[HN Gopher] In-browser retro-futuristic tank game, open source
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In-browser retro-futuristic tank game, open source
Author : brianrisk
Score : 63 points
Date : 2022-08-07 20:11 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (synthblast.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (synthblast.com)
| mgdlbp wrote:
| - Upon starting a level, hold reverse to escape :D
|
| - Undocumented: [Shift] toggles between first person and top-down
|
| - The camera tumbles endlessly if a perspective change finishes
| while the tab is unfocused -- I discovered both of these after
| using [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[Tab]
|
| - The enemies have randomized speed and use lead pursuit; this is
| quite effective at preventing them from stacking up behind the
| player like they do in similar games
|
| - Enemies only turn left and will turn all the way around in
| order to turn right -- you can make them dance in the middle of
| the map by circling clockwise along the wall, or stall them by
| moving back and forth
|
| - It's pretty common to make players slide along walls when
| moving against them at an angle. That does make less sense for a
| tank, though.
| philipwhiuk wrote:
| The green pads was a neat twist.
| brianrisk wrote:
| Pure javascript/html. Would love feedback on ideas. Leave a star
| on Github if you like it!
| lbotos wrote:
| Great job!
|
| - Maybe a warning for tanks behind you? Felt overwhelming at
| times
|
| - Maybe top down tile one level sooner?
|
| - In top down mode maybe larger bullets
| brianrisk wrote:
| The warning idea could actually add to some of the suspense.
| Maybe a creepy sound they make within a certain radius? And:
| larger bullets? That's hands-down the easiest suggestion to
| try out I've ever seen! (as opposed to "multiplayer and
| wearables inventory woudl be cool bruh")
| mysterydip wrote:
| Neat! Smooth performance on my iPhone. The controls might need
| some tweaking in terms of values, like faster turning if I'm
| holding it down, but less if I'm tapping trying to line up a
| shot.
| brianrisk wrote:
| Glad it worked for you on the iPhone! I'd love to figure out
| how to resize the screen correctly if the phone is in
| portrait and then you rotate it to landscape
| gkaemmer wrote:
| Very groovy visuals.
|
| There was something sort of terrifying about the enemy tanks.
| Maybe a minimap would help with this, but I almost got
| Slenderman vibes when I would turn around and see a tank right
| there in front of my face. Got my heartrate going.
| brianrisk wrote:
| I fully get it. Their seeking algo is pretty primitive, but
| their steady relentlessness is unnerving. At level 3 or
| higher there are green pads you can run over that gives you
| an overhead view
| PostOnce wrote:
| I know the github link is on the main screen, but people are
| going to click past it to play of course
|
| so here's the github link to click on from HN:
| https://github.com/brianrisk/SYNTHBLAST
| brianrisk wrote:
| You're the best
| madrox wrote:
| Good fun! As a FPS player, I want an option to bind A and D to
| strafe and use mouse or arrow keys to turn.
|
| Also, maybe have the music fade in so I have a chance to save
| my ears. "Blast" indeed. :)
| ForHackernews wrote:
| Nice! Reminds me of Battlezone https://www.arcade-
| history.com/?n=battlezone&page=detail&id=...
| brianrisk wrote:
| Oh Battlezone! I drew a lot of influence from the (way cooler
| than mine) '90s game Spectre:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t41bawPxF-g
| wazoox wrote:
| I've played so much Spectre and Spectre Supreme back then on
| my LC II :)
| snewman wrote:
| Spectre co-author here. Neat to see this! The backstory of
| Spectre is that we wrote a straight-up Battlezone clone just
| as a hobby project, then decided that it was worth
| commercializing and so we fiddled around just enough to make
| it not be a copyright violation. It's influences all the way
| down. :-)
|
| By complete coincidence, a friend of my co-author texted this
| photo from the Vintage Computer Festival today:
| https://photos.app.goo.gl/XTEUkjwtJb7nhQn7A
| wazoox wrote:
| A blast from "Spectre" and "Spectre Supreme" :)
| linman0x90 wrote:
| Kind of made me motion sick. Could be a side effect of getting
| old.
| pierrec wrote:
| That was fun. I love how the AI is both very simple but also
| creates interesting group movements (especially in "zombie
| modes"). Cosmetic enhancement: the ground plane looks really
| blurry half-way to the horizon. I can even see it in the README
| screenshot :D Looks to me like a textbook use case for
| anisotropic filtering, which should be a simple setting in the
| library you're using:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anisotropic_filtering
|
| Or if you're feeling hardcore, write a shader for the ground
| plane: https://iquilezles.org/articles/filterableprocedurals
| xwdv wrote:
| why can't I find anyone to kill??
| zuminator wrote:
| Stay inside the arena. Run over the yellow pads to clear the
| level.
| Datagenerator wrote:
| Could use some Doppler sounds to gauge the distance to enemies
| nearing by, like space invaders that used increased frequencies
| when danger level increases?
| squarefoot wrote:
| As an avid BZFlag player I of course like it. It seems to me it
| could grow into something interesting. Multiplayer maybe?
| systems_glitch wrote:
| Pretty cool!
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(page generated 2022-08-07 23:00 UTC)