🧱 ft_vox

A Minecraft-like voxel engine written in C++20 and OpenGL.

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📸 Screenshot

Add a screenshot here showing terrain rendering / chunks / wireframe mode

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🚀 Overview

ft_vox is a prototype voxel engine focused on rendering large procedurally generated worlds using a chunk-based architecture.

The project explores:

• Efficient world streaming
• Custom memory layouts for voxel storage
• Real-time procedural terrain generation
• OpenGL rendering optimizations

It is currently in early prototype stage, with core systems implemented and major optimizations in progress.

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✨ Features

🧩 Chunk-based world system (16×16×384)
🧱 Vertical chunk sections (16×16×16)
🌄 Procedural terrain generation (Perlin noise)
🪨 Heightmap-based terrain shaping
💡 Baked lighting system
👁️ Back-face culling
🧠 Custom 64-bit chunk hashing system
🗺️ Unordered map-based chunk storage
🧍 Floating origin system (precision-stable world)
🎮 Fly camera (WASD + mouse look)
🪟 Wireframe debug mode (toggle with Z)
⚙️ Basic mesh optimization (face culling per chunk)

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🧠 Planned Features

🚀 Greedy meshing (major performance upgrade)
🧵 Thread pool for chunk generation & meshing
📦 Chunk streaming system improvements
🧍 Physics & collision system
🧱 Block placement / breaking
🌑 Advanced lighting (AO / shadows experiments)

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🏗️ Project Structure

├── glad/ # OpenGL loader
├── glm/ # Math library
├── include/ # Project headers
├── obj/ # Build objects
├── resources/ # Textures / assets
├── shaders/ # GLSL shaders
├── src/ # Source code
├── .clang-format
├── .gitignore
├── compile_commands.json
├── Makefile
└── ft_vox # Binary

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🧱 World System

• World divided into chunks (16×16×384)
• Each chunk split into 24 vertical sections
• Sections are 16×16×16 blocks

This allows:

• Efficient meshing per region
• Partial updates
• Reduced memory overhead

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🌍 Terrain Generation

Terrain is generated using multi-octave Perlin noise:

• Hills + mountain shaping
• Heightmap per chunk
• Layered block generation:
  • Bedrock (bottom layer)
  • Stone
  • Dirt
  • Grass (surface)

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🧩 Chunk Storage

Chunks are stored in:

std::unordered_map<uint64_t, Chunk>

Using a custom bit-packed hash:

• Encodes X and Z into a single 64-bit integer
• Enables fast lookup and spatial indexing

🎮 Controls

• WASD → Move
• Mouse → Look around
• Z → Toggle wireframe mode

The camera uses a floating origin system, meaning:

The world moves around the player instead of the player moving through floating-point space

This prevents precision issues in large worlds.

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⚙️ Build

Compile

make

Run

./ft_vox

Clean

make clean
make fclean

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Dependencise

• GLFW

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📊 Current Status

🟡 Prototype stage

Core systems implemented:

• Chunk system
• Terrain generation
• Rendering pipeline

Still in development:

• Meshing optimizations
• Multithreading system
• Gameplay systems (none yet)

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🧠 Notes

This engine is built for experimentation with:

Low-level voxel storage design Rendering performance techniques Chunk streaming architecture OpenGL pipeline control

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