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[psyguy]

Hi!  I've been keeping a small thread for this game in the devlogs forum, and I've got the first set of levels ready to go.

The game is playable in a desktop browser or a mobile browser at http://www.snakeswithoutbrakes.com/

These first few levels are of course warmup levels, so players can get used to the controls, the objectives, and so forth.  They are not meant to be very hard, difficulty is subjective for sure, but I don't want people getting stuck helplessly when they're still learning the game.

I've tested this in chrome, firefox, and also on the silk and chrome browsers on mobile platforms.  Performance is best in chrome (this seems common among web apps in general), but it's a puzzle game, so the other browsers do good as well, just a little slower on animation.

If anything crashes and burns, let me know!  If any of the levels seems too hard, too, please slap me for making a warmup level too hard!  One more feedback I'm interested in is the readability, especially if you try it out on a mobile device.

Here's an example of the gameplay, on the way out!

[RedHickory]

I played through to level 6.  I like the level of polish on the game already.  The UI is smooth and makes sense.  My only suggestion is with the input.  I don't mind clicking the snake I want to move, but on a desktop browser it would be really nice to be able to use the keyboard.  I realize that's conceptually difficult when you start controlling multiple snakes.  Still, I found myself clicking and dragging beyond the adjacent tiles quite a bit and nothing happened.  Maybe the click and drag functionality could extend to any tile in a cardinal direction?  That way you wouldn't get so many click-and-drags where nothing happens.  Overall, nice effort.

[AntonTesh]

I love this! It's a really cool, puzzle-y twist on the original snake game. The variation and amount of puzzle elements you've added are great (seems like something new on every level). You did a great job with explanation and showing how something should work just by looking at it.

I have two minor issues with it:
At first I thought the areas without brown blocks would cause the snake to "fall off" or lose so I avoided them. I highlighted what I meant in this image:


It was a little hard to read the UI overlays because they are semi-transparent. The noise of objects behind them made it difficult.


Nice job, I'm a fan!

[psyguy]

My only suggestion is with the input.  Maybe the click and drag functionality could extend to any tile in a cardinal direction?  That way you wouldn't get so many click-and-drags where nothing happens.  Overall, nice effort.

Thanks for the suggestion, this works very well!  I set it up so you can do this, up until you run into a wall.  So if your snake is 3 steps away to the right from a wall, you can drag and drop onto any of those 3 tiles to move that way, and it also properly highlights as you move the cursor.  Same thing on a mobile touchscreen, except I think it's even more of an upgrade there!

I have two minor issues with it:
At first I thought the areas without brown blocks would cause the snake to "fall off" or lose so I avoided them.

Thanks, and thanks for taking the time to illustrate exactly what you mean!  I didn't think about that, but it makes sense, it could be like falling off the screen in a Mario game, instadeath.  So, I completely changed the intro message on 0.4, letting the player know that the snakes will just stop, not die.  Also, it gave me an excuse to further incorporate the PETA storyline I have in the game!  Yes!

It was a little hard to read the UI overlays because they are semi-transparent. The noise of objects behind them made it difficult.

Good tip.  I previously had it at 80% opacity, now it's at 95% opacity.

All changes are now live, moved to version 0.9.01!

[AntonTesh]

So much easier to read now! I love the PETA joke
Your fix for RedHickory's feedback about dragging feels great too!

[psyguy]

A new level set is available!  Level set 1.1-1.9 introduces spinning blades that kill snakes who run into them, and also pushable blocks, the snakes can push them around the level.



These levels are a little trickier than the warmup levels, but most of them are still not too hard.  Not until the last one, anyway.........

If you played 1 or more of the previous level set, the game will try to automatically start you on the first level in this new set, you can still go back to the others using the "levels" menu.  (Also try this menu in case the code doesn't properly detect that you already beat one or more of the previous level set.)

Like last time, the levels are playable at snakeswithoutbrakes.com!

[valrus]

I like it, especially the snakes with missing segments and the ones with two heads.

The snake bodies would be easier to distinguish if they were at least partially colored like their heads; otherwise you have to remember who's who when you've got a jumble of snakes.

I agree that it needs some keyboard controls; the Snakebird controls should work fine.  (Also, assume I'm going to keep using the same snake until I click on a different one. "Awake snake" vs. "sleeping snake" is a good control metaphor.)

I also found the non-difference between blocks and empty panels counter-intuitive, especially given wrap-around levels, scrolling levels, etc.

[psyguy]

The snake bodies would be easier to distinguish if they were at least partially colored like their heads

Got to think about this one.  I have an outline around each snake when you mouseover, but if you're not hovering it's no use.  Maybe hold space bar (or whatever key) to force highlight for all snakes, kind of like how you would used to hold ALT in the diablo games to show all item labels...

I agree that it needs some keyboard controls

This is tough because of the two headed snakes, if both heads can move to the left, then which one moves to the left when you use the keyboard.  You could decide that depending on which head you clicked, but what if you clicked the body, or you thought you clicked one head and you actually got the neck, etc.  I'm open to ideas here.

I also found the non-difference between blocks and empty panels counter-intuitive, especially given wrap-around levels, scrolling levels, etc.

Damn.  I was hoping changing one of the level descriptions would be enough, but you're right.  I gotta roll up my sleeves a little bit on this one, but I think I can retrofit the extra cell at the edge of each level (the one that shows the "you can screenwrap here" tile) to also support a similar wall tile, for those edge spots that look like maybe you could screenwrap.

Thanks!

[psyguy]

Another level set is here!  This level set (2.1-2.9) adds two new objects, arrows and tunnels.  A snake that collides with an arrow block is forced to change its direction, which can lead to terrible things, and tunnels will only allow a snake to move through them on one axis, otherwise the snake hits the side of the tunnel and stops.



There's also some gameplay additions and fixes.  Holding down ALT will highlight all of your snakes so you can identify them more easily, and also, if you click on a snake at the very edge of a level, you now get a move target on the edge of the level you can screenwrap to.  Before you had to move the mouse to the other side of the level to complete the screenwrap, that was a hassle.  Last but not least, every level has been revised to include better wall markings, with new corner walls and half walls, so you know exactly when you can or can't screenwrap to a certain location.

All sales are final, and everything is now live at snakeswithoutbrakes.com!

[psyguy]

Thanks for coming back, there's another level set ready to play!  In these levels, you meet the new fragile block, which is a block that will fall apart when your snake runs into it.  You also can meet the multicolored snakes, they're snakes with 2 heads, except each head is a different color!  Not only that, but there are also special color converters on some levels, and your snakes will change colors as they pass through them.



If you have played the game before, then you will be automatically started on the newest level set you haven't tried yet, and you can also use the level select menu (on the top of the screen) to pick whichever level you want to start on.

The levels are online now at snakeswithoutbrakes.com!

[psyguy]

The last level set (for now at least) is ready!  This is the hardest set of levels, of course, and part of the reason is because this level set adds teleporters to the game!



The teleporters are color coded, so you always know where one teleporter will lead to, don't have to guess or memorize anything.

There is also a new color of snake, it is the black snake, and he is a murderous snake!  He will take out other snakes, part of them if he hits them in the middle, or a permanent fatality if he lands a headshot!

All of the levels are now online at snakeswithoutbrakes.com!