Show HN: Moon simulator game, ray-casting
mooncraft2000.com
Did this a few years ago. Seems apropos. Sources and more here: https://github.com/EngineersNeedArt/Mooncraft2000
mooncraft2000.com
It starts out buttery smooth but over time its performance slows to a crawl. Changing window geometry seems to do some sort of garbage collection and it speeds back up. I just hit F11 twice real quick.
The optimal strategy is to try and make the trip parabolically with a single large burn at liftoff.
Gravity physics is of course symmetrical on ascent and descent, so the optimum time to start your deceleration burn is approximately when your downward velocity is equal to whatever your upward velocity was when you stopped burning.
The extensions suggest themselves - some progression (financial) beyond merely guild hierarchy; some adversarial element (could be economical like bidding for routes.)
Only bit I struggled with was the car-like handling when you turn left and right; I would expect you to orient using yaw axis and then have to use thrust to change your velocity vector. But it certainly is simpler the way you have it.
But the slow speed and weak acceleration (did you forget that v = v + a*dt and not just v = v + a? :)) feels actually nice and meditative, if only the FPS were smoother. Tried it on Chrome and it's a much more dynamic and fast-paced experience on it.
(Edit: took a look at the README, loved it!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_Velocity_(video_game)
Your instructions say that spacebar is "thrust," but the first pop-up says "press enter/thrust" to begin actually should say "spacebar" ..?
Simplified physics though. Ever considered a Jebediah Kerman edition?