Solar System Simulator - 3D Game Engine

A custom C++ game engine featuring an interactive 3D solar system simulation with a flyable UFO spaceship and moon-stealing mechanics.

Features

• Interactive Solar System: Navigate through a simulated solar system featuring:
  • The Sun (with dynamic lighting)
  • Earth and its Moon
  • Mars with Phobos and Deimos
  • Venus
• Flyable UFO Spaceship: Control a Low-poly UFO with waypoint-based navigation between planets
• Moon Stealing Mechanic: Capture moons by proximity - fly close to moons to make them orbit your spaceship
• 3D Positional Audio: Each celestial body emits unique sounds that change based on your position
• Multiple Camera Views:
  • Overhead view of the solar system
  • Ship-mounted camera for first-person perspective
• Component-Based Architecture: Modular game engine design with reusable components
• Modern OpenGL Rendering: Uses OpenGL 4.5 with custom GLSL shaders for per-pixel lighting

Controls

Key	Action
W / S	Move forward / backward
A / D	Strafe left / right
Arrow Keys	Rotate camera / steer ship
Space	Navigate to next waypoint
C	Toggle component visibility (customizable)

Note: Exact controls may vary based on game configuration in MyGame.h

Technical Stack

Core Technologies

• Language: C++ (Visual Studio 2022, Platform Toolset v143)
• Graphics: OpenGL 4.5 with GLSL shaders
• Audio: OpenAL for 3D positional audio
• Math: GLM (OpenGL Mathematics) library

External Dependencies

• GLFW 3: Window management and input handling
• GLEW: OpenGL extension loading
• GLM: Vector and matrix mathematics
• OpenAL: 3D audio engine
• ALUT (FreeALUT): OpenAL Utility Toolkit (provided by freealut in vcpkg manifest mode)
• Assimp: 3D model loading (.obj, .3ds, .fbx formats)

CI/CD Pipeline

This project includes automated CI/CD workflows that build and test the project on multiple platforms:

Supported Build Environments

• Windows with Visual Studio 2022: Builds both x86 and x64 configurations (Debug and Release)
• Linux/WSL2: Ubuntu-based builds compatible with WSL2 environments (Debug and Release)

Automated Builds

The CI/CD pipeline automatically runs on:

• Push to main, master, develop branches, or any branch starting with claude/
• Pull requests to main, master, or develop branches
• Manual workflow dispatch

Build Artifacts

After each successful build, compiled binaries are available as downloadable artifacts:

• SolarSystem-x64-Debug / SolarSystem-x64-Release (Windows 64-bit)
• SolarSystem-Win32-Debug / SolarSystem-Win32-Release (Windows 32-bit)
• SolarSystem-Linux-Debug / SolarSystem-Linux-Release (Linux/WSL2)

Artifacts are retained for 30 days.

Dependencies Management

The pipeline uses vcpkg for automated dependency management, ensuring consistent builds across all environments. All dependencies from vcpkg.json are automatically installed during the build process.

Building the Project

Prerequisites

System Requirements:

• Windows 10 or later
• Visual Studio 2022 or later
• OpenGL 4.5 compatible graphics card (2014 or newer)
• Audio output device

Install Dependencies using vcpkg (Recommended):

# Install vcpkg if you haven't already
git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg.git
cd vcpkg
./bootstrap-vcpkg.bat

# Install dependencies
./vcpkg install glfw3:x64-windows
./vcpkg install glew:x64-windows
./vcpkg install glm:x64-windows
./vcpkg install openal-soft:x64-windows
./vcpkg install assimp:x64-windows
./vcpkg install freealut:x64-windows

# Integrate with Visual Studio
./vcpkg integrate install

Manual Installation: If you prefer manual installation, download and install each library, then configure the include and library paths in Visual Studio project settings.

Build Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd tranquhProject3

2. Open the solution:

   • Open tranquhProject3.sln in Visual Studio 2022

3. Configure build:

   • Select your build configuration (Debug or Release)
   • Select platform (x86 or x64)

4. Build:

   • Press F7 or Build > Build Solution

5. Run:

   • Press F5 or Debug > Start Debugging

Build Cleanup

To clean build artifacts:

clean.bat

Project Structure

tranquhProject3/
├── GameEngine/              # Main source code
│   ├── *.h                  # Header files (40 files)
│   ├── *.cpp                # Implementation files (38 files)
│   ├── main.cpp             # Application entry point
│   ├── MyGame.h             # Main game scene setup
│   ├── Shaders/             # GLSL shader files
│   │   ├── vertexShader.glsl
│   │   ├── fragmentShader.glsl
│   │   └── perPixelLightingfragmentShader.glsl
│   ├── Textures/            # Planet and object textures (2K resolution)
│   ├── Sounds/              # Audio files (WAV format, MONO required for 3D audio)
│   └── My_object/           # 3D models (.obj, .mtl, textures)
├── README.md                # This file
├── clean.bat                # Build cleanup script
└── tranquhProject3.sln      # Visual Studio solution

Architecture

Component System

The engine uses a component-based entity system with the following key components:

Base Classes:

• GameObject: Base entity class
• Component: Base component class
• SceneGraphNode: Hierarchical transformation system

Component Categories:

• Mesh Components: BoxMesh, SphereMesh, CylinderMesh, ModelMesh
• Movement Components: SpaceTravel, Reparent, Spin, Steer, Waypoint
• Lighting Components: Positional, Directional, Spotlight
• Camera Component: Multi-viewport support
• Sound Components: SoundSource, SoundListener

Rendering Pipeline

1. Scene graph traversal for hierarchical transformations
2. Shared uniform blocks for materials, transformations, and lighting
3. Per-pixel lighting using GLSL 4.5 shaders
4. Multi-light support (positional, directional, spotlights)

Assets

Textures

High-quality 2K resolution planet textures:

• Sun, Earth, Mars, Venus, Moon, Phobos

3D Models

• Low-poly UFO model with diffuse, normal, specular, and glow maps
• F-15C Eagle jet model (alternative ship option)

Audio Files

Important: Current audio files include copyrighted music. For distribution, replace with royalty-free alternatives:

• ambient.wav
• space.wav/mp3

Known Issues

1. Large Binary Files: Project contains ~293MB of assets (textures, models, sounds). Consider using Git LFS for better repository management.

2. Audio Copyright: Some audio files are copyrighted music. Replace with royalty-free audio for legal distribution.

3. OpenAL Configuration: You may need to modify OpenAL include paths depending on your installation. See SoundEngine.h lines 10-13 for details.

4. Platform Support: Currently Windows-only. Cross-platform support would require CMake build system.

Development Notes

Recent Changes

• 2023-10-16: Updated README
• 2022-11-13: Changed spaceship model to Low-poly UFO
• 2022-11-12: Added ReparentComponent for moon-stealing mechanic
• 2022-11-12: Implemented waypoint navigation system

Code Quality Improvements

This update (2025-11-14) includes:

• Fixed duplicate file issues (CylinderMeshComponent typo)
• Corrected MakeVisableComponent → MakeVisibleComponent
• Added comprehensive documentation
• Added dependency management support

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure:

• Code follows existing style conventions
• New features include appropriate components
• Shaders are compatible with OpenGL 4.5
• Audio files are MONO format for 3D audio support

License

This project uses MIT license. Please check the License page for more details.

Acknowledgments

• Planet textures from [Source to be documented]
• 3D models: Low-poly UFO, F-15C Eagle
• Audio: [Replace with royalty-free sources]

Contact

For questions or issues, please open an issue on the repository.

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Last Updated: November 2025 Engine Version: 1.0.0 OpenGL Version: 4.5