Show HN: 0xDEAD//TYPE – A fast-paced typing shooter with retro vibes
117 points
17 days ago
| 20 comments
| 0xdeadtype.theden.sh
| HN
MontyCarloHall
13 days ago
[-]
Passing each column should count for 10 points, and your score should be dinged -1 point for each keypress. Pressing a key that's not on the screen should be a -5 point penalty. Game over if you drop below 0 points. That would solve the button mashing easy win problem.

Also, perhaps my skills are lacking, but the game essentially becomes impossible after the columns become 6 blocks wide — the fraction of open (i.e. fully breakable) rows becomes small enough that open rows between adjacent columns are often further apart vertically than the ship can travel, given its speed and the game's horizontal scroll rate. I like the sibling commenter's suggestion of pseudorandomly carving navigable paths between columns, as opposed to the current method of having a uniform 80% probability that an individual tile is breakable.

reply
abrookewood
13 days ago
[-]
Yep, you can just spam press the keyboard
reply
LearnYouALisp
13 days ago
[-]
A lot going on for honest players. (And then you use your typing fingers to move, that stops everything.) Perhaps some fauxlgorithmically-generated 'word paths' with noise around them (or without) would be nice. (e.g. what's that thing, the Markov-chain kind)
reply
Muvasa
13 days ago
[-]
I tried playing it but vi keybindings have poisoned my brain. Kept trying to press j/k instead w/s
reply
hamdouni
13 days ago
[-]
Juste trying it without success until I remembered I'm using vimium :-D
reply
Rendello
12 days ago
[-]
You should be able to go into insert mode with `i` and play then.
reply
hamdouni
11 days ago
[-]
Exactly. Thanks.
reply
iamwil
13 days ago
[-]
switching between moving up and down and typing is a weird modality. I almost would have liked to hit `esc` and `i` (a la vim) to change modalities.
reply
camtarn
13 days ago
[-]
Typing to destroy blocks is pretty satisfying, but I really disliked the W/S to move.
reply
the__alchemist
13 days ago
[-]
E/D would be better for homerow-rest.
reply
jtokoph
13 days ago
[-]
That's what I kept hitting based on normal W/S in gaming hand position (home-row offset by one)
reply
Zenst
13 days ago
[-]
I found myself picking a row and focusing on the letters, though one stand out. Would have preferred it to be vertical scrolling down over left to right. Maybe add options to pick the scrolling, or is that an aspect of later levels?
reply
to11mtm
13 days ago
[-]
Wow this is very awesome. Love it. My only wish is that I could do arrow keys or anything other than normal character keys for the up/down, it's a weird barrier to put in my brain.

OTOH maybe that's the point... still amazing!

reply
type_enthusiast
13 days ago
[-]
Realizing here that my typing skills are extremely limited by muscle-memory to things that I actually am likely to type.

It certainly makes a game like this more difficult, but I wonder if it's really a bad thing?

reply
spicybright
13 days ago
[-]
I like it but smashing the keyboard to win is a massive issue.
reply
ethan_smith
13 days ago
[-]
A simple fix would be to only destroy blocks when typing the exact letter shown on them, with penalties for incorrect keystrokes.
reply
strictnein
13 days ago
[-]
Reminds me of some of the old typing games on the C64, like Kids on Keys [0]. A lot of other people have made the same suggestions I would have made (penalize players smashing keys, etc). Good start!

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_on_Keys

reply
mylesp
13 days ago
[-]
Weird, this seems to be getting keyboard input from somewhere else. My split keyboard using ZMK I use for everything else (including writing this comment) does not work, but my old crappy standard one does. Is there some reason that it uses some other type of keyboard input that excludes certain keyboards?
reply
lysium
13 days ago
[-]
That's a fun game! I found out I have muscle memory for j/k meaning up/down, instead of w/s.
reply
Liftyee
13 days ago
[-]
Vim keybinds? Sadly never invested enough energy to get used to those.
reply
mnaimd
13 days ago
[-]
It's not really that hard.

You can just download Vim plugin on the code editor you're already using and play with it 10 minutes a day. It would work like MAGIC.

reply
mnaimd
13 days ago
[-]
Very Great it was super fun, but can you please make a j/k mode for vim? I guess a lot of people including me have that kind of muscle memory.

Also I had some problem distinguishing V and U, I don't if it is my problem or not but I'd recommend changing the font a bit.

reply
yash1hi
13 days ago
[-]
Ok apart from everyone saying "I can just smash letters" bro this game is FUN
reply
korrectional
13 days ago
[-]
This stuff is great. I liked the unbreakable too; they make you work harder.
reply
__s
12 days ago
[-]
doesn't register me pressing space since my board is QMK with dual tap binding there. pressing space on laptop's keyboard works
reply
BiraIgnacio
13 days ago
[-]
oh super cool, and creative (IMO). Love it, thanks!
reply
dorianmariecom
13 days ago
[-]
i you smash your keyboard it works too
reply
glgrau
13 days ago
[-]
this is fun!
reply