DOOMQL
- ID
- 4452
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 14 Jul 2026, 6:34 AM
- Fetched
- 14 Jul 2026, 7:02 AM
- Provider
- Simon Willison
- Category
- developer-ai
- Original URL
- https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/13/doomql/
- Source URL
- https://simonwillison.net/atom/everything/
Summary
- Score
- 7.5
- Created
- 14 Jul 2026, 7:02 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_codersdatabase_learnersai_ml_learners
What happened
Peter Gostev built DOOMQL, a Doom-like game where SQLite acts as the entire game engine, handling movement, collision, enemies, combat, and rendering via a recursive CTE ray tracer. Simon Willison explored the resulting database using Datasette and used Claude to quickly build an HTML+JavaScript app that displays the game screen and minimap in real time.
Why it matters
It is a creative demonstration of pushing SQLite and recursive CTEs to their limits, and a practical example of using LLMs to rapidly build tooling around existing data. For builders in Malaysia, it shows how AI-assisted programming can accelerate prototyping and exploration of complex datasets, which is useful for anyone learning databases or building internal tools.
Discussion angle
What does DOOMQL teach us about the boundaries of SQL as a compute engine, and how can we use LLMs to quickly build visual interfaces on top of our own databases?