Cub-3d

Cub-3D is a project completed as part of the 42 School curriculum.
The goal is to recreate a simplified 3D game engine using ray-casting, inspired by the rendering techniques of early FPS games like Wolfenstein 3D.
The program loads a .cub map, interprets textures, colors, and player orientation, and renders a real-time first-person view using the DDA algorithm for efficient wall collision detection.

"The objective of this project is to build a minimal 3D engine and understand the fundamental mathematics behind ray-casting, projections, and grid-based world navigation, while ensuring strict parsing, memory safety, and stable real-time rendering."

Features

• First-person 3D rendering using ray-casting.
• DDA (Digital Differential Analyzer) algorithm used to detect wall collisions along each ray.
• Wall textures vary depending on wall orientation (North, South, East, West).
• Configurable floor and ceiling colors (RGB).
• Smooth player movement (forward, backward, strafe) and view rotation.
• Parsing, validation, and handling of .cub formatted map files.
• Map support for walls, empty spaces, and player start/orientation.

Ray-Casting & DDA Overview

Cub-3d uses the classical technique of projecting rays from the player's position to compute what is visible on screen.

Ray Setup

For each vertical stripe of the window:

• Compute the ray direction from the camera plane.
• Determine the step direction and distance to the next grid boundary.

DDA (Digital Differential Analyzer)

The DDA algorithm marches along the ray grid-by-grid until it hits a wall:

• At each iteration, move to the next X or Y boundary depending on which is closer.
• Stop when a cell containing 1 (wall) is found.

This produces:

• Wall hit position
• Correct perpendicular distance to avoid fisheye effect
• Wall orientation for selecting the correct texture

Wall Projection

Based on the distance, the wall slice height is calculated and drawn with texture mapping.

Summary

This combination of ray-casting + DDA allows efficient real-time 3D rendering using only integer grid navigation and simple math.

Map Format (.cub file)

The .cub file describes the map, wall textures, floor/ceiling colors, and player start. Example structure:

NO ./textures/north_texture.xpm
SO ./textures/south_texture.xpm
WE ./textures/west_texture.xpm
EA ./textures/east_texture.xpm
F 220,100,0     # Floor color (R,G,B)
C 225,30,0      # Ceiling color (R,G,B)

1111111111
1000000001
10000N0001
1000000001
1111111111

1 = wall

0 = empty space / floor

N / S / E / W = player start position + orientation

Walls must fully enclose the map (no open boundaries), and there should be no invalid characters. Build & Run

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/DanielFonsecaa/Cub-3d.git cd Cub-3d

Compile the project using the included Makefile:

make

Run the executable with a .cub map file:

./cub3d path/to/your_map.cub

Controls Key / Input Action W / S Move forward / backward A / D Strafe left / right ← / → Rotate view left / right ESC / Window close Exit the program

(Update this table if you have different key bindings in your implementation.) Dependencies / Requirements

• C compiler (e.g. gcc)
• Graphics library: MiniLibX
• Standard C libraries (e.g. math library via -lm)

Project Structure (suggested)

Cub-3d/

├── mandatory/ # Core code for minimal requirements

├── bonus/ # (Optional) Bonus / extra features

├── lib/ # Utility libraries (e.g. custom libft)

├── map/ # Example maps (.cub files)

├── textures/ # Wall textures (e.g. .xpm files)

├── Makefile

└── README.md

Enhancements

• Collision detection to prevent walking through walls.
• Minimap overlay for navigation.
• Mouse support for smoother view rotation.
• More map elements: doors, sprites, interactive objects.
• Additional map validation and error handling.

Authors

• DanielFonsecaa
• NukyYuki