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README.md

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+
+# FP Rendering Engine
+
+
+## TL;DR
+
+Graphics + Web + Functional Programming
+
+[Play it here](https://ferano.io/3d-fp/)
+
+
+## About
+
+The goal of this project is to learn about the intersection of 3 different
+topics; graphics, web, and functional programming. The FP acronym refers to both
+the fact that it's a \*F\*irst \*P\*erson camera, as well as being implemented
+using \*F\*unctional \*P\*rogramming. It uses Elm with WebGL to create a 3D
+first-person scene implementing several lower level graphics techniques
+including matrix transformations to model parent/child local transforms, texture
+mapping, and basic lighting with shaders.
+
+This is a prototype quality level project worked on for a few weeks in 2019.
+However, it was just thrown into a git repo without much consideration, along
+with other another small graphics project. I felt it deserved a little bit more
+TLC, so I decided to spruce it up a little bit. Here's the original
+[project](https://github.com/JosephFerano/elm-graphics).
+
+
+## Showcase
+![Walkthrough](screenshots/play1.webm)
+![Screenshot](elm-fps.png)
+
+## Building with Elm 0.18.0
+
+To install the binaries manually, follow this short guide; - [Install Binaries](https://sirfitz.medium.com/install-elm-0-18-0-in-2021-3f64ce298801)
+
+If you want to use `npm` instead; - `npm install -g elm@elm0.18.0`
+
+If you use `npm`, note that you will likely need an older version of Node.js, so
+it is recommended to use [`npm`](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm) for that. I have not attempted this method
+personally, fyi.
+
+Once you have the Elm compiler, go ahead and run
+
+`elm make Scene.elm`
+
+And that should first pull in all the dependencies then generate an `index.html`
+file.
+
+
+### Issues with dependencies
+
+One of the dependencies of this project, `Zinggi/elm-obj-loader`, is getting a 404
+when Elm tries to pull in all the deps during compilation. Therefore this
+dependency will be included in version control, on the off chance someone
+actually wants to build this.
+
+
+## Running
+
+In order to be able to load the textures and models, the files must be served by
+an HTTP server because of browser security, see [SOP](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Security/Same-origin_policy) and [CORS](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/CORS) if curious.
+
+If you have Python 3 installed, simply run `python3 -m http.server`. If you would
+like to use `elm-reactor`, run the command and then click on `index.html` in the
+nice project webview provided.
+
+
+## How to Play
+
+You can walk around the scene and also control the robot which I have named
+Emperor Sextus, Conqueror of the Luddites.
+
+
+### Keybindings
+
+-   Look Around: `Mouse`
+
+-   FPS Movement: `WASD`
+
+-   Robot Movement: `◀ ▼ ▲ ▶`
+
+-   Rotate Robot: `N | M`
+
+-   Rotate Robot Arm: `H | J`
+
+-   Rotate Robot Hand: `Y | U`
+
+
+## Takeaways
+
+The Elm WebGL library provides a few abstractions (namely `WebGL.Entity`) that
+help reduce some of the boilerplate usually associated with creating a WebGL
+application from scratch. While it was useful for the purposes of this
+prototype, it remains to be seen if it would scale if this would become a proper
+3D rendering engine.
+
+Despite what might be potentially undiscovered performance issues, Elm was
+pleasant to work with, and it sold me two ideas; functional programming and
+minimalism. The touted safety and correctness were noticeable, the learning
+curve wasn't as steep, and using the Elm debugger to be able to step back in
+time through the game was eye-opening in showing what's possible when you
+architect your state management with immutability in mind. It would be
+interesting to see if a modern game engine could switch between the functional,
+immutable data structures in a debug context and the cache-friendly mutable data
+structures for improved performance in a release build. Thus boosting
+productivity during development, while still remaining performant in the hands
+of players.
+
+
+## License
+
+This project is licensed under the terms of the MIT license. For more
+information, see the included LICENSE file.
+