So, 13 years after starting this, and abandoning it, I've now transferred my skills to WebGL and Javascript. Going to have another go, and this time, not gonna let the AI defeat me.
What's bizarre is that I very nearly figured it out last time.
What defeats me this time, is that having coded the entire thing in JS, with zero imported assets, I go off on a tangent and learn how to do DSP & sound synthesis so I can build the entire thing in code only, including sound FX and a soundtrack. Oh yeah, music theory, I'm going to learn that too.
Also, control systems - there are so many choices I don't know what the best call is, so for now it play's itself.
Anyway, here's what I have so far:
Regular version - With dynamic lights and shadows.
Lite version - if the regular version gives you problems