Classic 3D character. Modern PC development.

Copperframe Engine is an experimental, open-source game engine built in Rust for creating original PC games inspired by the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 eras.

Build atmospheric rooms, low-poly environments, and interactive worlds with a rendering style you can shape—from crunchy pixels and wobbling textures to smoother geometry and filtered surfaces.

Choose your retro style

- PS1-inspired rendering: low internal resolutions, vertex snapping, affine texture warping, reduced color depth, ordered dithering, and distance fog.

- PS2-inspired rendering: stable geometry, perspective-correct textures, texture filtering and mipmaps, skeletal animation, local lighting, and simple blob shadows.

- Adjustable presentation: switch presets, customize effects, and control resolution and scaling.

Build and explore

The current implementation includes a visual scene editor with an entity hierarchy, component inspectors, viewport selection, movement gizmos, and undo/redo. Import glTF/GLB models and PNG/JPEG textures, arrange your scene, and launch play mode from the editor.

Write gameplay in Rust using systems for physics, character movement, triggers, interactions, positional audio, and rebindable input. Command-line tools support project creation, asset import, validation, batch editing, automated simulation, and standalone export for the build platform.

Includes an example project

The Lever Room is a small exploration demo that brings these systems together. Find a lever, open a locked door, explore a corridor, and meet an animated caretaker. Its project files provide a starting point for experimenting with the engine.

Development status

Copperframe Engine is an early prototype under active development. Expect rough edges and changes as the tools mature.

Recorded validation has been performed on Linux using software rendering. Windows 11 is the primary target, but interactive Windows testing remains outstanding. macOS and hardware GPU validation are also pending.

Explore the project

Source code, build instructions, development status, and known limitations are available on "GitHub". The engine source is released under the "MIT License".

Follow Copperframe Engine for development updates, demonstrations, and future releases.

Inspiration

Copperframe Engine was inspired by The Cherno’s video, "Can AI Make a Game Engine?", and its accompanying "GameEngineDoc".

The original development brief became the starting point for a Rust-focused adaptation, shaped around a specific goal: creating modern PC games with the visual character of the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 eras.