CyberVGA

CyberVGA is a custom MS-DOS era rendering engine built from scratch using DJGPP, NASM, and pure VGA hardware programming. It targets real late-DOS hardware (486DX2, ISA VGA cards) while pushing the limits of Mode X, fixed-point arithmetic, and hand-tuned assembly.

The engine is an ongoing technical exploration rather than a finished toolset. Most modules are in active development, several are experimental, and a few behave as though the VGA hardware were expressing personal opinions. This is expected.

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Core Features (In Development)

• 32-bit protected-mode architecture via DJGPP + DPMI
• Hand-optimized NASM routines for Mode X drawing and column operations
• Mode X pipeline (320×240, planar VRAM, page flipping)
• 16.16 fixed-point math library for all transforms and projection
• True 3D camera with yaw, pitch, roll, and perspective/ortho modes
• Quad renderer for floors, ceilings, and planar surfaces
• Geometric wall renderer (non-raycast)
• Raycaster subsystem with fixed-point Bresenham flavored DDA
• CVG1 mesh format with indexed triangles, UVs, normals, and submeshes
• Mesh rasterizer adapted for Mode X
• Font renderer with planar-aligned text output

Every subsystem is currently functional at some level, although “functional” may include occasional inversion, disappearance, planar desynchronization, or attempts to escape numerical bounds. This remains part of the research experience.

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Technical Intent

CyberVGA is an exploration of what a hypothetical mid-90s shareware 3D engine might have looked like if it were built entirely around Mode X, fixed-point arithmetic, and rigorous geometric methods. The project emphasizes:

• Low-level accuracy
• Mathematically principled design
• Hardware-aware optimization
• Experimental geometry pipelines

It is designed for enthusiasts of old hardware, systems programming, computational geometry, and those who enjoy the occasional VGA-induced anomaly.

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Current State

CyberVGA is not yet a game engine in the conventional sense. It is a research platform in an active, glitch-rich phase. Expect incomplete features, unstable builds, and renderers that occasionally argue with each other about projection conventions.

A more stable world renderer and a content pipeline are planned once the geometric subsystems reach equilibrium.

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Reference Works

The engine’s architecture is influenced by a number of foundational texts in geometry and low-level graphics:

• Computational Geometry: Algorithms and Applications – de Berg et al.
• EGA/VGA: A Programmer’s Reference Guide – Kliewer
• Geometric Tools for Computer Graphics – Schneider & Eberly
• Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics – Lengyel
• Graphics Programming Black Book – Abrash
• Creative Labs Sound Blaster technical manuals

These references guide everything from projection math and fixed-point design to VGA memory behavior.

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Licensing

Source, binaries, and documentation are proprietary and not yet publicly available. CyberVGA remains an internal research project.