Hardcore-Engine

Hardcore Game Engine Series

A family of lightweight, zero-dependency, single-file HTML5 Canvas game engines built for JavaScript developers.

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Overview & Architecture Evolution

The Hardcore Engine series evolved across three major generations, transforming from a simple Canvas 2D rendering loop into a production-ready, zero-GC, multi-backend WebGL 2D game engine.

+------------------+      +------------------+      +------------------+
|    Hardcore 1    | ---> |    Hardcore 2    | ---> |    Hardcore 3    |
|  Basic Canvas2D  |      |  Hybrid WebGL +  |      |   Zero-GC Pools  |
|  Single Loop     |      |  Asset/UI Engine |      | Scene Management |
+------------------+      +------------------+      +------------------+

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Detailed Version Comparison Matrix

Architectural Feature	Hardcore 1.x	Hardcore 2.x (v3.0.0)	Hardcore 3.x (v4.3)
Primary Renderer	Canvas 2D	WebGL with 2D Fallback	Optimized Hybrid WebGL + 2D
Memory Strategy	Continuous new allocations	Manual Group management	Zero-GC Object Pooling (engine.pool)
Scene Architecture	Manual if/else states	Manual if/else states	Modular Scene Lifecycle (engine.scenes)
Procedural Textures	Not supported	Canvas 2D to WebGL texture	Canvas 2D dynamic GPU auto-upload
UI System	Manual HTML/DOM	Basic UI Builder (createScreen)	Automated Reactive HTML UI Engine
Event Emitter	Standard callbacks	Emitter with context bindings	Memory-leak-free scoped Emitter
Collision Helpers	basic AABB	Circle, AABB, Circle-Rect	Spatial Circle, AABB, Circle-Rect

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Version Overviews

1. Hardcore 1 (Legacy)

• Focus: Minimalist HTML5 Canvas 2D game loop.
• Key Characteristics: Single main-loop structure, raw context access, lightweight utility functions.
• Use Case: Quick prototypes, small retro games, educational game dev.

2. Hardcore 2 Engine (v3.0.0)

• Focus: WebGL hardware acceleration & asset pipeline.
• Key Features:
  • Dual-backend renderer (auto, webgl, 2d).
  • Unified rendering API (renderer.drawImage, renderer.drawRect, renderer.drawCircle).
  • Asset preloader & offscreen dynamic procedural textures (engine.assets).
  • Particle and Starfield effect modules.
  • UI Screen creation overlays (engine.ui).

3. Hardcore 3 Engine (v4.3) [Recommended]

• Focus: Performance optimization, zero Garbage Collection pauses, and structured game architecture.
• Key Features:
  • Zero-Allocation Object Pool (engine.pool): Recycles entity instances, completely removing runtime GC spikes.
  • Scene Management Engine (engine.scenes): Full enter, update, draw, and exit lifecycle hooks with automatic string-driven transitions.
  • Stabilized Event Binding: Fixed this context binding errors across event emitters and listeners.
  • Enhanced UI & Audio Pipeline: Fully code-driven DOM overlay generator and audio management.

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Migration Guide: Upgrading from v2 to v3

1. Updating the Game Loop to Scene Architecture

Hardcore 2 Syntax:

engine.start({
  update(dt, timeScale) {
    // Monolithic update logic
  },
  draw(renderer, timeScale) {
    // Monolithic render logic
  }
});

Hardcore 3 Syntax:

engine.scenes.add('gameplay', {
  enter(data) { /* Initialize scene */ },
  update(dt, timeScale) {
    // Return scene name to switch automatically
    if (gameOver) return 'gameOverScene';
  },
  draw(renderer, timeScale) { /* Render scene */ },
  exit() { /* Cleanup scene */ }
});

engine.scenes.set('gameplay');
engine.start();

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2. Replacing Dynamic Instantiation with Object Pooling

Hardcore 2 (Garbage Collection Heavy):

const bullets = [];
function fireBullet(x, y) {
  bullets.push({ x, y, speed: 10 });
}

Hardcore 3 (Zero-GC Optimization):

const bulletPool = engine.pool.create({
  create: () => ({ x: 0, y: 0, speed: 10, dead: true }),
  size: 100
});

function fireBullet(x, y) {
  const bullet = bulletPool.get();
  if (bullet) {
    bullet.x = x;
    bullet.y = y;
    bullet.dead = false;
  }
}

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Master Quick Start (Hardcore 3 Engine)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Hardcore Engine Multi-Version Template</title>
  <style>
    body { margin: 0; background: #000; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; height: 100vh; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <canvas id="gameCanvas"></canvas>

  <script src="hardcore3.js"></script>
  <script>
    const engine = Hardcore3.init({
      canvas: 'gameCanvas',
      renderer: 'auto',
      fitMode: 'square',
      width: 800,
      height: 800,
      background: '#050510'
    });

    engine.scenes.add('main', {
      update(dt) {},
      draw(renderer) {
        renderer.clear('#050510');
        renderer.drawCircle(400, 400, 50, '#00ffcc');
      }
    });

    engine.scenes.set('main');
    engine.start();
  </script>
</body>
</html>

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License

All engine versions are open-source and distributed under the terms of the MIT License.

Copyright © 2026 <copyright holders>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. 

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