C++ DirectX

Open-source C++ projects categorized as DirectX
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Top 23 C++ DirectX Projects

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  1. renderdoc

    RenderDoc is a stand-alone graphics debugging tool.

  2. SaaSHub

    SaaSHub - Software Alternatives and Reviews. SaaSHub helps you find the best software and product alternatives

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  3. The-Forge

    The Forge Cross-Platform Framework PC Windows, Steamdeck (native), Ray Tracing, macOS / iOS, Android, XBOX, PS4, PS5, Switch, Quest 2

    Project mention: Forge Cross-Platform Framework | news.ycombinator.com | 2025-10-19

  4. Ogre 3D

    high-performance rendering backend (C++, Python, C#, Java)

    Project mention: Irrlicht Engine – a cross-platform realtime 3D engine | news.ycombinator.com | 2025-09-14

    This, Ogre3D[0], and Wicked Engine seem to be the last of their kind

    [0] https://github.com/OGRECave/ogre

  5. ShaderGlass

    Overlay for running GPU shaders on top of Windows desktop and Wine

    Project mention: ShaderGlass VS crtinted-glasses - a user suggested alternative | libhunt.com/r/ShaderGlass | 2026-01-29

  6. xray-16

    Improved version of the X-Ray Engine, the game engine used in the world-famous S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series by GSC Game World. Join OpenXRay! ;)

  7. DirectXTK

    The DirectX Tool Kit (aka DirectXTK) is a collection of helper classes for writing DirectX 11.x code in C++

    Project mention: MonoGame: A .NET framework for making cross-platform games | news.ycombinator.com | 2026-03-07

    It is kind of nice for indie games, unfortunately it is kind of stuck in what XNA 4.0 had as API surface.

    And it used to be there was still some dependency on old XNA plugins for assets pipeline on Visual Studio.

    No idea where this stands now.

    However it was yet another example of community standing up for the anti-.NET sentiment at Windows/XBox teams, when the persons involved left XBox team, XNA was quickly replaced by DirectX TK.

    "The billion dollar decision that launched XNA"

    https://youtu.be/wJY8RhPHmUQ?is=jwDBVae8AhBH-ANB

    https://walbourn.github.io/directxtk/

  8. LLGL

    Low Level Graphics Library (LLGL) is a thin abstraction layer for the modern graphics APIs OpenGL, Direct3D, Vulkan, and Metal

  9. DirectXTex

    DirectXTex texture processing library

  10. HyperHDR

    Next-gen open source ambient lighting system featuring a high-precision floating-point color pipeline breaking legacy RGB 24-bit limits. Includes advanced smoothing with inertia and adaptive temporal dithering for perfectly fluid, stable output to LEDs from any SDR or HDR video source. Supports Windows, macOS and Linux (x86 & RPi / ARM).

  11. DirectXMath

    DirectXMath is an all inline SIMD C++ linear algebra library for use in games and graphics apps

  12. DirectXTK12

    The DirectX Tool Kit (aka DirectXTK12) is a collection of helper classes for writing DirectX 12 code in C++

  13. Bonzomatic

    Live shader coding tool and Shader Showdown workhorse

    Project mention: Shaders: How to draw high fidelity graphics with just x and y coordinates | news.ycombinator.com | 2025-11-23

    There's also bonzomatic which the demo scene uses for shader programming live coding competitions:

    https://github.com/Gargaj/Bonzomatic

  14. skyrim-community-shaders

    Community-driven advanced graphics modifications for AE, SE and VR.

  15. D3D12MemoryAllocator

    Easy to integrate memory allocation library for Direct3D 12

  16. goverlay

    DirectX hook and game overlay solution for Electron, Qt and CEF, just like discord/steam game overlay,inject any app to overlay in your game (by hiitiger)

  17. DirectStorage

    DirectStorage for Windows is an API that allows game developers to unlock the full potential of high speed NVMe drives for loading game assets.

    Project mention: Libbbf: Bound Book Format, A high-performance container for comics and manga | news.ycombinator.com | 2026-01-20

    I use CBZ to archive both physical and digital comic books so I was interested in the idea of an improved container format, but the claimed improvements here don't make sense.

    ---

    For example they make a big deal about each archive entry being aligned to a 4 KiB boundary "allowing for DirectStorage transfers directly from disk to GPU memory", but the pages within a CBZ are going to be encoded (JPEG/PNG/etc) rather than just being bitmaps. They need to be decoded first, the GPU isn't going to let you create a texture directly from JPEG data.

    Furthermore the README says "While folders allow memory mapping, individual images within them are rarely sector-aligned for optimized DirectStorage throughput" which ... what? If an image file needs to be sector-aligned (!?) then a BBF file would also need to be, else the 4 KiB alignment within the file doesn't work, so what is special about the format that causes the OS to place its files differently on disk?

    Also in the official DirectStorage docs (https://github.com/microsoft/DirectStorage/blob/main/Docs/De...) it says this:

      > Don't worry about 4-KiB alignment restrictions

  18. harfang3d

    HARFANG 3D source code public repository

  19. d8vk

    Direct3D 8 to Vulkan translation for DXVK! Merged into dxvk: https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk

  20. GPU-Reshape

    GPU Reshape (GRS) is an API & vendor agnostic instrumentation framework, with instruction level validation.

    Project mention: .NET MAUI Is Coming to Linux and the Browser, Powered by Avalonia | news.ycombinator.com | 2025-11-11

    I don't think that's a problem? The .NET library this is about, that now supports MAUI code unchanged, is already used in programs like https://github.com/sourcegit-scm/sourcegit/blob/master/scree... and https://github.com/GPUOpen-Tools/GPU-Reshape/blob/main/Docum...

  21. GOESP

    Cross-platform streamproof ESP hack for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, written in modern C++. Rendering and GUI powered by Dear ImGui + FreeType.

  22. doriax

    Game engine for 2D and 3D projects with entity component system (ECS) and data-oriented design

  23. ZetaRay

    Real-time Direct3D 12 path tracer

  24. unreal-vr

    Adds virtual reality support to flatscreen Unreal Engine games

NOTE: The open source projects on this list are ordered by number of github stars. The number of mentions indicates repo mentiontions in the last 12 Months or since we started tracking (Dec 2020).

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Index

What are some of the best open-source DirectX projects in C++? This list will help you:

# Project Stars
1 renderdoc 10,785
2 The-Forge 5,562
3 Ogre 3D 4,594
4 ShaderGlass 4,014
5 xray-16 3,502
6 DirectXTK 2,818
7 LLGL 2,595
8 DirectXTex 2,110
9 HyperHDR 1,998
10 DirectXMath 1,779
11 DirectXTK12 1,726
12 Bonzomatic 1,492
13 skyrim-community-shaders 1,042
14 D3D12MemoryAllocator 1,001
15 goverlay 908
16 DirectStorage 864
17 harfang3d 652
18 d8vk 515
19 GPU-Reshape 488
20 GOESP 441
21 doriax 406
22 ZetaRay 386
23 unreal-vr 299

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