Now you too can download an OpenGL Inventor program of the Magellan Mandelbrot ship. This is a newer version that is much more user friendly these days. Some computers don't seem to have the buffers to allow the animations to refresh, and there is a glut32.dll that will be needed if the computer is not equipped to run OpenGL programs. Just put the glut32.dll in the same directory as the magellan31.exe. Be warned, it still takes some skills to fly one of these Mandelbrot ships. It becomes a numbers game of constantly adjusting the trx and try numbers to keep the viewport centered on the drawing. The trx and try numbers vary according to where on the Mandelbrot set you are zooming into. Also be warned that after using the zoom drive, and then the maneuver drive for a while, your zoom will throw the viewport off and you will be lost in warp space. There will be better versions to download here soon, but should I ever develop a completely user friendly, bug-less version it might be on sale for a couple of bucks. For now it’s free so enjoy. Operating a Mandelbrot Ship is difficult like any other vehicle of man's explorations into the unknown. I will be working on some formal instructions on how to operate. Here are basic functions:
F1 – will alter the clipping number up or down when combined with the f4 key. You want to clip the edges in order to move the drawing area to what you want to see. If the clip number is too large you can loose your drawing.
F4 – is used to toggle the clip number and also sets the clip flag. You want the clip flag set to ‘N’ in order to default to a pre-determined roughly accurate clip number.
F2 – This is the key to open the Warp Drive, which allows you to alter move settings in order to adjust the position in the viewport. You also want to change the trx and try numbers to steady the x and y planes since the name of this numbers game is keeping the drawing in the viewport. You can also change zoom manually, and the zmcount number, which is how many times you will zoom in. You can also stop the rate of zoom increase, which will double each zoom after 200 times. The warp drive is very important for operating this ship successfully.
Future versions will have other F keys to view from further back on the z axis, which will allow the user to find the drawing when last in warp space.
The F3 key is supposed to restart the program, but it isn’t completely working yet.
The arrow keys move the mandelbrot drawing around in the viewport. When combined with the
Middle mouse button it will move the drawing and clip the sides depending on what direction you are moving it. The Control key can also be used instead of the Middle mouse button if your computer doesn't have a Middle button.
The Left Mouse Button will zoom into the Mandelbrot Set, and the Right Mouse Button will zoom out of the drawing, or visa versa depending on if your mouse settings are for a right or left handed person.
This math formula is infinite, but due to the limits of Double Float C variables, this particular ship will only make it up to 5 trillion times into the drawing before things start breaking up. Still that leaves us with a Universe of places we can travel to as the Captain of your own Mandelbrot Ship.
Download This program is not guaranteed to work on all computers. I’m noticing a problem on some computers that appears to be a buffer problem caused by some computers not having double buffer capability. I’m still scratching my head over that problem, and my last statement may sound ignorant to me someday. I'm still troubleshooting bugs in the program so I'll have improved versions here as I compile them. The glut32.dll in the same directory as the executable should provide the program with the functions it needs if its not working. Most newer XP operating systems are provided with OpenGL libraries and don’t require this .dll.
click here to download glut32.dll if computer doesn't support OpenGL.
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