Building a Game Engine From Scratch using Modern C++ and OpenGL
This project is a beginner-friendly game engine built completely from scratch using C++.
The main purpose of this engine is to deeply understand how real game engines work internally instead of relying entirely on existing engines like Unreal or Unity.
The project focuses on:
- Engine architecture
- Rendering pipelines
- Memory handling
- Input systems
- ECS architecture
- Resource management
- Performance optimization
- Low-level game programming concepts
This project exists to help learn and practice:
✅ Modern C++ ✅ Real-world engine architecture ✅ Rendering systems ✅ Memory management ✅ Performance optimization ✅ Game loops and timing ✅ Engine modularity ✅ Graphics programming fundamentals
- Window creation
- Engine main loop
- Delta time system
- Input handling
- Event system
- Logging system
- Time management
- OpenGL renderer
- Clear screen rendering
- Shader system
- Texture loading
- 2D rendering
- Sprite rendering
- Camera system
- ECS (Entity Component System)
- Scene management
- Resource manager
- Asset loading system
- Component system
- Object lifecycle handling
- FPS counter
- Debug console
- Profiling tools
- Engine statistics
- Debug overlays
| Technology | Purpose |
|---|---|
| C++ | Core Engine Language |
| OpenGL | Graphics Rendering |
| GLFW | Window & Input |
| GLAD | OpenGL Loader |
| CMake | Build System |
| Visual Studio | IDE |
BasicEngine/
│
├── Engine/
│ ├── Core/ # Core engine systems
│ ├── Renderer/ # Rendering pipeline
│ ├── Input/ # Input handling
│ ├── Math/ # Math utilities
│ └── Utils/ # Helper utilities
│
├── Sandbox/
│ └── Main.cpp # Testing application
│
├── Vendor/ # Third-party libraries
│
├── CMakeLists.txt
└── README.mdThe current development focus is:
- Setting up engine architecture
- Learning OpenGL fundamentals
- Building reusable systems
- Understanding how professional engines are structured
⚠️ Still In Progress
This project is actively being developed as a learning journey.
Expect:
- Frequent changes
- Experimental systems
- Refactoring
- New architecture updates
Building a game engine teaches concepts that normal gameplay programming often hides.
It helps understand:
- How rendering actually works
- How memory is managed
- How engines organize systems internally
- How performance optimization matters
- How low-level systems interact together
Instead of using a ready-made engine, this project focuses on:
“Learn by building everything yourself.”
Every system is built step-by-step to gain deeper understanding of engine programming.
- ECS implementation
- Audio system
- Physics integration
- Scene serialization
- Editor tools
- Lua scripting
- 3D rendering
- Multithreading
This is mainly a personal learning project, but suggestions, improvements, and discussions are always welcome.
This project is not intended to compete with professional engines.
The goal is purely:
- Learning
- Experimentation
- Understanding engine internals
- Improving C++ skills
Inspired by:
- Hazel Engine
- The Cherno's Game Engine Series
Made with passion for learning low-level game development and engine programming.