HexGL

HexGL is a futuristic HTML5 racing game by Thibaut Despoulain (BKcore), built on Three.js and his own bkcore engine framework. You pilot a ship through a course of hexagonal obstacles, and the whole thing is one continuous ribbon of speed: the faster you go, the more the track curves and the less reaction time you get.

The signature move is the bank-and-dive. Holding one trigger turns the ship into a drift to the left, the other drifts right, and doing it while steering tightens the turn considerably — at the cost of speed. Up arrow accelerates, down arrow lets off the throttle.

How to Play

1. On the title screen, set your options and press Start.
2. Click through the control help screen ("Click/Touch to continue").
3. Wait for the progress bar as the track and textures load.
4. Race. Hold Up Arrow to accelerate and steer with Left / Right. Use the triggers to carve tight corners through the hex gates.
5. Crashing costs you a life and resets your speed. Clear the course before you run out.
6. The results screen shows your time — click to reload and try again.

Controls

All of these are read directly from bkcore/hexgl/ShipControls.js and bkcore/hexgl/HexGL.js:

• Up Arrow — accelerate (adds thrust every frame)
• Down Arrow — brake / release thrust
• Left Arrow and Right Arrow — steer
• Q or A — left trigger: air-brake into a left drift. Steering left while held doubles the turn rate
• D or E — right trigger: air-brake into a right drift. Steering right while held doubles the turn rate
• Escape — restart the race
• Click — advance the help and results screens

Start Menu Options

Each option cycles when you click it:

• Controls — Keyboard, Touch, Leap Motion Controller, Gamepad. It defaults to Touch on touch devices and Keyboard everywhere else
• Quality — Low, Mid, High, Very High (defaults to High)
• HUD — Off or On (defaults to On)
• Godmode — Off or On (defaults to Off)

Gamepad Support

Gamepad is a first-class option, not an afterthought. If the browser reports a compatible controller, the ship's left stick steers directly, and the triggers drive the same drift system as Q/A and D/E on the keyboard.

Touch Controls

Selecting Touch swaps in a dedicated on-screen control layer — the game also ships TouchController.js and OrientationController.js, and the CSS includes touchcontroller.css alongside mobile-specific help images. Device orientation is supported as well as on-screen controls.

Tips

• Drifting is faster than turning. A plain left/right input turns you gently; adding a trigger turns much harder but bleeds speed through the air brake. Use it only when a corner actually demands it.
• Carry speed through the straights. Air drag constantly slows you, so if you lift off the throttle you will lose more than you expect.
• Steering with a drift roughly doubles that drift's turn rate — the two inputs are meant to be combined, not used separately.

About

HexGL ships with two texture sets: textures/ is the low-resolution default and textures.full/ is the full-size set. Per the upstream README, swapping the two directories upgrades the visuals.

The project's engine layer is BKcore's own: bkcore/threejs/ for rendering, shaders, particles and preloading, and bkcore/hexgl/ for the game itself. The CoffeeScript sources are kept alongside the compiled JavaScript in bkcore.coffee/, and the replays/ folder holds recorded ghost runs.

In-app credits list Thibaut Despoulain (BKcore) for concept and development, with townxelliot and mahesh.kk as contributors, Charnel for the HexMKI base model and Nobiax for the track texture. Music and sound effects are credited individually in audio/LICENSE.

License

HexGL is MIT licensed — see LICENSE in the game folder for the full text, and public/games/hexgl/ATTRIBUTION.md for the complete provenance record. Note that some audio assets are not MIT: boost.ogg, wind.ogg and destroyed.ogg are CC BY 3.0, while crash.ogg and bg.ogg are public domain, each with its own credit in audio/LICENSE.