Terminal Pong - Rust Edition

A high-performance, feature-rich Pong game for Windows conhost terminal with exciting power-ups!

Features

• Smooth rendering - No screen flashing thanks to efficient buffer management
• Optimized performance - Runs smoothly even on low-end hardware
• Power-ups:
  • 🔷 Double Paddle - Get a second paddle for 10 seconds
  • 🟨 Center Wall - A full-height wall appears in the center
  • 🟪 Two Small Walls - Two partial walls block the center
  • 🟩 Bent Paddle - Your paddle becomes angled (<> shape)
  • ⚪ Split Ball - Current ball splits into three balls

Controls

Player 1 (Left - Blue):

• A - Move up
• D - Move down

Player 2 (Right - Red):

• Numpad 4 - Move up
• Numpad 6 - Move down

Game:

• ESC or Ctrl+Q - Quit game

Building

# Debug build (for testing)
cargo build

# Optimized release build (recommended)
cargo build --release

Running

# Debug version
cargo run

# Release version (much faster)
cargo run --release

Or run the executable directly:

# After building
./target/release/terminal-pong.exe

How to Play

1. The ball starts in the center and moves towards a random player
2. Hit the ball with your paddle to bounce it back
3. Power-ups appear randomly on the field - hit them with the ball to activate
4. Score points when your opponent misses the ball
5. First to... well, there's no limit! Play as long as you want!

Power-up Details

• Double Paddle (║) - Cyan: Gives the player who hit it a second paddle below their main paddle
• Center Wall (█) - Yellow: Creates a full-height wall in the center that bounces the ball
• Two Small Walls (▓) - Magenta: Creates two partial walls that leave gaps for the ball to pass through
• Bent Paddle (⟨) - Green: Changes the paddle shape to an angled formation
• Split Ball (✦) - White: Immediately splits the ball into three separate balls

All power-ups (except Split Ball) last for 10 seconds.

Performance Optimizations

• Double buffering - Entire frame is built in memory before rendering
• Efficient rendering - Only updates changed cells
• Capped framerate - Limited to ~60 FPS to prevent CPU waste
• Zero-allocation gameplay - No heap allocations during normal gameplay
• LTO optimization - Link-time optimization for maximum performance

Tips

• The ball speeds up slightly each time it's hit
• Hit the ball at the edge of your paddle for more angle
• Power-ups are rare - use them strategically!
• Watch out for the bent paddle - it's wider but harder to aim with
• Multiple balls can be overwhelming - try to keep your paddle centered

Enjoy the game! 🏓