Fractal Tree

A recursive binary fractal tree renderer built in C using raylib. Each branch splits into two children at a configurable angle, with length and thickness tapering across n generations.

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Features

• Recursive DrawBranch function with configurable depth
• Adjustable branch angle, reduction factor, and thickness
• All parameters exposed as #define constants — easy to tweak

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Prerequisites

• C compiler — GCC, Clang, or MSVC
• raylib — installation guide

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Building

Linux / macOS

gcc main.c -o fractal -lraylib -lm
./fractal

Windows (MinGW)

gcc main.c -o fractal.exe -lraylib -lwinmm -lgdi32 -lopengl32 -lm
fractal.exe

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Configuration

All tuneable parameters are at the top of main.c:

Constant	Default	Description
WIDTH / HEIGHT	1500	Window dimensions in pixels
BASE_LENGTH	300	Length of the trunk branch
BASE_THICKNESS	15	Thickness of the trunk branch
REDUCTION_FACTOR	0.8	Length/thickness multiplier per generation
BASE_ANGLE	0	Starting angle in radians (0 = straight up)
ANGLE_INCREASE_FACTOR	0.3	Angle offset added/subtracted at each split
MAX_GENERATIONS	10	Maximum recursion depth
BACKGROUND_COLOUR	RAYWHITE	Background fill colour
FRACTAL_COLOUR	BLACK	Branch draw colour

Example variations

Wider spread — increase the angle factor:

#define ANGLE_INCREASE_FACTOR 0.6

Denser canopy — increase generations and tighten reduction:

#define MAX_GENERATIONS 14
#define REDUCTION_FACTOR 0.75

Leaning tree — offset the base angle:

#define BASE_ANGLE 0.3

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How it works

DrawBranch is a simple recursive function:

1. Computes the endpoint of the current branch from its start position, length, and angle using sinf / cosf.
2. Draws the line with DrawLineEx.
3. Calls itself twice — once rotating left by ANGLE_INCREASE_FACTOR, once rotating right — with reduced length and thickness.
4. Returns when generation > MAX_GENERATIONS.

The total number of branches drawn is 2^(MAX_GENERATIONS+1) - 1 (2047 at the default depth of 10).

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License

MIT — do whatever you like with it.