Pong Wars
Games
zero-player simulation
SHOW HN2024
490points
120comments
#67of 3,515 in 2024
Top 2%of 2024 by points
How HN took it
CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments
27 positive, 57 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 7 critical, out of 91 comments about the project. Thread score +0.22.
Execution: 7 for, 5 againstIdea: 10 for, 1 againstPerformance: 0 for, 1 againstDesign: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Hypnotic and beautiful to watch
From 3 comments
This is genuinely beautiful on a few levels. Esthetically it is pleasing to just sit and watch. Philosophically it is interesting in that it is a digital metaphor for an ongoing…
ramijames on HNThis is unexpectedly hypnotizing.
jb1991 on HNTooo cool. I sat and watched it play for a length of time that's longer than I'm comfortable admitting last night.
Duanemclemore on HN
Simple idea, elegant execution
From 2 comments
This is genuinely beautiful on a few levels. Esthetically it is pleasing to just sit and watch. Philosophically it is interesting in that it is a digital metaphor for an ongoing…
ramijames on HNThere's beauty in knowing that one could be ported and run perfectly fine on any old 8 bit computer! So simple yet mesmerizing...
TacticalCoder on HN
Objections
Balls get stuck in endless loops with no winner
From 2 comments
The first time I opened the link, I kept watching until both balls ended up in a point where they blocked each other between opposite side’s tiles. The was no way to go and they…
geraneum on HNI didn’t grab a screenshot, but I did see how the simulation can end. The day and night balls collided with each other at the boundary and got locked in place in a tight infinite…
nonfamous on HN
Ball speed appears to favour one side
From 2 comments
It look like the white ball is faster..
tamimio on HNIt does seem to have an advantage. I started it over several times and haven't seen the day side ever get ahead.
jaredhallen on HN
Requests
Speed control
From 2 comments
Would love to be able to speed this up!
pbiggar on HNInteresting, but is it possible to speed up, or change the color scheme?
charlieyu1 on HN
A win condition or scoring
From 2 comments
I expected a side to win or score a point once it hit the ‘goal line’ of its opponent. Would make a nice game if there was a way for players to have some control over the ball.…
Someone on HNOne possible win condition would be a ball reaching the opponent's side. That happened in my case, with "night" eventually breaking through to the left-most edge.
yellowapple on HN
Customizable colours
From 1 comment
Interesting, but is it possible to speed up, or change the color scheme?
charlieyu1 on HN
Questions
Does the simulation ever end?
From 2 comments
The code links this tweet as the source of the idea: https://twitter.com/nicolasdnl/status/1749715070928433161 [nitter: https://nitter.net/nicolasdnl/status/1749715070928433161]…
archon1410 on HNIt would be interesting to know if it can get into a looping state after which it just repeats previous moves forever. I guess that would be an “end” of sorts.
barnabee on HN
Alternatives named
Multi-player variant with four colours
From 1 comment
4 players: https://codyebberson.github.io/pong-wars/
brown on HN
Arkanoid-style breakout games
From 1 comment
very cool! reminds me of Arkanoid
BorisMelnik on HN