How to become a tools/graphics/engine programmer

This page summarizes the projects mentioned and recommended in the original post on /r/gameenginedevs

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  • cgltf

    :diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: Single-file glTF 2.0 loader and writer written in C99

  • Write a simple glTF viewer in OpenGL. This is a throw-away warm-up. So, don't fret over the code. Don't do anything complicated. Shoot for a simple, forward renderer for a simple, animated character with trivial Phong lighting, diffuse map, normal map and a basic directional shadow map. Use OpenGL ES 3.0/GL 4.3 API with no crazy features. Don't worry about performance. Use https://github.com/jkuhlmann/cgltf to load the files. KTX is a great container for textures.

  • LZ4

    Extremely Fast Compression algorithm

  • Getting lost in material models is tempting. But, at this point you are overdue for working on your own asset pipeline. glTF is great. But, you should learn how to do it yourself. The hardest part will be reading source asset files. The FBX SDK is painful. Assimp isn't great either. Writing your own exporter to your own intermediate text format from Maya or Blender would be good if you are up for it. From whatever source, make your own archive format and binary formats for meshes, animations, textures and scenes. Use https://github.com/lz4/lz4 for compression. You should be able to decompress a list of assets into a big linear array and use them right there with just a bit of pointer fix-up. Minimize the amount of memory you have to touch from start to finish. Data that is going to the GPU (textures, vertex/index buffers) should decompress straight into mapped buffers for fast uploads.

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NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a more popular project.

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