Platformer Game

Motivation

I wanted to deeply understand how game engines work by building one from scratch — no libraries, no frameworks, just JavaScript and the Canvas API.

Architecture

Pure JavaScript game loop using requestAnimationFrame. Custom collision detection, physics simulation, sprite rendering, and level loading from JSON configuration files.

Features

• → Custom physics engine with gravity and friction
• → Collision detection with AABB (axis-aligned bounding box)
• → Sprite animation system
• → Level editor for creating custom levels
• → Collectibles and scoring system
• → Keyboard controls with coyote time and jump buffering

Challenges

• → Implementing stable collision detection that handles corner cases
• → Getting the physics to feel satisfying (jump arc, acceleration curves)
• → Building a level editor without a GUI framework

Lessons Learned

• → Game feel is as important as correctness — physics should feel good, not just be accurate
• → Separation of concerns matters even in small projects
• → requestAnimationFrame timing is nuanced; fixed timestep is better than variable

Future Plans

• → Mobile touch controls
• → Sound effects and background music
• → Online leaderboard for speedrunners