Feyd's Fractals
                           Version 1.0


     What are fractals? Good question. I still can't explain it. 
Let's just say that they are a combination of art and mathmatics. 
These fractals are from the Mandlebrot set. If you want to know 
more, go read up on it.

USING THE PROGRAM
-----------------

Files

     Load      Loads a fractal. There are two files that are 
               needed. The first is a .PIx picture of the fractal, 
               where 'x' is the resolution you are in. (1 is St 
               low, 2 is St med and 3 is St hi.) The second is the
               data file, .DTx. It contains the coordinates and 
               number of iterations used to generate the fractal. 
               Both files need to be in the same directory. Just 
               select the .PIx file, the data file will load by 
               itself.
 
     Save      Saves the current fractal.

     Load Pal  Loads a color palette. You can also change the 
               colors with the control panel.

     Quit.     Quits.


Fractals

     Parameters  The first is iterations. This is the number of 
               times the program goes through the algorithm for 
               each point before it decides if the point is in the 
               set or gives up. The default is 50 which is fine 
               for the first few Zooms but as you get further in
               the fractal begins to lose detail. Increase the 
               number of iterations to increase the detail.
               Unfortunately, this also increases the time it takes 
               to generate the fractal. (This is where you will 
               learn to love your accelerator. My AdSpeed 
               _more_ than doubles the speed.) The rest of the 
               parameters are the beginning and ending x and y 
               points. If you know where you are going in the set
               you can enter them manually, or just Zoom from a 
               previously generated fractal.

     Zoom      Just like it sounds. Click on Zoom from the menu
               and select the area you want by holding down the 
               left mouse button and drawing a box. If you didn't 
               get it how you want it, just draw another box. When 
               you are ready, click the right button and...

     Draw      Begins generating the fractal chosen by Zooming or 
               with coordinates entered manually with the 
               Parameters procedure. While it is generating there 
               are three keyboard commands. All three wait for the 
               end of the current line before doing anything. The 
               escape key terminates the fractal. The 's' key 
               stops generation and 'S'tores the fractal so you can 
               finish it later with the Go to Bed procedure. Once 
               you have 'S'tored the fractal you can resume it (Go 
               to Bed) and stop it ('W'ake up) as many times as 
               desired. Go to Bed will automatically keep track of 
               everything.

     Defaults  Sets the parameters to draw the Mandlebrot set.

     Restore   If you mistakenly clicked the right button during
               the zoom procedure, this restores the parameters to
               the fractal being displayed.

     Go to Bed  Since fractals take a while (from minutes to days,
               but they average 20-30 minutes), you can begin 
               several fractals, store them with the Store 
               command, and start the Go to Bed procedure. The 
               program will automatically search the current 
               directory for unfinished fractals, call them up,
               finish them and save them. At any time you can hit 
               'w' for wake up to use your computer again. (But it
               does wait for the end of the line.)



MISC. NOTES
----------
     As I began writing this program I found that many DA's don't 
redraw the screen when they are done. Accordingly, I did a routine 
to redraw the screen when the right button is clicked. A side 
effect of this, which I really like, is that the menu bar is 
'hidden'. To trigger the menus, move the mouse pointer over to 
them.
     The Go to Bed procedure keeps track of which fractals didn't 
get finished by making an .FFx file. It is a very short file 
telling the program what line to start on when generation resumes.
It will be deleted when the fractal is done.
     The program _will_ overwrite existing files. I want it that 
way. 
     If you are new to fractals, keep in mind that if you Zoom in 
on one of the fractals provided that was generated at say, 800 
iterations, it will take quite a while. You might want to start 
out zooming on Mandle. Also, low rez fractals generate the 
fastest, then medium rez, then high rez.



WHINEWARE??
-----------
     Nope. I didn't write this for money. I did it primarily to 
give my computer something else to do while it was collecting news 
stories in the background with X-Press News Service. And for my 
own enjoyment. (The professional and sharware authors out there 
will no doubt say that it shows it.  ;)  If you like it enough to 
give money for it, then go buy something from your local Atari 
dealer (believe me, he needs it), or send in some shareware money 
to a worthy programmer.
     I can be reached on GEnie as CCHRISTENSEN, Delphi as 
FEYDRAUTHA, or at my BBS as Jack Torrence:

                        The Overlook Hotel
                           206-542-7509
                     14.4k bps dual standard



AND FINALLY...
--------------
     I've just been told by a tester that the program won't work 
properly in high rez on a Mega Ste. I have no idea why. I would be 
interested in feedback from Mega Ste users who experience problems.