Skydiving Snake

Snake Game for Windows 10

First off, Why?

Good question. When the 'Wanna x Yam Game Jam 2022' was announced, I thought it would be a good idea to join in and feel the buzz of partaking in a game jam. How wrong I was! I spent 5 of the 9 days trying to think of an idea, then two days working on an overly ambitious concept that really had nothing to do with the theme of 'combination'. Finally I made 'Skydiving Snake' on the final weekend of the jam.

Can you describe the core game mechanics and the rules of the game?

Well the player takes control of a skydiving snake (hence the name) and they must make it through the correct number of coloured gates and survive the skydive to beat the level. In order to survive, the snake must land in the water. At the end of the level, you get a percentage on how much you have completed. Each player must complete 100% of a level to move on to the next one. It is possible to survive the skydive and not have 100% so the level will need to be played again. There are only 6 levels to beat so it should not take up too much time. Levels 4 and 5 can be quite tough but they are not impossible. My one secret tip to players reading this is that the snake will move to the other side of the screen if it goes offscreen so you can sometimes use it to your advantage!

How did you come up with the idea of controlling a snake falling from the sky?

Another good question! Well, I have coded 'Snake', the retro arcade game, a number of times in my life and I really needed an idea quick, as there was not much time left of the jam. I basically just started coding and that is what came to be. I thought I could add in coloured gates that the snake would have to pass though and then hope that that somehow in a very loose and tenuous way would somehow meet the theme of combination. It's not the game I wanted to make, but... yeah, that's it really.

Surely with such a short space of time, you would turn to an already established game engine such as Godot or Unity to enable speedy game development and fast rapid prototyping?

Yes. Normal people usually do that. I could have made a good game if I had used Unity, but instead I used C. That's right, the language from 1972 that your Grandmother probably used. Honestly, I only managed to incorporate about 25% of what 'Skydiving Snake' could actually be, due to the fact I coded it in C. Some may ask, well why did you do it? Well life is more about the journey than it is the destination, or something like that? I like to program games from the ground up. If I were making a commercial game, I would do so in Unity, Unreal or Godot but in my free time, I like to program it all. I did actually have help from a library called raylib which abstracts the really hard things into functions such as strings, (Strings are about the hardest things in C) and it also interfaces with GLFW meaning I don't need to mess about when setting up a a new project.

I am guessing the fact there is only a Windows 10 version of the game is a direct result of the decision to use an old outdated language?

Not exactly, I am able to create programs and games that run on a wide range of Linux Distro's but unfortunately, I ran out of time and was unable to compile it for Linux. That being said, the Mac and Linux users should count themselves lucky that they do not have to endure such a rushed and buggy game!

Are there any positive takeaways from this project or do you see it as a failure?

Right now, it seems like a disappointment as I was unable to think of an idea quickly and when I did, it was not very original or very fun but I did learn more about programming in C and I was able to make 8-bit music which is a change from my usual stuff. The jam gave me something to focus on and I am glad I entered.

Finally, what's next? Will Skydiving Snake be developed any further in the future or are there more noble goals to set your sights upon?

Well, good question! Seriously, these questions really get me thinking! This is the end for Skydiving Snake. I feel like there are a hundred other game projects and a hundred other jams that would be better use of my time than continuing work on a game that I made out of necessity. But who knows, maybe one day I will return an do it in X86 assembler?