$ render --mode=ascii --shape=torus

ASCII DONUT

A real-time 3D torus drawn entirely from characters. Move your cursor across it to steer the rotation. Let go and it keeps spinning.

GLYPHS.,-~:;=!*#$@|FRAMERATE60 fps|INPUTpointer + touch

view the gallery

[02]

ascii animations

Hand-tuned loops rendered the same way the donut is - pure text, glowing under the CRT.

              $$@@@@@@@@@@               
          @@@$$#######***####$$@@         
       @@$$##**!!!!=====!!!!**##$$@        
     @@$##**!!===;;;;;;;;===!!**##$@       
    @$##**!!==;;:::~~~~:::;;==!!**##$@     
   @$#**!!==;;::~~----~~::;;==!!**#$@      
  @$#**!==;::~~--,,,,,,--~~::;==!!*#$@     
  @$#*!!=;::~--,,......,,--~::;=!!*#$@     
  $#*!!=;::~-,,..      ..,,-~::;=!*#$      
  $#*!=;::~-,..          ..,-~:;=!*#$      
  @$#*!=;:~-,..          ..,-~:;=!*#$@     
  @$#**!=;:~--,,..      ..,,-~:;=!**#$@    
   @$#*!!=;::~~--,,......,,--~::;=!!*#$@   
    @$##*!!==;;::~~----~~::;;==!!**##$@    
     @@$##**!!===;;:::::::;;===!!**##$@    
       @@$$##**!!!!=======!!!!**##$$@      
         @@@$$$######***#####$$@@@         
             @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

neon torusSTILL

frozen frame of the donut, full luminance ramp

       .       
      .:.      
     .:::.     
    .:::::.    
     ':::'     
      ':'      
       '

reactor core6F

pulsing diamond, 6-frame loop

 =  + < |  = 1 \< | 0= 1 \< 
 0 /1 \ *| 0 /1 \ *  0 / +  
   =/   <*   =/   <*   =   \
   0     <    =    <  > =  +
<           |    1 \  | 0  1
\    0 /    *    /    * >   
+ <  > =  + <    =          
  \  | 0  1    |    1     > 
 1+   |   /1   *|   /1   *|

code rain8F

procedural downpour of glyphs

           ~~==~~            ~~==~~ 
           ==..==            ==..== 
          ~..  ..~          ~..  ..~
~        ~=      =~        ~=      =
=~      ~=.      .=~      ~=.      .
.=      =.        .=      =.        
 .~~  ~~.          .~~  ~~.         
  ==~~==            ==~~==          
  ..==..            ..==..

carrier wave12F

scrolling sine, sampled to the grid

   ##     ##   
 ######  ###### 
################
 ############## 
  ############  
    ########    
      ####      
       ##

8-bit heart4F

systole / diastole, 4-frame loop

live donutREALTIME

same renderer, smaller grid - hover to steer it too

[03]

how the donut is drawn

No WebGL, no mesh, no textures. Trigonometry and a z-buffer, printed as monospace text.

projection: Each point on the torus is rotated in 3D, divided by depth, and mapped to a character cell.
lighting: A surface-normal dot light picks a glyph from .,-~:;=!*#$@ - brighter normals get denser ink.
color: Depth shifts the hue from neon green (near) to neon pink (far), so the tube reads as a glowing ring.
control: Pointer position sets a target tilt; the pose eases toward it, then idles back into an auto-spin.

/dev/ascii

visitor@ascii:~$ echo "