Screen space ray casting and basic collision in C++
In my last post I talked about a world editor tool that I've been working on for a while, and how I implemented a C++ rendering system in a C# UI. With a robust user input system now in place, I have the ability to move around throughout the editor. The next step is to enable user input so they can move objects around, edit their properties, and so on. In the tech demo I worked on to prove the concept of this editor, I had the ability to select an object from a list and edit its properties, but most game editors worth their salt allow the user to simply click on an item in the viewport to edit its properties. To achieve this, I needed two things: 1) A way to cast a ray from the camera, through the mouse, and into the world 2) A way to test if that ray hits an object in the world. Both of these are not terribly complex concepts, but having never implemented them it was a fun challenge! Check out the rest of the article to see how I tackled this task and achieved my goal!
