Quantum Engine

Project Info

Developed For: University (My MSc final Project)

Platforms: Windows

Responsibilities: Programming, Design, asset preparation

Tools: C++, Win32 API, DirectX 12, DXR

Team size: 1

Time Frame: 4 months

Introduction

‘Quantum Engine’ is a rendering engine for Windows capable of using both rasterization and ray tracing to render 3D objects. This project was created as part of my final master’s project, titled ‘Real-time Ray Tracing Render Engine.’ It is built with C++ and uses the Win32 API for window management. The engine leverages DirectX 12 as its graphics API and DXR for the ray tracing pipeline. For my master’s project, this engine was developed to compare rasterization and ray tracing rendering as part of the task. In the future, I hope to evolve this rendering engine into a game engine if time allows.

Main Features

Here are some of the main features of this render engine:

It features two main renderers: a full ray tracing renderer and a hybrid renderer that can utilize rasterization or a combination of rasterization and ray tracing.
It includes a feature for importing and rendering 3D model files using the ‘Assimp’ package (link). Currently, it only supports static meshes.
It offers the capability to import and utilize textures for rendering via the ‘Windows Image Component’ SDK.
It is capable of compiling and using both rasterization and ray tracing HLSL shaders with the ‘DXC Compiler’.
For every shader, we can generate material instances with unique parameters and textures for customization.
The application can render at a fixed frame rate or with unlimited FPS, depending on the settings.
Each object has a ‘transform’ component for its position and orientation, a ‘render component’ for the Hybrid Renderer, and a ‘Ray Tracing component’ for the Ray Tracing Renderer.
By holding the right mouse button, the user can navigate through the scene using mouse movement and the WASD keys.
Applications can include ‘Behaviour’ objects that allow for custom control over scene like object movement, data logging, and more.

Future Plans

This software currently functions as a render engine, but it has the potential to evolve into a game engine in the future, which is my goal for this project in my free time. There are countless tasks ahead to transform it into a game engine. At present, there are several tasks that need to be completed to make the software more polished. Below are some of these tasks, listed in order of priority:

Make the scenes and materials data-oriented, as building scenes with code can be tedious.
Design an asset management system for importing resources such as materials, textures, shaders, and more.
Currently, the project supports only vertex/pixel shaders and two ray tracing shader stages. The plan is to add additional shaders, including geometry, tessellation, and other ray tracing shader stages.
Materials are currently static, meaning their properties, like texture variables and others, cannot be modified during rendering. The goal is to make materials editable while the scene is being rendered.
During the project timeline, I didn’t have the opportunity to implement UI rendering. However, I plan to integrate a UI system to render image and text overlays in the future.
Include an Editor in the project to enhance its software-like feel. Potential frameworks for this are Qt and WPF, but I haven’t made a decision yet.