Alex Dellinger
September 10, 2007
Instructor: Dr. Geoff Sutcliffe
Supervisor: Dr. Uttam Sarkar
Computer Science Project Proposal
For my computer science project I will be attempting to create a 3D game engine. Since it
seems very likely that the time required to create a fairly comprehensive and complex engine will far
exceed that which would be available, the actual scope for this project will be much narrower. Thus, the
focus will be primarily on creating a 3D renderer. A framework may also be created which will,
hopefully, be fairly modular. This will allow me to add missing engine components (such as sound)
easily without disrupting the already written and tested code.
The renderer will utilize the DirectX 9 API, which is the dominant API for gaming on Windows
(which is itself the dominant platform for PC games). The engine will be written using the C++
language. While I briefly considered using C# (C Sharp) to write the engine, which would have been
easier and quicker than any other language, I felt it would be best to use the industry standard.
The renderer will, of course, make use of the basic algorithms: culling, clipping, double-
buffering and so forth. It will make all the appropriate transformations and follow the Direct3D
graphics pipeline. It will feature basic texturing and lighting effects. This is merely the minimum
engine that could result from the project. Given the inherent impossibility of knowing exactly how long
any given effect or algorithm will take to get working in the engine, it would be unwise to create a
fixed goal at the outset when working with such a limited and unchangeable deadline.
Therefore, as the project progresses forward, the goal will be expanded – always staying just
slightly out of reach. I feel that this tactic will result in a more mature engine, rather than by setting
some arbitrary goal. When the deadline finally approaches, the engine will have essentially met several
previous objectives and will only be in the process of attempting to add a single new feature, effect, or
