# Hyperion Engine trades ray tracing hardware for a brick structure > Hyperion is a game engine written from the ground up in C++, with a realtime global illumination system called Glimmer that stores static geometry in sparse bricks instead of a triangle BVH, so it runs without ray tracing hardware. It has an Avalonia editor, a C# scripting path, and it is still on a 0.5.x line. **HyperionGameTech/HyperionEngine** — A high performance Vulkan/DX12 game engine in C++ & C# - Repository: https://github.com/HyperionGameTech/HyperionEngine - Website: https://hyperionengine.dev - Stars: 558 · Forks: 29 - Language: C++ - License: MIT - Published: 2026-10-22 · Updated: 2026-10-22 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/hyperiongametech-hyperionengine ## Glimmer replaces the triangle BVH with sparse bricks The technical centre of Hyperion is Glimmer, a realtime global illumination and reflection system that needs no ray tracing hardware. Static geometry in the scene is stored in what the documentation calls bricks, a sparse structure with good data locality, and that structure is what replaces the usual triangle BVH used for software tracing. The consequence is stated plainly: the engine delivers realtime reflections and GI of static geometry on hardware that has no RT support. Diffuse lighting uses precomputed radiance transfer, which means the sun and the sky can change freely, for dynamic time of day, without re-tracing, and glossy reflections are traced through the same bricks structure. This is the central design decision of the engine, and it explains the stated focus on high-fidelity rendering and scalable worlds without requiring high-end hardware. It also explains the design of the sample game, which is published as a WebGPU sample, since a browser cannot rely on an RT-capable GPU either. ## Reflection is the mechanism behind the whole toolchain The second point in the list of reasons to use Hyperion is more of a platform decision than a feature, and it shapes everything else. Mark a class, struct or field for reflection and the build tools let you use it in serialization, editing, network replication and script bindings. The documentation makes the argument that reflection gives you functionality for free, and the claim is easy to check against the rest of the feature list. Networking is server authoritative entity replication with component replication driven by reflection, entity ownership and interest management, and the editor exposes reflected fields through an inspector. The engine is built around a set of tightly integrated subsystems that share common reflection, resource, serialization, tooling and runtime infrastructure, and the primary language is C++ with a C# scripting option, licensed under MIT. The repository layout follows the same shape, with `Source/`, `Content/`, `Config/`, `Tools/`, `External/`, `Documentation/` and `THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md` at the top level, alongside `build.sh` and `build.bat`. ## A scene graph and an ECS, side by side The gameplay model is described as a scene graph and ECS hybrid, and the hybrid is not a compromise but the design. Entities are nodes in a transform hierarchy, so they have a place in the world and can be parented, and they carry plain-data components such as mesh, rigid body, character controller, animation, audio, script and UI. Systems run over component sets in execution groups, in parallel where possible. So a designer thinks in hierarchies and a programmer thinks in components, and the engine does not force a choice between them. The extension surface follows from that: you can add your own components, systems, world subsystems, `Entity` subclasses or a `Game` subclass. Input covers keyboard and mouse, touch with on-screen controls on mobile targets, and gamepads through Steam Input, with first-person, third-person and follow camera controllers included. ## C# as a scripting language or as the whole game The C# support is one of the more unusual choices among game engines, and the documentation presents two distinct ways to use it. C# can serve as the scripting language for gameplay code, or it can be the entire game, and the CSharpGame sample shows the second case. There is also a third route: from the editor you can generate a CMake project for your game that links to Hyperion by choosing Build, then Generate C++ Project, and from the same menu you can build and package the game. That means the C# path is not a scripting bolt-on but a first-class way to ship a title, which is unusual for a native C++ engine, and it is the clearest single differentiator in the feature list. The trade is that the C# path depends on the reflection and code generation working well, so the same machinery that powers the editor inspector is what makes C# viable. ## The editor is Avalonia, and play-in-editor runs multiplayer The editor runs on Windows and macOS and is built with Avalonia, so it is a cross-platform .NET application rather than a native one. The feature that matters for anyone building a networked game is play-in-editor with multiplayer, which can run standalone, as a client, or against a dedicated server. The documentation points out that play-in-editor can start a server that others connect to, or connect to another running server altogether, and the screenshot gallery shows multiplayer running inside the editor. Around that sit the world building tools: terrain sculpting and layer painting, ground cover painting, a prefab instance painter and a decal painter, plus CSG booleans for union, subtract and intersect, basic mesh edits, and convex collision generation through V-HACD. Baking covers lightmaps, probes, static shadows and fog volumes. The default branch is `dev` and the recent releases are v0.5.5 on 2026-10-16, v0.5.4 on 2026-10-11 and v0.5.3 on 2026-10-06, so the editor is still moving quickly through its 0.5 line. ## Two backends, and Linux Vulkan is still future work The rendering backend situation is the clearest limitation in the documentation. DirectX 12 is the default on Windows and is described as a fully supported, mainline backend. Vulkan is described as covering macOS via MoltenVK, Android, and Linux in future, which is a careful way of saying that Linux Vulkan is not there yet. Everything else in the renderer assumes a fairly complete modern pipeline: clustered deferred shading with forward clustered shading for see-through surfaces, an offline lightmapper integrated into the editor with reflection and irradiance probes, real time reflections through ray tracing on RT capable hardware with screen-space reflections everywhere else, automatic instancing of entities sharing a mesh, surface and LOD, indirect draws, Hi-Z occlusion culling, bindless textures and mesh LODs. Lights cover directional, point, spot and textured rectangular area types with cascaded and omnidirectional shadow maps and static and dynamic caching. Post-processing lists TAA, GTAO, bloom, and AgX, ACES and PBR Neutral tonemapping, plus colour grading. ## Physics, networking and the shape of a young engine The last parts of the feature set are the conventional ones, done with named dependencies. Physics uses a Jolt backend with static, dynamic and kinematic bodies, and convex decomposition through V-HACD. Networking is server authoritative entity replication, with component replication driven by reflection, entity ownership and interest management, client-side prediction for character movement, and a dedicated server mode launched with `--server`. The world system is more distinctive: terrain as streamed cells with geomorphic LOD based on CDLOD, with splat painting and automatic splats derived from the shape of the terrain, ground cover and grass planted automatically on load and paintable, and grid-based world layers streamed around streaming volumes on a dedicated thread, plus a procedural atmosphere sky, volumetric clouds with cloud shadows and height fog. The honest caveat is the version number. On a 0.5.x line with releases every few days, the engine is moving faster than most teams can track, which is good news for a contributor and a hazard for anyone planning a long-lived project on it. ## Conclusion Adopt Hyperion if you want a readable C++ engine you can modify, need realtime global illumination on machines without ray tracing hardware, and want C# as an option for scripting or for the whole game. Skip it if you need a mature asset pipeline and a large plugin ecosystem, or if you need Vulkan on Linux today. Before you commit, read the backend list carefully, because DirectX 12 is the default and fully supported on Windows while Vulkan is described as macOS via MoltenVK and Android, with Linux still future work. ## FAQ ### What is Glimmer in Hyperion Engine? Glimmer is the realtime global illumination and reflection system. It stores static geometry in bricks, a sparse structure with good data locality that replaces the usual triangle BVH for software tracing, and diffuse lighting uses precomputed radiance transfer so the sun and sky can change without re-tracing. ### Which rendering backends does Hyperion support? DirectX 12, which is the default on Windows and a fully supported mainline backend, and Vulkan, described as macOS via MoltenVK, Android, and Linux in future. Real time reflections use ray tracing on RT capable hardware, with screen-space reflections everywhere else. ### Can I write a Hyperion game entirely in C#? Yes. C# can be used as the scripting language for gameplay code or as the entire game, with the CSharpGame sample showing the latter. You can also generate a CMake project that links to Hyperion from the editor with Build then Generate C++ Project, and build and package from that same menu. ### What is Hyperion's gameplay model? A scene graph and ECS hybrid. Entities are nodes in a transform hierarchy carrying plain-data components such as mesh, rigid body, character controller, animation, audio, script and UI, and systems run over component sets in execution groups, in parallel where possible. ## Sources - [HyperionGameTech/HyperionEngine on GitHub](https://github.com/HyperionGameTech/HyperionEngine) - [License: MIT](https://github.com/HyperionGameTech/HyperionEngine/blob/dev/LICENSE) - [Project website](https://hyperionengine.dev) - [README](https://github.com/HyperionGameTech/HyperionEngine/blob/dev/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/HyperionGameTech/HyperionEngine/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/hyperiongametech-hyperionengine