FPS.cob delivers a first‑person shooter built in COBOL, a language usually tied to legacy business systems. Its creator frames the project as a tongue‑in‑cheek jab at modern game engines, turning a mainframe language into an interactive demo. Running the demo needs only a POSIX shell and the cobc compiler, so it works on Linux, macOS and WSL.

The engine supports two map formats. A simple grid file (map/level1.map) mimics the Wolf3D layout, while map/doom_sectors.map offers sector‑based geometry with doors and varying heights, reminiscent of DOOM. and supports basic collision detection. Assets such as textures and sprites reside in the res/ folder. To compile, run bash build.sh with the desired map; controls use WASD for movement, space to fire, and Q to quit.

By forcing a batch‑oriented language into real‑time rendering, the project shows COBOL’s untapped procedural power. Hobbyists can clone the repo, tweak maps, and explore low‑level graphics without learning a conventional engine. The codebase, under 2,000 lines, acts as a teaching aid for graphics pipelines in an unexpected language. Running it demonstrates that even legacy stacks can produce playable 3D experiences today.