I built this entire 3D exploring experience for @MetropolixIO in less than 72 hours

Things that used to take weeks or months with designers, 3D artists, game developers and UI/UX teams can now be built in days!

Just me, NO other developers. I already had the UI built, but the interactive 3D world was missing

Here's what I wanted to achieve

A world where startups have their own branded buildings, people can explore the environment, discover businesses and interact with the platform

Not another flat directory with cards and links. An actual 3D experience that runs in the browser. The challenge is that 3D on the web can get expensive very quickly

Heavy models, complicated textures, too many polygons and unnecessary effects can make an experience slow, especially on ordinary devices

So I approached it differently

Used three.js to build the interactive environment directly in the browserUse lowpoly models to keep geometry simple and lightweightKeep the environment modular so buildings, roads, plots and other elements can be reusedAvoid unnecessary textures, materials and expensive visual effectsFocus on loading only what the user needs rather than rendering the entire world at full detailMake navigation and exploration feel smooth without requiring a gaming PC

The interesting part is that lowpoly doesn't have to mean low quality. With the right proportions, lighting, colours and composition, you can build a world that looks good without needing millions of polygons or massive assets

And three.js gives you the ability to bring that world to life directly in the browser

No separate game installation. No dedicated game engine download for the user. Just a website people can open and explore

Here's what I learned from building Metropolix

You don't always need a large team to build something visually ambitious

A well-planned lowpoly environment can be much easier to optimize than a world built around unnecessarily complex assets

AI-assisted development can dramatically shorten the time between having an idea and seeing it working, although the architecture, testing and iteration still matter

Performance needs to be part of the design from day one, not something you try to fix after everything is built

The real opportunity isn't just building 3D models. It's turning them into useful interactive experiences that people can access on everyday devices

I'm still improving Metropolix, and there's a lot more I want to build into it

But getting the interactive 3D experience running in less than 72 hours, working on it alone, showed me how much is possible with the right approach

If you're building interactive websites, virtual environments, games, product showcases or browser-based experiences, I'd seriously look at three.js and lowpoly assets

You might be surprised by what you can build without a full 3D or game design team. 🦾