Quickstart

The shortest path to flying. For the full documentation, see the site.

Play in a browser

Nothing to install. Open the hosted build:

https://isocialpractice.github.io/cmd-space-rider/

Or clone the repository and open index.html in any modern browser. It is a single self-contained file: no build step, no server, no dependencies.

Play in a terminal

Node.js v16 or later is the only prerequisite.

git clone https://github.com/isocialPractice/cmd-space-rider.git
cd cmd-space-rider
npm install
npm run build
npm start

The five keys that matter

Key	Action
`W` `A` `S` `D` or arrows	Steer
`Space`	Fire the pulse cannon
`F` or `Shift`	Boost
`Q` / `E`	Barrel roll, and nothing can touch you during it
`P`	Pause

Enter launches a run, Esc returns to the menu, and Ctrl+C quits the terminal build outright.

Two at one keyboard

In a browser, V on the title screen splits the canvas in two and seats a second pilot. Pilot 1 keeps W A S D, Space, F and Q / E; pilot 2 flies the same shape on the right of the keyboard with I J K L, Enter, ; and U / O. Both fly the same tunnel, each keeps their own score, and the higher score takes the round. Enter starts a rematch while the window is still wide enough for one, Esc goes back. It wants a window about 91 columns wide, and the title screen offers the key only when there is room for one.

How to survive

Obstacles cost 25 shield, mines cost 35. Orbs restore 10 and pay 500 points.
Mines take 5 pulse hits. Shooting one is worth 500 points and has about a one in three chance of dropping a powerup.
A shot holds the column it was fired down, so line the ship up under the target. Height is not an aiming axis.
Kills inside two seconds of each other chain, up to COMBO x8.
Roll out of trouble rather than steering out of it. The roll is half a second of invulnerability on a cooldown.
The run steps up a difficulty level every minute, and the warp banner is a few seconds of warning rather than decoration.
The grey ship flying beside you is the run you flew last, at the same point of its own flight. Ahead of it is ahead of your last attempt, and it disappears once you have outlasted it.
A run that makes the top ten asks for a three-character name before it closes. Up and down pick a character, left and right move between the three, Enter files it.

A terminal that fits

The floor is 60 columns by 20 rows, with 256-colour and Unicode support. A window smaller than that shows a notice instead of the game. Windows Terminal, iTerm2, GNOME Terminal, Alacritty and Kitty all work.