🔥 Fire Simulation in C++ with SFML

A real-time particle-based fire simulation built from scratch using C++17 and SFML 3.0, featuring dynamic wind, ember physics, additive blending, and interactive fire movement.

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✨ Features

• Particle System — 1000+ particles simulated in real-time at 60 FPS
• Realistic Color Gradient — Black → Deep Red → Orange → Yellow → White hot core
• Ember System — Glowing embers fly upward and flutter in the wind
• Additive Blending — GPU-style glow effect for realistic fire brightness
• Dynamic Wind — Smooth wind interpolation with natural turbulence sway
• Ground Glow — Pulsing orange light illuminates the ground beneath the fire
• Interactive — Move fire anywhere with mouse, control wind and intensity

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🎮 Controls

Key / Button	Action
LMB (Left Click + Drag)	Move fire to mouse position
W	Wind blows LEFT
S	Wind blows RIGHT
+	Increase fire intensity
-	Decrease fire intensity
R	Reset fire and wind
Esc	Quit

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Tool	Version
Language	C++17
Graphics	SFML 3.0.2
Build System	CMake 3.16+
Compiler	MinGW GCC 16.1
Package Manager	vcpkg

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⚙️ Physics Details

• Particle Lifetime: 0.6s – 1.8s (fire), 1.0s – 2.5s (embers)
• Velocity: Random upward with horizontal turbulence per frame
• Wind: Smooth lerp toward target with sinusoidal natural sway
• Ember Flutter: Sin-wave horizontal oscillation for realistic floating
• Color Mapping: 6-stage gradient based on normalized lifetime ratio

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🚀 Build & Run (Windows)

Prerequisites

• MinGW-w64
• CMake
• vcpkg with SFML 3

Steps

git clone https://github.com/snehal-thombare08/Fire-Simulation-.git
cd Fire-Simulation-
mkdir build &&cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=C:/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake \
-DSFML_DIR=C:/vcpkg/installed/x86-mingw-dynamic/share/sfml \
-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER="C:/mingw64/mingw32/bin/g++.exe" \
-G "MinGW Makefiles"
mingw32-make

Copy DLLs and run:

copy "C:\vcpkg\installed\x86-mingw-dynamic\debug\bin\*.dll".
.\FireSim.exe

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📦 Download

👉 Download FireSim-v1.0-Windows.zip

Extract all files and run FireSim.exe — no install needed!

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📁 Project Structure

Fire-Simulation-/
├── src/
│ └── main.cpp # Particle system + physics + rendering
├── CMakeLists.txt # Build configuration
├── .gitignore
└── README.md

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🎯 What I Learned

• Building a particle system from scratch with spawn, update, and kill lifecycle
• Additive blending (sf::BlendAdd) for realistic glow effects
• Color gradient mapping based on particle lifetime for fire realism
• Smooth wind physics with lerp and sinusoidal turbulence
• Optimizing 1000+ particles at 60 FPS with efficient rendering

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Built with ❤️ using C++ and SFML 3.0