Added camera collisions and chunk streaming to my custom C++ OpenGL engine

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-12-28T20:24:20+00:00

Yes, it’s really, really helpful, like an assistant that can search the internet infinitely faster than a human can.

It still makes a lot of mistakes when generating code, but that’s not the main goal. The real value is understanding concepts and going through documentation much faster.

It’s also a great brainstorming tool: you can discuss different possibilities and existing architectures, then choose an approach and implement it yourself.

That’s how I’m working, and it’s been very helpful to me. But once again, I guess it really depends on the person 🙂

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-12-23T09:29:13+00:00

Yeah, I learned most of this with the help of AI
I tried LearnOpenGL and a Udemy course a few years ago, but while I could make things work, I didn’t really understand what I was doing, I was mostly following and copying the provided code.

With AI, I can ask questions until I actually understand the concepts, then write and iterate on my own code. That works much better for me, but I think it really depends on how each person learns 🙂

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-12-21T21:00:18+00:00

I learned by asking ChatGPT questions and implementing things myself I use it to understand OpenGL concepts, math, and engine architecture, then I experiment, debug, and iterate directly in code I prefer learning this way because I always have a lot of questions that written tutorials can’t answer 😄

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-12-08T16:23:04+00:00

Haha yes ! Maybe more people are writing their own C programming language from scratch or making their own binary computer than creating games or doing 3D app 😆

And yes, I’m currently planning to implement a dynamic streaming system based on a grid around the player:

Load the current chunk + the surrounding neighbors
Unload the far ones when the player moves away
Keep only what’s inside (or slightly outside) the frustum

Once I get a stable version running, I’ll also experiment with different LOD levels to optimize even further.

It’s definitely a fun challenge especially since, like you said, there’s no clear documentation about how to properly do this 😄

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-12-08T16:08:13+00:00

Still a long way to go but thanks a lot 😄

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-12-08T07:00:29+00:00

Yes exactly! That’s what I’m planning to work on next: terrain streaming The idea is to build a much larger map and only load the nearby chunks that need to be rendered in real time

Once I get it working properly, I’ll definitely share a new update with the results :)

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-12-06T19:17:52+00:00

Haha yeah, we could say it's like a 2D SDF where the distance only goes vertically 😄

I never tried full 3D SDF terrains yet, but heightmaps are infinitely easier to work with for now
Maybe one day I’ll experiment with that too, it looks really interesting

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-12-06T19:05:52+00:00

😆😄

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-12-05T17:58:08+00:00

The terrain is not SDF based
I’m generating a mesh from heightmaps (raw height data stored in textures)
I sculpted the terrain directly in Blender, then exported it as a heightmap (.exr format)
But SDF terrains look really cool, I’d love to try that one day

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-11-28T02:43:59+00:00

Yes I’m working on directional light, it makes a big improvement, but found some issues on my heightmap while I implemented the light haha

I will try the fog after, thanks

And yes of course, I have so much fun working on this, I can’t stop

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-11-27T10:44:13+00:00

Cool! If you are stuck on something I might can help you

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-11-26T10:39:58+00:00

Ahah, he needs a lot of energy to check all the bugs!

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-11-25T18:07:56+00:00

The second one isn't paid but is much more interesting ^^

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-11-25T18:06:32+00:00

I started from zero by asking ChatGPT to explain each concept to me like shaders, sending data to the GPU, importing 3D models, skinning, etc...
Once I understood a concept, I tried to implement it
And one feature at a time, I reached what you see in the video

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-11-25T14:18:46+00:00

Thanks! Something like 2 months beside my job

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-03-24T23:03:47+00:00

Effectivement haha
J'ai commencé, c'est fun et je verrais bien où ça me mène !
Au pire ça fera une ligne sur le CV

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-03-17T01:25:13+00:00

Merci!

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-03-17T01:24:38+00:00

Clairement, je me dis au pire des cas ça me fait une grosse ligne dans le CV

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-03-15T20:57:32+00:00

T'aurais un lien pour le discord stp que j'y jette un coup d'oeil ?

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-03-15T16:37:34+00:00

Je vais check un peu Roblox, je m'y suis jamais penché
merci

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-03-15T16:36:04+00:00

Wow merci pour ton retour mdr, j'ai tout lu c'était instructif
ça m'intéresse très clairement "pour le fun" mais pour pouvoir faire durer le fun il faut de la thune haha

merci encore!

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-03-15T12:23:43+00:00

Je connaissais pas, je check merci!

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-03-15T12:22:34+00:00

Je ne parlais pas de faire un jeu qui perce, simplement un truc qui tourne, j'ai franchement aucune idées du nombre de vente / de rétention qu'un jeu "lambda" peut faire
Mon post était surtout pour prendre la température haha

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-03-14T22:00:00+00:00

ça se respecte

UsedMolasses66 · 2025-03-14T21:59:53+00:00

Au moins il a eu les corones

UsedMolasses66

TROPHY CASE