SNAKE(6)                                                              SNAKE(6)



NAME
       snake, snscore - display chase game

SYNOPSIS
       /usr/games/snake [ -w_n ] [ -l_n ]
       /usr/games/snscore

DESCRIPTION
       Snake  is  a  display-based game which must be played on a CRT terminal
       from among those supported by vi(1).  The object of the game is to make
       as  much  money as possible without getting eaten by the snake.  The -l
       and -w options allow you to specify the length and width of the  field.
       By default the entire screen (except for the last column) is used.

       You are represented on the screen by an I.  The snake is 6 squares long
       and is represented by S’s.  The money is $, and an  exit  is  #.   Your
       score is posted in the upper left hand corner.

       You  can  move around using the same conventions as vi(1), the h, j, k,
       and l keys work, as do the arrow keys.  Other possibilities include:

       sefc   These keys are like hjkl but form a directed pad  around  the  d
              key.

       HJKL   These  keys  move  you all the way in the indicated direction to
              the same row or column as the money.  This does _n_o_t let you jump
              away  from the snake, but rather saves you from having to type a
              key repeatedly.  The snake still gets all his turns.

       SEFC   Likewise for the upper case versions on the left.

       ATPB   These keys move you to the four  edges  of  the  screen.   Their
              position  on the keyboard is the mnemonic, e.g.  P is at the far
              right of the keyboard.

       x      This lets you quit the game at any time.

       p      Points in a direction you might want to go.

       w      Space warp to get out of tight squeezes, at a price.

       !      Shell escape

       ^Z     Suspend the snake game, on systems which support it.   Otherwise
              an interactive shell is started up.

       To  earn  money, move to the same square the money is on.  A new $ will
       appear when you earn the current one.  As you  get  richer,  the  snake
       gets hungrier.  To leave the game, move to the exit (#).

       A record is kept of the personal best score of each player.  Scores are
       only counted if you leave at the exit, getting eaten by  the  snake  is
       worth nothing.

       As  in  pinball,  matching  the  last digit of your score to the number
       which appears after the game is worth a bonus.

       To see who wastes time playing snake, run _/_u_s_r_/_g_a_m_e_s_/_s_n_s_c_o_r_e _.

FILES
       /usr/games/lib/snakerawscores database of personal bests
       /usr/games/lib/snake.log      log of games played
       /usr/games/busy               program to determine if system too busy

BUGS
       When playing on a small screen, it’s hard to tell when you hit the edge
       of the screen.

       The scoring function takes into account the size of the screen.  A per‐
       fect function to do this equitably has not been devised.



4th Berkeley Distribution        May 20, 1985                         SNAKE(6)