Technical Documentation

Raycasting Engine Overview

Raycasting is a rendering technique used to create a 3D perspective from a 2D map. In early computer systems, real-time 3D engines were not computationally feasible, making raycasting one of the first practical solutions for simulating three-dimensional environments.

Raycasting works by sending virtual rays from the player's position across a 2D grid-based map. Each ray travels until it hits a wall, and its distance is calculated. This distance is then converted into a vertical wall height on the screen: farther walls appear shorter and darker. By drawing vertical columns corresponding to each ray side by side, a basic 3D scene is constructed from the 2D map.

Fisheye Effect and Perspective Correction

I encountered a problem early in the project, the walls were curved.this is a problem which is called fish eye effect . This effect occurs because rays cast toward the edges of the field of view strike walls at oblique angles, resulting in longer measured distances and causing walls to appear curved or stretched.

To fix this, I used the perpendicular distance to the viewing plane instead of the raw ray distance.This correction is achieved by applying a cosine factor based on the ray’s angle relative to the player's viewing direction. As a result, wall distances are calculated uniformly across the entire screen, eliminating distortion and producing a natural, realistic 3D perspective.

Memory Management and Performance : Engineering Within Limits

In an era where modern game engines consume gigabytes of RAM, RayMaze engine achieves immersive 3D rendering using just kilobytes of memory. The engine proves that performance isn't about raw power . Nevertheless it's about intelligent resource management.