u/SilverExplorer6177

The PlayStation I bought in 1996 came home with WipEout, and I played an absurd amount of it. I was also one of those people who listened to the soundtrack on its own — it never felt like background music, it felt like half the reason to play. Then both PS1 sequels, same story.

Thirty years later I finally stopped admiring it and tried to build one.

It's called Slipstream Vector. Free, runs in the browser, no install: https://smarproc-games.itch.io/slipstream-vector

Twelve circuits across four worlds, four teams with different hull characteristics, five weapons, airbrakes on Shift, and loops and corkscrews for the parts that aren't trying to be serious. It has its own soundtrack, because after 1996 I couldn't really build one of these without caring about the music.

The design decision I'd most like to be argued with about: there's no rubber-banding at all. Difficulty raises AI skill only — corner confidence, line tightness, pad usage — never speed. Catching up comes from slipstream physics that work identically for the player and the field. I think it's the right call and it makes a lead feel earned, but it does mean a bad opening lap stays punishing.

What I'd genuinely like to hear: does the handling read as anything to you, or does it feel floaty? The airbrake is the part I've rewritten most and I still don't know if it's right.

Happy to have it taken apart if it deserves it.

Game Title: Slipstream Vector

Playable Link: https://smarproc-games.itch.io/slipstream-vector

Platform: Browser (HTML5 / WebGL)

Description: Slipstream Vector is an anti-gravity arcade racer built for speed-feel. Twelve circuits are spread across four worlds: a sunset desert of banded buttes and a canyon rock cut, a golden-hour archipelago of half-sunk islands, a metropolis racing through a thunderstorm, and a polar ridge under the aurora. A race is eight ships on the grid with five weapons, boost pads and stunt geometry — full vertical loops, corkscrews that roll the road through 360 degrees, and jumps with real air.

The core design rule is that there is no rubber-banding anywhere. Raising the difficulty makes the AI drive better — more corner confidence, tighter lines, better use of the boost pads — but never faster. Catching up happens through slipstream physics that apply identically to the player and to the field, so a lead you build is a lead you keep unless somebody genuinely out-drives you.

Time Trial records your fastest lap and replays it as a ghost to race against. There are two championship cups, four teams with distinct hull characteristics, 31 trophies, and full gamepad support with rebindable controls. Controls are Arrows or WASD to drive, Shift for the airbrake through tight corners, Space to fire, R to respawn and P to pause.

Free to Play Status:

•  Free to play
•  Demo/Key available
•  Paid (Allowed only on Tuesdays with [TT] in the title)

Involvement: Solo developer — design, code, track layouts, 3D geometry and sound effects are all mine. The music was generated with Suno, the pilot portraits with Grok and the rival voice lines with ElevenLabs, all directed and edited by me; the engine, wind and weapon audio is procedural Web Audio synthesis rather than samples.

What I'd most like feedback on is the first sixty seconds: do you understand what to do without reading anything, and does the ship feel good to steer before you've learned the track? I've played it far too much to see it fresh.

>

Hi! I'm the solo developer of **Golden Glyphs**, a free spatial puzzle game that runs directly in your browser.

The goal is simple: fit every differently shaped glyph into the board until every cell is filled.

**The game includes:**

* 100 handcrafted campaign levels across four worlds
* A shared Daily Challenge with streaks
* Time Attack
* A timer-free Zen Mode
* Trophies and unlockable visual themes
* Mouse and mobile touch controls
* Optional cloud sync and leaderboards

There's no download required, and you don't need an account to play.

**Play it here:**
https://gamevolt.io/golden-glyphs/

I built all the campaign levels by hand because I wanted every puzzle to have a deliberate solution and difficulty curve.

If you try it, I'd especially love feedback on:

1. Which level first makes you stop and rethink the board?
2. Does using four pieces in the Daily Challenge feel right?
3. How do the controls feel on mobile?

Thanks for checking it out!

I've been building Slipstream Vector almost entirely by vibe-coding with Claude Code, and it's grown into a much bigger game than I expected — so I figured this crowd might like the how and the what.

The stack (deliberately barebones):

• Three.js via CDN, plain ES modules, no build step, no game engine. Just static files — edit, refresh, done. Deploys to GitHub Pages.
• All SFX are procedural (synthesized in WebAudio — zero audio files): engines, weapon impacts, the paralysis buzz, etc.
• Custom arcade physics in "spline space" — ships are just a distance-along-track + a lateral offset, no colliders, no physics engine.
• AI-assisted assets where it made sense: pilot face art (expression variants) generated, music via Suno, everything hand-curated.

What it turned into: a neon WipEout × Horizon Chase racer — 6 tracks across 3 worlds (with loops + corkscrews), an 8-ship AI field with no rubber-banding, speed classes, championship/time-trial + ghosts, gamepad support, ~30 trophies.

And the part I'm most happy with: a full weapon system + rivals that trash-talk you. When an AI hits or overtakes you, they pop up in a corner comms-feed with their own facial expression (gloating or furious) and a line in their character's voice. 8 pilots, each with their own face + tone. That's the whole personality of the game, and it came together shockingly fast this way.

Playable in the browser (desktop or iPad), ~30s to first race: https://martingrahn-cmd.github.io/slipstream-vector/

Happy to go into any of the vibe-coding workflow / how the physics or procedural audio work — ask away. 🏁

▶ Play in the browser (no install): https://martingrahn-cmd.github.io/slipstream-vector/

Ten months ago, "program a 3D racing game" felt completely out of reach for me. Now it's past the prototype stage and starting to feel like an actual game — so I want honest eyes on it before I push further.

The thing is, you go home-blind as the dev. I've driven these tracks a thousand times and can't tell anymore if it's fun. So, bluntly: is it fun, and what do you actually want from a racing game?

(Runs in the browser, keyboard or gamepad.)

What's built so far

• 3 worlds / 6 tracks (sunset mesa, tropical lagoon, neon city) with loops, corkscrews and jumps
• 8 pilots/ships with their own stats, liveries and personalities (F-Zero flavour)
• AI rivals running the exact same physics as you — no rubber-banding
• 3 speed classes, championship / single / time trial, 31 trophies + per-mode records
• Speed sold through FOV, hyperspace streaks and motion lines — not screen shake

Tech stack

• Three.js 0.172 via CDN + import map
• Vanilla JS, ES modules, no build step — open index.html, done. No webpack/vite/npm install.
• Menus & HUD in DOM + CSS over the live 3D scene
• Custom spline-domain physics (ship state along the track), runs headless so the AI and the player share the exact same code
• "No-lights" rendering: everything vertex-coloured and baked, near-total instancing/merging to hold ~60fps even in the city
• Procedural WebAudio for engine/SFX; soundtrack generated in Suno
• Hosted free on GitHub Pages (fully static)

The AI side (since that's the point of this sub)
Most of it was built with AI as a pair-programmer. I started in Claude Code with Fable 5.0 (ultracode mode); when that model was pulled I moved to Opus 4.8 (ultracode). Pilot portraits are generated in Grok, the soundtrack in Suno.

What AI was genuinely great at: scaffolding the renderer, shader work, the menu system, relentless polish passes. Where I still had to drive hard: the feel (camera, speed perception, readability), art direction, and deciding what to cut. The first result is never the thing — it only got good through dozens of feel-tuning iterations and a lot of "no, that's worse."

Roadmap
Next big thing would be weapons (WipEout-style). But before I sink weeks into it: do you even want weapons in something like this, or does it wreck the flow? Also on the list: a time-trial ghost, pilot portraits in the results, more tracks.

I know the "AI game" discourse cuts both ways, so I'd genuinely value honest critique — especially the brutal kind. Does it play well? What's missing? Thanks!