I’m building a video game engine using C++ as the coding language and Vulkan for graphics. I am trying to set up a generic renderer using Vulkan that is flexible and will render objects based on a vector that is supplied to it. The renderer will also handle the creation of the window using GLFW and use GLM for all relevant math calls. I am using the ASSIMP library to load 3d models and animations.

Here is a portion of the code:

Renderer.h:

#pragma once

#include <vulkan/vulkan.h>
#include "Window.h"
#include <vector>
#include <stdexcept>
#include <set>
#include <optional>
#include <iostream>
#include "Pipeline.h"
#include "Material.h"
#include "Mesh.h"

struct QueueFamilyIndices
{
	std::optional<uint32_t> graphicsFamily;
	std::optional<uint32_t> presentFamily;

	bool IsComplete()
	{
		return graphicsFamily.has_value() && presentFamily.has_value();
	}
};

struct SwapChainSupportDetails {
	VkSurfaceCapabilitiesKHR capabilities;
	std::vector<VkSurfaceFormatKHR> formats;
	std::vector<VkPresentModeKHR> presentModes;
};

struct MVP {
	glm::mat4 model;
	glm::mat4 view;
	glm::mat4 projection;
};


class Renderer
{
public:
	Renderer();
	~Renderer();

	void Initialize(GLFWwindow* window);
	void Shutdown();

	void BeginFrame();
	void EndFrame();

	VkDescriptorSetLayout* CreateDescriptorSetLayout();
	VkDescriptorPool CreateDescriptorPool(uint32_t maxSets);
	VkDevice* GetDevice();
	VkPhysicalDevice* GetPhysicalDevice();
	VkCommandPool* GetCommandPool();
	VkQueue* GetGraphicsQueue();
	VkCommandBuffer* GetCurrentCommandBuffer();
	std::shared_ptr<Pipeline> GetPipeline();
	void CreateGraphicsPipeline(Mesh* mesh, Material* material);
	VkDescriptorSetLayout* CreateSamplerDescriptorSetLayout();
	std::pair<VkBuffer, VkDeviceMemory> RequestMvpBuffer();

private:

	bool isShutDown = false;

	static const uint32_t kMvpBufferCount = 3;
	std::vector<VkBuffer> mvpBuffers;
	std::vector<VkDeviceMemory> mvpBufferMemory;
	uint32_t currentMvpBufferIndex = 0;

	bool shutdownInProgress;
	uint32_t currentCmdBufferIndex = 0;
	std::vector<size_t> currentFramePerImage;

	std::vector<VkImage> swapChainImages;
	std::vector<VkImageView> swapChainImageViews;
	VkExtent2D swapChainExtent;
	VkRenderPass renderPass;
	uint32_t imageIndex;
	std::shared_ptr<Pipeline> pipeline;

	VkFormat swapChainImageFormat;

	std::vector<VkCommandBuffer> commandBuffers;

	void CreateImageViews();
	void CleanupImageViews();
	void CreateRenderPass();
	void CleanupRenderPass();

	void CreateSurface();
	void DestroySurface();

	void CreateInstance();
	void CleanupInstance();
	void ChoosePhysicalDevice();
	void CreateDevice();
	void CleanupDevice();
	void CreateSwapchain();
	void CleanupSwapchain();
	void CreateCommandPool();
	void CleanupCommandPool();
	void CreateFramebuffers();
	void CleanupFramebuffers();

	void CreateCommandBuffers();
	void CleanupCommandBuffers();

	void Present();

	

	

	GLFWwindow* window;
	VkInstance instance = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
	VkPhysicalDevice physicalDevice = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
	VkDevice device = VK_NULL_HANDLE;

	VkSurfaceKHR surface;
	VkSwapchainKHR swapchain;
	VkCommandPool commandPool;
	VkCommandBuffer currentCommandBuffer;

	std::vector<VkFramebuffer> framebuffers;

	// Additional Vulkan objects needed for rendering…

	const uint32_t kMaxFramesInFlight = 2;
	std::vector<VkSemaphore> imageAvailableSemaphores;
	std::vector<VkSemaphore> renderFinishedSemaphores;
	std::vector<VkFence> inFlightFences;
	size_t currentFrame;

	VkQueue graphicsQueue;
	VkQueue presentQueue;

	void CreateSyncObjects();
	void CleanupSyncObjects();

	SwapChainSupportDetails querySwapChainSupport(VkPhysicalDevice device, VkSurfaceKHR surface);
	VkSurfaceFormatKHR chooseSwapSurfaceFormat(const std::vector<VkSurfaceFormatKHR>& availableFormats);
	VkPresentModeKHR chooseSwapPresentMode(const std::vector<VkPresentModeKHR>& availablePresentModes);
	VkExtent2D chooseSwapExtent(const VkSurfaceCapabilitiesKHR& capabilities, GLFWwindow* window);

	std::vector<const char*> deviceExtensions = {
		VK_KHR_SWAPCHAIN_EXTENSION_NAME
	};

	std::vector<const char*> CheckPhysicalDeviceExtensionSupport(VkPhysicalDevice physicalDevice);
	QueueFamilyIndices GetQueueFamilyIndices(VkPhysicalDevice physicalDevice);
};

A portion of Renderer.cpp:


VkDescriptorSetLayout* Renderer::CreateDescriptorSetLayout() {
	VkDescriptorSetLayoutBinding uboLayoutBinding{};
	uboLayoutBinding.binding = 0;
	uboLayoutBinding.descriptorType = VK_DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_UNIFORM_BUFFER;
	uboLayoutBinding.descriptorCount = 1;
	uboLayoutBinding.stageFlags = VK_SHADER_STAGE_VERTEX_BIT;
	uboLayoutBinding.pImmutableSamplers = nullptr;

	// Add sampler layout binding
	VkDescriptorSetLayoutBinding samplerLayoutBinding{};
	samplerLayoutBinding.binding = 1;
	samplerLayoutBinding.descriptorType = VK_DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_COMBINED_IMAGE_SAMPLER;
	samplerLayoutBinding.descriptorCount = 1;
	samplerLayoutBinding.stageFlags = VK_SHADER_STAGE_FRAGMENT_BIT;
	samplerLayoutBinding.pImmutableSamplers = nullptr;

	std::array<VkDescriptorSetLayoutBinding, 2> bindings = { uboLayoutBinding, samplerLayoutBinding };

	VkDescriptorSetLayoutCreateInfo layoutInfo{};
	layoutInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_DESCRIPTOR_SET_LAYOUT_CREATE_INFO;
	layoutInfo.bindingCount = static_cast<uint32_t>(bindings.size());
	layoutInfo.pBindings = bindings.data();

	VkDescriptorSetLayout* descriptorSetLayout;
	if (vkCreateDescriptorSetLayout(device, &layoutInfo, nullptr, descriptorSetLayout) != VK_SUCCESS) {
		throw std::runtime_error("Failed to create descriptor set layout!");
	}

	return descriptorSetLayout;
}

VkDescriptorSetLayout* Renderer::CreateSamplerDescriptorSetLayout() {
	VkDescriptorSetLayoutBinding samplerLayoutBinding{};
	samplerLayoutBinding.binding = 0;
	samplerLayoutBinding.descriptorType = VK_DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_COMBINED_IMAGE_SAMPLER;
	samplerLayoutBinding.descriptorCount = 1;
	samplerLayoutBinding.stageFlags = VK_SHADER_STAGE_FRAGMENT_BIT;
	samplerLayoutBinding.pImmutableSamplers = nullptr;

	VkDescriptorSetLayoutCreateInfo layoutInfo{};
	layoutInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_DESCRIPTOR_SET_LAYOUT_CREATE_INFO;
	layoutInfo.bindingCount = 1;
	layoutInfo.pBindings = &samplerLayoutBinding;

	VkDescriptorSetLayout* descriptorSetLayout;
	if (vkCreateDescriptorSetLayout(device, &layoutInfo, nullptr, descriptorSetLayout) != VK_SUCCESS) {
		throw std::runtime_error("Failed to create sampler descriptor set layout!");
	}

	return descriptorSetLayout;
}

VkDescriptorPool Renderer::CreateDescriptorPool(uint32_t maxSets) {
	VkDescriptorPoolSize poolSize{};
	poolSize.type = VK_DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_UNIFORM_BUFFER;
	poolSize.descriptorCount = maxSets;

	// Add an additional descriptor pool size for COMBINED_IMAGE_SAMPLER
	VkDescriptorPoolSize samplerPoolSize{};
	samplerPoolSize.type = VK_DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_COMBINED_IMAGE_SAMPLER;
	samplerPoolSize.descriptorCount = maxSets;

	std::array<VkDescriptorPoolSize, 2> poolSizes = { poolSize, samplerPoolSize };

	VkDescriptorPoolCreateInfo poolInfo{};
	poolInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_DESCRIPTOR_POOL_CREATE_INFO;
	poolInfo.poolSizeCount = static_cast<uint32_t>(poolSizes.size());
	poolInfo.pPoolSizes = poolSizes.data();
	poolInfo.maxSets = maxSets;

	VkDescriptorPool descriptorPool;
	if (vkCreateDescriptorPool(device, &poolInfo, nullptr, &descriptorPool) != VK_SUCCESS) {
		throw std::runtime_error("Failed to create descriptor pool!");
	}

	return descriptorPool;
}

I have recently converted the DescriptorSetLayout functions to use pointers instead of instances to allow for better memory management. However, the code now requires me to initialize the descriptorSetLayout variables in order to work. How can I do this?