Vulkan
Explicit GPU resource management, command submission, synchronization and descriptor management.
Technical Overview
Engine Systems
An overview of the rendering, runtime, simulation and development systems implemented in Tempest Engine.
Architecture
Subsystems
The engine consists of native runtime systems and development tools. The following sections describe their responsibilities.
Rendering
Vulkan-based rendering, GPU resource management and image processing.
Physically Based Rendering
Metallic-roughness materials, direct lighting and image-based lighting.
Deferred Rendering
Geometry buffers and deferred lighting for scene illumination.
Bindless Resources
Descriptor indexing for GPU access to textures and other rendering resources.
High Dynamic Range
HDR lighting, exposure control, tone mapping and display output.
Global Illumination
Indirect lighting systems including radiance caching and probe-based illumination.
Ray Tracing
Hardware ray tracing through Vulkan ray tracing extensions.
Post Processing
Temporal anti-aliasing, FXAA and image processing passes.
Runtime Architecture
Native engine systems responsible for execution, memory and application state.
C and C++20
A C-oriented engine core with selective use of modern C++.
Entity System
Custom entity representation, component data and entity relationships.
Memory Management
Arena allocation, temporary memory and subsystem-specific resource lifetimes.
Parallel Execution
Task-based execution for distributing engine workloads across CPU cores.
Platform Layer
Window management, input, application lifecycle and operating-system integration.
Shaders
Shader authoring, compilation and runtime integration.
GLSL
Vulkan shader development using GLSL.
HLSL
HLSL shader compilation for Vulkan.
Slang
Shader compilation and modular shader development using Slang.
Hot Reload
Shader recompilation and replacement during development.
Scenes and Terrain
World representation, scene persistence and terrain rendering.
Scene Serialization
Persistent scene data containing entities, components and authored properties.
Prefabs
Reusable entity configurations and scene objects.
Large Worlds
World-space representation and terrain systems for large environments.
CBT Terrain
Adaptive terrain triangulation using a concurrent binary tree representation.
Terrain Modification
Runtime terrain editing and surface modification.
Physics and Animation
Simulation and animated object systems integrated with the runtime.
Jolt Physics
Rigid-body dynamics, collision detection and physics queries.
Character Movement
Character movement, collision response and ground interaction.
Vehicle Simulation
Vehicle movement, wheel contact and suspension simulation.
Skeletal Animation
Skeleton hierarchies and skinned mesh animation.
Animation Blending
Interpolation and blending between animation states.
Development Tools
Editor functions and diagnostics used during engine and game development.
Scene Editor
Scene composition, entity inspection and component editing.
Asset Management
Import, storage, inspection and management of engine assets.
Runtime Inspection
Inspection and modification of application state during execution.
CPU Profiling
Measurement of CPU execution time and engine workloads.
GPU Profiling
GPU timing and analysis of rendering passes.
Debug Visualization
Visualization of geometry, simulation state and engine diagnostics.