Snek

Overview

Snek is a classic snake game implemented as a part of the CS 61C project. The objective of the game is to navigate a snake through a grid, consuming fruits to grow longer while avoiding collisions with walls and the snake’s own body. This project focuses on C programming, memory management, and struct manipulation.

Project Requirements

Setup and Initial State:

• The game board consists of walls, empty spaces, fruits, and one or more snakes.
• Each snake is represented by a series of characters indicating its direction and position.
• Snakes move in the direction of their heads, growing longer when they consume fruits.

Game Mechanics:

• Implemented functions to manage the game state, including creating the default state, freeing allocated memory, and printing the board.
• Developed logic to update the game state, handling snake movements, collisions, and fruit consumption.
• Ensured proper memory management and efficient board loading from a file.

Tasks and Implementations:

1. create_default_state: Initialized the game board with a predefined layout and placed a snake and a fruit.
2. free_state: Freed all dynamically allocated memory for the game state, preventing memory leaks.
3. print_board: Printed the current state of the game board to a specified file.
4. update_state: Updated the game state based on snake movements, collisions, and fruit consumption.

Implementation

Structs and Memory Management:

• Utilized game_state_t and snake_t structs to manage the game board and snake information.
• Managed dynamic memory allocation for the game board and ensured efficient memory usage.

Game Logic:

• Implemented helper functions to determine snake characteristics and movements.
• Developed functions to update the snake’s head and tail positions, manage collisions, and handle fruit consumption.

File Handling:

• Implemented load_board to read the game board from a file, handling boards of varying sizes and shapes.
• Developed initialize_snake to create and initialize snake structs based on the game board.

Gameplay Integration:

• Combined all functions to create a working snake game that updates the board with each time step.
• Allowed for interactive gameplay and automated testing of various game scenarios.

Features

Basic Gameplay:
Implemented the core mechanics of the game, including snake movements, fruit consumption, and collision detection.

Memory Management:
Ensured efficient memory allocation and deallocation, preventing leaks and optimizing performance.

Interactive Gameplay:
Developed an interactive version of the game for users to play and test their implementations.

Conclusion

The Snek project provided hands-on experience in C programming, memory management, and game development. By completing this project, I gained valuable skills in handling dynamic memory, implementing complex game logic, and managing data structures in C.