Starworld (StardustXR + Overte Client)

Overview

Starworld is an Overte client that renders virtual world entities inside the StardustXR compositor. It bridges Overte's entity protocol with Stardust's spatial computing environment, allowing you to view and interact with Overte domains in XR.

Current Status: ✨ 3D colored model rendering with full transform, color, and dimension support! Entities render as solid GLTF models with PBR materials. See RENDERING_FIX_SUMMARY.md for implementation details.

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.15+
• C++20 compiler (GCC/Clang)
• Rust toolchain (for the bridge)
• StardustXR server running
• Required libraries: glm, OpenSSL, zlib, libcurl

Build Everything

./build_and_test.sh

Or manually:

# 1. Build Rust bridge
cd bridge
cargo build --release
cd ..

# 2. Build C++ client
mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make -j$(nproc)

Run with Simulation Mode

Test the rendering without connecting to an Overte server:

export STARWORLD_SIMULATE=1
export STARWORLD_BRIDGE_PATH=./bridge/target/release
./build/stardust-overte-client

This creates three demo entities rendered as colored 3D models:

• Red cube (0.2m) - smooth shaded cube with PBR material
• Green sphere (0.15m) - UV sphere with 32 segments
• Blue icosphere (0.25m) - Geodesic sphere placeholder for Model entities

Connect to Overte Server

export STARWORLD_BRIDGE_PATH=./bridge/target/release
./build/stardust-overte-client ws://domain.example.com:40102

Or use domain discovery:

export STARWORLD_BRIDGE_PATH=./bridge/target/release
./build/stardust-overte-client --discover

Architecture

Overte Server (UDP) → OverteClient (C++) → SceneSync → StardustBridge (C++) 
                                                            ↓ (dlopen C-ABI)
                                                       Rust Bridge
                                                            ↓
                                                    Stardust Server

The Rust bridge provides the StardustXR client implementation, exposing a C ABI for the C++ code to use.

Entity Rendering

Starworld renders Overte entities as 3D colored models:

• Box (type 1): Smooth-shaded cube with colored PBR material
• Sphere (type 2): UV sphere (32 segments) with colored PBR material
• Model (type 3): Icosphere placeholder (downloads coming soon)
• Other types: Coming soon (Text, Image, Light, etc.)

Current Support:

• ✅ Position, rotation, scale (full transform matrix)
• ✅ RGB color with PBR materials (roughness, metallic)
• ✅ Dimensions (xyz size in meters)
• ✅ GLTF/GLB model loading from local cache
• ⏳ Model URL downloading (in progress)
• ⏳ Texture application (planned)

Models are loaded from ~/.cache/starworld/primitives/ with fallback to built-in primitives. Generated using Blender with tools/blender_export_simple.py.

For implementation details, see ENTITY_RENDERING_ENHANCEMENTS.md.

Rust Bridge

The bridge (required for proper StardustXR integration) is a Rust shared library that:

• Connects to the Stardust compositor via fusion client
• Manages the spatial scene graph
• Handles entity creation, updates, and removal
• Renders entities using the asteroids element API

Build it with:

cd bridge
cargo build --release

This produces bridge/target/release/libstardust_bridge.so, which the C++ client loads at runtime.

Bridge Path Configuration

The client tries these locations in order:

1. STARWORLD_BRIDGE_PATH environment variable
2. ./bridge/target/debug/libstardust_bridge.so
3. libstardust_bridge.so (system library path)

Configuration Options

Environment Variables

• STARWORLD_BRIDGE_PATH: Path to bridge .so directory
• STARWORLD_SIMULATE: Set to 1 for simulation mode (no Overte connection)
• STARDUSTXR_SOCKET: Override Stardust compositor socket path
• OVERTE_URL: Override Overte server URL
• OVERTE_DISCOVER: Enable domain discovery (1 or true)
• OVERTE_DISCOVER_PROBE: Enable/disable domain reachability probing
• OVERTE_DISCOVER_INDEX: Manual domain selection index
• OVERTE_USERNAME: Set username for Overte authentication

Command-Line Options

• --socket=/path/to.sock: Legacy socket override
• --abstract=name: Use abstract socket namespace
• --overte=ws://host:port: Overte server WebSocket URL
• --discover: Enable Overte domain discovery

Development

Project Structure

Starworld/
├── src/              # C++ source files
│   ├── main.cpp
│   ├── StardustBridge.cpp
│   ├── OverteClient.cpp
│   ├── SceneSync.cpp
│   └── ...
├── bridge/           # Rust bridge
│   ├── src/lib.rs
│   └── Cargo.toml
├── tests/            # Test harness
└── tools/            # Python utilities

Debugging

Enable verbose logging:

export RUST_LOG=debug
export LOG_LEVEL=debug
./build/stardust-overte-client

Vendoring StardustXR Crates

For deterministic builds, clone dependencies into third_party/:

cd third_party
git clone https://github.com/StardustXR/asteroids.git
git clone https://github.com/StardustXR/core.git

Then update bridge/Cargo.toml:

[dependencies.stardust-xr-asteroids]
path = "../third_party/asteroids"

[dependencies.stardust-xr-fusion]
path = "../third_party/core"

This allows you to:

• Lock to specific commits
• Patch client internals
• Debug client crate issues
• Add custom C ABI exports

Known Limitations

1. Entity types: Only Box, Sphere, Model supported. Need Text, Image, Light, Zone, etc.
2. Static models: Uses cached primitives, doesn't download from entity.modelUrl yet
3. No texture support: Models use base colors only, no texture mapping
4. One-way sync: Entities created but not updated or removed yet
5. UDP only: WebSocket transport not implemented
6. Single user: No avatar or multi-user support yet

Roadmap

Phase 1: Core Rendering ✅ COMPLETE

• Wireframe entity visualization
• Transform, color, dimension support
• Entity type differentiation
• 3D colored model rendering 🎉
• GLTF/GLB model loading
• PBR material support

Phase 2: Asset Pipeline (Current Focus)

• Local asset cache (~/.cache/starworld/primitives/)
• HTTP model downloader ⏭️ NEXT
• Download models from entity.modelUrl
• Texture loading and application
• Model caching and invalidation
• Progress/error handling

Phase 3: Entity System

• All entity types (Text, Image, Light, Zone, etc.)
• Entity property updates (position, rotation, color changes)
• Entity deletion handling
• Parent/child entity hierarchies
• Entity query/filtering by distance

Phase 4: Interaction & Multi-User

• Avatar representation and sync
• Input forwarding (XR controllers → Overte)
• Audio spatial rendering
• Voice chat integration

Phase 5: Advanced Features

• Script integration
• Physics simulation
• Particle effects
• Animation playback
• Material/texture overrides

Troubleshooting

"Failed to connect to StardustXR compositor"

• Ensure Stardust server is running
• Check STARDUSTXR_SOCKET environment variable
• Try: ss -lx | grep stardust to find the socket

"Rust bridge present but start() failed"

• Rebuild the bridge: cd bridge && cargo build --release
• Check library exists: ls -lh bridge/target/release/libstardust_bridge.so
• Verify RPATH: ldd build/stardust-overte-client

"Could not connect to Overte"

• Verify server URL/port
• Check network connectivity
• Try --discover to find public domains
• Use simulation mode: export STARWORLD_SIMULATE=1

Nothing renders in VR

• Check Stardust server logs for errors
• Verify entities have non-zero dimensions
• Enable debug logging: RUST_LOG=debug
• Look for "[bridge/reify]" log messages

Contributing

See ENTITY_RENDERING_ENHANCEMENTS.md for implementation details.

For CI/test setup, see CI_SETUP_SUMMARY.md.

License

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