Neon District

Neon District is a browser-first cyberpunk isometric shooter prototype inspired by the readable pressure, industrial density, and high-voltage mood of games like The Ascent.

The longer-term production target and full design direction now live in DESIGN-BIBLE.md.

The current build is a vertical slice with a real contract shell around it:

• contract board, loadout selection, cyberware, and armory tuning
• twin-stick style movement and aim
• dash, shield, energy, and heat management
• multi-phase contracts with recon, breach, upload hold, and extraction
• escalating enemy waves with multiple enemy roles and elite pressure
• faction heat, reputation drift, banked credits, and permanent unlocks
• a layered cyberpunk HUD wrapped around an isometric combat arena

Run locally

cd "W:\Repos\_My Games\neon-district"
npm install
npm run dev

Build

cd "W:\Repos\_My Games\neon-district"
npm run build

Manager Review Flow

Manager-standard review URL:

• http://127.0.0.1:4175/neon-district/?autostart=1&review=1

Supporting seeded briefing URL:

• http://127.0.0.1:4175/neon-district/?review=1

Primary showcase URL:

• http://127.0.0.1:4175/neon-district/?showcase=1

Featured authored review URL:

• http://127.0.0.1:4175/neon-district/?review=1&reviewSlice=authored

Featured authored fast-entry URL:

• http://127.0.0.1:4175/neon-district/?autostart=1&review=1&reviewSlice=authored

Boss review URL:

• http://127.0.0.1:4175/neon-district/?review=1&reviewSlice=boss

Boss fast-entry URL:

• http://127.0.0.1:4175/neon-district/?autostart=1&review=1&reviewSlice=boss

Hazard review URL:

• http://127.0.0.1:4175/neon-district/?review=1&reviewSlice=hazard

Hazard fast-entry URL:

• http://127.0.0.1:4175/neon-district/?autostart=1&review=1&reviewSlice=hazard

Review query params:

• review=1: loads a deterministic, non-persistent campaign seed
• reviewSlice=authored: switches the review seed onto the featured Dead Signal Choir Heist lane
• reviewSlice=boss: switches the review seed onto the Glassfall Nullbreaker Siege boss slice
• reviewSlice=hazard: switches the review seed onto the Redline Blackout Run hazard slice
• autostart=1: enters the district immediately
• showcase=1: primary demo route for the authored Dead Signal Choir Heist slice
• contract=choir-heist: preselects the featured authored mission slice
• hotDrop=1: legacy live-combat fast entry
• skipBriefing=1: legacy alias for skipping the shell
• resetProgress=1: clears local campaign progress

Shared evidence pack:

• [W:\Repos_My Games\LOCAL-ONLY\captures\neon-district](W:\Repos_My Games\LOCAL-ONLY\captures\neon-district)

Refresh the shared review pack with:

cd "W:\Repos\_My Games\neon-district"
cmd /c npm run capture:review

Milestone review gates:

• MILESTONE-1-COMBAT-IDENTITY-CHECKLIST-2026-05-02.md
• MILESTONE-2-FLAGSHIP-CONTRACT-BRIEF-2026-05-03.md
• MILESTONE-2-FLAGSHIP-REVIEW-CHECKLIST-2026-05-03.md

Controls

• WASD: move
• Mouse: aim
• Left click: fire
• Shift or Space: dash
• Q / E: cycle weapons
• R: reboot the run after a wipe

Design direction

This project is intentionally using a browser-friendly stack first:

• Phaser for fast combat iteration and rendering
• TypeScript + Vite for a lightweight workflow
• DOM overlays for readable HUD and production-friendly UI iteration

Recent delivery/performance hardening:

• the Phaser runtime now lazy-loads after district entry from a local shipped runtime asset instead of inflating briefing-shell startup or the Vite bundle graph
• live HUD updates cache DOM nodes and skip redundant text/style writes
• review evidence generation is now scripted through Playwright instead of depending on manual capture passes
• featured authored contracts, Dead Signal Choir Heist, Glassfall Nullbreaker Siege, and Redline Blackout Run add shaped mission beats on top of the stable sandbox slice

That keeps us moving quickly while we build toward denser districts, better combat readability, more enemy behaviours, weapon differentiation, boss encounters, and eventually a larger campaign structure.

Next priorities

• cache more static world rendering in the Phaser scene to reduce per-frame redraw cost
• author a fourth bespoke mission with a moving objective, such as convoy interception or a mobile escort breach
• add broader contract variety, boss beats, and stronger authored faction fiction
• deepen armory and cyberware progression beyond the first permanent upgrades
• keep using the browser build as the fast combat sandbox while the desktop production version is defined