CELL SYSTEMS by Charles Platt 594 Broadway (room 1208) New York, NY 10012 ------------------------------------------------------------- Note: These brief instructions are sufficient to help you use CELL SYSTEMS and get some idea of its potential. For a complete and detailed set of instructions, you will need to write to the above address, enclosing $15 (made out to Charles Platt). This buys you the full documentation plus the most recent update of the program (if any) plus a year's question-and-answer support by mail. ------------------------------------ CELL SYSTEMS is a program that creates beautiful patterns which also have mathematical significance. You can use the program merely for its entertainment value ... or you can delve deeper into the math theory. Technically, the patterns created are "linear cellular automata." They simulate the growth processes of simple biological entities. This program allows you to create new growth patterns of your own, save them, re-run them, and edit them, with a minimum of technical knowledge and maximum ease of use. The program works in high-res and medium-res modes, and the disk has a library of patterns already installed, with room for many more. To run CELL SYSTEMS you need an IBM PC, PC XT, PC AT, PCjr, or PC compatible with 128K memory, one disk drive, color graphics adapter, color monitor, and PC-DOS or MS-DOS version 2.0 or later (version 2.1 for the PCjr). To make a backup copy of this disk, we suggest you use the FORMAT /S command (described in your DOS manual) to format a blank disk with DOS installed on it. Then use COPY *.* to copy all the files from this disk to your new disk. The AUTOEXEC.BAT file will automatically start the CELL SYSTEMS program when you insert your copy-disk and switch on the computer. Alternatively, with your DOS A> prompt on the screen, type CELSYS and press the Enter key, to activate the program. The first time you use the program, it will ask you some questions about your system. It saves your answers on the disk, so you won't have to go through this process more than once. The main questions are: Color. If you want to run the program on a composite monochrome monitor, instead of a color monitor, indicate your preference here. Printer Type. If your printer is on the list, enter its number. Otherwise, you will have to answer a series of questions about your printer's graphics capabilities. If these questions are too technical, you can skip them. Alternatively, you can order our complete instruction manual (see above) which takes you step by step through the questions. The program itself now begins. The title screen offers you four options, itemized at the bottom. To sample the program's capabilities, choose option 1 and sit back to enjoy the show. All of the cell systems stored on the disk will be displayed in random order. When you get bored, press Esc twice to interrupt the display, then answer N for No to all the questions. Now select option 3 from the main menu. The program asks you if you want to load a pattern from the library on the disk. Press Y for Yes. Then type the number (not the name) and press Enter. The pattern will now run itself for you, and stop either when it dies or at a predetermined cutoff point. In the latter case, you will be allowed the option of extending it. Interrupt the display as before, to get back to the main menu. Now select option 2. This gets you into the mathematical/creative part of the program. You can now edit the parameters that produced the pattern you just saw. You'll need our complete operating instructions for all the details, but here's a brief summary of the editing functions: The screen is divided into four "zones." Press Enter and Esc to move the cursor forward and backward from one zone to the next. Press the cursor keys to move the cursor within the limits of each zone. Inside each zone, you can change the existing values. Highlighted letters in the prompt-lines show you what your options are. The first zone specifies fundamentals such as the number of colors and high-res or medium-res display. The second zone allows you to specify your choice of colors. More colors are available in medium-res than high-res, because of limitations in the IBM CGA adapter. Press the initial letter of each color you want (e.g. B for Blue). Note that you need to press X for Black. The third zone shows the initial pattern of cells in your cell system. Change this using the left-right cursor keys and the code-numbers assigned to your colors (see zone two). The fourth zone shows the "growth rules" for your cell system. The pattern of surrounding cells will determine the color of each cell during the next growth cycle. The program displays all available permutations of color patterns, and lets you choose the new cell color that will result. Use the up/down cursor keys and press the code numbers of your colors. Press Enter to grow your new version of the cell system. It may die, it may flourish, or it may fill the screen with a random mess. If the result is esthetically pleasing, you can add it to the library of cell systems on the disk. SUMMARY OF DISK FILES AUTOEXEC BAT Runs the program if you start your computer with this disk CELLNAME RND A library of names of cell patterns stored on the disk CELLDATA RND The data that define and create each cell pattern CELSYS EXE First part of the program; establishes system configuration MAINPROG EXE The main program. To run it, type CELSYS, never MAINPROG. SYSTEM DAT Your system configuration (printer, etc) is stored here SCREENS PIC Screen layouts that the program loads into video memory READ ME These instructions