Not sure if this is the right forum to post, but after playing Micro Mages (amazing game) I was wondering;
Is it possible to create a 4-player Snake game on the NES?
I've had the idea for a while, but unfortunately I don't have the time or skill to program something like that. But I've created a mockup screenshot in the NES Screen Tool to see how it could technically work within the screen and color limitations of the NES. To be clear this is NOT in development or anything.
It would make sense to use the background tiles for the snake body/tail. This way, for each step, you only need to update the head and tail position. There is practically no size limit, the snakes could be really long without performance issues. However it does limit the animation, meaning the snake would move in blocks of 8x8 pixels. As long as the game keeps a steady pace, I don't think that's a big issue though. And then the sprites can be used for the snake head/eyes and the apples (or other bonus items).
![Image]()
Plus, if you choose the tail sprites carefully, you can use the CHR index to "store" the directions to which it is connected (up down left right= 4 bits) so 0001=up, 0010=down, 0011=up&down etc. Meaning the tile index also represents its connections to the rest of the snake body. You would only need to keep variables for the snake tail, and the update function could use the tile information to know where it should move to next. See screenshot below.
![Image]()
I think it could be a pretty cool game. The NES never had a commercial snake-like game, plus if it's four-player compatible it could be a battle royal style game (like Bomberman) where you can temporary freeze other snakes, get speed up/slow down, work in 2x2 teams (could have many gamemodes like capture the flag, paint the ground, football etc etc) But maybe also with a 1 or 2 player story-mode with like 20 levels where you eat all apples to open the door to the next level.
Let me know what you think
Is it possible to create a 4-player Snake game on the NES?
I've had the idea for a while, but unfortunately I don't have the time or skill to program something like that. But I've created a mockup screenshot in the NES Screen Tool to see how it could technically work within the screen and color limitations of the NES. To be clear this is NOT in development or anything.
It would make sense to use the background tiles for the snake body/tail. This way, for each step, you only need to update the head and tail position. There is practically no size limit, the snakes could be really long without performance issues. However it does limit the animation, meaning the snake would move in blocks of 8x8 pixels. As long as the game keeps a steady pace, I don't think that's a big issue though. And then the sprites can be used for the snake head/eyes and the apples (or other bonus items).
Plus, if you choose the tail sprites carefully, you can use the CHR index to "store" the directions to which it is connected (up down left right= 4 bits) so 0001=up, 0010=down, 0011=up&down etc. Meaning the tile index also represents its connections to the rest of the snake body. You would only need to keep variables for the snake tail, and the update function could use the tile information to know where it should move to next. See screenshot below.
I think it could be a pretty cool game. The NES never had a commercial snake-like game, plus if it's four-player compatible it could be a battle royal style game (like Bomberman) where you can temporary freeze other snakes, get speed up/slow down, work in 2x2 teams (could have many gamemodes like capture the flag, paint the ground, football etc etc) But maybe also with a 1 or 2 player story-mode with like 20 levels where you eat all apples to open the door to the next level.
Let me know what you think
Statistics: Posted by BdR — Wed Jul 24, 2024 7:48 am — Replies 0 — Views 25