Vision & Purpose

Mursten (Danish for "Brick") is a clean-room reimplementation of classical toy-box prototypes, extended with modern engine features. It is not a survival game or a resource grinder, but a focused creative sandbox driven by authentic physics and the satisfying click of placing digital plastic.

Design Pillars

Tactile Satisfaction

Every brick placement must feel responsive. Zero-latency prediction, custom snap sounds, and subtle camera micro-punch on confirm create a truly tactile experience.

Focused Simplicity

No crafting, no inventory management. Instant access to all bricks so you can start building confidently within minutes.

Authentic Feel

Engineered using real-world stud mathematics. Precise stud/anti-stud collision and a curated color palette ensure your creations look and feel authentic.

Engine Architecture

The Mursten Engine utilizes a robust triple-layer architecture ensuring stability and performance across different use cases.

  • Authoritative Simulation: A dedicated server manages world state using Bullet Physics and RakNet.
  • Zero-Latency Prediction: The client predicts placement locally, syncing with the server in the background for a seamless building feel.
  • Threaded Mesh Building: Chunk rendering is offloaded to worker threads, keeping the frame rate smooth even during heavy world updates.

Coordinate System

Concept Engine Units
1 Stud (X/Z) 8.0 Units
1 Plate Height (Y) 3.2 Units
1 Brick Height 9.6 Units (3 Plates)
Chunk Footprint 16 × 16 Studs

Current Priorities

Phase 2 — Post-Sprint

Stability & State

  • State Consolidation: Moving distributed client states into a unified GameState architecture.
  • Telemetry Hooks: Precise tracking of frame time, network latency, and packet timing.
  • Workspace Policy: Clean build environments and automated verification scripts.
Phase 3 — Structural Refactor

Engine Maturity

  • UI Decoupling: Separating high-level UI logic from low-level engine simulation.
  • Controller Patterns: Implementing clean "Management Controller" patterns for server/client logic.
  • Runtime Verification: Deep integration of automated unit tests during runtime.

Future Trajectory

Medium-Term

Modular Growth

Achievement of total modularity for engine sub-systems, allowing for custom brick behaviors, advanced lighting profiles, and community-driven plugin support.

Long-Term

Cross-Platform Dominance

Official support for Linux and macOS, full multiplayer stress-testing at scale, and expansion of the brick catalog to thousands of authenticated parts.

Technical Foundation

The Mursten Engine is built on a foundation of proven, high-performance C++ technologies.

SDL2
OpenGL 3.3+
Bullet Physics
RakNet 4.051
SQLite 3.x
C++ STL