Cluster Rush

🚚 Cluster Rush: Relative Velocity and Kinetic Platforming

Cluster Rush (inspired by Clustertruck) is a high-octane lesson in Relative Velocity. The game asks a simple question: "The floor is lava, but the safe zones are moving trucks." The player is challenged to platform across a convoy of vehicles that are crashing, flipping, and colliding in real-time.

The physics engine treats the player as a separate entity from the trucks. You inherit the momentum of the truck you are standing on. If the truck stops abruptly (crashes), your inertia carries you forward—often into a wall. Predicting these inertial shifts is the core skill.

🧠 Cognitive Load: Chaos Management

The visual noise is immense:

• Predictive Pathing: You cannot react to the truck you are on. You must look three trucks ahead. If the lead truck hits a rock, the pile-up will propagate backwards. You need to be in the air when the collision wave hits.
• Seismic Awareness: The trucks have suspension. They wobble. Standing on the edge of a wobbling truck changes your jump angle. You must jump from the "high side" of the roll.

🎮 Mechanics: The Mantle

Movement includes parkour elements:

• Wall Jumping/Truck Jumping: You can jump off the side of a truck. This is useful when a truck flips on its side. It becomes a vertical wall rather than a horizontal floor.
• Air Control: You have significant air control (strafing). This is unrealistic but necessary to correct for the chaotic movement of the landing zones.

🏆 Survival Tactics: The Center Line

1. Avoid the Pile-Up

Trucks tend to cluster and crash in the center. Paradoxically, the safest trucks are often the ones flying off the road or flipping in the air, isolated from the main crash pile. Jump on the "outliers."

2. Bunny Hopping

Don't stand still. A truck surface is unstable. By constantly jumping (Bunny Hopping), you minimize the time you are affected by the truck's erratic friction and rotation physics.

❓ FAQ