
supports many different graphics modes and fractal types. Since
the several dozen authors of FRACTINT don't rely on it for their
living, it is FREE! You can get FRACTINT from CompuServe, BIX,
Genie, most vendors, and most BBS systems. I hope you will find
room for Recursive Realm, FRACTINT, and many others in your
fractal toolbox. <<NOTE: Authors, if you write fractal software,
I obviously want to bring it to the attention of Recursive Realm
users. Drop me a note and tell me about it so I can include a
description of it here in my doc's>>.
POSSIBLE UPCOMING FEATURES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recursive Realm is improved almost solely on the basis of
user input. Please keep your ideas coming and let me know if
you find any great pictures so I can add them to the catalog.
Here are some of the ideas I have received so far:
* Speed - This is probably the single most important feature.
I will always be trying to improve this. As I
become better with assembly language and less
dependent on C, I expect this to improve greatly.
* Give magnitude of picture - Added in the data-entry menu
for Mandelbrot and Julia set pictures, version 2.5.
Page 43
* Notification when picture finishes - Added, version 2.5.
* Mouse support - Added, version 2.5.
* Higher graphics modes - I apologize to those of you who
expected this in version 2.5. I am still working
on it and expect Super VGA to be supported in the
future.
* DesqView support - As of this writing I am unsure of whether
I will be able to add this. I am working with the
company that makes my graphics library to see if I
can get around the "direct screen writes" and still
maintain the speed of virtual display.
* Viewport visible in white-out mode - Added, version 2.5.
* 3-D - "Pseudo 3-D" added, version 2.5. 3-D landscapes
may be added in the future.
* Sphere projection - Added, version 2.5. May be enhanced in
the future.
* Change band-widths of a picture after it is finished - This
is a great idea and will require a new type of "data"
file containing the iteration value of each pixel,
(I can't reverse-engineer this from the color on the
screen). As soon as I figure out a good way to keep
the size of this new file to a minimum, I will prob-
ably add it.
* Hold one band constant while coloring the other band.
* Let user specify each color in the color palette - These two
ideas suggest an overall need to add more color control
for the user. On the other hand, many users have
stated that they like the current coloring system
because it is so simple. I will continue to look for
a method to add these new features and still maintain
the simplicity of the current method.
Page 44
* Let user get an iteration value of a specific pixel on the
screen - Great idea. Should be coming soon.
* Use the catalog file directly from the data-entry menu -
I'm trying to build another level in which a data-file
containing only picture parameters can be updated and
used to generate a printed listing and/or read directly
from the data-entry menu.
* Add User Equations - I would like to accomplish this
without requiring the user to recompile or reassemble
any section of the program. This will require a complex
equation parser. I have had some success with such a
parser, but the added parsing slows the program down
even further. When I am able to obtain a much faster
program speed, I should be able to add this option.
Page 45
APPENDIX A:
~~~~~~~~~~~
HOT KEYS:
~~~~~~~~~
While in the Main Menu:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<ESC> - Clear canvas or exit to DOS.
<F1> - Help.
<F10> - Change drive and/or directory. (<F5>
clears entire string).
<CTRL-A> - Animate all existing pictures of current
menu choice type.
<CTRL-N> - Generate new picture of current menu
choice type. If a picture is highlighted,
the default values will come up as those
of the current highlighted picture.
<CTRL-D> - Delete highlighted picture.
<CTRL-R> - Rename highlighted picture.
<HOME> - Beginning of file list.
<END> - End of file list.
To make a choice from the main menu, move to that
choice and press <RET> or press the first letter of
that choice. Use the arrow keys to move to an exist-
ing picture. The picture choices will be sorted
and pressing the first letter of the name of a
picture will move you to the first picture that
begins with that letter.
Page 46
While Entering New Picture Data: (Data-Entry Menu)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<F1> - Help.
<ESC> - Exit to main menu.
<F2> - Accept values and create picture.
<CTRL-E> - Accept values and create EGA picture.
<CTRL-V> - Accept values and create VGA picture.
<CTRL-S> - Accept values and create VGA picture
with a "smooth" color palette.
<F5> - Clear current data-entry field.
<F10> - Mandelbrot and Julia pictures only.
Enter magnitude and center point.
While Building or Viewing Picture: (not animating)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<F1> - Help.
<ESC> - Exit to main menu. (This choice will
save if picture is not complete).
COLOR KEYS:
<F10> - Randomly change color palette.
<F9> - "White out" all colors not in set.
<F8> - Return to starting palette.
<F7> - Return to last random palette.
<F2> - Save current color palette.
<CTRL-T> - Track escape sequence. Toggles this
feature on or off.
<CTRL-N> - Enter "zoom" mode..
(The viewport starts very small and is
difficult to see. Press PgUp or F10
until you see it.)
Page 47
While In Zoom (viewport) Mode:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<< See "Using A Mouse" >>
<F1> - Help
<ESC> - Return to picture.
<PgUp> or <Shift-PgUp> - Expand viewport.
<PgDn> or <Shift-PgDn> - Contract viewport.
<Arrow Keys> or <Shift-Arrow Keys> - Move
viewport around screen.
<F2> - Accept viewport bounds and go to
data-entry menu (any unsaved
work on the current picture will be
saved).
<CTRL-J> - Build a new Julia set from the
center point of the viewport. (this
is only available if you are view-
ing or building a Mandelbrot pic-
ture).
COLOR KEYS:
<F10> - Randomly change color palette.
<F9> - "White out" all colors not in set.
<F8> - Return to starting palette.
<F7> - Return to last random palette.
Page 48
While Animating: (there may be a delay before key is
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ processed)
<F1> - Help.
<ESC> - Exit to main menu.
<SPACE BAR> - Pause. (hit a key to resume).
While Convoluting or Projecting Onto 3-D or Sphere:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<F1> - Help.
<ESC> - Exit to main menu. (If picture is not
finished, it will NOT be saved).
COLOR KEYS:
<F10> - Randomly change color palette.
<F9> - "White out" all colors not in set.
<F8> - Return to starting palette.
<F7> - Return to last random palette.
<F2> - Save current color palette. (If first
time pressed, you will have to supply
file name).
Page 49
While Building Jigsaw Puzzle:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<< See "Using A Mouse" >>
<F1> - Help.
<ESC> - Exit to main menu.
<CTRL-P> - Preview finished puzzle.
<F10> - Change non-mouse cursor color or marked-
piece color.
<Arrow Keys> - Move cursor around if not using a mouse.
<Any Other Key> - Mark/place piece if not using a mouse.
While Creating Rapid Expansion:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<< See "Using A Mouse" >>
<F1> - Help
<ESC> - Return to main menu.
<PgUp> or <Shift-PgUp> - Expand viewport.
<PgDn> or <Shift-PgDn> - Contract viewport.
<Arrow Keys> or <Shift-Arrow Keys> - Move
viewport around screen.
<F2> - Accept viewport bounds and expand
picture.
COLOR KEYS:
<F10> - Randomly change color palette.
<F9> - "White out" all colors not in set.
<F8> - Return to starting palette.
<F7> - Return to last random palette.
Page 50
APPENDIX B:
~~~~~~~~~~~
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
File Names:
~~~~~~~~~~~
Recursive Realm makes two different types of files for
each picture. Each of the files has the picture name
for the first part. The data file holds the picture
parameters and has the extension ".dat". The picture
file contains the actual image in PCX format and has
the extension ".rrm" for Mandelbrot set pictures, ".rrj"
for Julia set pictures, ".rrn" for Newton's method
pictures, ".rrp" for Magnetism pictures, "*.rr3" for 3-D
pictures, "*.rrs" for sphere pictures, and "*.rrc" for
convoluted pictures. Some commercial packages that read
PCX files, require the file extension ".pcx". If you are
using one of these packages, then copy or rename the
Recursive Realm picture file to the proper filename.
If you rename this file to give it the .pcx extension,
don't forget to rename it back to it's old name and
extension before you try to use it with Recursive Realm
again.
Sources of Information:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is important to mention that everything that I have
learned about these Fractals came from the books listed
in the bibliography of this guide. I have tried to pro-
vide as much information as I can to help you understand
what is actually being generated on your screen but if
you have a strong interest in this subject, these books
provide a wealth of information that cannot possibly be
covered here.
Page 51
Program Speed:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have patience, my friend. As previously mentioned most
of these pictures take a long time to build. The best
way to get the most out of your pictures is to exper-
iment with color band widths and create small versions
of each picture before creating the final full-screen
version. Versions 2.0+ are 40% - 100% faster than version
1.5 in Newton's method pictures, Magnetism pictures, and
Julia set pictures of the sin and cos functions. They are
2% - 50% faster in Mandelbrot set pictures and Julia set
pictures of the Mandelbrot function.
Different Graphics Resolutions:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If the data-entry menu is called with no pictures high-
lighted, Recursive Realm will automatically detect the
current driver and use the mode with the highest reso-
lution for the available driver. If you bring up the
data-entry mode using the defaults from an existing
picture (by pressing <CTRL-N> in the main menu while a
picture is highlighted or by zooming another picture),
the default mode will be the mode in which that picture
was built. <F2> will proceed to build the picture in this
default mode. You may use <CTRL-E> or <CTRL-V> to force
EGA or VGA modes if you wish, but don't use <CTRL-V> if
your computer does not have a VGA card!
Page 52
Using Recursive Realm in Batch Mode: (unattended)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recursive Realm gives you the option to skip the menu,
immediately continue building a picture, and quit when
finished. This is useful when you would like to build
more than one picture without returning to the main
menu. To use this method, type (from DOS), or place in
a batch file, the following command:
rr [path]filename "type of picture"
where the path is optional and the "type of picture"
is defined as follows -
m - Mandelbrot pictures
j - Julia pictures
n - Newton pictures
p - Phases for Magnetism pictures
For example, if you wanted to leave the computer for
several hours (or days) and build three pictures while
you are away, you could start each picture and immed-
iately quit (so the picture would exist on the disk)
then create a batch file as follows:
(assume picture one is a Mandelbrot picture named
"mborder", picture two is a Julia picture named "nicejul"
and picture three is a Newton picture named "newtx4-1")
create a batch file called "away.bat" (or any name with
the .bat extension) containing the following three lines:
rr mborder m
rr nicejul j
rr newtx4-1 n
At the DOS prompt just type "away" and leave your com-
puter alone for awhile. You may even turn off the mon-
itor while building pictures.
Page 53
REFERENCES:
~~~~~~~~~~~
1.) The Fractal Geometry of Nature. Inside back cover.
2.) The Mathematical Tourist. p. 159.
3.) The Mathematical Tourist. p. 157.
4.) Ibid. pp. 158-159.
5.) Ibid. p. 159.
6.) Ibid. p. 167.
7.) Ibid. p. 168.
8.) The Beauty of Fractals. p. 132
9.) Ibid. p. 133.
10.) Ibid. p. 194.
Page 54
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peitgen, H.-O. and Richter, P.H. THE BEAUTY OF FRACTALS.
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 1986
Peterson, Ivars THE MATHEMATICAL TOURIST.
W.H. Freeman and Company, 1988
Peitgen, H.-O. and Saupe, Dietmar. THE SCIENCE OF FRACTAL IMAGES
Springer-Verlag New York, 1988
Gleick, James CHAOS - MAKING A NEW SCIENCE
Penguin Books, 1987
Mandelbrot, B.B. THE FRACTAL GEOMETRY OF NATURE
W.H. Freeman and Company, 1977, 1982, 1983
Dettman, John W. APPLIED COMPLEX VARIABLES.
Dover Publications, inc. New York, 1965
Barnsley, Michael. FRACTALS EVERYWHERE
Academic Press, inc. 1988
Stevens, Roger T. FRACTAL PROGRAMMING IN C
M&T Publishing, inc. 1989
Briggs, John and Peat, F. David. TURBULENT MIRROR
Harper & Row Publishers, New York. 1989
Dewdney, A.K. THE ARMCHAIR UNIVERSE
W.H. Freeman and Company, 1988
Gardner, Martin - Anything and everything!
Dewdney, A.K. - "Computer Recreations" and "Mathematical
Recreations" columns in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazine.
Faler, Wesley - "Image Manipulation By Convolution". The C
Users Journal, August, 1990. pp. 95-97.
Silver, Rollo - AMYGDALA NEWSLETTER - The Newsletter of the
Mandelbrot Set. This is the best source that I know of for
information on the Mandelbrot set. Definitely not to be missed!
For more information on AMYDGALA write to: AMYGDALA, Box 219
San Cristobal, NM 87564
Page 55
RECREATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL COMPUTING (REC):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wanted to place REC in it's own section because it is so
fantastic. REC is described as "A Mathemagical Panoply of
Computer Recreations for Involved Readers". It is a gold mine of
information and fun for recreational math enthusiasts. You'll
find gems in here to satisfy readers at all levels of expertise -
and plenty of source code to boot! It is published eight times
a year by Dr. Michael W. Ecker, a Penn State math professor and
all-around great guy. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed
reading and responding to REC challenges more than any other
publication I have ever found.
For more information on REC send a SASE to: Dr. Michael W. Ecker,
Editor, Recreational and Educational Computing, 909 Violet Terrace,
Clarks Summit, PA 18411.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recursive Realm uses the PCX Programmer's Toolkit,
version 4.0 and GX Graphics library, version 1.0
Copyright Genus Microprogramming, Inc. 1988-91. All
Rights Reserved.
PC Paintbrush is a trademark of ZSoft Corporation.
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business
Machines.
All other products mentioned within this manual are
trademarks of their respective companies.
Thanks to the Association of Shareware Professionals for
providing the description used in the "Shareware Info"
section of this guide (and for about a trillion other
things!)
Thanks to the following people, (in alphabetical order),
for ideas for new features and help in other areas -
Rick Brown, William Dorion, Bob Eisengrein, Chuck Engstrom,
Bob Falk, Garry Flint, Richard Hang, John Magyar, Patrick
Michael, Herbert Morris, Eric Petraske, Rudy Rodriguez,
Charles Sechrest, and James Woulfe.
(if I left out anybody, I apologize - let me know!)
Special thanks to Bob Falk for allowing me to distribute
"PERUSE" to Recursive Realm registered users, James Woulfe
for beta-testing, and William Dorion for keeping me supplied
with information on other fractal programs.
Page 56
REGISTRATION FORM
Name and Address: _________________________________________
(phone optional) _________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Computer Model: ___________________________________________
Memory: ___________________________________________
Monitor Type: ___________________________________________
Math Coprocessor Present? YES _____ NO _____
Mouse Present? YES _____ NO _____
Graphics: EGA ______ VGA _______ Other ______
_________________
Graphics Card Model (if known): ___________________________
Disk drive(s) 5 1/4" ____ Fixed _____
Size: ____ Size: _____
(All disks will be sent in 5 1/4" format)
DOS Version: _______
Recursive Realm Version: _______
(on main menu at bottom)
Where did you find Recursive Realm? (If it came from a vendor
or BBS, please provide the name so I can keep them up-to-date):
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Would you like information on how to recieve a FREE CompuServe
IntroPak? ______ (New CompuServe users only).
If you already have a CompuServe account, what is your user
I.D number? _______________
Comments: ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Registration Fee* $20.00 - Thank you very much
Please make checks payable to Scott Jones
*FREE to teachers.