A cross-platform scene-oriented 3D rendering engine for modern C++

Overview

VGLX is a cross-platform rendering engine for modern C++, combining a scene graph with native performance and direct GPU control. The engine is fully cross-platform and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Documentation

• Manual: https://www.vglx.org/manual/
• API reference: https://www.vglx.org/reference/
• Starter template: https://github.com/shlomnissan/vglx-starter

Getting Started

VGLX needs a C++23 compiler and CMake 3.25 or newer. The quickest way to use it is to let CMake pull it into your project with FetchContent:

include(FetchContent)

FetchContent_Declare(
    vglx
    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/shlomnissan/vglx.git
    GIT_TAG v0.4.0
    GIT_SHALLOW TRUE
)

FetchContent_MakeAvailable(vglx)

target_link_libraries(MyApp PRIVATE vglx::vglx)

The first configure downloads VGLX and builds it as part of your project. The starter template is a ready-made project set up this way. To install VGLX system-wide instead, see the installation guide.

Versioning

This project follows Semantic Versioning.

While the engine is pre-1.0.0, minor releases may include breaking API changes and patch releases are limited to fixes. The API will stabilize at 1.0.0, after which breaking changes only occur in major releases.

Minimal Example

#include <vglx/vglx.hpp>

#include <print>

using namespace vglx;

auto main() -> int {
    auto window = Window {{
        .title = "Hello VGLX",
        .width = 1280,
        .height = 720,
        .vsync = true
    }};

    if (auto result = window.Initialize(); !result.has_value()) {
        std::println(stderr, "{}", result.error());
        return 1;
    }

    auto renderer = Renderer {{
        .sample_count = 4,
    }};

    if (auto result = renderer.Initialize(window); !result.has_value()) {
        std::println(stderr, "{}", result.error());
        return 1;
    }

    auto camera = PerspectiveCamera::Create({
        .fov = math::DegToRad(60.0f),
        .aspect = window.AspectRatio(),
        .near = 0.1f,
        .far = 1000.0f
    });

    auto scene = Scene::Create();

    scene->Add(OrbitControls::Create(camera.get(), {
        .radius = 3.0f,
    }));

    scene->Add(Mesh::Create(
        BoxGeometry::Create(),
        PhongMaterial::Create({.color = 0x049EF4})
    ));

    scene->Add(PointLight::Create({
        .color = 0xFFFFFF,
        .intensity = 1.0f
    }))->transform.Translate({2.0f, 2.5f, 4.0f});

    auto timer = FrameTimer {true};
    while (!window.ShouldClose()) {
        window.PollEvents();
        scene->Advance(timer.Tick());
        renderer.Render(scene.get(), camera.get());
        window.SwapBuffers();
    }

    return 0;
}

Getting Help

If you run into problems, please open an issue on GitHub. If possible include:

• Your OS and compiler version
• CMake command you ran
• CMake or compiler logs

License

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                                    |__|/ \|__|

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) 2024-present Shlomi Nissan
https://www.vglx.org

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

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.