NotAwfulTech

357 readers

1 users here now

a community for posting cool tech news you don’t want to sneer at

non-awfulness of tech is not required or else we wouldn’t have any posts

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Looking for: random raytracing program (awful.systems)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Years ago (we're talking decades) I ran into a small program that randomly generated raytraced images (think transparent orbs, lens flares, reflection etc), suitable for saving as wallpapers. It was a C/C++ program that ran on Linux. I've long since lost the name and the source code, and I wonder if there's anything like that out there now?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

POV-Ray, perhaps? You give it a scene description text file and it will render a raytraced image of the scene for you. You'd need to find or write an appropriate scene description though for what you want to randomize.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Thanks for the suggestion, but that's not the one.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I've wasted so much time writing scenes for that thing and rendering them on my mighty 486...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Still got any fun renders from back then?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Nope, it's all gone to the great bit bucket in the sky...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

No, I wish I did, but they disappeared many computers ago.