Umm actually, this game is canonically called Lightcycles pushes up glasses

Umm actually, it's originally called Blockade.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_(video_game)

https://twitter.com/nothings/status/944092745282371584

hehe, I've been sitting on https://lightcycles.io with the intention of creating an in-browser lightcycles game for a while now. Maybe I will create a clone of this for fun instead :)

Congrats on launching, Zach! Wondering if massively mutltiplayer CLI games are the Next Big Thing for procrastinating programmers? Instead of something that requires 30 fps rendition, however, it may be prudent to start with an HQ Trivia style multiple choice live game show ;)

Will MUDs make a comeback?

Seems quite laggy, although its probably worse due to hn front-page. I tried writing a multiplayer tron when I was around 16 which was only meant for lan and it still suffered from lag in really close combat situations. Granted I didn't have any resources to read up on how to deal with network delay or jitter, since this was before the time I had access to the eternal wisdom of the internet. (And probably wouldn't have understood most of the technical aspects. I read an article about halo's netcode a while ago and was blown away by how sophisticated this stuff has gotten)

Yes! A classic:

GDC Vault - I Shot You First: Networking the Gameplay of HALO REACH

http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014345/I-Shot-You-First-Networ...

1) I am a bit confused intially, it takes me almost 30 seconds to realise I was the red snake.

2) I got disconnected few times because I pressed on arrow keys instead of WASD keys.

3) I got the same lagging problem.

Buy anyway it’s fun to play:)

Trying to connect using terminus[0](iOS ssh app) asking for user/password

[0] https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/termius/id549039908?l=en&mt=...

Just a terminus bug, on openssh there's no password requested.

The only way we ever got this kind of stuff to work, back in the late 80s, was connecting Atari STs with MIDI cables. But if you're not on a LAN, the lag will kill the UX - so, a great way to procrastinate in the office :-)

Pretty cool idea, but the lag makes it unplayable unfortunately. Also this random respawn is annoying, it takes a bit of time to find yourself again, enough time to have already been killed. I guess its too fast, too laggy.

Debut on Show HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11234702

I play this every few months with some friends. Its so simple and fun. It's a little chaotic right now, but still excellent.

Are there any other similar games around?

http://curvefever.io Is a pretty cool lightcycles/tron-likegame, but with curves instead of right angles.

> Remember to use WASD to move!

Reminder: WASD keys only make sense if you're using a qwerty keyboard layout.

Pull requests welcome at https://github.com/zachlatta/sshtron!

Dvorak is supported through https://github.com/zachlatta/sshtron/commit/0ee0e32b7503ca92....

Keeps crashing. I guess they might be getting hugged to death.

Kind of frustrating because of how buggy it is. Sometimes your line doesn't draw filled pieces (there will be holes), the keys don't respond quickly or predictably enough to drive in single-width corridors. Random artifacts or people spawning in the borders and immediately dying. (off by one?!)

Indeed. It's a really fun idea but I found it just too laggy to be playable.

Hi friends, apologies for the lag. Bit of a surprise to have this frontpage on HN.

Currently increasing the size of the server. Should be back online and playable in ~10 minutes.

I am taking great enjoyment from imagining the expression on your face when you saw the server logs earlier on.

Congrats on the work though!