FractalForge was born the day I had to print several fractal images and some simple posters with an early Epson Stylus color printer. Back then, I realized there was no true color fractal generator for MS-Windows in the shareware market, so I decided to program one myself. I called it UbiMandel (after my name), and I wrote it in Visual Basic 3. I did not optimize the first version's algorithm because I didn't need to. Once I bought Delphi, I wondered what simple program I could do to learn it. So I began to code TrueMandel, another fractal program. I started it in May 1995 and finished it next October. I released it on the Internet as TrueMandel 1.0 (trmand10.zip), which stands for True Color Mandelbrot Set Generator.
Later, I decided to migrate to the win32-bit world (NT and 95-98) using Delphi 2. Soon, there were two shareware versions: 1.5 and 1.6. In 1999, I completely rewrote TrueMandel in Delphi 4, and changed its name to FractalForge because there are several programs with similar names already available.
Since version 2.4 I decided to make FractalForge open source, so now the project is hosted by FractalForge:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/fractalforge
Improvements over FractalForge 2.8.1:
Fixed BoundedMP algo.
Added Multi CPU alert.
Split Image Tab in Color and Size for clarity.
Improved Color Cycling speed.
Improvements over FractalForge 2.8.0:
Fix moving with zooming in animator.
Added DoubleTail formula.
Added Iterations to animator form.
Added Play avi in animator form.
Added Delete bmp in animator form.
Added Choose multiple codecs in animator form.
Added Average Filter (useful in zooming).
Minor Bugfixes.
Improvements over FractalForge 2.7.2:
Added seven new formulas.
New JuliaHere menu choice right-clicking on the image.
Auto-start a new fractal when changing combo params.
When History tab-page is selected the Start button restore history's fractal.
Unlimited undo (Ctrl-Z).
Animation works with Julia too.
Julia floating uses current formula.
Now zoom in and out work during the drawing.
Added some faqs.
Minor Bugfixes.
Improvements over FractalForge 2.7.1:
New faq file.
New help file.
Fixed a nasty bug with Equalize Colors.
Fixed a bug opening help file.
Improved Edge and Bumper filters.
Minor Bugfixes.
Improvements over FractalForge 2.7.0:
Fixed a bug in import MAP filter.
Add two Paste Params buttons in animator dialog.
Improvements over FractalForge 2.6 final:
At start FractalForge automatically registers file extension mnd.
Let user choose a different avi codec if avi creation fails.
Add select directory in avi dialog.
Image|Fractal Info shows the max value under maximum iter.
The offset trackbar is more responsive.
Renamed some menus, added some shortcuts.
Fixed a bug in colors of floating Julia.
Minor Bugfixes.
Improvements over FractalForge 2.6 prerelease:
Lots of bugfixes.
More responsiveness during long fractals (iter > 1M).
Pressing Enter in Comments field doesn't start another fractal.
Show percent in application caption.
Orbits in shades (black to white) with mandel in background.
Orbits window shows up to 10000 values.
Press Esc to stop drawing of current fractals.
Finished translating source.
Fixed some flickering around.
Added two new filters.
Filters are applied after calculating.
Opening of old files.
Recompiled under Delphi 6.
Removed forge background for flickering.
Removed htmlhelp.ocx references for some incompatibility.
Added File|New choice, same that Fractal|Start
Improvements over FractalForge 2.4 beta4:
Added a feature to transform bmps in a single avi.
Added tools menu.
Moved Poster composition to tools menu.
Added animator tool for making bmps for animations.
Added a feature to copy coordinates to clipboard.
Fixed a bug when it cannot save inifile.
Fixed a bug with elapsed time.
Improvements over FractalForge 2.3:
Added JPG saving capability.
Changed "iteractions" with "iterations".
Changed "Iter" with "Value" on bottom right corner. It shows current value (f.e. potential if you choosen it) of image point not always Iteration.
Upgraded to Delphi5.
Added Julia Floating window.
Fixed a bug in Poster Options when the images are not square.
Fixed a bug in Orbits Algo.
Improvements over FractalForge 2.2:
Added new Full Screen mode (Option menu)
Added a new colors (Nature)
Added a new image (Elephant)
Fixed a bug in replacing a file color
Caption bar displays current fractal name
Added Author and Image informations in PNGs
It's now possible to drag a file onto Fractal Forge to render it immediately
Added a image format ( 500 x 500 )
Fixed some bugs in History List
Added State and Version in History List. Crono and Time are now separated
Fixed a major bug in Load/Save Lists
Allow to quit when drawing a fractal
Correct progress bar position during Bounds drawing
It's possible to reset Starting Values (pressing cancel button)
A few a minor bugs fixed
Improvements over TrueMandel 1.6:
Color Editing
Improved and faster algorithms
Better user interface
Simpler and more powerful zooms
Improved printing
Poster images
Filters
Png Support
Exe packed
Improved Starting fractal dialog
A lot of minor bugs fixed
Improvements over TrueMandel 1.5
32 bit optimized code
80 bit precision (21 digits)
Max iterations over 2*10^9
Win95 components support
Win95 long file name support
Percent of drawing showed on title (also when minimized)
