Hey Auto (ഹേ ഓട്ടോ)
An open-world auto-rickshaw driving game set in Thekkumpuram, a fictional Kerala town. You drive the auto, pick up passengers, and take them to their destination by the meter. Break the traffic rules and you lose stars and pay fines.
npm install
npm run dev # http://localhost:5180
npm run build # static build in dist/
How it plays
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Pickup → drop: go to the yellow beam and stop next to the passenger (under 5 km/h) to let them board. Then drive to the green beam. The minimap shows the GPS route, which follows one-way roads.
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Meter: ₹30 minimum for 1.5 km, then ₹15 per km. The town is drawn at 1:5 scale, so the meter shows real-world kilometres. A clean trip that arrives on time earns a tip.
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Rules: the AI cameras fine you for red signals, wrong-way driving on one-ways, going over 40 km/h, and hitting pedestrians. If you have a passenger, keeping to the wrong side of the road, driving on the footpath, or crashing costs you stars.
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Shortcuts: the idavazhi alleys (brown on the minimap) cut through compounds, and the paddy fields are mud you can drive across slowly. Using them, you can skip signals and one-way detours.
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Monsoon (R): rain makes the roads wet. Brakes and steering get weaker, pedestrians open umbrellas, and your headlight comes on.
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Auto radio (Q next, Shift+Q back): live Akashvani Kerala stations (Ananthapuri FM, Real FM Kozhikode, Kochi FM, Akashvani Malayalam) and Kerala community and net radio (Radio Suno, Radio Macfast, Radio Kochi, Ahalia FM and more). On start, the radio also pulls trending Malayalam stations from the free Radio Browser API. HLS streams play through hls.js, and dead streams are skipped automatically. After the live stations come three generated studio stations: Chenda FM (melam), Melody 94.3 (flute and tabla, raga Mohanam) and Kshetram 98.6 (nadaswaram and thavil). Everything plays through a dashboard-speaker filter. Radio Mango, Club FM and Red FM have no public streams, so the game can't play them.
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Posters: Malayalam film posters from public/posters/ are pasted in repeated rows on laterite compound walls, along alley walls, on house sides and electric poles, and on two-sided flex hoardings by the paddy fields. Each poster has a fresh copy and a sun-faded, rain-stained, torn copy. To use your own, replace the files 01.jpg…10.jpg.
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Political posters (public/posters/political/01–07.jpg): large framed flex boards on poles at junction corners facing the crossing, big banners on the upper floors of buildings, rows on compound walls, and the outer hoardings. Red and tricolour flag bunting is strung along some roads. They're printed flex, so they stay bright and keep clean edges.
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Soundscape: crows, koels, the temple bell and church bells (panned by direction and quieter with distance), chatter near the market and bus stand, and frogs in the rain.
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Street reactions: pedestrians you hit or nearly hit, bystanders, drivers you crash into, drivers honking at you, and two AI drivers arguing after a bump all react in speech bubbles above them. Each bubble shows Malayalam script with Manglish and English below it.
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Feedback: camera shake, a red hit flash, controller rumble, and phone vibration where supported.
Controls: W/S throttle, brake and reverse · A/D steer · Space hand brake · H horn · C camera (chase / high / driver seat) · Q radio station · [ ] radio volume · R rain · M mute · P pause · / hide hints.
Gamepad (Xbox layout): left stick steers · RT drives · LT brakes · A hand brake · B horn · X radio · Y camera · Start pause.
HUD
The HUD brings forward what matters for the current state and dims the rest:
- Cruising: speedometer and minimap.
- Ride request: the phone on the dash mount buzzes and slides in.
- On trip: the fare meter, with its tin FOR HIRE flag folding down, and the destination on the phone. The phone's ring shows the passenger's mood, and the meter shows the time.
Earnings sit top-left: the day starts with the auto's ₹250 rent paid, so the aim is ₹800 net. Dialogue appears top-centre and fades after 4 seconds. The radio is a small chip that opens when you press Q. Going over 40 km/h turns the needle red and makes the limit sign pulse. The fare meter ticks as the fare rises, and a trip ends with a count-up of the fare, then the stars, the tip and the passenger's line. Esc opens the pause menu, which has HUD size (S/M/L) and the dialogue language (Malayalam only / + Manglish / + English). / shows the controls.
This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗
