Creating 3d Worlds with HTML and CSS (2013)

Posted5 months agoActive5 months ago

razodactyl

48 points

9 comments

keithclark.co.ukTechstory

calmmixed

Debate

20/100

3d RenderingCSSHTMLWeb Development

Key topics

3d Rendering

CSS

HTML

Web Development

Discussion about creating 3D worlds using HTML and CSS, with comments on historical context and modern alternatives.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Light discussion

First comment

38m

Peak period

2-3h

Avg / period

1.5

Key moments

01Story posted
Aug 20, 2025 at 9:14 PM EDT
5 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Aug 20, 2025 at 9:53 PM EDT
38m after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
3 comments in 2-3h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03
04Latest activity
Aug 21, 2025 at 8:49 AM EDT
5 months ago
Step 04

Generating AI Summary...

Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns

Discussion (9 comments)

Showing 9 comments

jayknight

5 months ago

3 replies

I remember the promise of VRML, but never had a machine powerful enough to render anything but the simplest examples.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRML

doawoo

5 months ago

1 reply

wild that I booted up my SGI O2 the other night just to remember the name of the tech used in the demos that ran inside Netscape! And then spent a whole while reading about VRML.

I wish we had something as easy to deploy interactive experiences on the web like that today.

perilunar

5 months ago

Well, you can still use it — the plugins are dead but there's a couple of JS libraries that will render VRML files in the browser using WebGL:

• https://www.x3dom.org

• https://create3000.github.io/x_ite/

Keyframe

5 months ago

I worked on SGI machines at the time and even that wasn't powerful enough. Even though Indy was dubbed as "the web machine" (I worked on Indigo2). It was a bit too early when it was promised.

socalgal2

5 months ago

the VRML people migrated to X3D https://webx3d.org/

I don't believe it ever had any real uptake. It arguably has (had?) lots of issues.

jauntywundrkind

5 months ago

1 reply

Both three.js and Lume have css 3d renderers, fwiw. I forget where there.js is but Lume's also supports a mixed mode too.

https://docs.lume.io/guide/rendering-modes https://threejs.org/docs/#examples/en/renderers/CSS3DRendere...

I don't think either has lighting though! Holy macrel!

chrismorgan

5 months ago

Looks like Lume is a layer atop Three.js?

Keyframe

5 months ago

My guy here did what Sega Saturn's VDP1 did. Instead of triangle based rendering, which most did, Saturn used quads, or "distorted sprites" to do 3D. Trivia: Nvidia's first accelerator NV1 was based on what VDP1 did and also used quads and failed on the market (mostly due to it).

ivape

5 months ago

Is there any universe where CSS can do 60fps?

View full discussion on Hacker News

ID: 44968129Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 6:56:52 PM

Want the full context?

Jump to the original sources

Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.

Open link View on HN