- clut resource for 2-bit (4-colors) depth mode. I only did it for this mode since this only has 3 non-black, ugly colors from which to choose. The first entry is not white so you may notice slight strangeness in demo mode and a color flash (look fast) when the module starts in that depth. Also, the control panel is not white in demo-mode - it's yellow :) Does anyone actually leave their monitor in that mode?
All other bit depths are supported ... and use the normal system 'clut'. Even the 1-bit depth (B&W) Macs are supported. But, it just doesn't look as nice in B&W.
- Since the module recurses a lot and I'm too lazy to re-architect the code ... I check for mouse movement or click to wake up the module. I tried to make sure that it acts as normal as possible in the demo- and about- modes. But, you may not be able to wake it with a very quick click. This also leads to interesting activity:
*in demo-mode, click in the control panel area to force the module to stop it's current recursive session and move on (changing colors, starting a new recursion).
*in normal screensaving mode, if you move the mouse *very* slightly it will also force the module to discontinue the current recursion session and start a new one (changing colors, starting new recursion).
- The "Rainbow bits?" checkbox started as a debugging option. But, it looked interesting enough ... so I left it in! It has the module change color at the time it plots each batch of pixels - instead of per-recursion session. It also helps show what is being plotted when it doesn't seem to be making any progress.
- added a slider to control how many total maximum points are drawn in one recursion session. This limits how many points a single recursion session will draw on-screen.
- added a slider to control how many points are "batched" up before being plotted. Lower values will let you see small numbers of points being plotted ... over time you will see the "flame" emerge. Higher values will "burst" more of the image on-screen.
- added a slider to control how long a recursion session will last. Lower values will be nicer to your system by giving time back to the Mac more often. Higher values will let the image fully develop ... but in some "flames", this doesn't let background processes get any cpu time for a while.
- I use sin() and cos() functions in the source code. You will need to include the math.c file from your ThinkC distribution to resolve those routines. Previous (beta) versions used home-made routines that used a lookup table - but were too limited.
Like this module? If so, read the about box in the module and send my son a postcard.
If not, join the unofficial AfterDark™ programmers mailing list and make something better. Send email to afterdark-request@emsr.att.com to join.
