voxelspacerust

this is a rust implementation of the infamous voxel space algorithm used by novalogic for their early comanche games and delta force 1 & 2

features

• load your own maps: you can pick custom colormap and heightmap images with a file picker
• sky gradient: "simulates" a sky that goes from light blue to darker blue near the horizon
• real-time controls: move around and change angles with your keyboard, giving you an interactive 3d experience
• optimized performance: uses frame-rate independent motion and other tweaks to make it smoother even on big maps

requirements

• rust (latest stable version)
• cargo (comes with rust)

dependencies

this project uses a few crates:

• pixels for pixel rendering
• winit for managing windows and events
• image for handling image files
• rfd for the file picker (cross-platform)

add these dependencies to your cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
pixels = "0.10"
winit = "0.27"
image = "0.23"
rfd = "0.11"

yes, i know they're not the latest

installation

1. clone the repo:

   git clone https://github.com/remivoire/voxelspacerust.git
   cd voxel-landscape-renderer

2. add default assets (optional):

   • if you don’t want to pick your own images each time, place default images in an assets folder in the root of the project
   • use these filenames:
     • colormap: assets/map0.color.gif
     • heightmap: assets/map0.height.gif

3. run the app:

   cargo run --release

   pro tip: running in release mode is faster, so it’s recommended

usage

loading custom maps

when you launch the app, a file dialog will pop up for you to choose:

• colormap: an rgb image file (like .png, .jpg, or .gif) to give colors to the landscape
• heightmap: a grayscale image file (also .png, .jpg, or .gif) to provide height info for the landscape

if you cancel either dialog, it’ll load the default assets from the assets folder (if available)

controls

use the following keys to move around and interact with the landscape:

key	action
up arrow	move forward
down arrow	move backward
left arrow	rotate left
right arrow	rotate right
w	look up
s	look down
e	move camera higher
d	move camera lower
esc	exit the app

sky gradient

a smooth sky gradient effect is applied automatically. it transitions from a light blue at the top to a darker blue near the horizon

code structure

• main function: sets up the window, file loading, camera, and starts the event loop
• handle_window_event: processes keyboard input and window events
• update: updates camera position and angles using delta time for smooth movement
• draw: handles rendering the landscape and sky gradient with some optimized ray marching for performance

optimization tips

1. reduce depth: zfar depth is reduced to make rendering faster
2. bigger ray marching steps: instead of processing every depth layer it steps by 2 layers to cut down computations
3. frame-rate independent motion: by using delta time, movement stays smooth regardless of the frame rate