msephton21h ago

CSS is DOOMed

https://nielsleenheer.com/articles/2026/css-is-doomed-rendering-doom-in-3d-with-css/

CSS is DOOMed!

Every wall, floor, barrel, and imp is a div — DOOM rendered entirely in CSS. Using 3D transforms, CSS math functions, @property, clip-path, anchor positioning, and SVG filters to build a fully playable 3D first-person shooter in the browser without Canvas or WebGL.

Hello my name is Niels Leenheer
Show threadsheept

Creating 3D scenes with CSS has always been possible[0], but like this project, it's required JavaScript for interactivity.

But there's a lot more CSS features now. While in the past, Turing completeness in CSS required humans to click on checkboxes, now CSS can emulate an entire CPU without JavaScript or requiring user interaction.[1] So I wonder if DOOM could be purely CSS too, in real time.

[0]: https://keithclark.co.uk/labs/css-fps/
[1]: https://lyra.horse/x86css/

A 3D engine built using HTML and CSS 3D transforms by Keith Clark

A CSS powered 3D environment with geometry created from HTML elements and CSS transforms. Textures and lightmaps are composed by layering multiple background-images and colour is applied using CSS blend-modes.

Mar 28 at 9:03pmWeb
Show threadcaptn3m019h ago

The author links to th CSS x86 project:

> Yes, Lyra Rebane build a x86 CPU completely in CSS, but that technique is simply not fast enough for handing the game loop. So the result is something that uses a lot of JavaScript.