This fully walkable 3D city was built entirely out of ASCII art

In a nutshell: Cutting-edge hardware and advanced game engines have allowed developers to create increasingly realistic 3D worlds. Even the latest and greatest titles still have a long way to go before virtual environments become indistinguishable from reality, but at the current rate of progress, that eventuality may not be too far off. On the opposite end of the spectrum – and to some, even more impressive – are projects that do more with less, like this walkable city made entirely of ASCII characters.

Grow Now Games, a self-professed one person indie game developer, recently shared the project on YouTube. The dev said his goal was to build a cyberpunk-style city that felt alive, and to build the whole thing using only ASCII characters. So, that’s what he did.

The project uses a small custom engine made using JavaScript and Canvas. The virtual environment is populated with buildings, roads, trees, cars, and pedestrians, and uses camera tricks to work out perspective, depth, and collision for added realism. For something built using only letters, numbers, and symbols, it’s incredibly immersive.

Related: Watch this typewriter pound out ASCII selfies

Games like Minecraft have proven that you don’t need advanced graphics to create a fun and compelling experience, and this is yet another example of that.

Modern ASCII art dates back to the mid-60s but was more widely adopted in the 70s and 80s. Usage declined as computer graphics evolved, but the style remained popular among certain segments of computing enthusiasts and in the hacker community.

The dev said the walkable city is still a work in progress, and noted that he plans to keep advancing the atmosphere, the amount of detail, and interactive elements further. The video already has north of a million views and has generated over 9,000 comments. With any luck, the project will continue and who knows, perhaps it could evolve into the next big thing.

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