FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about SparkEngine — what it is, who it's for, and how to get started.

---

General

What is SparkEngine?

SparkEngine is a free, open-source 3D game engine written in C++23. It started as an FPS engine and is evolving into a general-purpose engine supporting FPS, RPG, MMO, open-world, racing, platformer, and RTS genres. It ships with DirectX 11 rendering, Jolt Physics, XAudio2 spatial audio, AngelScript scripting, an EnTT ECS, and an ImGui-based visual editor.

Is SparkEngine free?

Yes. SparkEngine is licensed under the Spark Open License — no royalties, no fees, fully free for commercial use. The license includes anti-plagiarism protection to prevent wholesale copying without attribution.

What platforms does SparkEngine support?

Platform	Status
Windows 10+	Primary (fully supported)
Linux x64	Experimental (GCC 13+, Clang 17+)
macOS	Experimental (Apple Clang)

Windows is the primary development platform. Linux and macOS builds run in CI and are usable but may have rough edges.

What genres can I make with SparkEngine?

SparkEngine ships with example game modules for FPS, platformer, racing, RPG, RTS, and MMO. The ECS architecture is genre-agnostic — you can build any type of game. The engine includes systems for weapons, vehicles, inventory, quests, dialogue, AI, networking, and more.

How does SparkEngine compare to Unity / Unreal / Godot?

SparkEngine is smaller and earlier in development than those engines. Key differences:

• Open-source C++23 — You have full source access and can modify anything. No black-box runtime.
• No editor lock-in — Game logic lives in C++ modules or AngelScript scripts, not in a proprietary project format.
• MMO-ready architecture — Built-in area server architecture, seamless world streaming, and collaborative editing (inspired by HeroEngine).
• Lightweight — The full engine compiles in 2–5 minutes. No gigabyte downloads.
• Trade-off — Fewer ready-made assets, smaller community, and less polish than mature engines.

Do I need to know C++ to use SparkEngine?

C++ is the primary language, but you have options:

• AngelScript — A C-like scripting language with hot-reload. Write gameplay logic without recompiling the engine.
• Visual Scripting — A node-based visual scripting system that compiles to AngelScript. No code required.
• C++ Modules — For full engine access, write a game module in C++23.

Artists and level designers can use the editor without writing code at all — see the Artist Workflow Guide.

---

Building & Running

What do I need to build SparkEngine?

• A C++23 compiler: MSVC v143+ (VS 2022), GCC 13+, or Clang 17+
• CMake 3.25+
• Git (for submodules)

See Getting Started for full platform-specific instructions.

How long does it take to build?

A clean Release build takes 2–5 minutes on a modern machine with 8+ cores. Incremental builds after small changes take seconds.

Can I build without a GPU?

Yes. The engine has multiple fallback paths:

Backend	GPU-less fallback
D3D11	WARP (Windows software rasterizer)
D3D12	WARP
Vulkan	Lavapipe (Mesa)
OpenGL	llvmpipe (Mesa)
None	NullRHIDevice (headless, no rendering)

Use -headless to run with no graphics at all (for dedicated servers or automated testing).

How do I run the engine on Linux without a display?

Use Xvfb (virtual framebuffer) with Mesa software rendering:

sudo apt-get install -y xvfb libgl1-mesa-dri
Xvfb :99 -screen 0 1024x768x24 &
DISPLAY=:99 LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 ./SparkEngine

Can I build just the engine without the editor?

Yes. Use the minimal CMake preset or disable individual features:

cmake --preset minimal                    # Core engine only
cmake -B build -DENABLE_EDITOR=OFF        # Everything except editor

What are the command-line arguments?

Argument	Description
-headless	No graphics or audio (dedicated server mode)
-game <path>	Load a specific game module DLL/SO
-window-size WxH	Override window resolution (e.g., 1920x1080)
-test-frames N	Run N frames then exit (for benchmarking)
-fullscreen	Start in fullscreen mode
-console / -noconsole	Force-enable or disable the debug console
-scene <path>	Load a specific scene on startup

---

Editor

How do I open the editor?

Press F1 while the engine is running, or build with ENABLE_EDITOR=ON (default on Windows). The editor is an ImGui-based overlay with 56 panels.

What panels does the editor have?

The editor ships with 56 panels covering scene editing, asset management, physics, gameplay, audio, scripting, profiling, and more. The 7 core panels shown by default are:

• Scene View — 3D viewport with gizmos
• Hierarchy — Scene graph tree
• Inspector — Component property editor
• Asset Browser — File browser with thumbnails
• Console — Command and log panel
• Game View — In-game preview
• Profiler — Performance metrics

All other panels are available from the Window menu. See Editor Walkthrough for a practical guide.

Can multiple people edit a scene at the same time?

Yes. SparkEngine supports collaborative multi-user editing sessions (inspired by HeroEngine). One user hosts, others join. Entity locks prevent conflicts. See Collaborative Editing.

---

Gameplay & Scripting

How do I create a new game?

Create a game module — a DLL/SO that implements the IModule interface. The engine auto-discovers modules in the GameModules/ directory. See Creating a Game Module for a step-by-step guide, or Making Your First Game for a tutorial.

What scripting language does SparkEngine use?

AngelScript — a statically-typed scripting language with C-like syntax. Scripts hot-reload automatically when you save changes to disk (no recompile needed).

Does SparkEngine support visual scripting?

Yes. The Visual Scripting panel provides a node-based editor that compiles to AngelScript under the hood. You can mix visual scripts with hand-written AngelScript.

How does the ECS work?

SparkEngine uses EnTT for its Entity Component System. Entities are lightweight IDs, components are plain data structs, and systems operate on component groups. The engine provides 79 built-in component types and 67 systems. See Entity Component System.

How do I add multiplayer to my game?

The engine includes a UDP client/server networking stack with entity replication, client-side prediction, and lag compensation. Start with the Multiplayer Quick Start guide, then see Networking for details.

---

Graphics

What rendering backends are available?

Backend	Status	Platform
DirectX 11	Primary	Windows
DirectX 12	Experimental	Windows
Vulkan	Experimental	Windows, Linux
OpenGL 4.5	Experimental	Windows, Linux, macOS
Metal	Experimental	macOS
NullRHI	Headless fallback	All

All backends implement the same RHI Abstraction Layer.

What rendering features are supported?

Forward, deferred, forward+, and clustered rendering pipelines. PBR materials, cascaded shadow maps, SSAO, SSR, volumetric fog, bloom, HDR tonemapping (ACES, Filmic, Reinhard, AgX), TAA/FXAA/MSAA, GPU particles, decals, image-based lighting, mesh shaders, GPU-driven rendering, and dynamic quality scaling.

Can I use ray tracing?

DXR 1.1 ray tracing is available on the D3D12 backend (Windows, SM6.5+ GPU required). A hybrid ray tracing mode blends rasterization with selective ray-traced effects. See DXR Raytracing and Hybrid Ray Tracing.

---

Physics

What physics engine does SparkEngine use?

Jolt Physics — a modern, high-performance physics engine. It supports rigid bodies, 15 collision shapes, 12 constraint types, character controllers, vehicles, ragdolls, cloth simulation, and multithreaded job dispatch.

Can I tune physics settings at runtime?

Yes. Use console commands:

physics_gravity 0 -9.81 0     # Set gravity
physics_timestep 0.01667      # Set fixed timestep
physics_debug on              # Toggle debug visualization
physics_metrics               # Show performance stats

Or edit [Physics] in settings.ini. See Configuration Reference.

---

Audio

What audio backend does SparkEngine use?

XAudio2 on Windows with miniaudio as a cross-platform fallback. The audio system supports 3D spatial audio, Doppler effects, distance attenuation, mix buses, DSP effects (reverb, EQ, compressor), and volume channels (master, SFX, music, voice).

---

Modding & Content

Does SparkEngine support mods?

Yes. The Mod System handles mod discovery, load order, dependency checking, and enable/disable toggling. The editor includes a Modding Panel for managing mods.

What asset formats are supported?

Type	Formats
3D Models	FBX, glTF/GLB, OBJ
Textures	PNG, JPG, TGA, DDS, HDR
Audio	WAV, OGG, MP3, FLAC
Scenes	.scene (JSON-based)

See Asset Pipeline and Asset Format Specifications.

---

Troubleshooting

The engine crashes on startup

1. Check that your GPU supports DirectX 11 (Windows) or OpenGL 4.5 (Linux)
2. Update GPU drivers
3. Check spark.log for error messages
4. Try a Debug build for better error output
5. Try -headless to rule out graphics issues

See Troubleshooting for a comprehensive list of known issues and fixes.

CI is failing on my PR

Check which job failed:

Job	What it checks
check-format	clang-format compliance
build-linux-gcc	GCC compilation + tests
build-linux-clang	Clang compilation + tests
build-linux-asan	Memory safety (ASan + UBSan)
build-windows-vs2022	MSVC compilation + tests

Jobs marked continue-on-error (VS2026, MinGW, macOS, clang-tidy) are warnings, not blockers. See Contributing for the full CI overview.

Where do I get help?

• Troubleshooting — Common issues and fixes
• GitHub Issues — Bug reports and feature requests
• Engine console: type help to list all commands, or help <command> for details

---

See Also

• Getting Started — Build and run the engine
• Making Your First Game — Step-by-step game tutorial
• Quick-Start Tutorial — Your first 10 minutes
• Configuration Reference — All settings and commands
• Editor Walkthrough — Practical editor guide
• Performance Tips — Optimization guide