Hardware Heritage
The 3D starfield is the original "Hello World" of spatial graphics. By projecting three-dimensional points onto a two-dimensional screen using simple division by depth (Z), programmers taught a generation how to create the illusion of infinite space, long before hardware-accelerated 3D was a reality.
PC Screensaver
The "Starfield" became the symbol of PC computing in the 90s. It demonstrated the PC's ability to handle simple 3D math (perspective projection) across hundreds of points using raw integer math.
Amiga Parallax
Amiga starfields often used multiple hardware layers or sprites moving at different speeds (parallax) rather than true 3D projection, resulting in a smoother but distinct "2D+" look.
Perspective
The formula X' = X/Z is the core of this effect. It taught a generation of programmers how to map 3D coordinates to a 2D screen.
3D Starfield
The original Hello World of 3D graphics.
Legacy BASIC/C
for(i=0; i < NUM_STARS; i++) {
stars[i].z -= speed;
if(stars[i].z <= 0) {
stars[i].z = MAX_Z;
stars[i].x = random(-100, 100);
}
// Perspective Projection
sx = (stars[i].x << 8) / stars[i].z + 160;
sy = (stars[i].y << 8) / stars[i].z + 100;
Plot(sx, sy, WHITE);
}
Modern GLSL
float StarLayer(vec2 uv) {
vec2 gv = fract(uv) - 0.5;
vec2 id = floor(uv);
float n = hash(id);
float d = length(gv - (vec2(n, fract(n*34.0))-0.5)*0.8);
return smoothstep(0.05, 0.0, d);
}