Midnight Dash 🏃‍♀️

A fast-paced endless runner game built with C++ and Raylib, featuring multiple characters, online leaderboards, and dynamic gameplay mechanics.

🎮 Game Features

• 5 Unique Characters: Choose from different avatars with unique abilities
  • Random Girl #1, #2, #3 (Classy, Demure, Mindful)
  • Intern Witch (Terrible at driving - special flying mechanics)
  • Unidentified Blue Dog (Doesn't talk)
• Dynamic Gameplay:
  • Jump over obstacles to avoid losing lives
  • Collect coins to increase your score
  • Game speed increases over time for added challenge
• Life System: Start with 3 lives, lose one when hitting obstacles
• Online Leaderboards: Compete with players worldwide via Firebase integration
• Local Score Tracking: Personal best scores saved locally
• Smooth Animations: 6-frame character animations and coin effects

🎯 How to Play

Controls

• Space: Jump (for ground characters)
• W/S: Move up/down (for flying character - Intern Witch)
• A/D: Move left/right
• Mouse: Navigate menus

Objective

• Avoid obstacles to preserve your lives
• Collect coins to increase your score
• Survive as long as possible as the game speed increases
• Compete for the highest score on the global leaderboard

🛠️ Building and Running

Prerequisites

• C++ compiler (GCC, Clang, or MSVC)
• Raylib graphics library
• Windows (tested on Windows 10)

Compilation

# Compile the main game
g++ -o main.exe main.cpp -lraylib -lopengl32 -lgdi32 -lwinmm

# Compile score upload utility
g++ -o uploadScore.exe uploadScore.cpp -lcurl

# Compile score download utility  
g++ -o getScores.exe getScores.cpp -lcurl

Running

./main.exe

📁 Project Structure

midnight-dash/
├── main.cpp              # Main game logic and rendering
├── uploadScore.cpp       # Firebase score upload utility
├── getScores.cpp         # Firebase score download utility
├── json.hpp              # JSON library for Firebase communication
├── assets/               # Game assets
│   ├── background.png    # Scrolling background
│   ├── menus/           # UI backgrounds
│   ├── players/         # Character sprites (5 characters × 6 frames)
│   ├── obstacles/       # Obstacle sprites
│   └── other/           # Coins, hearts, etc.
├── scores               # Local score storage
├── highScores           # Downloaded leaderboard data
└── sample.gif           # Gameplay demonstration

🎨 Game Mechanics

Character Abilities

• Ground Characters: Standard jump mechanics with space bar
• Intern Witch: Unique flying ability using W/S keys with reduced gravity
• All Characters: Horizontal movement with A/D keys

Scoring System

• Coins: +10 points each
• Obstacles: Reduce lives by 1
• Speed: Increases by 5 FPS every obstacle spawn
• Lives: Start with 3, game over when reaching 0

Online Features

• Real-time leaderboard updates via Firebase
• Score upload/download in background threads
• Top 5 global scores displayed

🔧 Technical Details

• Engine: Raylib (C graphics library)
• Language: C++17
• Platform: Windows (with potential for cross-platform)
• Networking: libcurl for Firebase API calls
• Graphics: 1024×768 resolution, 120+ FPS
• Threading: Background score synchronization

🎮 Game States

1. Menu: Main menu with play, instructions, credits, exit
2. Character Selection: Choose your avatar
3. Gameplay: Main game loop
4. Instructions: Control guide
5. Credits: Game credits
6. Game Over: Score display and restart option

📝 License

This project is open source. Feel free to contribute, modify, and distribute.

---

Enjoy running through the midnight! 🌙✨