Voxel Rendering Engine

This is a simple voxel rendering engine written in C++ and OpenGL. It can render voxels using conventional rasterization or ray tracing.

Important

This program is cross-platform and has been tested on Windows 7, 11 and Linux.

Features

• Scene loading: Load scenes from XML files.
• Geometry support:
  • Voxels (cubes)
  • Voxagons (rectangular prisms)
  • Water (2D triangle fan)
  • Ropes (line strips)
  • Triangular meshes
• Greedy Meshing Algorithm:
  Optionally generates triangular meshes for voxels using Mikola Lysenko’s Meshing in a Minecraft Game (Part 2).
• Hexagonal voxel support:
  Renders hexagonal prisms instead of cubes and aligns them in all three orientations.
• GUI Integration:
  Includes support for Dear ImGui, the GUI library used in applications like Teardown and GTA VI.

Note

This engine is a proof-of-concept and may not be optimized for production environments.

Dependencies

The engine uses the following libraries:

• GLAD OpenGL function loading
• GLFW Window management.
• GLM Vector and matrix math.
• stb Texture loading and screenshot saving.
• tinyxml2 XML file handling.
• imgui Graphical user interface.

Caution

Make sure all dependencies are installed and accessible before attempting to compile the project.

How to Compile

• Open a terminal in the project folder.
• Run the following command:

    make

Example Scenes

Render the included example scenes using these commands:

• Render the example scene:

./vox_render example/

• Render the castle scene:

  1. Extract castle.7z.
  2. Run:

    ./vox_render main.xml

• Render a converted Teardown map:

	./vox_render marina_sandbox/main.xml

Tip

Use the F10 key during rendering to save screenshots, or F11 to toggle fullscreen.

Controls

• Camera Movement:
  • W, A, S, D, Space, Ctrl: Move the camera.
  • Hold Shift: Move the camera faster.
  • Hold Right Mouse Button and drag: Look around.
• Lighting Controls:
  • Arrow Keys, Q, E: Move the light source.
• Screenshots:
  • Press F10 to save a screenshot.
• Fullscreen Toggle:
  • Press F11 to toggle fullscreen.

Engine Rendering Example

Warning

For large scenes, the rendering process may become CPU/GPU intensive. Ensure your system has sufficient resources.

Screenshots