OpenGL Procedural Math-Based Solar System Simulation

A small Solar System simulation built in C++ using the OpenGL API. Planetary motion is generated procedurally using mathematical orbital calculations rather than keyframed animations.

Features

• Procedural planet and moon orbits
• Relative planet sizes and orbital distances
• First-person camera
• Textured planets and rings
• Modular shape-based rendering system
• Built with Visual Studio 2022

Requirements

• Visual Studio 2022
• OpenGL 3.3+
• Windows

Building

A build script is included.

build.bat --> Creates Visual Studio project solution...Only windows support

Simulation Speed

The simulation speed can be adjusted by editing:

Resources/Shape/SolarSystem.h

Modify:

inline float g_TimeScale = 1.0f;

g_TimeScale represents simulated days per real second.

Examples:

g_TimeScale = 1.0f;    // 1 simulated day every second
g_TimeScale = 10.0f;   // 10 simulated days every second
g_TimeScale = 365.0f;  // 1 simulated year every second

Controls

• W A S D — Move camera
• Mouse — Look around
• Mouse Wheel — Zoom

Future Improvements

• Planet rotation
• Axial tilt
• Atmospheres and clouds
• HDR and bloom
• Physically based rendering (PBR)
• Skybox
• Shadows
• Orbital inclination and eccentricity