Complex Systems Visualizer

Burning Ship fractal at an interesting landmark

A comprehensive Rust application for exploring complex systems, fractals, cellular automata, particle simulations, and emergent behavior through interactive visualizations.

Note: Some fractals may not perform well in web due to CPU-intensive WASM limitations. Check out Fractal Madness for a WebGPU-based alternative.

Features

39 Unique Simulations across 2D and 3D categories:

2D Simulations (22 total)

• Fractals (3): Mandelbrot Set, Julia Set, Burning Ship
• Cellular Automata (4): Game of Life, Elementary CA, Langton's Ant, Cyclic CA
• Growth & Self-Organization (2): DLA (Diffusion-Limited Aggregation), Sandpile
• Physical Simulations (4): Double Pendulum, Reaction-Diffusion, Lissajous Curves, Wave Interference
• Generative Art (6): Koch Snowflake, Phyllotaxis, Perlin Flow, Boids, De Jong Attractor, Clifford Attractor
• Complex Emergent (2): Slime Mold, Falling Sand

3D Simulations (17 total)

• Visual Animations (3): DNA Helix, Torus Knot, Galaxy Spiral
• Particle Systems (5): 3D Particle Attractor, 3D Boids, N-Body Gravity, Fluid SPH, Magnetic Field
• Chaotic Attractors (7): Lorenz, Rössler, Aizawa, Halvorsen, Dadras, Thomas, Chen
• Advanced Effects (3): Vortex Turbulence, Lightning Bolt, 3D Fractal Tree

Key Features

• Interactive Controls: Real-time parameter adjustments with immediate visual feedback
• Mousewheel Zoom: Smooth zooming for fractal exploration (Mandelbrot, Julia, Burning Ship)
• Drag-to-Pan: Navigate fractal landscapes by dragging
• 26 Color Schemes: Beautiful palettes for fractals and visualizations
• Preset Configurations: Quick access to interesting views and parameters
• High Performance: Parallel computation using Rayon for fast rendering
• Professional UI: Organized collapsible sections with emoji icons

Architecture

The project uses a Cargo workspace structure for modularity:

mandlebrot-visualizer/
├── sim-core/          # Core simulation library
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── lib.rs              # Simulation traits + color system
│   │   ├── mandelbrot.rs       # Mandelbrot fractal
│   │   ├── julia.rs            # Julia set
│   │   ├── burning_ship.rs     # Burning Ship fractal
│   │   ├── game_of_life.rs     # Conway's Game of Life
│   │   ├── cellular_automaton.rs # Elementary cellular automaton
│   │   ├── langtons_ant.rs     # Langton's Ant
│   │   ├── cyclic_ca.rs        # Cyclic cellular automaton
│   │   ├── dla.rs              # Diffusion-limited aggregation
│   │   ├── sandpile.rs         # Abelian sandpile
│   │   ├── double_pendulum.rs  # Chaotic pendulum
│   │   ├── reaction_diffusion.rs # Gray-Scott model
│   │   ├── lissajous.rs        # Lissajous curves
│   │   ├── wave_interference.rs # Wave interference patterns
│   │   ├── slime_mold.rs       # Physarum simulation
│   │   ├── falling_sand.rs     # Falling sand simulation
│   │   ├── generative/         # Generative art patterns
│   │   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   │   ├── koch_snowflake.rs
│   │   │   ├── phyllotaxis.rs
│   │   │   ├── perlin_flow.rs
│   │   │   ├── boids.rs
│   │   │   └── strange_attractors.rs
│   │   ├── lorenz.rs           # Lorenz attractor
│   │   ├── rossler.rs          # Rössler attractor
│   │   ├── aizawa.rs           # Aizawa attractor
│   │   ├── halvorsen.rs        # Halvorsen attractor
│   │   ├── dadras.rs           # Dadras attractor
│   │   ├── thomas.rs           # Thomas attractor
│   │   ├── chen.rs             # Chen attractor
│   │   ├── dna_helix.rs        # DNA double helix
│   │   ├── torus_knot.rs       # Torus knot
│   │   ├── galaxy_spiral.rs    # Spiral galaxy
│   │   ├── particle_attractor_3d.rs # 3D particle system
│   │   ├── boids_3d.rs         # 3D flocking
│   │   ├── nbody_gravity.rs    # N-body gravitational simulation
│   │   ├── fluid_sph.rs        # SPH fluid dynamics
│   │   ├── magnetic_field.rs   # Magnetic field visualization
│   │   ├── vortex_turbulence.rs # Turbulent vortex flow
│   │   ├── lightning_bolt.rs   # Lightning generation
│   │   └── fractal_tree_3d.rs  # 3D fractal tree
│   └── Cargo.toml
│
├── sim-app/           # GUI application
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.rs             # Application entry point
│   │   ├── viewer_2d.rs        # 2D visualization renderer
│   │   └── viewer_3d.rs        # 3D visualization renderer
│   └── Cargo.toml
│
├── sim-web/           # WebAssembly build for browsers
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── lib.rs              # WASM entry point
│   ├── index.html              # Web template
│   ├── Trunk.toml              # Trunk bundler config
│   └── Cargo.toml
│
├── scripts/           # Build automation
│   ├── build-web.sh            # Unix/macOS web build script
│   └── build-web.ps1           # Windows web build script
│
└── Cargo.toml         # Workspace configuration

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Rust (1.70 or later)
• Cargo (comes with Rust)

Building & Running

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd mandlebrot-visualizer

# Run the application (recommended for best performance)
cargo run --release

# Or for development (faster compilation, slower runtime)
cargo run

Web Build (WASM)

Run the application in your browser using WebAssembly:

Prerequisites

Install Trunk, the WASM bundler:

cargo install trunk

Add the WebAssembly target:

rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown

Option 1: Using Build Scripts

# Unix/macOS/Linux
./scripts/build-web.sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
.\scripts\build-web.ps1

The compiled files will be in sim-web/dist/.

Option 2: Using Trunk Directly

cd sim-web

# Development server with hot reload
trunk serve

# Production build
trunk build --release

Option 3: Development Server

For local development with live reload:

cd sim-web
trunk serve --open

This starts a local server at http://127.0.0.1:8080 and opens it in your browser.

Serving the Built Files

After building, serve the sim-web/dist/ directory with any static file server:

# Using Python
cd sim-web/dist && python -m http.server 8080

# Using Node.js (npx)
npx serve sim-web/dist

# Using Rust's simple-http-server
cargo install simple-http-server
simple-http-server sim-web/dist

Usage

Basic Controls

1. Select View Mode: Choose between 2D and 3D simulations
2. Choose Simulation: Use the dropdown menu to select which simulation to run
3. Adjust Parameters: Use sliders and controls in the side panel
4. Explore Presets: Click preset buttons for interesting configurations

Fractal Controls

• Mousewheel: Zoom in/out on fractals (Mandelbrot, Julia, Burning Ship)
• Drag: Pan around the fractal when zoomed in
• Zoom Slider: Fine control over zoom level (0.1x to 10,000x)
• Color Schemes: Choose from 26 beautiful color palettes

3D Controls

• Rotation Sliders: Change viewing angle (X and Y rotation)
• Zoom Slider: Adjust 3D perspective (0.5x to 5x)
• Mousewheel: Quick zoom adjustment when hovering over 3D view
• Auto-Rotate: Enable automatic rotation for continuous viewing

Technology Stack

• Rust - Systems programming language
• egui - Immediate mode GUI library
• eframe - Application framework (native + web)
• rayon - Data parallelism for performance
• num-complex - Complex number arithmetic
• noise - Perlin noise generation
• wasm-bindgen - Rust/JavaScript interop for WebAssembly
• Trunk - WASM web application bundler

Documentation

• QUICKSTART.md - Quick start guide for new users
• FEATURES.md - Detailed feature documentation and tips

Highlights

Advanced Fractal Features

• 26 color schemes with smooth coloring
• Zoom up to 10,000x for deep exploration
• Generalized Mandelbrot/Julia sets (powers 2-8)
• Color cycling animations
• Preset locations for quick navigation

Cellular Automata

• Game of Life with 6 rule variations
• 7 classic patterns (Glider Gun, Pulsar, etc.)
• Cell age visualization
• Real-time rule switching

Physical Simulations

• Reaction-Diffusion (Gray-Scott model)
• N-Body gravity with orbital mechanics
• SPH fluid dynamics
• Magnetic field particle interactions

Generative Art

• Boids flocking (2D and 3D)
• Perlin noise flow fields
• Strange attractors (De Jong, Clifford)
• Phyllotaxis patterns
• Koch snowflake fractals

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Acknowledgments

• Built with the excellent Rust ecosystem
• Thanks to the egui community for the amazing GUI framework