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https://github.com/dadavidtseng/daemonchess

DaemonChess is a sophisticated turn-based 3D chess simulator built with modern graphics technology and the custom Daemon Engine.
https://github.com/dadavidtseng/daemonchess

blinn-phong chess cpp dx11 obj obj-format obj-loader tcp turn-based-game

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DaemonChess is a sophisticated turn-based 3D chess simulator built with modern graphics technology and the custom Daemon Engine.

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Daemon Chess


  
A 3D chess game with procedural piece geometry, Blinn-Phong shading, and raycast-based interaction





![C++](https://img.shields.io/badge/C%2B%2B-20-00599C?style=for-the-badge&logo=cplusplus&logoColor=white)

![DirectX](https://img.shields.io/badge/DirectX-11-107C10?style=for-the-badge&logo=xbox&logoColor=white)

![FMOD](https://img.shields.io/badge/FMOD-000000?style=for-the-badge&logo=fmod&logoColor=white)

![Windows](https://img.shields.io/badge/Windows-0078D6?style=for-the-badge&logo=windows&logoColor=white)



## Table of Contents



- [Overview](#overview)

- [Features](#features)

- [How to Install](#how-to-install)

- [How to Use](#how-to-use)

- [Project Structure](#project-structure)

- [Future Roadmap](#future-roadmap)

- [Acknowledgements](#acknowledgements)

- [License](#license)

- [Contact](#contact)



---



## Overview



Daemon Chess is a 3D chess game where every piece is procedurally constructed from geometric primitives — spheres, cylinders, AABB3s, and OBB3s — defined in XML and rendered with Blinn-Phong shading (diffuse, normal, and specular/gloss/emit maps). Players interact with the board through a free-fly 3D camera: look at a piece or square, click to select, then click a valid destination to move. A ghost piece preview shows where the piece will land before committing.



The game implements a complete chess rule engine covering all standard moves — pawn double-step, en passant, castling (kingside and queenside), pawn promotion, path blocking, and the king adjacency rule. Captured pieces play a sinking animation before removal, and pieces smoothly interpolate to their target positions with a knight-specific hop arc.



Built on a custom [Daemon Engine](https://github.com/dadavidtseng/Engine) providing DirectX 11 rendering, FMOD audio, a developer console with V8 JavaScript integration, and a resource system with OBJ model loading.



## Features



- [Complete Chess Rule Engine](#complete-chess-rule-engine)

- [3D Procedural Piece Geometry](#3d-procedural-piece-geometry)

- [Raycast-Based Interaction](#raycast-based-interaction)

- [Animated Piece Movement & Capture](#animated-piece-movement--capture)



---



### Complete Chess Rule Engine



The Match class validates every move through a multi-step pipeline: coordinate bounds → piece existence → ownership check → zero-distance check → destination occupancy → piece-specific movement rules → path clearance → king adjacency rule → move type determination.



Supported move types:



| Move Type | Validation |

|-----------|------------|

| Normal move | Per-piece shape rules (rook: orthogonal, bishop: diagonal, etc.) |

| Capture | Destination occupied by opponent piece |

| En passant | Last move was a 2-square pawn advance to adjacent file |

| Pawn promotion | Pawn reaches 8th rank; promotes to queen, rook, bishop, or knight |

| Kingside castling | King and rook unmoved, path clear, no check traversal |

| Queenside castling | Same rules, opposite side |

| King adjacency | Kings cannot move to squares adjacent to the enemy king |



All move results are enumerated in `eMoveResult` with 20+ distinct states for precise error reporting via the developer console.



### 3D Procedural Piece Geometry



Each piece type is defined in `PieceDefinition.xml` as a composition of geometric primitives:



- **Pawn** — sphere cap + 3 stacked cylinders

- **Bishop** — small sphere tip + sphere head + 3 cylinders

- **Knight** — 2 oriented OBB3s (head/neck) + AABB3 body + cylinder base

- **Rook** — 2 AABB3s (battlements/tower) + AABB3 body + cylinder base

- **Queen** — 4 rotated OBB3 crown points + 3 cylinders

- **King** — sphere + 2 cross OBB3s + 3 cylinders



All pieces use Blinn-Phong shading with diffuse, normal, and specular/gloss/emit texture maps. Two mesh variants are generated per piece type (one per player side) via `CreateMeshByID`.



### Raycast-Based Interaction



Instead of a 2D cursor on a flat board, players aim a 3D camera ray to interact:



1. The camera's forward vector casts a ray into the scene

2. The ray tests against AABB3 volumes (board squares, 0.2 unit height) and CylinderZ3D volumes (pieces, 0.25 radius × 1.0 height)

3. The closest hit determines the highlighted element

4. Left-click selects; a second left-click on a valid target executes the move

5. Right-click cancels selection



When a piece is selected and the ray hits a valid destination, a ghost piece renders at the target position (slightly elevated to avoid z-fighting), giving visual feedback before committing.



### Animated Piece Movement & Capture



Pieces don't teleport — they smoothly interpolate from source to destination over 2 seconds:



- **Standard pieces** — linear position interpolation via `UpdatePositionByCoords`

- **Knights** — parabolic hop arc via `CalculateKnightHopPosition`

- **Captured pieces** — a sinking animation plays for 2 seconds (`StartCaptureAnimation`), then the piece is removed via the `PendingRemoval` queue



The delayed removal system (`SchedulePieceForRemoval` → `UpdatePendingRemovals`) ensures the capture animation completes before cleanup. If a king is captured, the game transitions to the FINISHED state.



---



## How to Install



### Prerequisites



- Visual Studio 2022 (or 2019) with C++ desktop development workload

- Windows 10/11 (x64)

- DirectX 11 compatible GPU

- [Daemon Engine](https://github.com/dadavidtseng/Engine) cloned as a sibling directory



### Installation



```bash

# Clone both repos side by side

git clone https://github.com/dadavidtseng/Engine.git

git clone https://github.com/dadavidtseng/DaemonChess.git



# Directory layout should be:

# ├── Engine/

# └── DaemonChess/

```



1. Open `DaemonChess.sln` in Visual Studio

2. Set configuration to `Debug | x64`

3. Build the solution (the Engine project is referenced automatically)

4. The executable is deployed to `Run/` via post-build event



## How to Use



### Controls



| Action | Key |

|--------|-----|

| Move camera | W / A / S / D / Q / E |

| Look | Mouse |

| Select piece / Execute move | Left Mouse Button |

| Cancel selection | Right Mouse Button |

| Toggle fixed / free camera | F4 |

| Fullscreen | Numpad 0 |

| Windowed | Numpad 1 |

| Cheat mode (teleport) | Ctrl (hold) |



### Debug Controls



| Action | Key |

|--------|-----|

| Developer console | ~ |

| Pause / Unpause | P |

| Step single frame | O |

| Slow-mo (0.1×) | T (hold) |

| Cycle render mode forward | F7 |

| Cycle render mode backward | F6 |

| Adjust sun direction | F2 / F3 |



### Console Commands



Moves can also be entered via the developer console:



```

ChessMove from=e2 to=e4              # Normal move

ChessMove from=e7 to=e8 promoteTo=queen  # Pawn promotion

ChessMove from=e1 to=g1              # Kingside castling

```



### Game Flow



1. **Attract Mode** — Title screen; press Space to start a match

2. **Match** — Turn-based chess; Player 0 (white) moves first, then Player 1 (black)

3. **Finished** — Triggered when a king is captured; press ESC to return to Attract



### Running



Launch `Run/DaemonChess_Debug_x64.exe` from the `Run/` directory (working directory must be `Run/` for asset loading).



## Project Structure



```

DaemonChess/

├── Code/Game/

│   ├── Definition/                    # Data-driven definitions

│   │   ├── PieceDefinition            # Piece geometry, textures, shaders (XML-loaded)

│   │   └── BoardDefinition            # Board layout, square info, piece placement

│   ├── Framework/                     # Application framework

│   │   ├── Main_Windows.cpp           # WinMain entry point

│   │   ├── App                        # Application lifecycle

│   │   ├── GameCommon                 # Global pointers, debug draw helpers

│   │   ├── Controller                 # Base controller (camera, viewport, position)

│   │   ├── PlayerController           # Free-fly camera, keyboard/mouse input

│   │   ├── AIController               # AI controller (stub)

│   │   └── MatchCommon                # Move result enums, raycast structs, piece move records

│   ├── Gameplay/                      # Core game logic

│   │   ├── Game                       # State machine (Attract → Match → Finished), player management

│   │   ├── Match                      # Chess rule engine, move validation, execution, event handling

│   │   ├── Board                      # 8×8 grid, square info, coordinate conversion, rendering

│   │   ├── Piece                      # Piece entity with animation, selection, capture states

│   │   └── Actor                      # Base class (position, orientation, color)

│   └── Subsystem/

│       ├── Console/                   # Console subsystem (stub)

│       ├── Light/                     # Directional lighting with Blinn-Phong support

│       └── Widget/                    # Widget subsystem

├── Run/                               # Runtime directory

│   ├── Data/Audio/                    # Sound effects

│   ├── Data/Definitions/              # XML config (PieceDefinition, BoardDefinition)

│   ├── Data/Fonts/                    # Bitmap fonts

│   ├── Data/Images/                   # Textures (Phong maps, marble, UV test)

│   ├── Data/Models/                   # OBJ models (Cube, Woman, TutorialBox)

│   └── Data/Shaders/                  # HLSL (BlinnPhong, Bloom, Default, Diffuse)

├── Docs/                              # Documentation

└── DaemonChess.sln                    # Visual Studio solution

```



| Module | Description |

|--------|-------------|

| Definition | XML-driven piece geometry (6 types × primitives) and board layout |

| Framework | App lifecycle, player/AI controllers, move result types |

| Gameplay | Chess rule engine (Match), board grid (Board), animated pieces (Piece) |

| Light Subsystem | Directional sun light with adjustable direction and intensity |



## Future Roadmap



- [x] 3D board and procedural piece rendering with Blinn-Phong shading

- [x] Complete move validation for all 6 piece types

- [x] En passant, castling (kingside + queenside), pawn promotion

- [x] Raycast-based piece selection with ghost piece preview

- [x] Animated piece movement with knight hop arc

- [x] Capture animation with delayed removal system

- [x] Turn-based two-player local play

- [x] Developer console with ChessMove command

- [ ] Check and checkmate detection

- [ ] AI opponent (AIController implementation)

- [ ] Online multiplayer via NetworkSubsystem

- [ ] Move history panel and undo/redo

- [ ] Stalemate, draw, and threefold repetition rules

- [ ] OBJ model pieces as alternative to procedural geometry



See the [open issues](https://github.com/dadavidtseng/DaemonChess/issues) for a full list of proposed features and known issues.



## Acknowledgements



- [Daemon Engine](https://github.com/dadavidtseng/Engine) — Custom C++ engine providing DirectX 11 rendering, FMOD audio, input, resource loading, and developer console

- SMU Guildhall — Academic environment and engine development curriculum



## License



Copyright 2025 Yu-Wei Tseng



Licensed under the [Apache License, Version 2.0](../LICENSE).



## Contact



**Yu-Wei Tseng**

- Portfolio: [dadavidtseng.info](https://dadavidtseng.info)

- GitHub: [@dadavidtseng](https://github.com/dadavidtseng)

- LinkedIn: [dadavidtseng](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dadavidtseng/)

- Email: dadavidtseng@gmail.com



Project Link: [github.com/dadavidtseng/DaemonChess](https://github.com/dadavidtseng/DaemonChess)



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