Raycasting Engine Programming

18h 13m 33s
English
Paid

This course is designed to teach you how to build a completeraycasting enginefrom the ground up. By employing an algorithm similar to the one used inWolfenstein 3D, you will create a detailed project using both JavaScript and C, encompassing player movement, 2D map views, 3D wall projections, textured walls, sprites, and various optimization techniques.

Course Structure

The course is divided into two key segments to provide a comprehensive understanding of raycasting engine development:

Part 1: JavaScript Fundamentals

In the first segment, we focus on using JavaScript to cover the theoretical and mathematical foundation of the raycasting algorithm. As a simple, high-level scripting language, JavaScript enables us to concentrate on the core concepts without getting bogged down by implementation intricacies.

Part 2: Advanced C Implementation

The second segment transitions into utilizing the C programming language to develop a compiled version of the raycaster. This part includes the integration of textured walls and sprites, alongside an exploration of essential optimization and performance enhancement techniques.

Required Tools

To participate in this course, you will need:

  • A web browser capable of running JavaScript.
  • A small C compiler.

These tools are cross-platform compatible, allowing you to follow along on Windows, macOS, or Linux!

Understanding the Raycasting Algorithm

The Wolfenstein 3D raycasting algorithm relies heavily on trigonometry. Ensure you have pen and paper ready for lectures. We'll thoroughly review and comprehend every formula we encounter throughout the course!

About the Author: Gustavo Pezzi

Gustavo Pezzi thumbnail
Gustavo Pezzi is a university lecturer in London, UK. He has won multiple education awards as a teacher and is also the founder of pikuma.com. Gustavo teaches fundamentals of computer science and mathematics; his academic path includes institutions such as Pittsburg State University, City University of London, and University of Oxford.

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#1: Introduction and Learning Outcomes
All Course Lessons (96)
#Lesson TitleDurationAccess
1
Introduction and Learning Outcomes Demo
12:19
2
How to Take this Course
02:59
3
An Overview of the Raycasting Algorithm
06:37
4
Raycasting or Raytracing?
07:10
5
Raycasting Limitations
03:11
6
A Review of Degrees and Radians
11:27
7
A Review of Sine Cosine and Tangent
16:44
8
Defining the 2D Map Grid
07:55
9
Coding the Map Class
16:54
10
Player Movement
06:33
11
Coding the Player Movement
23:13
12
Coding the Map Collision
10:18
13
Defining the Field of View
08:18
14
Coding the Field of View Ray Increments
16:32
15
Finding Wall Hit
07:49
16
Finding Horizontal Intersections
22:46
17
Finding Vertical Intersections
08:14
18
Coding X-intercept and Y-intercept
27:18
19
Coding the Horizontal Wall Intersection
12:10
20
Coding the Vertical Intersection
25:52
21
Fixing the Intersection Offset Error
07:41
22
Orientation as Angles or Vectors?
03:47
23
Wall Projection
06:50
24
Finding the Wall Strip Height
12:20
25
Visualizing the Minimap
06:03
26
Coding the Wall Rendering
15:24
27
Fixing the Fishbowl Distortion
13:32
28
Implementing Wall Shading by Depth
05:28
29
Bright/Dark Wall Sides
11:18
30
First Steps in C
12:29
31
Working with Makefile
13:56
32
Installing Visual Studio and SDL on Windows
14:46
33
Creating a SDL Window
22:00
34
SDL Rendering and Event Polling
12:24
35
Rendering SDL Rectangles
07:14
36
Game Loop Overview
06:32
37
Coding a Fixed Time Step Game Loop
09:51
38
SDL Delay
08:13
39
Drawing the Map with SDL
18:58
40
Player Movement and SDL Events
15:24
41
Implementing Wall Collision in C
03:46
42
Ray Struct and FOV
10:06
43
Translating the Horizontal Intersection to C
16:32
44
Translating the Vertical Intersection to C
17:07
45
Rendering Rays
09:08
46
The Color Buffer
27:48
47
Color Buffer Implementation
17:06
48
Freeing Allocated Resources
05:20
49
Creating the Wall Projection
17:38
50
Exercise: Ceiling & Floor Solid Colors
01:08
51
Ceiling & Floor Solid Color Implementation
02:02
52
Representing Textures
11:11
53
Creating a Texture Programmatically
08:12
54
Mapping Textures to Wall
07:26
55
Implementing Wall Texturing
20:25
56
Multiple Textures
07:26
57
Multiple Texture Code
14:53
58
Fixed Size Data Types
06:57
59
Using Fixed Size Integer Types
02:55
60
Libraries to Decode PNG Files
11:57
61
Loading External PNG Files
35:26
62
Activity: Field of View Distortion
05:31
63
Understanding the Angle Increment Distortion
11:53
64
Coding the Angle Increment Distortion Fix
08:12
65
Full Screen Window
28:28
66
Refactoring the Graphics File
36:22
67
Drawing Filled Rectangles
02:49
68
Refactoring the Map File
20:24
69
Refactoring the Ray and Player File
19:43
70
The Line Equation
15:18
71
Rasterizing Lines
22:25
72
Coding the DDA Line Algorithm
05:05
73
Refactoring the Wall Projection File
10:20
74
Creating a Type Definition for Color Values
07:11
75
Sending Parameters by Reference
04:53
76
Refactoring the Ray-Facing Code
06:42
77
Wall Texture Color Intensity
07:46
78
Coding the Texture Color Intensity
05:52
79
Raycasting Sprites
06:17
80
Sprite Type Definition
04:07
81
Coding the Sprite Typedef
24:57
82
Rendering Sprites in the Minimap
05:01
83
Identifying Visible Sprites
05:02
84
Coding the Visible Sprites
08:40
85
Finding the Sprite Distance
06:21
86
Normalizing Player Rotation Angle
04:51
87
Calculating the Sprite Projection Height
12:48
88
Calculating the Sprite X Position
04:15
89
Sprite Rectangle Position in the Screen
09:10
90
Displaying Textured Sprites
16:44
91
Activity: Sorting Sprites
02:27
92
Sorting Sprites by Distance
04:38
93
Sprites Behind Walls
06:12
94
Fixing the Sprite Fishbowl Distortion
03:30
95
Concluding our Raycasting Implementation
06:28
96
Notes on Look-up Tables
10:13
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