A 3D voxel game engine written in APL
github.com108 points by sph 8 hours ago
108 points by sph 8 hours ago
APL game engine is indeed an unusual thing. I don't know much about APL, and never used it (toyed with J back in the days though). I am really interested in the development process and the challenges posed by using APL for that kind of project.
Also, I really appreciate that the ReadMe file doesn't try to sell this project as something more than it actually is - a buggy passion project. Such honesty is, I feel, relatively rare nowadays.
The author has written two blog posts about their game (the latter is more about APL than the game itself though). You may find these interesting
https://homewithinnowhere.com/posts/2026-03-06-voxel-game.ht...
https://homewithinnowhere.com/posts/2026-05-10-one-line.html
Sweet, thank you! Don't know why they didn't post this, it's the bit I'm most interested in.
It’s crazy what people make games out of. When I was in a game design university program, one of my classmates used to make complete games (including a JRPG style adventure game) using excel formulas. Not even VBA, which would still be insane… just a bunch of formulas.
Is this what programming has become? We no longer admire the technical achievement itself and we only admire honesty.
Because any technical achievement is easily replicated by AI.
A voxel world is a pretty good sales pitch for APL: the weird-looking part is the notation, not the model.
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shameless plug, been working a a voxel editor to create voxels that you could use to decorate a home for a a little creature you have to take care of(a la sims). if anyone has some feedbacks, would be happy to take them!
Why not make a Show HN? In this thread, it feels a bit misplaced, even though it looks cool.