PGSimCity – A 3D Visualization of PostgreSQL Internals

Overview of PGSimCity

PGSimCity is an interactive 3D model that represents PostgreSQL engine components as buildings in a cityscape. It was released by NikolayS on GitHub and is live at https://nikolays.github.io/PGSimCity/, described as a working model of the PostgreSQL engine, an early unreviewed prototype that may contain inaccuracies in both the model and explanations.

Community Feedback on Usability and Clarity

Commenters praised the concept but found the current UI overwhelming and recommended reducing on‑screen elements and adding user‑controlled pacing.

"I love what is trying to be done here. Some feedback to improve would be to cut out a lot of the noise with the ‘Take tour’. There are too many boxes and things changing on the screen to get a sense of what is happening. Also make it interactive rather than automatically switch onto the next subject." — @layoric "I imagined as soon I saw the initial visual that I would somehow be able to enter a query and it would walk me through the flow through the entire system starting from input parsing to all the way to delivering output..." — @narmiouh "What it needs is narrative, purpose, with main actors clearly defined - client and data. demonstrating what is involved in the chain when data’s written and requested." — @dostick "This is very cool, just some UX tips to make it more legible: 1. remove ~50% of the UI since it covers too much of a laptop screen 2. improve the camera controls so its easier to pan and zoom." — @npunt "I have a pretty good working knowledge of the internals of Postgres, but this just confused me. I think it’s too busy to understand. At the very least, it would be cool if there were a ‘slow down’ button." — @jedberg "I’m not sure why a new process is represented by a square that goes through a tube and ends up at a building and then the pinball switch glows red... To be fair, I wont assume this is meant to teach me!" — @graypegg

Educational Value and Potential Applications

Several respondents highlighted PGSimCity’s potential as a teaching tool for database internals and suggested extending the visualization technique to other systems.

"Understanding how scheduling works inside a database used to require numerous architecture diagrams to explain. I was amazed when I saw PGSimCity — it presents such a complex technical implementation process in such an engaging way. Since it’s already open‑source, I think the same idea can be reused in other domains, such as cloud computing, Kubernetes, and so on." — @Curtis_Guan "Really great work! I’ve always wanted to build a CPU simulator(Full PC simulator) in this style. I still haven’t fully figured out my own approach, but this will definitely be an inspiration for me." — @num42 "This is really cool, I like having visualization to hold on my head! Also (assuming this is LLM‑generated, apologies if it’s not) seems like the future of learning/self‑teaching… gonna try and generate similar things for stuff I’m learning" — @skreem "I would love this as an active visualisation of a live postgres. Imagine monitors with this stuff on, including replication from other postgresses, and whatever pgbouncer is doing on the front." — @robertlagrant "Visualizing MVCC and transaction visibility would make this even more valuable as a learning tool." — @antonyragleap "I wonder if games can be developed to teach CS (OS, db, compilers) which are visual. Instead of reading a book on databases, perhaps tinkering with something like this would make learning easier." — @thelastgallon

Concerns About Accuracy, Trademark, and Development Process

Some commenters raised worries about the prototype’s factual reliability, possible trademark conflict with SimCity, and the speed of its AI‑assisted creation.

"Considering that it has been vibe‑coded with not even 48 hours passed: Is this truthful and accurate at all? Or will it lead to false conclusions and anti‑knowledge?" — @notachatbot123 "Besides the sadly obvious vibe‑coding, just note that SimCity is still an active trademark from EA, so might be good to rename it." — @manytimesaway "The limiting factor of your human brain is the same limiting factor the reader has to function with. You can get the LLM to aid in making something, but at a certain level of greebling, it just doesn’t feel like it’s meant to be experienced by another human being..." — @graypegg "3.86B tokens to build a visual simulator of a database that runs on a fraction of that compute. we’re using the expensive brain to draw pictures of the cheap brain." — @luciana1u

Closing Outlook

Despite its rough edges, PGSimCity demonstrates a compelling direction for experiential learning of complex software systems, pending improvements in interactivity, clarity, and factual accuracy.