The Snake Game (Java Ver.)

Introduction

Remember the 70s when the first video games ever came out in public People went to the Arcades and spent for each game ~ $1 to beat them. Nowadays, Arcades are closed because we can now play every video game we want on the computer / online. It's easier than ever to publish games independently, so I'd like to take this opportunity to share my projects online next to college research work. I took the classic Snake Game as the first game I'd like to publish in public. To be honest, I "stole" the concept of this classic a little and tried to make the code on my own to improve my skills in programming games (I only watched a 40min tutorial to create the singleplayer mode, but I also took time to add more content to that game). The first game I've ever created is written in Java. 

The Snake Game

The original Snake Game was probably published in 1979, it was coded on the TRS-80.  Today, there are various versions of the same game concept available everywhere. The most famous versions may be "Nibbles" (published in 1991 by Microsoft), Google's "Snake Game" (as an easter-egg), "Pac-Man" (released in 1980) and "Slither.io" . 

It wasn't my intention to create a unique version of the Snake Game conception because I first wanted to slowly get into programming games and in UI / UX designs. This version of the Snake Game I tried to code lacks on originality, but I hope the experience is solid for the player. 

The goal of the game is simple: Try to eat as many apples (red circles) as possible. The Snake grows by eating one apple after another. 

Even though the Snake Games consist of high scores and doesn't include an ending, I decided to limit the Singleplayer-Mode. Let me explain it: 

The game currently includes two modes. 

Singleplayer  

It is what it is: Try to eat as many apples as possible and try to not collide with the borders or the Snake itself. There's a point where the player is able to finish the game completely, but it shouldn't be easy to achieve. The difficulty should be nearly compared with taking exams. The Singleplayer consists of three levels. The goal of each level is the same: try to eat as many apples as possible and please don't die. For completing a level, you need to achieve a score of 30 (40 for the last level). Each level adds more obstacles that should make the game a little more difficult.  More additional content (including more levels and challenges of course) is coming very soon. 

Multiplayer

In addition to the Singleplayer-mode, a multiplayer shouldn't be missed in current times where online gaming have become extremely mainstream. Although I haven't included an Online Mode yet, I tried to add a simple local co-op mode where two players play against each other. In this mode, there are no limits in the score. The goal is to achieve a higher score than the opponent sitting next to you. The game's finished after one of the players collide, the player with the highest score wins. The rules are common. (I'm still not sure if I should include an Online Mode, let's see...) 

Commentary

More content is considered to be included in that project in the upcoming future (which simply means that I plan to release updates). It's just the start of getting more into developing games that everyone can play. My goal's always to create stuff that's easy accessible for every human being (age and specific interests shouldn't matter).  There's always a beginning and an end.  

Future? 

On future projects, I would like to get more and more into interactive storytelling and try to find out a way to include music that connects experience and gameplay with much more intentions and meanings behind as well. ;) 

Bonus

One of the major issues during the creation process was to include a soundtrack to the game. I also tried to get some help, but still it's incredibly a mystery how to include music in a Java project through URL method.  That's why I'm sharing the (stupid) theme song of the game directly with the link below (you can try to play it in a loop in the background). It's surely not a masterpiece (just a simple beat), but I hope the music can increase the state of fun and make the game easier to enjoy ;) .