Topaz

About

Topaz is a 3D graphics engine.

• C++20 (no modules)
• Very low-level declarative graphics API.
• Supports OpenGL/Vulkan, Windows/Linux and Clang/GCC/MSVC (See requirements section below for required versions)

Topaz 4.2.0 is the most recent release of the Topaz Engine.

The Topaz project has been ongoing since it began as a school project in 2015.

Notable Features

• Low-level graphics API, with either a Vulkan or OpenGL backend, configured at compile-time.
• Barebones lua scripting support
• GLTF model importing
• Ability to embed arbitrary text-files within built executables.

Version History

Each major version is a total rewrite and thus completely different from the previous. Each minor version typically consists of API-breaking feature changes. Patch versions are not formally shipped unless they contain emergency bugfixes for a flawed release.

Topaz Version	Release Date	Branch	Documentation
...	TBD	master	harrand.github.io
4.2.0	Apr 23, 2024	Topaz4.2	Branch: gh-pages-tz4.2
4.1.0	Dec 1, 2023	Topaz4.1	Branch: gh-pages-tz4.1
4.0.0	July 9, 2023	Topaz4.0	Branch: gh-pages-tz4.0
3.6.1	Dec 10, 2022	Topaz3.6	Branch: gh-pages-tz3.6
3.6.0	Dec 8, 2022	Topaz3.6	Branch: gh-pages-tz3.6
3.5.0	Sep 22, 2022	Topaz3.5	Branch: gh-pages-tz3.5
3.4.0	Aug 3, 2022	Topaz3.4	Branch: gh-pages-tz3.4
3.3.0	Jun 12, 2022	Topaz3.3	Branch: gh-pages-tz3.3
3.2.0	Apr 23, 2022	Topaz3.2	Branch: gh-pages-tz3.2
3.1.0	Feb 13, 2022	Topaz3.1	Branch: gh-pages-tz3.1
3.0.0	Sep 17, 2021	Topaz3.0	Branch: gh-pages-tz3
2.0.0	May 9, 2021	Topaz2.0	Branch: gh-pages-tz2
1.0.0	Sep 25, 2020	Topaz1.0	Branch: gh-pages-tz1

More Releases

Note: I do not recommend any of these. These are listed just for completeness.

Topaz Version	Release Date	Release
0.7.0	Apr 10, 2019	Raycasts, Octrees & Improved Utility
0.6.0	Jul 18, 2018	Shadow Mapping & Physics
0.5.1	Dec 12, 2017	Refactoring 1
0.5.0	Oct 8, 2017	Physics & Collision
0.4.0	Sep 25, 2017	Displacement Maps & Skyboxes
0.3.0	Sep 21, 2017	GUI & Flexible
0.2.0	Jun 5, 2017	Prettier, faster and more features
0.1.6	Apr 16, 2017	Skybox & Audio
0.1.5	Apr 11, 2017	Dynamic Lighting
0.1.4	Apr 9, 2017	Audio
0.1.3	Mar 29, 2017	World Construction
0.1.2	Mar 25, 2017	Hightail House Construction
0.1.1	Mar 24, 2017	Parallax Displacement Mapping
0.1.0	Mar 21, 2017	Dev Test

Build Instructions

1. Checkout the repository resursively.

2. Configure CMake. It is recommended you use a preset.

   Example: cmake --preset host_vulkan_debug

3. Build the topaz target to build the engine. Run the tztest target to build and run all unit-tests.

Dependencies

The table below shows all the engine's dependencies.

Dependency	Render API	Build Config	Dependency Type
concurrentqueue	Both	All	Git Submodule
debugbreak	Both	All	Git Submodule
GLAD	OpenGL	All	Included in repository
imgui	Both	All	Git Submodule
imgui_club	Both	All	Git Submodule
textc	Both	All	Git Submodule
stb	Both	All	Git Submodule
nlohmann json	Both	All	Git Submodule
lua	Both	All	Git Submodule
msdfgen	Both	All	Git Submodule
tracy	Both	Profile	Git Submodule
Vulkan SDK	Vulkan	All	Needs pre-installation
VulkanMemoryAllocator	Vulkan	All	Git Submodule

Requirements

The following requirements apply for all possible build configurations:

• A C++20-compliant compiler. GCC, MSVC and Clang are all tested so you can be confident using these. If you're not using any of these compilers, your mileage may vary.
• CMake 3.21 or later is required to build.

Vulkan Build

• Windows or Linux.

  • macOS may be theoretically possible now that MoltenVK supports VK1.2, but no investigation has been done to decipher how much work is needed. Definitely, no work is planned for proper Metal support.

• Vulkan SDK 1.2 or later must be installed.

• Your graphics card must support Vulkan 1.3. Check your graphics card here.

  • It must also support the following vulkan extension(s):
    • VK_KHR_swapchain
    • VK_KHR_shader_non_semantic_info (debug builds only)

OpenGL Build

• Windows or Linux.
• Your graphics card must support OpenGL 4.6. Check your graphics card here.
  • It must also support the following opengl extension(s):
    • ARB_bindless_texture
      • Note: If this extension is not supported, the engine can still build & run, but you cannot use tz::gl::image_resources of any kind. The unit-tests are guaranteed not to use image resources, so those are safe to run if you lack this extension.
    • ARB_indirect_parameters
      • Note: If this extension is not supported, the engine can still build and run, but you cannot use tz::gl::renderer_option::draw_indirect_count. None of the tests do this, but tz_gpu_driven_demo is a demo that does use this, and thus won't run for you on OGL.