OpenGL GPU Particles

Overview

This project implements a particle system using OpenGL with GPU acceleration.

Project Structure

/OpenGL_Particles
├── /debug
│   └── GL_Debug.h
├── /ext
│   ├── /glfw     # Need to download and maybe change name in cmake file.
│   ├── /glm
│   └── /stb      # Need to download and maybe change in cmake folder
│   └── /imgui    # Need to download and maybe change in cmake folder. Not currently used. May be used later.
├── /glad
│   ├── glad.c
│   ├── glad.h
│   └── khrplatform.h
├── /resources
│   ├── fireSheet5x5_alpha.png
│   └── smoke_sheet.png
├── /shaders
│   ├── compute.glsl
│   ├── fragment.glsl
│   └── vertex.glsl
├── /systems
│   ├── ParticleSystem.cpp
│   ├── ParticleSystem.h
│   └── stb_image_impl.cpp
├── /utilities
│   ├── ShaderUtils.cpp
│   ├── ShaderUtils.h
│   └── Config.h
├── OpenGL_Particles.cpp
└── CMakeLists.txt

CMake Setup

Minimum Requirements

• CMake 3.8+
• Visual Studio 2022
• Windows SDK 10.0.22621.0+

Project Configuration

To configure and generate Visual Studio project files:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -G "Visual Studio 17 2022"

This generates a Visual Studio solution OpenGL_Particles.sln.

Building

To build the project after generating the solution:

• Open the generated .sln file in Visual Studio and build the OpenGL_Particles target.

Dependency Setup

1. Download and Setup External Dependencies in ext folder

• Create an ext directory in the root project if it does not exist.
• Download and extract the following dependencies into the ext directory:
  • GLFW – Extract to ext/glfw-3.4.bin.WIN64
  • GLM – Extract to ext/glm
  • stb – Extract to ext/stb-master
  • (Optional) ImGui – Extract to ext/imgui-master if required

Main CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.8)
project("OpenGL_Particles")

# Set C++ standard
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)

# Define paths with safe conversion
file(TO_CMAKE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/OpenGL_Particles/resources/" RESOURCE_PATH)
file(TO_CMAKE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/OpenGL_Particles/shaders/" SHADER_PATH)

# Generate Config.h
configure_file(
    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/config.h.in
    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/OpenGL_Particles/Config.h
)

# Define source directory
set(SRC_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/OpenGL_Particles)

# Get all source files
file(GLOB_RECURSE SRC_FILES
    "${SRC_DIR}/*.cpp"
    "${SRC_DIR}/*.h"
    "${SRC_DIR}/*.glsl"
    "${SRC_DIR}/*.png"
)

# Add executable
add_executable(OpenGL_Particles ${SRC_FILES})

# Include paths
set(EXT_DIR ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/ext)
target_include_directories(OpenGL_Particles PUBLIC
    ${EXT_DIR}/glfw-3.4.bin.WIN64/include
    ${EXT_DIR}/glm
    ${EXT_DIR}/stb-master
)

# Link GLFW
if (MSVC)
    target_link_libraries(OpenGL_Particles ${EXT_DIR}/glfw-3.4.bin.WIN64/lib-vc2022/glfw3.lib)
elseif (MINGW)
    target_link_libraries(OpenGL_Particles ${EXT_DIR}/glfw-3.4.bin.WIN64/lib-mingw-w64/libglfw3.a)
endif()

# Add glad
add_library(glad STATIC ${SRC_DIR}/glad/glad.c)
target_include_directories(OpenGL_Particles PUBLIC ${SRC_DIR}/glad)
target_link_libraries(OpenGL_Particles glad)

# Find and link OpenGL
find_package(OpenGL REQUIRED)
target_link_libraries(OpenGL_Particles OpenGL::GL)

Config.h.in

Config.h.in is a template used to generate Config.h during CMake configuration.

#pragma once

// Define paths for resources and shaders
#define RESOURCE_PATH "@RESOURCE_PATH@"
#define SHADER_PATH "@SHADER_PATH@"

• RESOURCE_PATH and SHADER_PATH are defined dynamically based on the CMake configuration.
• CMake automatically replaces these placeholders with actual paths.

Run Instructions

Run after CMake Configuration

1. Configure and generate the project using CMake.
2. Build the OpenGL_Particles target.
3. Run the generated executable

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

• Path Issues: Paths with spaces should be handled correctly with file(TO_CMAKE_PATH).
• Unresolved Symbols: Check that glfw, imgui, glad, and OpenGL::GL are correctly linked.
• Shader Path Issues: If shaders are not found, double-check the paths configured in Config.h.