Lightweight, modern, and ray-traced.
Free & open source cross-platform 3D engine
Built with C++20 and Vulkan for real-time path tracing, game prototypes, and AI-native workflows.
Why choose gkNextEngine?
An uncompromising personal R&D playground. Guided by modern graphics standards and runtime performance constraints to deliver an AI-friendly next-gen engine.
Real-Time Path Tracing & Hybrid
Targeted at true runtime 1/2spp path tracing with the perfect balance of fidelity and frame rates.
- SHARC world radiance cache & ReSTIR DI direct lighting resampling
- NVIDIA DLSS / DLSS-RR / FSR / SGSR2 upscaling and reconstruction
- Seamless pipeline hot-switching: PathTracing & deferred rasterizer
- PlayCanvas Gaussian Splatting (SOG) coexists with meshes in one frame
Modern GPU Architecture & Lean Core
Strictly constrained first-party Core under 50k LOC for maximum runtime throughput.
- Fully bindless resource indexing with tens of thousands of instances in a single Draw
- Visibility Buffer and soft Mesh Shader geometry pipeline
- entt ECS + Reflection layer: unified runtime, editor properties, and scripts
- Deep Jolt Physics integration for collision, rigid bodies, and character actors
AI Native Structured Assets & Verification
Empower AI with parseable, editable, and automatable 3D assets and runtime feedback.
- Native OpenSCAD DSL, LDraw (LEGO), and glTF 2.0 parsing
- Declarative input driver scripts (.agentscript.json) with automated assertions
- Hidden window fast snapshot & visual regression testing (gnb shot)
- Integrated local llama.cpp / Gemma inference service for in-game NPC decisions
Unified Toolchain & Remote Play
Single entry point for full lifecycle across desktop and mobile platforms.
- Unified gnb CLI: manages setup, build, run, test, and packaging
- Cross-platform parity: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS
- WebRTC Remote Play: zero-install 60FPS streaming in browser
- Tracy CPU/GPU timeline & Superluminal profiling integration
15+ Subprojects & Gameplay Prototypes
More than a rendering engine: a rich testbed for game mechanics and content pipelines, sharing unified ECS, physics, and rendering foundations.
✈️ AirportSim
Airport Ecology & Agent DecisionsValidates SCAD-described POIs, passenger queues, NavGrid A* pathfinding, and local LLM agent decisions.
🧱 MagicaLego
Digital Brick Physics PlaygroundVoxel and LEGO style scene building and physics mechanics with raycast grabbing and stud snapping.
🥔 Brotato3D
Top-Down 3D Horde ShooterTop-down horde survival shooter validating massive wave spawns, high-performance object pools, and weapon skills.
🧩 BrickPlayer
LDraw Standard PrototypeDigital LEGO brick parser conforming to official LDraw specs, mapping colors to PBR materials with assembly semantics.
📐 ScadStudio
Procedural DSL Modeling & EvalEmbedded OpenSCAD DSL parser and evaluator, powered by Manifold CSG operations and ScadRig bone hierarchies.
🛠️ gkNextEditor
Material Node Graph & DebuggingImGui and entt::meta reflection editor supporting material node authoring, real-time cvar tuning, and Play-in-Editor.
🏢 StudioSim / CitySolSim
Studio & City SimulationValidates local LLM event generation, employee daily routines, SCAD procedural offices, and career palettes.
🧟 NextDayZ
Exploration & AI Behavior TreesCharacter locomotion, NavGrid A* pathfinding, hostile AI behavior trees, and third-person combat prototypes.
⚔️ NextTotalWar / NextRA
Massive Tactics & Lockstep SyncMassive army formation tactics simulation and deterministic Lockstep replay validation with millions of units.
Performance & GPU Throughput
Performance is a primary constraint. Leveraging Bindless, GPU-Driven single Draw culling, radiance caching, and sparse residency for extreme throughput within tight VRAM budgets.
| Scene | Pipeline | Frame Time | FPS | VRAM | Draws (Culled / Total) | Triangles (Culled / Total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MaterialShowcase | PathTracing | 2.342 ms | 427 | 978 MiB | 15 / 15 | 13,862 / 13,862 |
| MaterialShowcase | SoftwareModernNoAmbient | 0.619 ms | 1,614 | 925 MiB | 15 / 15 | 13,542 / 13,542 |
| LightingShowcase | PathTracing | 2.836 ms | 353 | 978 MiB | 9 / 9 | 4,953 / 4,953 |
| LightingShowcase | SoftwareModernNoAmbient | 0.707 ms | 1,414 | 925 MiB | 5 / 5 | 2,881 / 2,881 |
| KilometerWorld | PathTracing | 1.651 ms | 606 | 925 MiB | 401 / 1,780 | 4,789 / 21,362 |
| MassiveAsteroidBelt | PathTracing | 2.089 ms | 479 | 1,192 MiB | 34,265 / 67,786 | 2.73M / 5.42M |
Single-Command Toolchain, Ready in Minutes
All platforms orchestrated uniformly by gnb CLI. Environment diagnostics, dependency setup, compilation, tests, and packaging in one line.
# 1. Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/gameknife/gkNextEngine.git
cd gkNextEngine
# 2. One-click setup (auto downloads Vulkan SDK 1.4 + Slang + vcpkg)
./gnb.bat setup
# 3. Fast incremental build for core targets (gkNextRenderer + gkNextUnitTests)
./gnb.bat build
# 4. Run main renderer
./gnb.bat run gkNextRendererStanding on the Shoulders of Great Graphics OSS
Carefully curated industry-leading, modular, modern C++20 and graphics libraries.