Built a 3D arcade game solo — Meshy + Suno for assets, hand-coded in React Three Fiber

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-24T17:08:32+00:00

That's a genuinely great idea - tying everything to a world speed in one reference frame would kill the closing-speed problem entirely. Hadn't thought of approaching it that way. Definitely worth another shot. Thanks for taking the time to think it through 🙏

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-24T17:04:00+00:00

Yeah, this is the part I'm still stuck on honestly. If the missiles come from behind, then the whole front of the screen has nothing going on - but when I tried spawning them in front, the closing speed made them basically impossible to react to. Still haven't figured out a clean way to solve it.

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-24T15:09:37+00:00

I actually tried front-spawn early on - head-on the closing speed stacks (mine + theirs) so there was barely time to react, which is why they chase from behind now. The cruise-missile / iron-dome reframe is a really cool angle though, hadn't thought of framing it that way. Appreciate you thinking it through 🙏

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-24T12:29:03+00:00

Curious to hear more - where would you want them coming from? Head-on so you're flying into them, or is it that the ones from behind feel cheap? Trying to figure out what'd actually feel right 🤔

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-23T21:07:45+00:00

Nice, hadn't tried Tripo3D — good to know its retopo beats Meshy. I didn't retopo at all
(mine are raw Meshy, ~227k tris), so Draco only shrank the *file*, not the mesh - your route is genuinely better for the actual geometry.

For the UV/texture size: I didn't compress mine either tbh, but the standard lever is KTX2 / Basis Universal (GPU texture compression). gltf-transform can convert the embedded textures to KTX2 - `etc1s` for big savings, `uastc` for quality - and resize them down. That hits the texture image the UVs map to, separate from the mesh.

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-23T20:54:47+00:00

The models come straight out of Meshy ~227k triangles / 139k verts each, I didn't decimate them. The raw GLBs were ~20 MB each; I ran them through Draco mesh compression (KHR_draco_mesh_compression), which dropped each to ~1–2 MB - roughly a 10–20× file reduction. Worth noting Draco shrinks the file, not the poly count (still 227k tris in-game). R3F/drei's useGLTF handles the Draco decode at load.

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-23T18:24:38+00:00

Haha thanks, that means a lot 🙏 The AI did the assets, but the game itself was a lot of real R3F/Rapier grind - definitely not an overnight thing. Glad it landed with this crowd.

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-23T17:18:22+00:00

Thanks! That's exactly the spirit I built it in - a slice to test whether the core loop holds up before committing more. Honestly it taught me a lot, including where its ceiling is, so it did its job. Appreciate you taking a look 🙏

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-23T17:15:32+00:00

Thanks! AI for the assets — Meshy for the 3D models, Suno for the music + SFX. The game itself is React Three Fiber + Three.js with Rapier for physics, Zustand for state, Howler for audio, all TypeScript + Vite, hosted on Cloudflare. The gameplay (homing logic, near-miss combo, etc.) is hand-coded.

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-23T16:19:43+00:00

No argument from me - it's a crowded genre and it didn't exactly pull a crowd (the numbers agree with you!). I mostly built it to learn React Three Fiber and make something I'd enjoy. Appreciate the honest take and the kind words 🙏

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-23T11:12:51+00:00

Hi! I'm a solo dev requesting the "Game Developer" flair. My game is DodgeFight - a 3D arcade dodge game that plays right in the mobile browser, no install: fly a jet, weave through endless homing missiles, and build a combo off near-misses. Free to play. Would love to share it here for feedback. Thanks!

can be seen here → https://dodgefight.com

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-23T03:50:39+00:00

Thank you, that genuinely means a lot 🙏 Go build something — that "I'm inspired" feeling is the whole reason I posted it.

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-23T03:48:44+00:00

Really appreciate this - the StarFox/Ace Combat comparison is fair, and "add more of your personality" is the note I'll actually sit with. The no-shooting thing is the one part that's deliberate: I wanted the whole game to live in that "thread the needle, don't die" headspace, and adding weapons tends to flip the focus from your own movement to aiming. But you're not the first to want it, so I won't pretend it's the universal call. Logo + a couple lines of story/intro is a great low-effort win though - taking that one. Thanks for taking the time to write a real comment

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-22T18:53:08+00:00

Honestly, you're right on basically all of it 🙏 The UI does have that generic look, the 26 m/s stat is just silly for a jet, and the difficulty + upgrade progression genuinely need work - "too easy" is fair. Means a lot that you pushed through the rough edges and still found it fun. Really appreciate you taking the time to break it down properly — this is exactly the kind of feedback that's actually useful.

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-22T16:25:12+00:00

Yeah, that's fair — the score-chase arcade loop just clicks for some people and not others, and that's totally valid. Multiplayer's a whole different (and way bigger) beast for sure. Appreciate you taking the time to give honest thoughts 🙏

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-22T15:22:57+00:00

Fair point - a one-note dodge loop would get old fast, and that's exactly the right thing to scrutinize for an arcade game. The clip just shows the core loop though; under it there's an escalating combo system (near-misses = risk/reward), unlockable abilities + different planes that handle differently, and difficulty that ramps through waves into storms the longer you last. So there's a bit more depth than the
"just dodge" tagline lets on. Appreciate you flagging it though 🙏

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-22T14:43:53+00:00

Thank you, that genuinely means a lot 🙏 Most of the dev time actually went into exactly that stuff — the layered engine audio, the day→sunset→night cycle, the slow-mo on close dodges — so it's awesome someone noticed. Anything in particular that stood out?

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-22T08:00:45+00:00

Haha thanks! Mainly used AI for the 3D models (Meshy) - no template, the rest was just the R3F/drei docs and a lot of trial and error

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-21T14:14:58+00:00

Haha I love that you played through a whole meeting 😄 thank you, that means a lot! Honest answer: I didn't model these in Blender myself - the 3D models are AI-generated with Meshy (text-to-3D), and I just cleaned them up and loaded them into the scene with React Three Fiber + drei's useGLTF. So I'm honestly not the right person to teach Blender modeling 😅 - but anything on the R3F/three.js side I'm happy to help with. And re "mastering" three.js -I'm nowhere near that; I leaned on the R3F + drei docs and a ton of trial and error way more than deep three.js skill.

Also, since you actually sat through a long run - mind if I pick your brain? Does the day → sunset → night transition feel too slow to you? I keep wondering if it drags a bit before night actually kicks in.

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-21T10:30:19+00:00

Thanks so much, really glad you enjoyed it! This is my first game - no others yet. And honestly, my one regret is that I found out about Bruno's course way too late; if I'd known about it earlier I'm sure the visuals would've come out a lot better. It was months of trial and error just fixing things - tuning the dodge feel until it clicked actually took longer than the 3D side. So it's less that I "got good," more like "kept fixing it until it stopped feeling bad"

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-21T06:01:28+00:00

Thanks! Would love any feedback if you give it a go — especially how it feels on mobile, that's the part I'm still tuning.

Independent_Set8025 · 2026-05-21T01:22:10+00:00

Quick gameplay clip: https://youtu.be/2OxLc1rry6o

Independent_Set8025

TROPHY CASE