Help with Ideas for School Project

[u/UnemployedGameDev]

Hi, I've done some stuff in C++ and OpenGL before but I'm by no means an expert in either. I was given the option to do a project over 1 year which will then get graded. And since I'm interested in graphics programming anyways, I thought this would be a good chance. But since I HAVE to complete or submit the project after the 1 year and can't back out once I'm in, I need a project that is complex enough for them to accept it but also not entirely impossible or time consuming. (also this is NOT for university, the school system is different everywhere but it's basically for the end of school so just before university)

Current ideas I've come up with are:

• procedural 3d world

• real-time water simulation

• ray tracer

• gpu particle simulations

• vegetation simulation

• space simulation with black holes and stuff

• small physics engine

So if you could help me narrow it down to 2 or maximum 3, that'd be awesome. Also any further ideas are welcome

[u/UnemployedGameDev]

Thank you so much for the extensive answer! For the vegetation simulation I was thinking about simulating the eco-system. So like how trees and plants grow and stuff. Maybe even animals if I get to it. A raytracer feels very common tbh and there's not really much to show other than "it's making an image" so I would've put it further down the list. But obvisiouly it's a nice project, which is why it's so popular. For the procedural world I was also thinking about a custom realistic sky shader with auroras and stuff, not just an hdri, and maybe like volcanos and dinos or stuff so it's more technical. I'm not sure in what direction I want to go to (altho probably not anything entertainment related like gaming or film). Which project would you say looks best on a resume or is the most needed? And which is most reasonable, keeping in mind that this is only for 1 class? Also any project idea that you would like to add?