Starbounded Studio

We build software for interactive worlds.

Starbounded Studio is an open-source software company building tools for game creation and real-time rendering. Our flagship project is Lux Engine, a C++ game engine focused on Windows-first development and an approachable architecture for learning.

Explore Lux EngineVisit GitHub
Open-sourceC++ coreWindows-first
Editor previewComing soon
Lux Editor
Editor preview (coming soon)
License
GPL-3.0
Core language
C++
Primary target
Windows
Focus
Rendering
Studio

Starbounded Studio is a home for experimental software.

We have been building multiple projects simultaneously since our first commit on January 8, 2023. Starbounded Studio is based in Canada and maintains open-source projects across engines, tooling, and platform support.

Game enginesRendering toolsOpen-source
Jan 8, 2023
First commit

Starbounded projects began shipping on GitHub.

Canada
Base

Starbounded Studio is based in Canada.

Open-source
Operating model

Public repositories and community contributions.

Lux Engine
Flagship

A C++ game engine in early development.

Lux Engine

A C++ game engine built to teach and evolve.

Lux Engine is an early-stage interactive application and rendering engine for Windows. The goal is two-fold: build a powerful 3D engine and make the architecture approachable for learning modern engine design.

  • Windows-first development with Visual Studio 2022.
  • Vulkan SDK required for rendering workflows.
  • Builds generated via Setup.bat and Win-GenProjects.bat.
  • GPL-3.0 licensed, open for community contributions.
RepositoryLux landing
Engine stackWindows build
Render core
Layer 1
Editor tooling
Layer 2
Scripting layer
Layer 3
Asset pipeline
Layer 4
Build system
Premake
Target
Windows
Lux Engine roadmap

Planned systems and features.

These are the key capabilities outlined for Lux Engine as the engine matures.

View Milanote roadmap

Fast 2D rendering

Roadmap: UI, particles, sprites, and immediate tooling.

Physically-based 3D

Roadmap: high-fidelity PBR lighting and material systems.

Cross-platform

Roadmap: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS targets.

Native APIs

Roadmap: DirectX, Vulkan, and Metal backends.

Viewer + editor

Roadmap: full editor and viewer applications.

Scripting

Roadmap: fully scripted interaction and behavior.

Physics + terrain

Roadmap: physics integration with procedural worlds.

AI + audio

Roadmap: AI tooling and integrated audio systems.

Projects

Starbounded repositories.

From the Lux Engine core to supporting forks, each repo helps shape the studio stack.

Engine

Lux Engine

Open-source game engine written in C++.

View repository
Launcher

Starbounded Launcher

Custom launcher for modded Minecraft built with Electron.

View repository
Rendering

nvrhi fork

Renderer abstraction forked for engine experimentation.

View repository
UI

Dear ImGui fork

Immediate-mode UI tooling for editor workflows.

View repository
Windowing

GLFW fork

Cross-platform windowing and input foundation.

View repository
Audio

SoLoud fork

Portable audio engine for game runtime audio.

View repository
Get started

Build Lux Engine locally.

Lux Engine currently targets Windows. Visual Studio 2022 is recommended for development. Follow the setup steps below or read the Lux Engine README for the full instructions.

Read the README
Clone with submodules

Lux Engine uses git submodules for third-party dependencies.

git clone --recursive https://github.com/starbounded-dev/LuxEngine
Run Setup.bat

Scripts download prerequisites and prompt for Vulkan SDK if missing.

scripts/Setup.bat
Generate projects

Win-GenProjects.bat builds the Visual Studio solution for Windows.

scripts/Win-GenProjects.bat

Build with us.

Follow the progress of Lux Engine and the wider Starbounded toolchain. Contributions, feedback, and collaborations are welcome.

Contribute on GitHubEmail the studio