Crowd Dash

Game Concept

• Name: crowd-dash
• Engine: Three.js (3D)
• Description: Neon-lit endless runner through crowded NYC streets. Auto-run forward, swerve left/right to dodge waves of people, collect floating hearts to score. Crowds grow denser over time. Collision = game over.

Step 1: Scaffold

• Entities: Player.js (neon cyan humanoid), CrowdPerson.js (randomized clothing colors, object pool of 60), Heart.js (glowing neon pink, pool of 15)
• Events: GAME_START, GAME_OVER, GAME_RESTART, PLAYER_MOVE, PLAYER_JUMP, PLAYER_DIED, SCORE_CHANGED, HEART_COLLECTED, CROWD_SPAWNED, AUDIO_INIT, MUSIC_MENU, MUSIC_GAMEPLAY, MUSIC_GAMEOVER, MUSIC_STOP
• Constants keys: GAME, IS_MOBILE, SAFE_ZONE, PLAYER, CROWD, HEART, WORLD, CAMERA, DIFFICULTY, COLORS
• Scoring system: Distance-based (1 point per unit traveled) + heart bonus (50 points each)
• Fail condition: Collision with crowd person (AABB with hitbox shrink for fairness)
• Input scheme: Auto-run forward (-Z), left/right swerve via InputSystem moveX (keyboard arrows/WASD + virtual joystick on mobile)

Step 3: Audio

• Engine: Strudel.cc (@strudel/web) for BGM, Web Audio API for SFX
• Files created:
  • src/audio/AudioManager.js — Strudel init/playMusic/stopMusic wrapper with 100ms hush-to-play delay
  • src/audio/music.js — Two BGM patterns (gameplay synthwave at 130 CPM, game over melancholic at 60 CPM)
  • src/audio/sfx.js — Five SFX via Web Audio API (heartPickup, dodgeWoosh, death, click, speedMilestone)
  • src/audio/AudioBridge.js — Wires EventBus events to audio playback + mute toggle + M key shortcut
• BGM Patterns:
  • Gameplay: Upbeat synthwave/cyberpunk (130 CPM) — C minor, pulsing sawtooth bass, square arpeggio lead, four-on-the-floor drums, delayed texture shimmer
  • Game Over: Melancholic wind-down (60 CPM) — descending triangle melody, dark sine pad, sub bass pulse, ghostly delayed echoes
• SFX Mappings:
  • HEART_COLLECTED -> heartPickupSfx (bright ascending two-tone chime, E5+B5)
  • PLAYER_DIED -> deathSfx (low thump + descending crushed tones)
  • SCORE_CHANGED -> speedMilestoneSfx (ascending triangle arp, triggers every +5 speed units)
  • dodgeWooshSfx (noise burst, exported but not yet wired — needs near-miss detection)
  • clickSfx (sine pop, exported for UI use)
• Mute Wiring:
  • AUDIO_TOGGLE_MUTE event added to EventBus
  • M key shortcut toggles mute via AudioBridge keydown listener
  • isMuted preserved across GameState.reset() (user preference, not gameplay state)
  • Mute preference persisted to localStorage (crowd-dash-muted)
  • AudioManager.playMusic() checks isMuted before starting; all SFX functions check isMuted
• Audio Lifecycle:
  • First user interaction (click/touch/keydown) -> Game.js emits AUDIO_INIT -> Strudel initialized + gameplay BGM starts
  • Game over: PLAYER_DIED fires death SFX, MUSIC_STOP stops BGM, 800ms later MUSIC_GAMEOVER starts somber theme
  • Restart: GAME_START -> MUSIC_GAMEPLAY resumes upbeat BGM
• Dependencies: @strudel/web ^1.3.0 (already in package.json, AGPL-3.0)

Step 2: Design

• Files created:
  • src/systems/ParticleSystem.js — Four particle subsystems (heart burst, player trail, death explosion, ambient motes) using THREE.Points with additive blending and per-particle physics
  • src/systems/CameraEffects.js — Camera juice: screen shake (exponential decay), lateral sway, speed-based FOV widening, collection flash, fog color shift, death slow-motion
• Files modified:
  • src/core/Constants.js — Added PARTICLES, CAMERA_FX, VFX config sections (~90 new tunables)
  • src/core/EventBus.js — Added SCREEN_SHAKE, FLASH, DEATH_SLOWMO events
  • src/core/Game.js — Integrated ParticleSystem + CameraEffects; death slow-mo delays GAME_OVER overlay by 0.5s; camera shake offset applied; heart collection passes position data; level.update receives delta for neon pulse
  • src/gameplay/Player.js — Added neon cyan PointLight glow + SpotLight headlight (shines ahead of player)
  • src/gameplay/Heart.js — Added pink PointLight glow to each heart
  • src/level/LevelBuilder.js — Pulsing neon windows (sinusoidal opacity modulation, per-window phase offset, only updates windows within 60 units of player); exposed ambientLight reference for flash effect
• Particle Effects:
  • Heart collection: 18-particle pink burst with upward bias and gravity falloff (0.6s lifetime)
  • Player trail: 40 particles/sec neon cyan trail at feet, density scales with speed
  • Death explosion: 35-particle white/multicolor spherical burst (1.0s lifetime)
  • Ambient motes: 40 floating dust/light particles drifting around the player (4s lifetime)
• Camera Juice:
  • Screen shake: 0.25 intensity, 0.35s duration, exponential decay (1.5x stronger on death)
  • Lateral sway: camera tilts 0.12 radians opposite to dodge direction, smoothly interpolated
  • FOV widening: 70 (base speed) to 85 (max speed), smoothly interpolated for rush feeling
• Lighting Improvements:
  • Player glow: cyan PointLight (intensity 0.8, range 8 units) attached to player body
  • Heart glow: pink PointLight (intensity 0.4, range 5 units) per heart
  • Headlight: cyan SpotLight (intensity 0.6, range 25 units, 0.4 rad cone) ahead of player
  • Neon window pulse: sinusoidal opacity between 0.3x and 1.0x at 1.5 Hz, per-window random phase
• Visual Feedback:
  • Collection flash: 0.15s ambient light intensity bump (+0.3) on heart pickup
  • Speed fog shift: fog/background color lerps from dark blue (0x050510) to warm purple (0x100818) as speed increases
  • Death slow-motion: 0.5s at 0.15x time scale with camera shake before game over overlay appears
• Constraints respected: No audio files touched, no gameplay mechanics altered, no scripts or tests modified

Decisions / Known Issues

• Phase 2 (verify-runtime.mjs) fails in headless Chromium due to WebGL context limitation — not a code defect
• No in-game score HUD (intentional — Play.fun widget handles it)
• Object pooling for crowd (60) and hearts (15) to minimize GC pressure
• Difficulty scales: speed +0.3/sec (max 30), crowd density increases over time