Tron

A modern, AI code assisted browser remake of the Tron lightcycle game. You play against the computer in a neon arena, leaving a solid trail and trying to force a crash.

Game Summary

• Single-player vs computer opponent
• Smooth continuous movement with glowing trails
• Round-based scoring; first to N wins (user selectable)
• Computer opponent with strategic pathing and turn logic

Controls

• Player: WASD or arrow keys
• Start round / pause: Space
• Return to menu: Esc
• Mute audio: M or the on-screen icon

Visual Direction

• Primary-color neon glow on black or deep blue
• Classic arcade score display at top left/right

Current Features

• Canvas-based gameplay with smooth movement and collision trails
• Player and AI sprites with rotation
• Crash effects: explosion, white flash, fade out, and wall shrink
• Audio: looping menu/game tracks, cycle synths, crash SFX, mute toggle
• Difficulty settings and selectable rounds to win

Status

• Version 1 ready

Notes

• Built with Vite + React + TypeScript and a canvas game loop
• Future: Xbox controller support

Why I Built This

The very first actual program I wrote was a lightcycle game on the Commodore VIC-20 back in 1982. There were no graphics routines, so we had to re-map keyboard characters to whatever sprites we needed. It was fun drawing a lightcycle in an 8×8 bitmap. The game grid was literally a grid of characters. I can’t remember the exact size, but a quick search says 22×23 characters. The game was extremely low-res, but it ran, and two people could play.

Today, we find ourselves in an incredible moment in technology history with the advancements in AI, so I wanted to recreate that original sense of wonder and do something more than just forms and data. I set out to build my very first program once again.

I’ve got to say, it came out way better than I expected, and it was completed in just a few hours. What a world we live in. It was a fun experiment and every bit as enjoyable as writing the first one. Mission accomplished.

Development

The first version was coded by OpenAI Codex with my prompts. It was later revised by Grok 4.6. The lightcycles were generated by SVGAI.org and slightly modified by me in Affinity. The sound effects were created by me in Apple Logic by mixing loops from the loops libraries.

npm install
npm run dev
npm test

Deployment

• The build uses a relative base path, so it works on GitHub Pages or any subdirectory host.
• Run npm run build and publish the dist/ folder.