ViF

ViF (short for vi-fighter) is a real-time terminal game that combines Vim-style navigation and text operations with typing, shooting, procedural encounters, adaptive enemies and generative audio.

Movement, targeting and editing use vi motions: hjkl, w/b/e, f/t, counts, operators, registers, searches and macros, across Normal, Insert, Visual, Search, Command and Overlay modes. Play with the keyboard, the mouse, or both.

It is written in Go around a custom Entity-Component-System, an event-settled fixed-step runtime and TOML-authored hierarchical state machines, with no CGO. The same build plays solo, hosts or joins a multiplayer game, runs as a dedicated server with no terminal, replays recorded runs, and runs headless for deterministic tests.

The browser build is the Go game compiled to WebAssembly and drawn by xterm.js. It opens in its own tab, because the terminal captures the keyboard and mouse while it has focus. It plays solo, or joins a game hosted in the multiplayer lobby over a WebSocket on this site.

Requires

A modern browser with JavaScript and WebAssembly. WebGL2 draws the terminal when available; otherwise xterm.js falls back to its slower DOM renderer.

Audio

Silent in the browser. Native builds synthesize music and effects; they start muted, and Ctrl-S cycles the channels.

Performance

Usually below the native build: the Go runtime, the game loop and the renderer all share the browser.

Multiplayer

Host a game in the lobby, then join it from the browser or from a native build with the command it hands back. A native build can also do it in one step: vif -join https://lixen.com.