Descent2024
Custom software, Javascript, WebGL Variable dimensions, silent Edition of 100
Mostly downwards, mostly gray. “Descent” is an attempt to represent depth using only characters from the code page 437 (CP437 for short, or “extended ASCII”). The viewer is taken on an infinite journey along a column made of characters; the characters lose their original meaning and become shapes, structure. It’s possible to change aspect- and animation-features interactively or via URL parameters. See the next paragraphs for more details. Each column is rendered using only 3 characters for the front, top and side (FTS) faces. The assigned texture feature can be overridden with the “texture” parameter, for example: &texture=ABC
Keys
i toggle info ↓↑ change scale n toggle noise/glitch s toggle shading f toggle colors p save 1× .png image P save 4× .png image t save 2d scene as .txt file v save voxel data as .txt file c hide cursor
Some visual settings can be set or changed through URL parameters; especially values for scale, fps and voxelWidth/voxelHeight will help adapt the project to different display sizes by adjusting character height and playback speed. Parameters
scale pixel scaling fps frame rate cap canvasWidth force canvas width canvasHeight force canvas height noShading disable shading noNoise disable noise/glitch noColor disable color bgColor background color (0x000) voxelWidth voxel width voxelHeight voxel height texture custom texture (FTS)