The Munching Millipede

Introduction

You must guide a hungry millipede around collecting hearts and avoiding obstacles. This is a snake like game where the millipede is constantly moving and you control which way it should turn. As you collect hearts, your millipede will grow and score points. There are 10 difficulties that increase the number of obstacles to avoid. Higher difficulties also reward you with more points per heart. Every 10th heart you collect, may also add a single obstacle to the play area. Good luck!

Controls

Use the keyboard (WASD) to change the direction of the millipede. On the title screen use up (W) and down (S) to change the difficulty, and space to begin.

NOTE: Due to the slow nature of running a game loop in BASIC, joystick controls were not responsive, and keyboard worked better due to key presses be pulled from the buffer. I also simulated this in the web version as it is a key feature.

Development

The Munching Millipede game is written in Commodore BASIC 2.0 for the Commodore 64. The web port on this page is written in JavaScript and intended to look and feel like the C64 version, but is a demo and doesn't contain everything, such as sound.

• C64 version: VSCODE using the VS64 extension and tested in the Vice emulator
• Web version: VSCODE pure JavaScript and tested in Chrome
• Aseprite for custom character design, web sprites sheets, and game related images
• developer: Steve
• brainstorming partners and design helpers: April and Isabella

History

As a kid I always wanted to create video games, but I was too impatient. I would learn a little BASIC here and there, then forget it, and each time I tried was like starting over. It wasn't until much later in life that I would get back into writing code, and it is as much fun as I always thought it would be. In the back of my mind I would keep going back to that childhood dream of creating games. I started a couple here and there in JavaScript, but could never quite get one to a finish the finish line. Then one day, I started writing a snake game on the Vice emulator, and that was it. It was finally time to finish one, and not just any one, but one written in the way I would have done it as a kid. This time, I will finish it for real.