firestarter – A Real-Time Fire Simulator

Many obstacles exist in attempting to graphically render physical

phenomena that are highly fluid and ostensibly chaotic in nature. Fire is a

prime example of such phenomena. Given the unrealizable computational

complexity of chemical-atomic modeling, this paper explores how to best

apply our current understanding of the physical fire model to balance

computational stresses for optimal realism. Special emphasis is given

specifically to the constraints imposed by real-time rendering, as opposed to

production pipeline rendering, introducing firestarter – a real-time fire

simulator developed by the author using OpenGL – which features some

unique implementations of previously discussed topics.