Of course, but you'd think after 30 years the compute power should be enough to overcome any lack of optimization. It's a testament to the engineering that went into the original Quake engine.
Still, why css is as slow as it is given what tech like imgui can do is a little wild.
And no one has spent any time optimizing 3D transforms to make a game workable because no one would be able to justify the use of their time like that. It wouldn’t even give you brownie points ‘cause most people would just ask “why?”
It should be "Decades of inventions from toasters to IOT AI Smart Air Fryers will not make better toast than the original"
But I'd argue the IOT AI Smart Air Fryer should make really good toast. Which is what GP is saying.
CSSQuake uses an intentionally-absurd rendering pipeline. It's not surprising that the result is sub-optimal.
(Though I agree that the meatloaf analogy is not very good.)
Both a toaster and an oven might benefit from improved electronics but in the end—whether its a toaster from the 60s or a toaster from 3008—you are still using a toaster to make a meatloaf.
CSS is not remotely comparable to a game engine. It's not even a programming language.
https://philip.greenspun.com/humor/eecs-difference-explained