moon-buggy

moon-buggy [OPTION]...

-d
    Sets the game difficulty. This typically affects the frequency and severity of terrain obstacles. The value is an integer.

-r
    Sets the scroll rate of the terrain. A higher value makes the game move faster, increasing the challenge. The value is an integer.

-h, --help
    Displays a help message and exits the program.

-V, --version
    Shows version information for the moon-buggy game and exits.

moon-buggy is a classic ASCII-based terminal game where players control a lunar vehicle navigating a procedurally generated, constantly scrolling lunar surface.

The primary objective is to achieve the highest score by driving the longest possible distance without crashing. The game presents challenges such as craters, bumps, and varying terrain, requiring players to manage speed and utilize jumps strategically to avoid obstacles, prevent the buggy from flipping over, or falling into deep pits.

Despite its simple graphical interface, moon-buggy offers addictive gameplay and is a popular example of nostalgic terminal entertainment.

Due to its ASCII-based nature, moon-buggy is best played in a terminal window of sufficient size. Very small terminal dimensions might lead to display issues or an unplayable experience. It relies on ncurses or similar terminal libraries for rendering.

Left Arrow: Brake / Move left
Right Arrow: Accelerate / Move right
Up Arrow: Jump
'q' or 'Q': Quit the game

Your score is determined by the distance traveled. The game ends when the buggy flips over, falls into a deep pit, or becomes irretrievably stuck. Aim for the longest distance to achieve a high score!

moon-buggy was developed by J. R. R. Raabe and released in the early 2000s. It quickly became a beloved part of the collection of simple, yet engaging, terminal-based games often found bundled with various Linux distributions and Unix-like systems. Its design reflects the era of minimalist, efficient software that runs directly in the command line interface.

ninvaders(6), nethack(6), asciiquarium(6)