simple-go-snake

README

🐍 Simple Go Snake

A modern, hyper-optimized implementation of the classic Snake game that runs directly in your terminal. Written in Pure Go with a focus on Clean Architecture and O(1) Algorithms.

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⚡ Key Features (v4.0)

• 📦 AUR Support: Install easily on Arch Linux via simple-go-snake.
• ⏸️ Pause Game: Need a break? Press 'P' to freeze the snake.
• 💾 Standard Configs: Settings are saved automatically in your system's standard config folder (XDG/AppData).
• 📺 ASCII & Emoji Modes: Toggle between beautiful 🐍 graphics or SSH-friendly ASCII (%/@) mode.
• 🚀 True O(1) Performance: The engine uses a Linked List via Map structure. Movement is instant (~300ns) regardless of snake length.
• 💻 Cross-Platform: Native builds for Windows (with icon support), Linux, and macOS.

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📊 Benchmarks

The movement logic is implemented as a Linked List using a map[Coordinates]Coordinates. This ensures O(1) time complexity. Whether the snake has 10 segments or 10,000, the movement time remains constant.

Test Environment: Ryzen 5 5600H, Linux

Snake Length	Time per Op
Small (10)	~335 ns/op
Medium (1,000)	~283 ns/op
Huge (10,000)	~284 ns/op

Data obtained via go test -bench=. ./structs

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📥 Installation

Arch Linux (AUR)

The recommended way for Arch users:

paru -S simple-go-snake

Manual Download (All OS)

Download the executable for your OS from the Releases Page.

OS	File
🪟 Windows	snake-windows-amd64.exe
🐧 Linux	snake-linux-amd64
🍎 macOS (Apple Silicon)	snake-macos-arm64
🍎 macOS (Intel)	snake-macos-intel

(Linux/macOS users: run chmod +x <file> to make it executable).

Build from Source

git clone [https://github.com/XPLassal/simple-go-snake.git](https://github.com/XPLassal/simple-go-snake.git)
cd simple-go-snake
go build -ldflags "-s -w" -o snake .
./snake

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⚙️ Configuration

On the first run, the game will ask for your preferences (Size, Difficulty, Emoji/ASCII). These settings are saved permanently in your system's user folder:

• Linux: ~/.config/simple-go-snake/config.json
• Windows: %AppData%\simple-go-snake\config.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/simple-go-snake/config.json

Setting	Description
Columns	Map size (e.g., 20).
FPS	Set FPS number (10 recommended).
Allow Wall Pass	If y, the snake, upon hitting a border, wraps around and reappears on the opposite side of the map (Teleport mode). If n, hitting a border results in Game Over.
Multi Apple Mode	If y, several apples (food items) can be present on the map simultaneously. If n, only one apple will spawn at a time (Classic mode).
FPS	Set FPS number (10 recommended).
Hard Mode	If y, the game speeds up as your score increases.
Use Emojis	y for beautiful graphics. n for ASCII - recommended for SSH or older terminals.

Tip: Delete config.json to reset settings or press 'C' inside the game.

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🕹 Controls

Key	Action
W, A, S, D	Move Snake ⬆️⬅️⬇️➡️
P	Pause Game ⏸️
C	Config / Restart (Stops current game)
Q	Quit Game

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🏗 Technical Details

• Logic: map[Coordinates]Coordinates (Linked List) for O(1) movement logic.
• Rendering: strings.Builder + bufio.Writer for zero-allocation rendering per frame.
• Architecture: Clean separation of main (Loop), structs (Domain), and render (UI).

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.