Custom Graphics Engine

Key Features

• DirectX 11 rendering pipeline
• Custom OBJ mesh loader
• PBR shading & gamma correction
• Normal & cube map support
• Shadow mapping
• Real-time camera system
• Box blur post-processing
• Multi-mode fog system
• Height-based fog
• Dear ImGui debug interface
• Playable build

Contributions

• Architected a DirectX 11 rendering pipeline from scratch in C++, managing the full D3D11 object structure including devices, swap chains, and render targets.
• Implemented mesh loading and rendering via a custom OBJ loader, supporting textured 3D models with material assignments.
• Built a constant buffer system for efficient GPU data transfer, enabling per-object and per-frame shader data updates.
• Developed a scene camera system with configurable projection and view matrices, supporting real-time user-controlled navigation.
• Authored HLSL vertex and fragment shaders supporting albedo textures, normal maps, and cube map environment reflections.
• Implemented a physically-based rendering (PBR) shading model with gamma correction for perceptually accurate material response under multiple light types.
• Constructed a shadow mapping pipeline producing real-time dynamic shadows cast across scene geometry.
• Integrated Dear ImGui for a runtime debug UI, enabling live inspection and adjustment of scene parameters during development.
• Managed a full content pipeline including texture loading, sky/environment setup, and asset organization within Visual Studio.
• Implemented a box blur post-processing effect as a full-screen screen-space pass, with a runtime-adjustable blur radius exposed through the ImGui debug interface.
• Built a multi-mode fog post-processing system supporting linear, smoothstep, and exponential falloff modes, with runtime controls for fog color, start/end distances, and density. Extended the system with optional height-based fog driven by configurable vertical density and fog height thresholds.

Impact

• Built a complete, hardware-accelerated rendering pipeline from a blank Visual Studio project within a single course term.
• Demonstrates low-level graphics programming fundamentals (device/swap chain management, shader authoring, PBR shading, and post-processing) without relying on a pre-built engine.