Vibe Coding in Practice: Building a Driving Simulator Without Expert Programming Skills

This project investigates vibe coding, an AI-assisted paradigm where software is generated through natural language prompts to large language models (LLMs). We show how non-expert programmers can utilise vibe coding to develop complex 3D simulation environments. The research question guiding this study was: How can vibe coding support non-expert developers in creating complex driving simulator?

The first author, without prior programming expertise, used the Cursor together with Three.js to develop a driving simulator. Through iterative prompting, the simulator evolved in functionality, interactivity, and realism.

The aim is to evaluate both the opportunities and limitations of vibe coding in practical creative development, and to contribute insights on how AI-assisted programming can lower entry barriers for simulation design.

---

Citation

If you use this repository for academic work, please cite:

Fortes-Ferreira, M., Alam, M. S., & Bazilinskyy, P. (2025). Vibe Coding in Practice: Building a Driving Simulator Without Expert Programming Skills. In Adjunct Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications (AutomotiveUI Adjunct ’25), Brisbane, QLD, Australia. https://doi.org/10.1145/3744335.3758482

Usage of the Code

The code is open-source and free to use.
It is primarily intended for research, education, and follow-up experimentation.

We welcome forking, pull requests, and contributions in the spirit of open science and open-source collaboration.

For collaboration or inquiries, please contact:

• Margarida Fortes-Ferreira – margaridafortesferreira@outlook.pt
• Md Shadab Alam – m.s.alam@tue.nl
• Pavlo Bazilinskyy – p.bazilinskyy@tue.nl

---

Getting Started

Tested with Node.js 18+ and npm.

Step 1: Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/Shaadalam9/vibe-simulator
cd vibe-simulator

Step 2: Install dependencies

npm install

Step 3: Start the development server

npm run dev

Step 4: Open the app

Open your browser and go to http://localhost:3000 to see it running.

Prototypes

Two prototypes were developed in the project:

• Prototype 1 – focused on visual realism but offered limited interactivity.
  to run open: city with a car on Realistic-City_with-a-non-realistic-Car

• Prototype 2 – emphasized interactivity with functional driving mechanics,and an AI-created city, though with reduced polish compared to Prototype 1.
  to run open: bestresult_carandcity on Diferent-Perspectives_WASD

Prototype Figures

Prototype 1

Figure 1: Visual realism-focused prototype.

Prototype 2

Figure 2: Interactivity-focused prototype with procedural roads.