Both captures below are real iTerm2 sessions running the demo — the same binary renders at pixel resolution where the terminal speaks the kitty graphics protocol, and as ASCII cells everywhere else.
kitty graphics — matrix-gfx
The rain falls on its own pixel glyph grid, denser than the cell grid, using randomly generated 5×7 bitmap glyphs with a phosphor glow around each stream head.
matrix — kitty pixel mode
ASCII cells — matrix
Text-glyph rain on the cell grid. On kitty-protocol terminals this version adds a soft pixel bloom layer around the stream heads; set MATRIX_CELLS=1 for the pure text experience shown here.
matrix — ASCII cell mode
Controls
Key
Action
space
spawn a wave of drops
mouse click
drop at the pointer
c
cycle colour scheme
+ / -
fall speed
q / Esc
quit
Tuning env vars use the MATRIX_* prefix — e.g. MATRIX_MAXDIM=1024 for sharper frames, MATRIX_CELLS=1 to force cell rendering even on kitty terminals. See the overview for the full tuning table.
