N-gon game modes: Start, Training, and Experiment

Start: the standard run

Start clears the previous map and build, creates the player with field emitter and full field energy, resets the level counter, and prepares the standard level sequence.

The playable pool is shuffled with the seeded random function. A later three-map pick is the exception; see the seed warning under Settings before treating a seed as a replay guarantee.

Choose Start when you want the game to generate the run and offer its normal power-up choices. The separate N-gon controls guidelists this snapshot's exact defaults.

Training: a separate teaching sequence

Training calls the core start path with a training flag, loads its additional level definitions, uses a dedicated training array instead of the shuffled playable pool, and turns off horizontal level flipping.

Its completion path controls difficulty progression and returns to the title screen after the final entry. Use Training for this authored teaching path and Start for the normal level sequence.

Experiment: choose a build before playing

Experiment hides the title buttons and opens a selection grid for every field, every gun, and tech entries allowed by their source rules. Click a field to select it, a gun to add or remove it, or eligible tech to add it to the planned build.

Start, Reset, and Share sit beside category filters and text search. Share builds a URL containing the seed, guns, tech, field, and difficulty selected in this snapshot.

Starting with any selected tech or gun, or a non-default field, marks the run as cheating and removes lore-tech availability. Experiment is therefore a build-testing mode, not standard progression. You can inspect all available field entries first in the N-gon fields guide.

Difficulty parameters: values 1 through 7

The snapshot defaults to difficulty value 2. Its difficulty power-up opens a slider from 1 to 7. The menu presents the rows cumulatively: raising the slider keeps the earlier rows visible and adds the row at the new threshold. The pause menu can show the same active difficulty parameters during a run.

These rows reproduce the wording and thresholds in the pinned interface. They should be read as cumulative parameters, not informal labels such as easy or hard. The initial choice updates the stored setting.

Settings that modify a run

Randomization seed

The seed input says it determines level order, tech choices, and mob types. The run hashes that text into its seeded random state before level population. The main level-pool shuffle uses that state, while one late-run map choice still calls unseeded Math.random. Treat the seed as a control for the game's stated randomized inputs, not as a promise that every part of two runs will be identical.

Community maps and banned levels

Community maps adds about twenty player-made levels to the random level pool, according to the option's own title text. Enabling it makes the game load more level definitions. The banned-level input accepts level names separated by spaces and removes matching entries. Before removing another built-in playable level, the source stops only when the combined active pool is already below ten; because the check happens before removal, this snapshot can finish with nine rather than guaranteeing a minimum of ten.

Performance and frame-rate settings

Performance mode hides several HUD and visual elements and lowers some body limits. The separate frame-rate selector offers no cap, 72, 60, 45, and 30 frames per second. A damage-numbers switch controls whether in-game combat values are drawn. These presentation controls do not create another game mode.

N-gon game modes FAQ