Particles

by Antoni Chan, Copyright © 2003
Version 0.7 beta
www.alltooflat.com/software

Overview

Particles is a screen saver of particles combining and exploding as they bounce around the screen. The parameters of the physics model are highly customizable, and simulate the following interactions:

Attractive force (gravity) between particles.
Attractive force (gravity) between particles and the ground.
Fusion of colliding particles.
Elastic collisions with the walls of the screen.
Elastic collisions between particles.
Repulsive force between close particles.

In addition, the screen saver also has the following features:

Fading particle trails.
Explode the final particle after all particles have fused.
Show velocity and acceleration vectors.
Show the center of mass.
Change the frame rate.
Multiple monitors support. Use the multiple monitors together or separately.
Customizable particle colors.
Save and load the model parameter settings.

Particles is still in beta testing, so let me know if you find any problems or have any suggestions to help improve the screen saver.

Requirements

Particles requires Mac OS X. It has been tested on versions 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3 (but not 10.0).
A windows version is also available.

Installation

Copy Particles.saver into "~/Library/Screen Savers". If you have not installed any screen savers, then you may have to create the "Screen Savers" directory. If you have administrator access, then you can also install the screen saver by copying it into "/Library/Screen Savers". Note: the '~' refers to your home directory.

Instructions

After installation, select Particles from the list of screen savers in System Preferences -> Screen Effects. Click "Configure" ("Options" in 10.3) to change the parameters of the physics model. The sliders are set for a reasonable range of values for each parameter. If you would like to enter your own values, click on the circle button in the bottom left to display the actual parameter values. These values can be changed and will override the value of the slider. The physics model is described in detail in this Particles Physics Model document. If you find a good set of parameters that you like, you can save the parameters using the drop down menu on the bottom of the configuration screen.

Pricing

Particles is donationware. What's that mean? It means that the screen saver is provided to you for free and is not disabled in any way. If you like it and you're feeling generous, then a donation is greatly appreciated and will help in the development of Particles and future projects. The suggested donation is $5 and can be made using Pay Pal.

Future Improvements

Interactive keys.
Configuration when screen saver is running.
Explode after X seconds of inactivity.
Faster and better particle trails.

Known Bugs

Visual glitch when expanding to view the physics parameters.

Version History

11-09-2003: Version 0.7 beta

Save and Load model parameters.
Customizable particle color schemes.
Higher default FPS.
Fixed preview bug under OS X 10.3 (Panther).

04-27-2003: Version 0.6 beta

Initial beta release.

Feedback

Please send all feedback to particles<at>alltooflat.com. If you are sending a bug report, please include the system information and Particles version and the details to replicate the bug. You can also send ideas to expand the physics model, or other features.

Credits

Special thanks to: Ben Stein, Ken Ferrier, and Kate Barton for testing and suggestions.

License

This release of Particles is free software and may be redistributed freely in its original form, but may not be modified.

Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

Neither the names of the copyright owner nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.