Out of complete boredom while stranded in airports due to some nasty weather, I decided to rewrite a game I first wrote about 28 years ago: Light Cycle.

I wrote the first version on a TRS-80 with BASIC. I wrote this version on a Cr-48 Chrome Notebook in JavaScript. The first time with SET for plotting and POINT for hit detection. This time with the Canvas 2d context’s fillRect for plotting and getImageData for hit detection. The most painful thing last time: a calculator or radio too close to the TRS-80 would sometimes cause a crash. The most painful thing this time: I couldn’t find a decent IDE for Chrome (though I’m looking forward to messing with cloud9).

I’m no gamer, and I don’t pretend this is high entertainment, but it is something to keep both sides of your brain occupied with when you’ve got nothing else to do.