Neon Core

A neon sci-fi reactor clicker for the browser. Charge the core, stack tiered upgrades, ride Neon Surges, collapse reality into Singularities — then cross the Event Horizon for permanent power.

▶ Play now: https://dawsoncodes.github.io/NeonCore/

Status: alpha — v0.4.0-alpha.1. Progression is stable and saves are versioned; balance and visuals keep evolving.

Interface

Neon Core plays inside a wide cockpit-style dashboard: the living reactor core sits center stage with its HUD (energy, per-click, per-second, multiplier, critical chance, Surge charge), the progression rail (Neon Surge, Singularity, Event Horizon) on the left, and a category-tabbed Upgrade Shop on the right. Activity, achievements, and stats live in a compact bottom strip — achievements and detailed stats are collapsible so the page stays short. The reactor itself evolves with progression: higher power tiers spin faster and glow harder, the outer orbit ring lights up gold when a Singularity is ready and violet at the Event Horizon, and Surge charge visibly energizes the rings.

On phones the same game becomes an app-like, reactor-first experience with bottom-tab navigation (Core / Shop / Awards / Stats / Settings).

Features

• Reactor clicking — click (or press Space) with satisfying pulse, particle, and floating-number feedback
• 14 tiered upgrades in a category-tabbed shop (Core Output, Passive Systems, Neon Surge, Economy, Singularity Tech) with affordability badges, NEW indicators, and unlock teasers
• Critical clicks — up to 60% chance, with an upgradeable critical multiplier
• Neon Surge — charge by clicking, unleash a temporary output boost, and keep clicking to extend it; upgradeable charge rate, duration, and strength
• Singularity prestige — collapse the core for a permanent +25% global multiplier; the requirement grows with each collapse
• Event Horizon — a second prestige layer: convert your Singularities into permanent Horizon Shards and spend them on five strategic shard upgrades
• 48 achievements — each adds +2% global output; collapsible drawer with recent-unlock preview
• Deep stats — lifetime, session, surge, and prestige stats in a collapsible, grouped panel
• Offline progress — passive earnings while away (2 h cap, extendable via Temporal Cache)
• Save slots — three local manual slots with rename, restore, per-slot export/import, and automatic backups
• Autosave + manual save — plus JSON export/import for moving progress between browsers
• Remastered procedural audio — Web Audio sound design with a master volume slider (single-thumb, cyan-filled), throttled so rapid clicking never gets harsh
• Two themes — dark cyberpunk command center and a bright solar-laboratory light mode
• Mobile-first layout — app-like bottom navigation on phones, full dashboard on desktop
• Accessibility — keyboard play, visible focus, reduced-motion support, screen-reader-friendly notifications

How progression works

1. Click the core to generate energy and buy your first upgrades within seconds.
2. Unlock tiers — new upgrades appear as you hit energy, level, Surge, and prestige milestones.
3. Neon Surge — clicking charges the Surge bar (~1 min of active play); activating it multiplies all output (base ×2 for 20 s). Clicking during a Surge extends it up to +50% of its duration.
4. Singularity — at 500K energy, collapse the core: energy and upgrades reset, you keep achievements/stats, and you gain a permanent +25% global multiplier. Each collapse raises the next requirement ×3.
5. Event Horizon — at 5 Singularities, cross the Horizon: the Singularity layer resets too, but every Singularity from the fifth onward becomes a permanent Horizon Shard. Spend shards on Event Lens (+50% output), Star Seed (head-start levels), Gravity Well (cheaper Singularities), Chrono Flux (better Surges), and Temporal Cache (longer offline cap).

Full formulas, pacing targets, and tuning history live in docs/BALANCE.md.

Controls

Input	Action
Click / tap the core	Generate energy
Space	Activate the reactor
Enter (core focused)	Activate the reactor
B	Toggle Buy 1 / Buy Max
S	Save the game
Esc	Close panels and dialogs

Buy mode applies to every upgrade card: Buy 1 purchases a single level, Buy Max buys as many levels as you can afford. One physical input always equals exactly one reactor activation — holding keys does not farm energy.

Audio

Sound is fully procedural (Web Audio — no audio files or remote assets). The redesigned settings drawer has a sound toggle and a master volume slider; both persist. Rapid clicking is throttled so audio never piles up.

Saving

• Autosaves every 15 seconds and on tab hide/close; manual save with S or Settings → Data.
• Saves use a versioned envelope under neonCoreSave_v4. Older saves (neonCoreSave_v3, _v2, _v1) migrate automatically — progress is never lost, and new fields get safe defaults.
• Save slots (Settings → Save slots): three local manual slots with naming, timestamps, progress summaries, per-slot export, and import-into-slot. Restoring or importing always backs up your active save first. Slots never leave your browser.
• Export / Import produces plain JSON including the schema version and export timestamp. Invalid files are rejected without touching your progress; exports from every previous alpha remain importable.
• Reset (Settings → Data) wipes active progress — including both prestige layers — behind an explicit confirmation. Interface preferences and save slots are kept.

Offline progress

While the game is closed you earn passive energy (no Surge bonus) up to a 2-hour cap; the Temporal Cache shard upgrade adds +2 h per rank. A welcome-back summary shows the time away and energy gained.

Run locally

Plain HTML/CSS/JS with native ES modules — no build step. Modules require HTTP, so serve the folder with any static server:

python3 -m http.server 8080     # or: npm start

Then open http://localhost:8080.

Tests & balance simulation

Zero dependencies — both use Node's built-ins:

npm test          # unit + regression tests (input, geometry, notifications, economy, saves, slots)
npm run simulate  # deterministic pacing simulation (active / hybrid / idle strategies)

Project structure

index.html          App shell
styles/             tokens, base, layout, components, animations, responsive
src/
  main.js           Bootstrap + game controller
  config/           Constants, upgrades, horizon upgrades, achievements, milestones
  core/             State, pure calculations, actions, game loop
  systems/          Save/migration/slots/import/export, procedural audio
  ui/               DOM refs, input gate, rendering, notifications, effects, settings, events
  utils/            Formatting & geometry helpers
scripts/simulate.js Balance simulation
docs/BALANCE.md     Formulas, pacing goals, tuning history
tests/              Node test suite

Accessibility

• Semantic HTML, labeled controls, and native <dialog> modals (focus trapping + Escape for free)
• Full keyboard support: reactor activation, buy-mode toggle, save, arrow-key shop tabs, collapsible sections with aria-expanded
• Notifications use polite/assertive live regions; routine autosave feedback stays subtle
• Honors prefers-reduced-motion plus an in-game Reduced animation toggle (persisted, survives resets)
• Touch targets sized for phones; no hover-only information; state badges use text, not color alone

Deployment

Deployed with GitHub Pages straight from the repository root — no build output. All asset and module paths are relative, so it works under the /NeonCore/ subdirectory.

Roadmap

• A third late-game prestige concept
• More Surge interactions and visual set-pieces
• Optional challenge modifiers
• Richer activity-log filtering

License

MIT