Show HN: Hallucinate – Massively Multiplayer Online Rave
An experimental browser-based “massively multiplayer online rave” built in TypeScript has captured interest as both a playful social space and a showcase of custom WebGL-style performance without heavy frameworks. Commenters explore its technical trade-offs (scaling to hundreds of players, animation and control schemes, mobile support, and potential synchronization of shared DJ sets) while also offering critiques on code structure and portfolio readiness. The project’s rapid evolution surfaces recurring themes around moderation of anonymous spaces, nostalgia for real-world and VR rave culture, and how AI-assisted coding is enabling a new wave of quirky, highly specialized web experiences.
Project & Implementation
- Web-based “massively multiplayer online rave” where users control low-poly dancers in shared rooms with YouTube DJ sets.
- Source code is MIT-licensed on GitHub; initial repo lacked README/screenshots but they were added after feedback.
- Built in TypeScript with many flat
src/*.tsfiles; shaders written directly for performance after rejecting Three.js as too slow. - Animation system and many optimizations reportedly generated/refined with an advanced GPT model.
Code Quality & Portfolio Concerns
- Some commenters see it as a strong creative portfolio piece.
- Others flag “orange/red flags”: flat project structure, weak commit messages, pervasive magic numbers (especially in shaders).
- Debate over whether such criticism should be public (helpful feedback vs “poisoning” the thread).
Performance, Controls & UX
- Server hit scaling issues (“HN hug of death”); intermittent crashes and timeouts reported.
- Developer targets hundreds of concurrent users using client-authoritative movement, dead-reckoning, and syncing only state changes.
- Movement initially on IJKL; later WASD added as default with layout toggle. Jump (“b for bounce”) implemented after feedback.
- Various UX critiques: desire for FPS-like strafing, different jump physics, reset-from-stuck, crosshair for motion sickness, different camera/pan behavior.
- Mobile initially nonfunctional; later updated to support tap-to-move and clickable controls.
Sync, Music & MMO Feel
- Currently each user manually starts YouTube video; rooms are not globally time-synced.
- Some argue per-user start preserves full-set experience; others say lack of sync undermines shared-rave feel.
- Plan mentioned to eventually sync room playback; also interest in accurate player counts and global chat.
Moderation & Safety
- Multiple reports of racist slurs and toxicity; some say this “fouled” the experience.
- Current mitigations: word filters (users evade), manual IP blocking; idea of admin tools and better moderation UI.
- Suggestions include automatic moderation using ML models (e.g., LLM-based filters).
- A few note such behavior is “inevitable” in anonymous public spaces.
Comparisons & Related Projects
- Compared to earlier browser clubs and games (e.g., past online festivals, virtual worlds, and VRChat raves).
- Users share their own similar or more advanced VR/Unity DJ projects and discuss latency challenges for remote back-to-back mixing.
Rave Culture & Social Context
- Long sub-threads on real-world raves: secret warehouses vs today’s commercial EDM festivals, PLUR ethos, phone bans, ticket prices.
- Discussion of MDMA/Molly use, harm reduction, drug-testing, and how substances affect sociability vs long-term personality.
- Debate over whether social media and streaming reduced in-person party culture by eliminating boredom and adding FOMO.
Overall Reception & Ideas
- Strong positive emotional response; many describe it as “fun,” “fire,” “good internet,” and say they spent unusually long in it.
- Feature wishes: skin-tone cycling, usernames, psytrance/jungle rooms, VR version, platformer-style motion capture, decentralized/gossip-based networking, NPC vs player clarity, motion heatmaps.
- Some users experience motion sickness or technical issues and say that prevents repeat use, but overall enthusiasm is high.