Extensible Render Pipeline

The Extensible Render Pipeline is a system that allows for custom render pipelines and shaders (ERP). The ERP was introduced in Pre-Release 4. The ERP allows developers to add on to the engine and create custom pipelines for their needs.

Pipelines

Pipelines controls the way objects are sent to the GPU for rendering at the low level. There are three default pipelines in the engine: Standard, Voxel, and Particle. (Other systems such as UI do not use the pipeline system.)

Pipelines require the use of low or mid level API. It is also possible to use the OpenGL API directly in a pipeline for custom controls.

Custom Pipelines

Shaders

Shaders control how the objects are rendered on the GPU. All shaders are written in GLSL. There are three default shaders in the engine: Standard, Voxel, and Particle. A shader and pipeline rely on each other, therefore, a shader must be compatible with a pipeline in order to work. The engine has three different shader formats that can be used. You can view each format on their own page:

Standard Shader FormatVoxel Shader FormatParticle Shader Format

In order to use your own format you will need to make a custom render pipeline (and possibly a mesh). It is possible to make a custom shader format support the default lighting by using the Lighting Format in your custom shader.

Class Overview

• Graphics

• RenderPipeline

• ShaderProgram

• Shader

• Transformation

• PipelineManager

• ShaderManager