Syndra Engine

Syndra is an early-stage 3D game engine with a focus on real-time rendering. The default renderer is now Vulkan 1.4 (dynamic rendering + synchronization2), with OpenGL kept as a fallback backend.

Motivation

Syndra is my bachelor's thesis project, where I wanted to study how to build 3D game engines. The purpose of this project is not to make 3D games; rather, my primary motivation for making Syndra is to test and learn new algorithms and techniques used mainly in graphics and real-time rendering.

Download

Syndra-Engine v1.1.1-alpha

Showcase

Features

• Engine

  • Editor (with docking support)
  • Entity Component System (ECS)
  • Event system
  • Console logging
  • Model and texture loading:
    • glTF 2.0 (.gltf/.glb) via fastgltf
    • Additional model formats via Assimp
  • Scene saving and loading using YAML serialization and deserialization
  • Debug visualizer (GBuffer, HDRI map, ...)
  • Immediate mode GUI
  • Component editor (material, mesh, light, tag and camera)
  • Viewport gizmos

• Rendering

  • Vulkan deferred renderer (default backend)
  • OpenGL fallback renderer
  • PBR Rendering (Cook-Torrance BRDF)
  • Materials (with texture loading)
  • Dynamic shadows
  • Different light types (directional, point lights and spot lights)
  • Soft shadows using PCSS algorithm
  • Image Based Lighting (IBL)
  • Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing (FXAA)
  • Normal mapping

Future

• Trello Page contains all the upcoming features.

• Engine

  • Asset manager and content Browser
  • Physics engine
  • CPU and GPU profiling
  • Scripting system

• Rendering

  • More debug visualizers (grid, wireframe, ...)
  • SSAO (Screen Space Ambient Occlusion)
  • SSR (Screen Space Reflection)
  • Procedural atmospheric sky
  • Point light shadows
  • Bloom
  • Compute shaders for IBL calculations

Compiling

Syndra only supports Windows for now. Visual Studio 2019+ is recommended.

Start by cloning the repository with git clone --recursive https://github.com/ErfanMo77/Syndra. If the repository was cloned non-recursively previously, use git submodule update --init --recursive to clone the necessary submodules.

Install Vulkan SDK 1.4+ and make sure the VULKAN_SDK environment variable is set (CMake uses it to locate shaderc/spirv libraries).

Then, run scripts/setup.py to update submodules and generate a Visual Studio 2022 solution via CMake. After installing all the prerequisites, you can compile and run the engine in Visual Studio.

You can also generate the solution manually:

cmake -S . -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64

Build editor/sandbox binaries:

cmake --build build --config Debug --target Syndra-Editor Sandbox

Backend Selection

• Default backend: vulkan
• CLI override: --renderer=vulkan or --renderer=opengl
• Environment override: SYNDRA_RENDERER=vulkan|opengl
• Precedence: --renderer (CLI) overrides SYNDRA_RENDERER, and SYNDRA_RENDERER overrides the default.

Example:

bin/debug-windows-x86_64/Syndra-Editor/Syndra-Editor.exe --renderer=opengl

Vulkan Notes

• Vulkan backend requires Vulkan API 1.4 capable hardware/driver.
• Vulkan path uses dynamic rendering and synchronization2.
• Vulkan deferred path includes direct lighting, shadows, optional FXAA, and equirectangular environment IBL.

glTF Scene Import (fastgltf)

• Syndra supports glTF 2.0 scene/model loading (.gltf and .glb) through fastgltf.
• In the editor:
  • Select (or create) an entity.
  • Add a Mesh component.
  • Click Open in the Mesh panel and choose a .gltf or .glb file.
• Multi-mesh glTF files are imported as a parent-child hierarchy (one child entity per mesh).
• Other non-glTF formats continue to load through Assimp.

Regression Checklist

• Build Syndra-Editor and Sandbox in Debug from a clean state.
• Run the automated smoke matrix: powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/smoke_renderer_matrix.ps1 -Configuration Debug
• Launch editor with default backend (no args) and verify it selects Vulkan.
• Launch editor with --renderer=vulkan and --renderer=opengl and verify both start.
• Vulkan smoke: load default scene, resize viewport, close app, verify no validation errors.
• Vulkan smoke: entity picking, gizmos, directional shadows, FXAA toggle.
• OpenGL smoke: editor boots and viewport interaction works as fallback path.
• Scene compatibility: legacy scenes/materials load without manual shader-name edits.

Third Party Libraries

• GLFW : Handling windows and mouse and keyboard events.
• Glad : OpenGL functions loader.
• spdlog : Console debugger logging.
• stb_image : Reading and loading textures.
• ImGui : Immediate mode GUI used in editor UI.
• ImGuizmo : Editor gizmos.
• Entt : Used in Entity Component System (ECS).
• GLM : Matrix and vector operations.
• fastgltf : glTF 2.0 parser/loader used for .gltf and .glb.
• Assimp : Loading non-glTF 3D model formats.
• yaml-cpp : Scene serialization and deserialization.
• Vulkan SDK : Shader compilation and reflection.

Dependencies

• Windows 10.
• Vulkan 1.4 capable GPU driver/runtime.
• Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2019.

Authors

ErfanMo77 - Erfan Momeni

Acknowledgments

LearnOpenGL Great OpenGL tutorials!

The Cherno game engine series

Logo design : AmirMohammad Abedini

License

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0, see LICENSE for details.