Rectangle Game - (controls are on the right)




I call this the Rectangle Game.  The original working title was WWI Machine Gun Shooter, as a sort of art project (the circles do get mowed down just like all those millions dead in WWI) and, also, as a sort of homage to All's Quiet on the Western Front and all the teachers who tried their best to turn me into a pacifist (which in the end, mostly worked).

So, anyhow, I figure it's pretty abstract so whether it's soldiers charging across a no man's land towards certain death, bills that are getting zapped away by electronic payments (turn everything green), or just balloons wafting around )is entirely up to you.  I'd even go for a zombie theme if the circles are switched to green and the bullets turned red.  (From there, best to let your imagination take over and dictate the storyline and meaning.)

The real intent is for you to experiment with the controls on the right, but  for those who like a listing:
    Clicking on the Playfield temporarily resets the aim to wherever clicked (more or less, the aim is sort of off)
   
    . 20 (bullet controls): black = increases bullets, white = decrease bullets
        The bar underneath changes the bullets color

    o 5 (target controls): black = increase number to targets, white = decrease targets
        First Bar = change outline color
        Second Bar = change fill color
       Black Triangle = increase target size, White = decrease size, circle = reset to start (this can be important if one plays around with both target size and number at the same time)

    (()) P1 (targeting control)
       First Bar changes fire pattern
       || Second Bar changes side wall behavior (bounce, pass through, disappear, & random)
       ~ is the degree of randomness in bullet behavior (squiggliness)
        - changes veer left or right (should be fairly obvious as to what this means after a few clicks)
       +++/1-1 Bar determines whether bullets can hit one or more targets
       X-X/^^^ Bar determine whether bullets destroy target (remove it to top of screen, or just bounce it back); I probably like this functionality the best
    Black Circle at bottom is a smart bomb, (all targets reset), there are a limited number of these, but everytime a target falls off the bottom of the board, a new one is 'earned'.

If you're looking for a challenge or a little more guidance how to play, might I suggest trying to keep the balloons from floating to the bottom of the board while utilizing as few bullets (and as many ballons) as possible, setting the controls to (1-1 & ^^^) make this even more difficult.

Overall, this application is a real resource hog (even more so as targets and bullets increase).
However, considering how few methods this program utilizes (and how little I knew about JavaScript &/or paperJS when I created it), I am quite proud of it.  And as of 7-29-13, consider it my best program.

As to game philosophy, one of the things I was going for with this (and seek in the games I like) is the ability of the application to play itself.  It doesn't stall or wait for player input.  And it's not really possible to lose.  So, it's more like a diversion than a game.  And as Mr Bennet is so fond of saying to Lizzy, I hope you find it diverting (and don't get all Missus on me).

Or if that's not clear (and random Pride & Prejudice references aside), I hope you enjoy.

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Rectangle Game - Copyright © 2013 Brett Paufler