Snake On A Plane by spacedoubt

made by spacedoubt for LD 38 (COMPO)

(To be fair, the original Snake is on a plane, too.)

Controls:
Left Arrow turns 90° left
Right Arrow turns 90° right

Every time you run over a flashy thing
You go a little faster,
You grow a little longer,
and the game gets a little harder.

You may go through orbs of a different colour.
Crashing into an orb (not the flashy things) of similar colour is death (Press Enter to restart).

Comment your high score! (Mine's ~~33~~ 39)

Download (Windows): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1Aaz61BSeUDQkE5Rkg5R1pzVU0 (16 MB)
Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1Aaz61BSeUDM1Itc3ZERndEdUk

There are a few bugs, but I don't think any of them are game-breaking: * Music stops at 14 points. Whoops. * Occasionally (rarely), it can take a few tries to get the flashy thing (keep trying, it'll work eventually) * Sometimes, orbs don't despawn. I don't think they'll kill ya, but I'm not promising anything... * You probably shouldn't be able to go off the grid. If you do, start over. Honour system. * Dying just freezes the game. Just like in real life. Press Enter to restart.

Made in 48 hours with:
Godot
Photoshop
Reason
Audacity

www.JadeCupMaidHands.com
https://twitter.com/SpaceDoubt__

[If you play my game, I will play yours. Lex Talionis.]

Original URL

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/snake-on-a-plane

Ratings

Overall	452^th	2.844⭐	47🧑‍⚖️
Fun	334^th	3⭐	46🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	397^th	2.75⭐	46🧑‍⚖️
Theme	503^th	2.429⭐	44🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	505^th	2.333⭐	47🧑‍⚖️
Audio	159^th	3.262⭐	44🧑‍⚖️
Humor	253^th	2.568⭐	39🧑‍⚖️
Mood	463^th	2.487⭐	41🧑‍⚖️
Given		74🗳️	87🗨️

Feedback

jk5000

26. Apr 2017 · 18:33 UTC

The idea for this snake game is really fun, and both the music and graphic is very energetic. But for me the camera angle made the game difficult to play. I believe it would have been so much easier to play the game if the camera have been placed a bit higher, so the player can see just bit more of the snake and have a better view over the entire course.

Jupiter_Hadley

28. Apr 2017 · 14:50 UTC

Really neat idea! I included it in my Ludum Dare 38 compilation [video series](https://youtu.be/TFsh4EsXErU), if you’d like to take a look :)

xxDOOMbox

28. Apr 2017 · 23:27 UTC

hey man super clever title! :wink: haha fun game, it gets a lot more fun once you are able to see your own tail and have to avoid it. the music was good and it went well with the visual aesthetic. i have to agree with @jk5000, i think that the camera angle should be just slightly higher. i like the idea of having the snakes pov, but in actual gameplay it turns out that it needs to be just a little higher. i would have also really liked it if the camera panned as you move left or right. i think it would be much better than the immediate cut from one direction to the next. if you were to continue to work on this game post-jam, i would suggest adding some cool lighting effects. the plane already seems sort of disco- dance-floor-esque and with some cool lighting, i think you could really add to the game feel. nice work! highscore was 21 :fist:

Ilseroth

01. May 2017 · 04:52 UTC

Thought the 90 degree turns would actually be way more disorienting then they were. I had fun, if I had one nitpick it would be that the orbs appearing on top of you when moving forward causes a strobing effect (light dark light dark) which hurts my eyes a bit... and I'm not someone who usually is affected by that kind of thing so, just something to keep in mind. :)

wildmusketeer

01. May 2017 · 05:01 UTC

I like the idea to to do a 3rd person snake game, and the game was pretty fun in the beginning. After collecting a few orbs, it became a little hard to control with the extra speed though. I also agree with @xxdoombox that the moment of seeing your own tail/body was really awesome. Nice titles: snake on a plane and SOAP(are we picking up soap? haha)

pkenney

01. May 2017 · 05:09 UTC

Wow, this is an interesting twist on an old classic. I'll admit for the first couple of seconds I was skeptical, but the disorienting view and snap movement ended up really making this entry work well. I got up to 18 points before I took a risk I shouldn't have and lost it! I was like OH YEAH I DID SO GOOD THE MUSIC STOPPED, so I considered that a feature not a bug!

The music was excellent for a compo and fit the game perfectly. I don't think it would have been nearly as engaging without it.

All around strong offering here, very nice considering the super-tight scope. It was very focused and did what it did very well. I actually have no pain points to report in the controls.

I can see why the other commenters want the higher camera angle, but my own feeling is that this is what makes this game something different. Raise the camera and it's just snake, not snake on a plane. At least not THIS snake on a plane.

Burgee

01. May 2017 · 05:13 UTC

Man this got crazy as I got larger. The speed and flashing and difficulty was almost too much, but not QUITE too much =) I liked it and linked it to a buddy to try (he can't rate it though) and he also enjoyed it.

Nice take on snake - making it 3rd person and all, good luck!

jushiip

01. May 2017 · 05:41 UTC

For me it was very disorienting to control the turning of the snake. I think for this type of game a top-down view would work better. Other than that, good job! :sunglasses:

szczebel1995

01. May 2017 · 05:50 UTC

Man, this camera makes game more challenging but more fun since I need to remember my shape all the time :D Really fun game!

Titangea

01. May 2017 · 06:27 UTC

Well, is an interesting idea, but the camera makes difficult to understand the direction that is turning by the snake, maybe if a top view map is included this can be solved.

Porcus_Pie

01. May 2017 · 08:23 UTC

I enjoyed the idea, but overall the camera made it nigh on impossible to aim and navigate. The music was pumping though, and provided a great soundtrack. I would maybe try and improve either camera position or camera fov, if not then possibly a mini-map? Either way this was great, keep it up

jk5000

01. May 2017 · 08:31 UTC

I have now also rated your game.

digitaldude555

01. May 2017 · 09:13 UTC

First of commenting on the best part, music is nice. And I like the sound when you pick up the balls and how they change every time your score moves up.

It's an interesting and innovative take on the snake game but I still prefer the original top down version. The snake starts too big at the beginning and you can go out of bounds indefintely, either have the player come out the other side of the playing field or just put walls up.

Graphics were decent. Obviously it's snake so graphics have to be minimal here. My highscore is 10.

teekeks

01. May 2017 · 09:21 UTC

I loved the music! But as other said the camera was a bit wierd. Otherwise quite enjoyable!

Fanu

01. May 2017 · 10:05 UTC

I liked the overall mood of the game, would have been perfect for a big "fake-VR" cabinet of a 80's arcade!
The music is chasing and gives rhythm, graphics is minimal but it's OK.
The game reminded me of "Sonic & Knuckles" special stages... maybe a Snake on a (little) planet would have been more appropriate?

Good job though, it was fun!

oxrock

01. May 2017 · 10:19 UTC

Music stopped playing @ 14 points which lead to the game being awkwardly quiet by 17 points. It's funny how music can make all the difference. The instant 90 degree shift was a bit jarring at first but I quickly got accustomed to it. I think my 2 chief complaints really are the camera angle and the amount of food items to acquire. Obviously there are other issues such as being able to wander off the grid whenever you like. I think it'd be better if you'd instantly die if you left the playing field, it'd add more difficulty to the game which I think it'd lacking in at the moment. Fun attempt overall though I think.

KevTukk

01. May 2017 · 10:29 UTC

Okay, first: The title:

10/10

Now the rest:

I like the idea with the different colors. It's a fun twist on a really old game. I also like the graphics (simple and clean and they match the music) and **especially** the music. It's really energetic and gets you pumped.

But I did have some problems with the camera. The view it gives you is not optimal for this kind of game. A bit more zoomed out would be enough (I think, maybe) to make the game more playable and controlable. Also, I can go on an neverending journey off the plane and into the darkest depths of oblivion.

But still, a fun little idea. I like the concept and apart from this bug above and the camera issue I think you did a good job. :smiley:

IDid

01. May 2017 · 10:31 UTC

As has been said many times before, the camera does make the game a bit more difficult than it probably should. At first, I found the instant 90 degree turns to be a bit disorienting; having the camera smoothly turn would have been better.
That being said, I found the gameplay to be just as fun and challenging as the original, and the music fits the rest of the game very well. My high score was 18.

Loktor

01. May 2017 · 11:04 UTC

Nice soundtrack and classic gameplay of snake :D It's quite fun :) altough i was a bit confused initially as to what is happening :D especially after i died^^ would have been nice to see a score screen (i guess it didn't make it into the game due to time constraints) :) Great job finishing a game in 48 hours :)

palemachine

01. May 2017 · 14:21 UTC

Can't go wrong with a classic, although I didn't understand how it fits the theme. Loved the visual style, this kind of lo-fi 3d is something I really enjoy and rarely find in games these days! Music is nice.
I wish the camera would have a little transition animation for when you turn the snake, because the way it is right now is pretty abrupt and it disoriented me a bit each time I turned.

Aviland

01. May 2017 · 19:04 UTC

I'm also among the surprised. I was nowhere as disoriented as I thought the game mechanics would make me. Still, some more visual cues and a slightly different camera orientation would do wonders for the game.

Kalm004

01. May 2017 · 20:11 UTC

The camera is not the best for me, but the implementation of the game is quite nice.
You did a good job :)

CyManSAP

01. May 2017 · 23:15 UTC

This could have been A LOT better if the camera changes were more smooth and the camera was positioned up and farther away so I could actually tell what's going on. Besides that, this game was pretty fun.

Bookworm31

02. May 2017 · 04:54 UTC

I definitely enjoyed playing the game. The different perspective made it much more difficult, as you need to remember where you have been because you can't see the entire screen. The music was incredible and definitely a boost to the game. I did run into one interesting scenario where right after picking up a new orb I accidentally ran into myself, but the part that had not yet changed color. This didn't cause me to die, it just let me pass through. Only when I hit part of me that was the color I switched too did I die. Other than that, fun game, I enjoyed it.

andyman404

02. May 2017 · 05:16 UTC

Ooh that was a unique take on the classic snake game. First person snake is much more challenging. I liked how you can change color and go through the old color. Very clever concept!

Tommyflower

02. May 2017 · 07:29 UTC

Very dynamic game, never felt like this playing snake! The music is just perfect. I have to agree about camera angle: just a bit higher. Good job!

Anudin

02. May 2017 · 07:52 UTC

The graphics are neat (in a retro way that is) and fit the audio really well. Gameplay is pretty cool - that's a natural since it's ~~basically~~ Snake. What I would've thought of as a necessary thing to finish in time are the world boundaries - but I know how tight the time budget is. What could be improved to make the game much more appealing to me: a slightly angled camera so you can see where you're going, smooth camera turning (like others already stated) and change something about the way the snakes parts look that are in the camera. They somehow move jerky and it's like constantly flickering which is desorientating in the long run I think. But nevertheless you delivered something in 48 hours! Be proud and have a good day - Anudin

PUARSLIBURF

02. May 2017 · 14:11 UTC

This game's really fun (if a bit disorienting) and I had a really good time playing it. I like the concept of a 3d snake game where you have to remember where you've been to avoid it. Overall great game but the music stopped when I reached 14.

Fiery Squirrel

03. May 2017 · 11:33 UTC

Interesting approach on a classic like Snake!. I think it's a cool game but was a little bit difficult to play because of the camera. Probably a little bit further from the player or maybe slower pace would help with this. Also consider adding more feedback if you plan to extend it. I collected 13!

Tuteupaituamae

03. May 2017 · 12:45 UTC

Nice game art bro

Please hate us on https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/deep-bottom

JayTord

04. May 2017 · 17:01 UTC

Just scrolled page down to write the comment and noticed word 'camera' a lot of times... yeah, camera is probably main issue, it's uncomfortably to play with such camera position, zoom out would've been OK, if you wished to make first-person view, zoom in would've been better too, current version doesn't give you much info, but disturbs by 2-3 flashing spheres that represent head of your snake.

A little bug don't hurt much, but it's plenty of them, so they lower amount of joy from the game a bit too.

As for positive sides, I liked the music and colored orbs, my score is 15, got disturbed by "fake orbs" >_<

fanatrick

04. May 2017 · 17:50 UTC

Neat idea, but the colors are destroying my eyes x)

SecondDimension

04. May 2017 · 19:42 UTC

No way is your high score 39! I think we should dedicate literally all of Ludum Dare's resources to investigating that claim.
Music was really cool, helped drive you along and fitted the neon look. I think you could make this thing really fun with a few tweaks, like a turning animation so the camera didn't just flip. Also think it would be cool to be able to look round without turning (like a lean control in an FPS game).

**Final thought:** _Read Dune > make this snake a sand worm > make the orbs tiny soldiers > set the game in the Arrakis desert > make a million dollars_

Funkensteins Monster

05. May 2017 · 03:25 UTC

Love the art and music. 3rd person snake is a very interesting idea. I wish the camera was pulled back a bit more but otherwise this was really engaging. Only made it to 17 but i would definitely still be playing if the music didn't stop after 14. Great job.

x1212

06. May 2017 · 10:29 UTC

Nice idea, and even though the camera makes it a little hard to play it still works pretty well.

PhilStrahl

06. May 2017 · 20:06 UTC

First: Love the title :) The overall game reminded me a lot of old Amiga titles like the firsts attempts at usable 3d-graphics. And after a couple of turns, I got used to the jumpy 90° turns. Still, there are some thing I would have liked better: For one thing, there are no bounds, if I run out of plane, I am still going. This helped in the beginning, but it might not be intentional ;) The other thing would be some sort of compass on top, just the letter of the cardinal direction I am currently going. I am not suggesting a mini-map, though, that would defeat the whole point of it ;) Nontheless: I had quite a bit of fun with it, thank you! :)

willowblade

07. May 2017 · 12:47 UTC

A fun take on the snake concept!

Sometimes it was difficult to know where you exactly are due to the camera, maybe a mini map or something similar would be a nice addition.

But i enjoyed it, would definitely play again to beat my score =)
Also + humor points for the title!

PeachTreeOath

10. May 2017 · 04:23 UTC

lol the game gets a little creepy when the music stops and you just hear the weird moaning. Cool take on snake, I kinda wish the world was smaller so it would ramp up in difficulty faster but ah well. It differed in snake in that situational awareness becomes a thing and you have to keep a map of it all in your head, especially in the later levels.

zondarg

15. May 2017 · 21:18 UTC

SOAP, really funny :) rather fast, and at first I completely ran off the grid and didnt find my way back.. lol. But afterwards not bad, and I really liked the music. And, of course kudos for the title.
Good work!

Denny

17. May 2017 · 05:41 UTC

I reached 25 and I felt like a fleeting train! It was a little bit difficult to find the orbs when the snake got longer and longer. Maybe a hint like an arrow pointing to the orb would be better.

Jimbly

18. May 2017 · 05:04 UTC

Fun! Good thing there were not multiple snakes on the plane. I reached 21. On #20, I definitely, absolutely, almost certainly, ran over the orb once, but it didn't pick it up. It was exactly on the edge of the grid pattern. Got it when I can from the other direction though...

zirconcode

18. May 2017 · 12:25 UTC

Hilarious idea/presentation! Very fast paced, I love it. I do also think the camera could have been placed higher, although the restriction makes it interesting in its own righ ^^/

crefossus

19. May 2017 · 10:08 UTC

Pretty fun after getting a few dots and picking up speed. I enjoyed the pickup SFX and music. The starting speed might be increased a bit.

It felt a little like armagetron which is a good thing. The close up camera might work a little better if it was more consistent, but not sure. Right now the position changes depending on which direction you're facing. Fully committing to first person might be interesting too. here's an example of fp cam in armagetron https://youtu.be/YT1l6kmeD7w?t=36s

of course i guess you're doing mode7 so.. maybe it doesn't apply at all? :D

It might just be that there are no landmarks/walls to orient yourself easily