Choppa

Choppa is a browser-based homage to classic isometric helicopter strike games. The final campaign spans four handcrafted missions with cinematic briefings, reactive audio, and a deterministic fixed-step loop written entirely in TypeScript.

Campaign highlights

• Operation Dawnshield – Level the alien forward bases, repel escalating drone waves, and airlift stranded survivors out of the valley.
• Operation Stormbreak – Launch from the carrier deck, silence roaming mortar platforms, and escort convoy ships past relentless strike boats.
• Operation Starfall – Infiltrate the mothership hangar, shred three shield conduits, and breach the hull before the invasion fleet escapes.
• Operation Black Sun – Fight across the alien homeland, plant a nuke in the hivemind well, and survive the two-phase Vorusk encounter to finish the war.
• Powerup draft – Between sorties, pick from escalating upgrade rounds to expand ammo reserves, reduce weapon cooldowns, and boost warhead yield.

Core features

• Responsive flight & combat – WASD flight with strafe thrusters supports mouse-aimed machine guns, guided missiles, and devastating hellfires tuned around reproducible physics.
• Enemy variety – AAA emplacements, SAM towers, drones, gunships, strike boats, and late-game bosses mix projectile patterns and objective pressure.
• Mission scripting – Objectives track destruction, timed waves, evac counts, and extraction pads to pace each theater.
• Achievements – Ten unlockable achievements celebrate perfect evacuations, flawless convoy escorts, and campaign completion; unlocked medals persist in local storage.
• Persistent settings – Audio mix, fog-of-war, minimap visibility, screen shake, and key bindings save between runs for quick relaunches.

Controls

• WASD / Arrow Keys – Fly the chopper
• Q / E – Strafe left / right
• Left Mouse / Space – Machine gun
• Right Mouse / Shift – Missiles
• Middle Mouse / Ctrl – Hellfires
• Esc – Pause / Resume / Back
• M – Toggle mute
• Title Screen → Settings – Adjust audio sliders, fog-of-war, screen shake, minimap, and input bindings

Development setup

1. Install Node.js 18 or newer.
2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Run the development server (add --host to expose on your LAN):

   npm run dev -- --host

Useful scripts

• npm run build – Create a production build under dist/.
• npm run preview -- --host – Preview the production bundle locally.
• npm run lint – Type-check and lint the TypeScript source with ESLint.
• npm run pages:deploy – Push the contents of dist/ to the gh-pages branch.

Deployment

The production site is deployed through .github/workflows/gh-pages.yml. The workflow installs dependencies, runs the Vite build, and publishes the generated dist/ artifacts (including favicon.ico, manifest.webmanifest, and og-image.png) to GitHub Pages.

Project structure

/index.html            Entry page and canvas
/vite.config.ts        Vite configuration
/src/
  core/                ECS, timing, input, audio, utilities
  game/                Campaign data, systems, spawn factories
  render/              Camera, isometric projection, sprite painters
  ui/                  HUD, menus, bindings, achievements overlay
  world/               Tilemap helpers and runtime maps
  main.ts              Game wiring and loop
/public/               Audio, favicon, manifest, Open Graph preview

Persistence & accessibility

• Campaign progress, unlocked achievements, and settings persist in localStorage for returning pilots.
• Mouse-free menus and large-font HUD keep the action readable even during heavy effects.

Known limitations

• Placeholder art and procedural audio remain until bespoke assets land.
• No persistent progression between campaigns beyond stored settings and achievements.
• AI navigation favors simple pathing; terrain collision and friendly formations are still evolving.
• Mobile/touch controls are not implemented.

License

• Code: MIT (LICENSE)
• Placeholder assets: CC0 (src/assets/LICENSE)