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I've been working on a voxel game engine called Bonsai for ~10 years. Probably the most interesting thing about it at the moment is the editor. The world, and

by jesse__ 13d ago

I've been working on a voxel game engine called Bonsai for ~10 years. Probably the most interesting thing about it at the moment is the editor. The world, and most things in it, are represented as collections of SDFs. More accurately, they're density fields, but, potato-tomato. Bonsai has undergone a large rewrite over the last couple years that's nearing completion. A world edit is defined as a bunch of SDF parameters which get projected/rasterized into the voxel grid by a shader on the GPU. One neat thing about SDFs is they've been thoroughly researched and documented by a guy named Inigo Quilez, and they have a lot of nice mathematical properties. For example, you can do a smooth union of arbitrary SDFs to get nice rounded contours where shapes join. I've written every system from scratch, all the way from the memory allocators and font rasterizer to the collision detector and simulation loop. I even wrote a metaprogramming language as a replacement for C++ templates, which is a whole other story. IIRC the only external dependency is the C runtime library for starting the process and my very occasional use of variadic functions arguments. For a long time, an explicit non-goal of the project was to ship a game. It sounded insane to me to write an entire 3D engine and then ship a game. As it turns out, I've gotten it to the point where I can actually make a game. I've got a start on the game systems in a closed-source repo, and hope to have a steam page for it by the end of the year. I'll do some shameless self-promotion and leave some links here for anyone interested in looking at the engine, language code, or some pretty pictures. https://github.com/scallyw4g/bonsai https://github.com/scallyw4g/bonsai https://github.com/scallyw4g/poof https://github.com/scallyw4g/poof

shoobiedoo 13d ago
Wow, unbelievably cool. Good luck with the new game using the engine
Boss0565 13d ago
this looks amazing
erwincoumans 13d ago
Very cool. Are you familiar with the game Voxile? Its author also created custome languages, and the game uses Lobster.
- jesse__ 12d ago
  I'm tangentially familiar .. I played the demo a couple times over the last few years when they did major releases. It's impressive to say the least.
joystick_0x0 13d ago
Just amazing.
freakynit 13d ago
Holy moly!!!! Bonsai is freaking crazy!! That scale and view-distance..wow!! Brilliant work..
derpyzza 13d ago
omg you're the poof guy!! i really like trying to shove metaprogramming systems into C and poof is one of the best i've ever encountered!! it's so damn good! good luck with the game btw, is there anywhere i can follow development?
- jesse__ 12d ago
  Wow, high praise! Thanks :D I'm slightly biased, but I tend to agree with you; it's actually the best metaprogramming language I've ever used. JAI is probably better, but I haven't sat down and done a real project with it yet. As far as following development on the game .. I'll probably start doing marketing when I've got enough for a trailer. I'll announce updates on Discord and Youtube, if you'd like to follow along there https://discord.com/invite/kmRpgXBh75 https://discord.com/invite/kmRpgXBh75 https://www.youtube.com/@scallyw4g https://www.youtube.com/@scallyw4g
iugtmkbdfil834 12d ago
I.. want to join to chorus of praise here. Nice work man!
montenegrohugo 12d ago
pretty damn cool. SDFs are the best. I've been playing around with an idea around this on the weekends. Such a cool primitive!
jesse__ 12d ago
Wow, thanks for all the kind words folks! I really appreciate it <3
epiccoleman 12d ago
Definitely interested in where you take things with the actual game - the engine looks really cool. It seems like we're in the midst of a bit of a cambrian explosion around "survival games descended from Minecraft" (Hytale is top of mind, but there's also Vintage Story and iirc there's a few others of note either in early access or development). Not that a voxel engine can only do a Minecraft-like - but there's definitely a market for someone who wants to take that formula and run with it.
- jesse__ 12d ago
  Yeah, it seems enough people have done enough work on voxel engines now that we're actually starting to see games proliferate. I'm stoked about it! I'm a lot less interested in minecraft-style survival games than I am in exploring .. other .. types of games that push the medium further. Most voxel games that make it to release basically boil down to 'hack-n-slash RPG with a lego world'. As you mentioned, it's obviously a successful recipe, but I feel like it's barely scratching the surface in terms of how far the underlying tech has come. I've got a game in-flight where the primary mechanic is modifying the environment to achieve a goal. Teardown is really the only other game that's made it to market and done this. The mechanics are going to be intentionally simplistic .. it's more of an existence proof that a deeper game could exist and people are interested in it.
- saidnooneever 9d ago
  minecraft offers a good interface. i am experimenting with blocklandscapes as control plane for other applications (currently photo editing). Its fun :D (not as useful as i hoped lol)
chamomeal 12d ago
The draw distance thing is insane. I would love to see some ridiculously scary-huge landscapes!!
UltraSane 12d ago
This guy is creating what looks to me to be a very impressive 3D version of Noita using a custom microvoxel engine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8HRCXxI0BY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8HRCXxI0BY
- jesse__ 12d ago
  Oh yeah, I've seen that guys engine before. It's super impressive.
nonethewiser 12d ago
Looks cool. What would you say its defining features are? What makes it different than Minecraft? Seems like its probably more performant. Whats the license situation. I see your own license which sounds maximally permissive but written by you. Is that just how it works? I can do whatever I want with that license? It doesnt need to be a “real” license? Maybe your bonsai logo should come from your voxel engine instead of pixel art? Idk why but my first thought was somehow that i misunderstood “voxel engine” when i saw the pixel art.
- jesse__ 12d ago
  Hey, thanks for the kind words! I'd say the defining feature is the editor and terrain generation system. At the moment it's not well documented, but once the big rewrite I've been working on has settled I plan to take some time to make tutorial materials. As far as the license goes, I chose WTFPL originally because I figured it would dissuade 'real' companies (with legal teams) from using it. I've since thought about changing the license to something permissive that might play nice with legal teams, like MIT. You can do whatever the fuck you want; it says so right in the license ;) I'd actually love it if people used it. My intent now is to keep the engine open source, and build games with it in closed-source repos. You're right, I should change the logo. It's on the todo list .. it's just a really long list ;)
- DANmode 8d ago
  > It doesnt need to be a “real” license? Tell me you were born after 2000 without telling me. A younger relative asked me how a flight simulator showing a view of common flights posted here “was even legal”, and I’ve been on watch for similar mentality ever since lol
PatronBernard 12d ago
What's an SDF?
- 0x20cowboy 12d ago
  Signed distance function (or signed distance field depending). Simplified: rendering via maths equations instead of triangles.
  - jesse__ 12d ago
    I actually convert the SDFs to voxels and render triangles, but.. some people have written direct SDF renderers. There's a guy that posted to YouTube not too long ago that wrote a really cool one with physics and everything
cookiengineer 12d ago
Oh my gosh, it's so freakin pwetty! Kudos, this looks like the shaders took a long while to get right. Love the art style, keep it going!
21asdffdsa12 12d ago
SDFs are the future at least when it comes to level design - especially because they have that "subtract" railgun cone of death functionality baked in. A boss fight feels different, if where the hammer comes down there is a crater afterwards.
- bob1029 11d ago
  The future of level design is now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_solid_geometry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_solid_geometry If you are trying to rapidly iterate a level layout, nothing comes close to the power of a hierarchy of CSG brushes. You can change one parameter and have the work of an army of artists executed in milliseconds.
  - 21asdffdsa12 11d ago
    These are SDFs? - The problem is though to do level of detail with these functions. Like you have to add interpolation rates to the various subfunctions - and distancevalues to them.
hanzihang 11d ago
bonsai, its pronunciation is quite interesting in southeast China.

by jesse__ 13d ago

shoobiedoo 13d ago

Wow, unbelievably cool. Good luck with the new game using the engine

Boss0565 13d ago

this looks amazing

erwincoumans 13d ago

Very cool. Are you familiar with the game Voxile? Its author also created custome languages, and the game uses Lobster.

jesse__ 12d ago
I'm tangentially familiar .. I played the demo a couple times over the last few years when they did major releases. It's impressive to say the least.

joystick_0x0 13d ago

Just amazing.

freakynit 13d ago

Holy moly!!!! Bonsai is freaking crazy!! That scale and view-distance..wow!! Brilliant work..

derpyzza 13d ago

omg you're the poof guy!! i really like trying to shove metaprogramming systems into C and poof is one of the best i've ever encountered!! it's so damn good! good luck with the game btw, is there anywhere i can follow development?

jesse__ 12d ago
Wow, high praise! Thanks :D I'm slightly biased, but I tend to agree with you; it's actually the best metaprogramming language I've ever used. JAI is probably better, but I haven't sat down and done a real project with it yet. As far as following development on the game .. I'll probably start doing marketing when I've got enough for a trailer. I'll announce updates on Discord and Youtube, if you'd like to follow along there https://discord.com/invite/kmRpgXBh75 https://discord.com/invite/kmRpgXBh75 https://www.youtube.com/@scallyw4g https://www.youtube.com/@scallyw4g

iugtmkbdfil834 12d ago

I.. want to join to chorus of praise here. Nice work man!

montenegrohugo 12d ago

pretty damn cool. SDFs are the best. I've been playing around with an idea around this on the weekends. Such a cool primitive!

jesse__ 12d ago

Wow, thanks for all the kind words folks! I really appreciate it <3

epiccoleman 12d ago

Definitely interested in where you take things with the actual game - the engine looks really cool. It seems like we're in the midst of a bit of a cambrian explosion around "survival games descended from Minecraft" (Hytale is top of mind, but there's also Vintage Story and iirc there's a few others of note either in early access or development). Not that a voxel engine can only do a Minecraft-like - but there's definitely a market for someone who wants to take that formula and run with it.

jesse__ 12d ago
Yeah, it seems enough people have done enough work on voxel engines now that we're actually starting to see games proliferate. I'm stoked about it! I'm a lot less interested in minecraft-style survival games than I am in exploring .. other .. types of games that push the medium further. Most voxel games that make it to release basically boil down to 'hack-n-slash RPG with a lego world'. As you mentioned, it's obviously a successful recipe, but I feel like it's barely scratching the surface in terms of how far the underlying tech has come. I've got a game in-flight where the primary mechanic is modifying the environment to achieve a goal. Teardown is really the only other game that's made it to market and done this. The mechanics are going to be intentionally simplistic .. it's more of an existence proof that a deeper game could exist and people are interested in it.
saidnooneever 9d ago
minecraft offers a good interface. i am experimenting with blocklandscapes as control plane for other applications (currently photo editing). Its fun :D (not as useful as i hoped lol)

chamomeal 12d ago

The draw distance thing is insane. I would love to see some ridiculously scary-huge landscapes!!

UltraSane 12d ago

This guy is creating what looks to me to be a very impressive 3D version of Noita using a custom microvoxel engine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8HRCXxI0BY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8HRCXxI0BY

jesse__ 12d ago
Oh yeah, I've seen that guys engine before. It's super impressive.

nonethewiser 12d ago

Looks cool. What would you say its defining features are? What makes it different than Minecraft? Seems like its probably more performant. Whats the license situation. I see your own license which sounds maximally permissive but written by you. Is that just how it works? I can do whatever I want with that license? It doesnt need to be a “real” license? Maybe your bonsai logo should come from your voxel engine instead of pixel art? Idk why but my first thought was somehow that i misunderstood “voxel engine” when i saw the pixel art.

jesse__ 12d ago
Hey, thanks for the kind words! I'd say the defining feature is the editor and terrain generation system. At the moment it's not well documented, but once the big rewrite I've been working on has settled I plan to take some time to make tutorial materials. As far as the license goes, I chose WTFPL originally because I figured it would dissuade 'real' companies (with legal teams) from using it. I've since thought about changing the license to something permissive that might play nice with legal teams, like MIT. You can do whatever the fuck you want; it says so right in the license ;) I'd actually love it if people used it. My intent now is to keep the engine open source, and build games with it in closed-source repos. You're right, I should change the logo. It's on the todo list .. it's just a really long list ;)
DANmode 8d ago
> It doesnt need to be a “real” license? Tell me you were born after 2000 without telling me. A younger relative asked me how a flight simulator showing a view of common flights posted here “was even legal”, and I’ve been on watch for similar mentality ever since lol

PatronBernard 12d ago

What's an SDF?

0x20cowboy 12d ago
Signed distance function (or signed distance field depending). Simplified: rendering via maths equations instead of triangles.
- jesse__ 12d ago
  I actually convert the SDFs to voxels and render triangles, but.. some people have written direct SDF renderers. There's a guy that posted to YouTube not too long ago that wrote a really cool one with physics and everything

cookiengineer 12d ago

Oh my gosh, it's so freakin pwetty! Kudos, this looks like the shaders took a long while to get right. Love the art style, keep it going!

21asdffdsa12 12d ago

SDFs are the future at least when it comes to level design - especially because they have that "subtract" railgun cone of death functionality baked in. A boss fight feels different, if where the hammer comes down there is a crater afterwards.

bob1029 11d ago
The future of level design is now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_solid_geometry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_solid_geometry If you are trying to rapidly iterate a level layout, nothing comes close to the power of a hierarchy of CSG brushes. You can change one parameter and have the work of an army of artists executed in milliseconds.
- 21asdffdsa12 11d ago
  These are SDFs? - The problem is though to do level of detail with these functions. Like you have to add interpolation rates to the various subfunctions - and distancevalues to them.

hanzihang 11d ago

bonsai, its pronunciation is quite interesting in southeast China.