nowfound

Dev tools · January 10, 2026

HE

Horizon Engine – C++20 3D FPS Game Engine with ECS and Modern Renderer

Hi HN, I’m working on an experimental 3D FPS game engine in C++20, aiming to deeply understand engine internals from first principles rather than just using existing frameworks. Currently I'm strictly following LearnOpenGL docs. This project focuses on: Entity-Component-System (ECS) architecture for high performance. OpenGL 4.1 rendering with a PBR pipeline, material system, HDR, SSAO, and shadow mapping. Modular systems: input, physics (Jolt), audio (miniaudio), assets, hot reload. A sample FPS game & debug editor built into the repo. Repo:…

Visit github.comAlternativestop 24% of January 2026

What it does

In the maker’s words, at launch

Hi HN, I’m working on an experimental 3D FPS game engine in C++20, aiming to deeply understand engine internals from first principles rather than just using existing frameworks. Currently I'm strictly following LearnOpenGL docs. This project focuses on: Entity-Component-System (ECS) architecture for high performance. OpenGL 4.1 rendering with a PBR pipeline, material system, HDR, SSAO, and shadow mapping. Modular systems: input, physics (Jolt), audio (miniaudio), assets, hot reload. A sample FPS game & debug editor built into the repo. Repo: https://github.com/jackthepunished/horizon-engine This isn’t intended to be a commercial rival to any commercial game engines. it’s a learning and exploration project: understanding why certain engine decisions are made, and how to build low-level engine systems from scratch. I’m especially looking for feedback on: Architecture choices (ECS design, render loop, module separation) Your thoughts on modern C++ engine patterns What you’d build vs stub early in a homemade engine Tips from experienced graphics/engine developers Criticism and suggestions are very welcome — it’s early days and meant to evolve. Thanks for checking it out!

Does the same job

all alternatives →
  • LE
  • IB
    I built an indie, browser-based MMORPG2024 · alpha.reconquer.online · ▲340

    I've been working on an MMORPG that is now in alpha as a solo developer. Here are the major open source technologies that I use: Blender - 3D modeling software for creating the overall environment and every game object. I've gotten a lot of CC and Public Domain assets from https://poly.pizza GLTF - I export assets from blender to the GLTF asset format JSON - I write a JSON config for every game object that describes things like its name, its interactions, its collisions, etc. Node.js exporter - I iterate over the environment and every asset to create a scene hierarchy. I use…

  • UL
    Unity like game editor running in pure WASM2023 · raverie-us.github.io · ▲644

    In the wake of all the Unity nonsense, just wanted to toss the Raverie engine into this mix :) We’re building off a previous engine that we worked on for DigiPen Institute of Technology called the Zero Engine with a similar component based design architecture to Unity. Our engine had a unique feature called Spaces: separate worlds/levels that you can instantiate and run at the same time, which became super useful for creating UI overlays using only game objects, running multiple simulations, etc. The lighting and rendering engine is scriptable, and the default deferred rendering…

  • IB
    I built a small browser engine from scratch in C++Jan 2026 · github.com · ▲146

    Hi HN! Korean high school senior here, about to start CS in college. I built a browser engine from scratch in C++ to understand how browsers work. First time using C++, 8 weeks of development, lots of debugging—but it works! Features: - HTML parsing with error correction - CSS cascade and inheritance - Block/inline layout engine - Async image loading + caching - Link navigation + history Hardest parts: - String parsing(html, css) - Rendering - Image Caching & Layout Reflowing What I learned (beyond code): - Systematic debugging is crucial - Ship with known bugs rather than chase…

  • CA
    Consol3 – A 3D engine for the terminal that executes on the CPU2024 · github.com · ▲170

    Hi all This has been my hobby project for quite a few years now It started as a small engine to serve as a sandbox to try out new 3d graphics ideas After adding many features through out the years and re-writing the entire engine a few times, this is the latest state It currently supports loading models with animations, textures, lights, shadow maps, normal maps, and some other goodies I've also recently added voxel raymarching as an alternative renderer, along with a fun physics simulation :)

  • AC
    A CSS 3D Engine (no WebGL)Jun 2026 · github.com · ▲80

More dev tools this month

the category →
  • Dograh592

    The open source VAPI alternative

    Dev tools · 25d ago · dograh.com

  • Meridian530

    Don't let your work go unnoticed. Get promoted!

    Dev tools · 20d ago · meridiona.com

  • x1516

    Lovable for iPhone apps go from idea to App Store

    Dev tools · 11d ago · x1.new

  • Open-source GTM skills for technical founders

    Dev tools · 29d ago · gtmcofounder.com

  • OpenTrailPaper is open-source bike computer firmware for the LilyGO T5S3 4.7" E-Paper PRO. It supports offline maps, GPX routes, FIT recording and Bluetooth sensors.

    Dev tools · 2d ago · opentrailpaper.com

  • Nuphos380

    The AI-Native DevOps Workspace.

    Dev tools · 24d ago · nuphos.ai

Launched alongside, January 2026

the whole month →
  • IN

    Hey HN! I wanted to share something I built over the last few weeks: isometric.nyc is a massive isometric pixel art map of NYC, built with nano banana and coding agents. I didn't write a single line of code. Of course no-code doesn't mean no-engineering. This project took a lot more manual labor than I'd hoped! I wrote a deep dive on the workflow and some thoughts about the future of AI coding and creativity: http://cannoneyed.com/projects/isometric-nyc

    AI · Jan 2026 · cannoneyed.com

  • Cowork1,088

    Turn Claude into your digital coworker

    AI · Jan 2026 · claude.com

  • DataFast870

    Revenue-first analytics

    Growth · Jan 2026 · datafa.st

  • OpenClaw841

    The AI that actually does things

    AI · Jan 2026 · openclaw.ai

  • Automatic AI-powered code reviews the moment you open a PR

    Dev tools · Jan 2026 · kilo.ai

  • AI Content Maker, for Social Media Publishing

    AI · Jan 2026 · postsyncer.com