>>>>> Fractal Agent, (c)1997,98 by Terry W. Gintz <<<<<

Fractal Agent has been simplified for new users.  A description of the full-release version(Fractal Commander) follows.
 
Fractal Commander graphs formulas based on 4-D complex number planes.  Fractal Commander currently supports the Mandelbrot set, Julia sets, and Phoenix curves, with over 500 mapping variations.  Also included are midpoint displacement routines and spherical plots to enhance 3D plots.  The complex math functions supported include sin(z), sinh(z), z^z, e^z, z^n, sqrt(z), cos(z), cosh(z), tan(z), tanh(z), log(z), ln(z), n^z and others, including the gamma and Legendre functions.

Up to two formulas for z using the above functions may be plotted, using traditional rules for generating Mandelbrot sets (Benoit B. Mandelbrot) and Julia sets (G. Julia.)  Also, there are mapping options that use non-traditional methods, such as the epsilon-cross method (Clifford A. Pickover), renormalization and IFS (Michael Barnsley).  Many thanks to Paul Carlson for providing me his algorithms for 3D-like fractals, and allowing me to incorporate his ideas into Fractal Commander.  

Since the formula parser is an interpreter, with its inherent lack of speed, over ninety 'popular' and unusual formulas have been hard-coded to reduce graphing time by 40 to 60 percent.  Several of the built-in formulas are capable of producing graphs that the program could not generate through the parser alone, such as applying the Mandelbrot set to Newton's method for solving quadratic equations.  Also included in the built-in functions are the Quaternion and hypercomplex sets of four dimensions.  Hypercomplex extensions (as described in Fractal Creations) have been incorporated into all of the Mandelbrot and Julia functions except for the Quaternion set(this is itself a special 4D version of the Mandelbrot set z^2+c.)

Fractal Commander requires an extended SVGA adapter capable of displaying 256 colors.  Fractal Commander 3.32 uses a 236-color palette for plotting, with 20 colors reserved for Windows.

Minimum memory requirements for Fractal Commander vary with the size of the drawing area Fractal Commander opens on, ranging from approximately 1MB free memory for a 256 color 640X480 area to 4 megabytes for a 2048X1536 area.  Each additional open window requires another .5 to 3 megabytes of memory, depending on its drawing area. 
 
If you like Fractal Agent, I ask you to show your appreciation by registering your copy with me.  For a small fee, registered users get the full-release version described above, as well as free updates to Fractal Commander for a year. They also receive Fractal Elite, the true-color version of my program, free for the asking. The yearly fee for Fractal Commander is one hour's income(whatever that might be for you; if you're out of work, the fee is zero.)

Fractal Agent is freely-redistributable, as long as the contents of this package remain intact.  Pictures created with Fractal Agent may also be freely distributed, as long as they are the work of the individual user(not a builtin example.)

To register your copy of Fractal Agent, use the following address:

	Terry W. Gintz
	1239 Pease Ave 
	Alameda, CA 94501

Be sure to enclose your net address to receive the release version and updates to Fractal Commander.


For any questions or help on Fractal Agent, you can email me at twgg@ix.netcom.com.

