# scallyw4g/bonsai

The procedural generation voxel engine

Repository: https://github.com/scallyw4g/bonsai
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/scallyw4g-bonsai
Language: C
License: WTFPL
License Family: permissive
Topics: game-engine, multithreading, engine, game, graphics, voxel, gameengine, gles3, opengl, opengl-es, webgl, gameengi, voxel-editor, voxel-engine, voxel-game, voxel-game-engine, voxel-terrain, procedural-generation
Last push: 2026-08-14T00:08:27+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 85/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 97, release rhythm 61, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3568, "days_push": 20, "days_rel": 260, "gap_med": 4, "n_releases_24m": 4}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1250, forks 39 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:08.092561+00:00)

## What it is
Bonsai is a from-scratch C/C++ voxel game engine focused on massive procedurally generated worlds with GPU-based terrain generation. It includes a full renderer (deferred shading, HDR, shadows), async job system, entities, physics, and a voxel editor.

## Use cases
- build a voxel game with massive procedurally generated terrain
- generate terrain on the GPU with custom GLSL shaders
- render huge worlds with full view distance
- learn how a voxel engine is built from scratch
- edit and sculpt voxel worlds
- experiment with hot-reloadable game code and shaders

## When to choose
- you need a voxel engine supporting enormous worlds with procedural GPU terrain generation
- you want a self-contained engine with minimal external dependencies
- you target Windows or Linux desktop platforms

## When to avoid
- you need a mature, production-proven engine with large community support
- you target mobile or console platforms
- you want a high-level engine with extensive asset marketplace and tooling

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: active
- function: game-engine, graphics, simulation
- domain: graphics
- platform: windows, cpp
- tags: voxel-engine, procedural-generation, opengl, gles3, webgl, multithreading, gpu-terrain-generation, hot-reloading, deferred-rendering, voxel-editor, game-development, linux

## Member repositories
- scallyw4g/bonsai (main) score 85

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:08.092561+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T05:07:45.490011+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/scallyw4g/bonsai (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:08.092561+00:00, sha ac57bb5ef6a6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.