Show HN: Rudolph Runner | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Rudolph Runner

albertxing.github.io

61 pointsaxg26 comments

After playing a while the game induces hallucinations, especially after a good run where you stare at it for a long time.

Sometimes items generate too close together to successfully jump them.

Perhaps. This game was designed to be fairly difficult. Because there is no leveling system, the only way to make it fun or even addictive is to make it (slightly unreasonably) hard.

This strategy has been used very successfully in popular games like Flappy Bird and 2048.

That said, I agree that sometimes it may be impossible to complete a jump. This is a bug, and I would need to spend some time tweaking the generation constants to avoid this.

This would be a cool one to port to Scratch and add to the Code Club syllabus: http://projects.codeclub.org.uk I would guess it’s pretty doable in Scratch.

I cannot even jump on the smallest obstacle (bug?), but I live edited the code and set the jump dy to -200 and I am in the air for over 2 minutes. Other than that, nice game.

Reminds me of the Impossible Game [0]. Very similar game mechanics, just missing platforms that can be landed on. (Or, at least, I didn't get far enough to see them).

[0] http://www.flukedude.com/theimpossiblegame/

This game is actually a lot simpler than the one you link to. Just jumping.

It was originally inspired by the Chrome T-Rex easter egg (https://plus.google.com/+FrancoisBeaufort/posts/LUtLvQYMFZK)

This is what inspires me to continue learning more about programming, anyone else feel the same way?

The art is great, but this is another example showing that javascript games just don't work that well, like not even close to old flash games.

Sometimes when I hold down space the reindeer jumps reliably and sometimes it just doesn't... needs to be perfect in order for high scores.

I agree. Without knowing where I may land because my jump height and duration is random I cannot skillfully succeed in the game.

Thanks for trying out the game - I greatly appreciate your feedback

Every time the spacebar is pressed (on keydown), the reindeer jumps - so the key to the game is to time the jumps such that the reindeer both clears the snowman, and has enough room to make another jump if necessary. As noted by lowglow, holding down the spacebar does not get you very far.

The initial vertical velocity and downward acceleration are constant, so the height and duration is not random.

On Chrome the height and duration aren't random... on FF they were mostly non-random, but here and there a jump would be significantly higher (up to the height of the screen.

I didn't play for long, but it wasn't playable in FF for that reason.

Brings back old memories of Moon Patrol. Thanks!

I like the game for an open-source project, but as a serious project, it's not very difficult to program otherwise(no pun intended).

Not sure if anyone knows, but the game is very, very similar to the Google Chrome Unable to Connect to the Internet game.

For those who don't know about the game, disconnect from Internet, open google chrome, hit any webpage, and once you see the "Unable to Connect" Dino, just hit the "up" arrow on your keyboard for hours of fun...

> I like the game for an open-source project, but as a serious project, it's not very difficult to program otherwise(no pun intended).

I don't think that's a very good comment. Obviously this isn't the next Angry Birds, but it's a fun diversion during the Christmas week. It's a game a hacker should love - it's obviously just a simple clone of something else, but it's one obviously made for the right reasons (probably learning and/or "shits and giggles") and comes from a spirit of whimsy.

Or I could just be high on the Christmas tree air freshener my girlfriend put in my car. :)

Happy Holidays.

I agree with both of you - it was inspired by the Chrome T-Rex easter egg. However as pionar mentioned it was mostly for leaning (actually, it was mostly for "shits and giggles").

This is lots of fun to play. My one Christmas wish would be to have power-ups that can make Rudolph fly.

Works on mobile, tap = spacebar, although the visuals sometimes lag, ending your run. (On an iphone)

Inspired by Google Chrome's hidden game with dinosaur? :) Same control, same layout.

Yes, it was.

Addictive. A little on the difficult side but very fun. Great job!

Pro-tip: holding down spacebar doesn't get you very far.

Frustrating.

alternating between spacebar and up arrow is helpful to not trigger double jumps.

too addictive :-)

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