CVoxelEngine

A C++ Voxel Engine, to succeed my Java Voxel Engine. Uses SDL, and may use OpenCL in the future.

Images

You can see images that I've generated using this graphics engine here and here. (WARNING: Ultra-high-resolution images, don't open if you have limited bandwidth.)

Libraries

You need to install the SDL dlls in your system root directory in order to build or run my CVoxelEngine. I have provided the 64-bit SDL dlls in the lib folder of this repository, which you'd install in %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64 (e.g. C:\Windows\SysWOW64).

Building

You can build this project with Microsoft Visual Studio. Project files are provided. Check out the releases section for compiled builds.

Usage

Fractal generation

General

• World size: This value cubed is the number of bytes your world will take up in RAM. Note, as of v0.1.1 the world is allocated as a single contiguous array, so you will only be able to get as large as the size of largest uninterrupted chunk of ram (with 6gb of RAM I can only make a 1gb - 1024^3 world)
• Object type: box = mandelbox, bulb = mandelbulb, octflake = octahedron flake, sponge = menger sponge, cube = a gradient cube, dust = cantor dust
• Object size: This value is the size of the object you're generating. I recommend generating an object a little smaller than your world size (give like 3-4 blocks of padding on the sides). Note that certain fractals require object sizes that fulfill certain conditions to be generated properly.

box (Mandelbox)

• Object size: Any value
• Minimum Iterations: I recommend a value of 4, but you can deviate from that as you see fit. (higher values will create sparser objects)
• Maximum Iterations: I recommend a value between 16 and 50. Higher values will increase generation time, and each successive increase in the iterations adds less voxels to the object than the last.
• Scale: A positive or negative value. I recommended it be in the range 1.0 > |v| > 3.0
• Zoom: I recommend a value around 4.0. You can tweak this as you see fit, a value less than 4.0 will usually lead to a spherical fractal object (depending on your scale value).
• Fallout: A good choice for this value depends on your scale. Something around f = 1.5 * v^2 is pretty good (v being scale).

bulb (Mandelbulb)

• Object size: Any value
• Minimum Iterations: I recommend a value of 4, but you can deviate from that as you see fit. (higher values will create sparser objects)
• Maximum Iterations: I recommend a value between 16 and 50. Higher values will increase generation time, and each successive increase in the iterations adds less voxels to the object than the last.
• Scale: Generally, most mandelbulbs are generated with integer scale values between 5 and 16. 8 is the most commonly used value.
• Zoom: I recommend 2.0.
• Fallout: I recommend 1024.

octflake

• Object size: Relative to scale. Apply 2 * v + 1 to scale repeatedly to get higher iteration objects.
• Scale: I recommend an odd value >= 7, so you can see the individual octahedrons and can see the middle layer.

sponge

• Object size: A power of 3

dust

• Object size: A power of 3

Controls

• W A S D: For moving around (forwards/left/backwards/right)
• I J K L: For rotating the camera (up/left/down/right)
• Q E: For increasing or decreasing elevation (up/down)
• Z X: For increasing or decreasing camera speed (slow/fast)
• - +: For increasing or decresing the pixel scale of the rendered image (larger scale = shorter render times).
• < >: For increasing or decreasing render distance (farther/closer)
• P: To change the palette. Will have to enter a palette name in the command prompt window.
• C: To capture a screenshot. Will have you enter a resolution (e.g. 3840x2160) if you opt to use smart capture, else will prompt you for width, height, fovH, and fovV individually.
• 9 0: For increasing or decreasing the distance at which lighting begins to fall off (-/+).
• 7 8: For increasing or decreasing the rate at which lighting falls off (-/+)
• \: To generate a new random palette.