
Show HN: 4snakes – a classic Snake game but with 4 snakes - xojoc
https://xojoc.pw/games2d/4snakes/
======
xojoc
Hi everyone! I wanted to learn Typescript and experiment with PWAs[1] so I
decided to create these little games. In fact if you go to
[https://xojoc.pw/games2d/](https://xojoc.pw/games2d/) in some mobile browsers
you'll receive a prompt to install the games. They should work offline too.

You can find the code on my GitHub:
[https://github.com/xojoc/games2d](https://github.com/xojoc/games2d)

[1] [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/Progressive_web...](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/Progressive_web_apps)

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matthewhartmans
Mate, this is sick! Incredible job!

You should totally publish this to Google Play! (it's very little effort)

See the guide from Google
[https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2019/02/using-
twa](https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2019/02/using-twa)

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saagarjha
Unfortunately it looks like the game fails with an error in Safari if you eat
food :(

~~~
xojoc
Hi, unfortunately I cannot test on Safari. Could you send me a screenshot of
the console/error? Thank you!

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knubie
Not OP, but this is the error I'm getting in Safari:
[https://imgur.com/a/bIHP8I5](https://imgur.com/a/bIHP8I5)

~~~
xojoc
Thank you! I opened an issue:
[https://github.com/xojoc/games2d/issues/10](https://github.com/xojoc/games2d/issues/10)

I'll try to find out the problem.

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eps
I get 4 snakes, can control one, the rest remain stationary. It will then also
show circle-food thingies that jump around, but always of a color that's not
mine.

I suspect that's not how it is supposed to play, no? Using Mobile Safari.

~~~
xojoc
Hi eps, you're supposed to control only one snake at a time. When the snake
eats some food (i.e. the circles) the snake of the corresponding color starts
to move.

Sorry for the confusion... btw, under the game there's a short description of
the game.

~~~
zakki
I don’t see it worked like that. After eating a food no snake moves. I’m on
mobile safari.

~~~
xojoc
Ops, there's a bug with Safari:
[https://github.com/xojoc/games2d/issues/10](https://github.com/xojoc/games2d/issues/10)

Sorry for the confusion!

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Jeff_Brown
This makes me want to try a version where you control two snakes at once.

The steering interface is much harder than the traditional 4-direction
version. (Not saying that's good or bad, just saying it.)

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JamesSwift
I wrote a simultaneous control version a long time ago (very naive game
implementation, please forgive the code): [https://github.com/J-Swift/clj-
multi-snake](https://github.com/J-Swift/clj-multi-snake)

Its pretty difficult to play actually. I find the best method is to control
one in a circle while capturing with the other.

~~~
Jeff_Brown
Interesting. Now I"m wondering how to motivate someone to use both of them.
Maybe two different kinds of food, specific to each snake?

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JamesSwift
It has that feature already : )

3/4 of the food are for either snake, 1/4 is for a particular snake.

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newnewpdro
Neat little game, but the controls suck.

I think it'd be a lot easier to control the snake if you had the turning
radius start wider and decrease over dozens of frames of constant turning
before clamping to the tight one you currently use initially. That way the
player could modulate turning a bit to maintain a larger turning radius, as
well as make subtle corrections with small taps.

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AGoogleEmployee
The game is lots of fun and a creative take on snake. The sound effect is very
loud though. Cool work.

~~~
xojoc
Thank you! In the upper left corner you can lower the volume. I should
probably make it lower by default.

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sc9311
I also was confused by the 4 snakes concept. I think perhaps it could have
been solved by putting a different color food in front of the snake when the
board is initialized. This way the "time to snake change" is reduced
drastically.

~~~
xojoc
Hi sc9311, I like the idea, thanks!

(I opened an issue to track it:
[https://github.com/xojoc/games2d/issues/11](https://github.com/xojoc/games2d/issues/11))

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PopeDotNinja
I officially suck at this game, but it is pretty cool :-)

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riffraff
this is a great game, I only with it had less degrees of freedom (I.e. only
4/8 directions), it's super difficult to control while also thinking for me :)

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xojoc
Hi riffraff, 4 directions always felt "artificial" to me, maybe with 8 it
could work!

Thank you for trying the game :)

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quickthrower2
Game halts on iPhone 6 safari in food eat.

~~~
xojoc
Yeah, seems to be a problem with Phaser in Safari when playing a sound:
[https://github.com/xojoc/games2d/issues/10](https://github.com/xojoc/games2d/issues/10)

