Blackmoth Entertainment

Ouroboros

Ouroboros is a remake of the classic Snake game, created for The Game Creators 2004 competition.
Aside from the game now being 3D, there are some big twists to the game structure... but first, the game controls:

Controls
In game
Z: not used
X: not used
C: hold for first person view
SPACE: Pause game
In editor
Z: Place block/object
X+left/right: flick through available blocks/pickups
X+up/down: Change the cursors Y position (higher/lower)
C+left/right: Change the angle of blocks you're placing (pickups don't have angle data)
C+up/down: Change from placing blocks to placing objects and vice-verca

Twists


* The game is more puzzle based than the classic version

* There are now enemies in some levels

* Water is featured in many levels, which the Ouroboros can drown in

* Level editor, to make your own levels

* And if you couldn't tell from the title... one more major twist

As in the classic Snake games, the objective is to eat food that makes your tail longer, thus making each level harder the more you get into it. The food of choice for the Ouroboros, are Golden Scarabs. As you eat them, your tail will grow and when you eat all of the Golden Scarabs in a level, the very tip of your tail will transform.
Here's the twist, like the Ouroboros depicted in statues and murals, you must complete the Ouroboros circle, by biting the tip of your tail. Just, remember to eat all the scarabs first or it will cause death like normal...

The Puzzles

Solid1: A generic block, used for walls or floors...
Solid2: Same as above, but a diff texture
Stairs: Approach them from the right direction, and you can climb up them
Ra's Eye Gate: Locked block. You can't get through without the Ra's Eye Disc
Bridge: This can be used as a bridge that you can go under/over... or with a lot, it can create tunnels
Anubis: Enemy Guards... more on these later
Spikes: These are on a timer, and pop up from the ground for a short time. When down, they are safe to walk over, when up they kill Ouroboros instantly
SandBlock: These collapse after you walk over them, preventing you from going back
Waterpads: Rolling over all the waterpads in a level will reduce the water level...
Red Telepods: Strolling over one of these will teleport you to the other red telepod in the level
Blue Telepods: Strolling over one of these will teleport you to the other blue telepod in the level
Switch: An arrow on the floor. Going over it in the correct direction will change the state of Switch Blocks
Switch Blocks: Switch blocks act just like Solid blocks, but when you go over a switch block invisible switch blocks will appear and visible ones will disapear
Rotating Block: A small tunnel. You can only enter it from two directions, and when you go through it, it rotates changing what two directions you can enter from...
Marble Floor: When you are on this, you can't change directions.
Float Switch: Can only be activated after eating 5 Golden Scarabs, then you press this and Silver Blocks will float
Silver Blocks: Activating float switch will make these normalish blocks raise 1 level higher. Useful for platforms and such
Fire Pedastol: If you run through this, your body will ignite on fire. Doesn't harm the snake, but if an Anubis touches you, he will die. The pedastol will never run out of fire, but if you are ignited and enter water, or kill an Anubis, the fire on you will go out
Push Blocks: These blocks can be shoved around by the snake, so long as there is an empty spot for it to be shoved into. Otherwise - death to snake

Coins: For some reason, the Ouroboros collects these. These just add points
Golden Scarab: The important thing. You need to eat all these to make your tail long and complete the level
Hex: Hexes teleport around the level at pre-set points. If you pick them up, it will make it harder to play :)
Ra's Eye Disc: These are needed to open the locked Ra's Eye Gates
Oxygen Jar: Jars that have tipped over... collecting these refills your oxygen meter underwater

Enemies


The Anubis Guards are the enemy of the Ouroboros (for some reason), they have pretty dumb AI, but that's a good thing, because if they had sophisticated path-finding AI, you'd never beat them. If you plan on making some levels, you should read what there AI is...

They work quite simply, if Ouroboros is to the left of them then they will try to go left unless an obstacle is in the way, if the Ouroboros is above them, then they will try to walk up unless an object is in the way. Priority is to north/south movement as opposed to east/west. (if that doesn't make sense... well just play some levels with the Anubis present and you'll get to understand it)

The Anubis will not enter water. So, the player can escape by going through rivers etc...
They also will not fall down pits. Even if there is something to land on, they will only go up or down a level, if there are stairs to use.

Of course, one touch from an Anubis is all it will take to kill Ouroboros. That's, one touch to the head of course, the rest of the Ouroboros is immune to everything, including gravity...

There are two ways to kill an Anubis though. The first is to force them in the water somehow... as they won't ever willingly step into the water, the only way (as far as I can see, perhaps there is some glitch or trick I havn't thought of...) is to use Switch Blocks (ie- as an Anubis walks over a bridge created by switch blocks, Ouroboros walks over a switch, removing the bridge and resulting in a drop to a watery demise for our Anubis friend)

The other way is with the Fire Pedastol. Ignite snake, and then ram the nearest Anubis...

Water

The Ouroboros will drown in water... but he can survive it for a short time, about 5 steps. When a level is built, the water can be at three levels: the very bottom (where it will just act as instant death if you fall of the level) just below the bottom blocks (Also instant death, but gives the impression the water is higher. Purely visual) and above the first blocks (where the first two blocks will be underwater, allowing for water puzzles)

Water Pads can also be used in levels, if you step on all of them it will reduce the waterlevel back to the very bottom. A good puzzle device, as you must find all the pads before you can enter the areas that were previously flooded.

Level Editor

You can make your own levels using this fanciful doohicky!
Simply place all the blocks and objects you want to use (making sure to place at least 1 scarab and a starting point) and save it. There are help buttons at the bottom left of the editor that when clicked on will tell you a little more about the level editors features...

Level Saving

When you save a level you will be asked for a filename, a level name and a description of the level. Filename is purely for locating the file and such, level name is what the player will see when selecting what level to play, and the description will also be shown to them when selecting a level...
When you save, two files will be created "filenameA.dat" stores the numbers, recording where all of the blocks and objects are located. "filenameB.dat" stores the text (filename,levelname and description)
If you want to give your levels to other people to play, just send those two files and tell them to place them in the folder "levels/custom" and they will appear when the player runs the game and selects to play a custom made level.