Universe

A procedurally generated infinite star field explorer built in C++26 using RayLib and ImGui.

Overview

Universe is a deterministic procedural universe simulator that generates star systems on-the-fly as you navigate through space. Each coordinate in the infinite grid produces consistent results—the same location always generates the same stars.

The project uses a Lehmer Random Number Generator combined with Szudzik's pairing function to hash coordinate pairs (x, y) into a single seed. This approach allows for truly infinite procedural generation without any memory overhead—stars are generated lazily as you explore, and the same location always yields identical results.

Features

• Infinite Exploration: Navigate an unbounded procedurally generated star field
• Deterministic Generation: Same coordinates always produce identical star systems (useful for seeding/sharing locations)
• Star Properties: Each star has radius, color, luminosity, mass, and surface temperature
• Interactive UI: Hover over stars to view detailed information in a tooltip
• Kanagawa Theme: Beautiful color palette inspired by the Kanagawa VS Code theme

Controls

Key	Action
W / ↑	Move up
S / ↓	Move down
A / ←	Move left
D / →	Move right
Q / Esc	Quit

Building

# Debug build (default)
./make.sh

# Release build
./make.sh release

# Run debug build
./make.sh run

# Run release build
chmod +x ./build-release/universe_cpp && ./build-release/universe_cpp

Vendored Dependencies

This project includes pre-compiled versions of RayLib and ImGui in the vendored/ directory. If you encounter issues or want to use your own build:

• RayLib: A pre-compiled libraylib.a is included in vendored/raylib/. You can replace this with your own compiled copy of RayLib if needed.
• ImGui: Source files are included directly in vendored/imgui/.

Architecture

src/
├── main.cpp          # Entry point, RayLib/ImGui initialization
├── constants.hpp     # Window size, FPS, app name
├── colors.hpp        # Kanagawa color palette (& TokyoNight WIP)
├── model/
│   ├── model.hpp     # StarSystem data structure
│   └── model.cpp     # Star color name mapping
├── universe/
│   ├── generator.hpp/cpp  # Procedural star generation
│   └── fast_rand.hpp/cpp  # Lehmer RNG + Szudzik pairing hash
└── mui/
    ├── mui.hpp       # Main UI/rendering class
    └── mui.cpp       # Camera, input handling, star rendering