Snake Byte FAQ(Apple game) by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net Version 1.0.1 Copyright 2001 Snake Byte is copyright 1981 by Sirius Software Inc. and Chuck Sommerville. I am not affiliated with them in any fashion but wanted to make a brief document to keep this interesting game's memory alive. If you wish to post this on your web site, please drop me a note addressing me by name(don't depersonalize me, man :) ) and it will likely be received favorably. I don't intend to profit off this, and I don't think there's much profit in this, but I appreciate people asking. ******** AD SPACE ******** My site with stuff about other Apple games: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762 ************************* WHAT IS SNAKE BYTE? FAQ GUIDELINES POINTS OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF SNAKE BYTE LEVELS VERSIONS/CREDITS ************************* WHAT IS SNAKE BYTE? You're this snake that goes around collecting apples on a 40x40 grid. You have to collect 10 before you can exit at the top center, but for each apple you collect(shown one at a time for the most part) you get bigger--and you are more likely to crash into yourself. As the levels increase, different obstacles are placed in the grid. In addition, there's a timer for getting the apples. If you don't, three more appear, and if you die, those three are added to the 10 required next time you go apple hunting. But you have to pick them up singly, which is a pain. There are cheat versions of Snake Byte floating around that don't have you timed after you pick up the first apple, allow you to start on a higher level, or get a bunch of snakes. They make the game rather more interesting and playable. Snake Byte is a graphical extension of a more basic game, "White Lightning," where you chased randomly-valued boxes in an arena without any plums until you got killed. There was also a text version TRS-80 game called "Hustler" which was on the computer at my elementary school and whose title some concerned parents upset. These games generally used arrays to keep track of your snake's length, and frequently your snake would break off when the length got to be 200 or so. Only boxes appearing on top of your tail would clear things. FAQ GUIDELINES: y=0 is the top of the screen, as in Apple GR. In the map, - may indicate more than one unit on the screen. * never does. POINTS You receive 10x points for each apple you hit, where x=1+.5p and p=# of plums. You receive a bonus of 20x points if you get through a level without losing a snake. In any case you receive an extra snake when you win a level. Each arena is 40x40, including the border on the outside. OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF You have approximately 100 moves to nail an apple before more appear. Your snake head goes three times as fast as the counter. Your snake's length starts at 12 units. It grows by 10 units for each apple you hit until you crash or win the level. Note that this means you can never catch the very end of your tail unless you've just eaten an apple(Galen Komatsu pointed this exception out to me.) PROOF: Make the arena a 40x40 checkerboard. Assume your head is on a BLACK square. Then the next move will lead to a white, then black, and so on. Given that your tail is (11+10x) moves away from your head, and that is an odd number, it will be on a WHITE square if your head is on BLACK. Similar reasoning for if your head is on a WHITE square. So you can never hit it in the standard course of play, unless(as Galen Komatsu points out) you have just eaten an apple, and your snake is growing. The best way to try this is on the first level. Since you start out at 12 units, you will have to double back a bit to get to your tail--if you don't, you'll grow 10 units but need to reach 12. Shortening the distance from the tail to the plum is best done by alternating on the left and right arrows. You enter at x=20, y=39 and must leave at x=20, y=0. If you hit left or right before starting a level, you will crash into the bottom wall you come out of. Plums move diagonally and bounce predictably. The plum below, going SE, will bounce back in the direction it came: o +<-apple The plum below if it is bouncing SE will bounce back NE. However the one to the right will bounce backwards. o o ====+ <-you /=+ | Plums may travel in one of the four cardinal directions if they are pressed for space. Also on many boards they will bounce back and forth until you break up their patterns, particularly the one in the upper left. SNAKE BYTE LEVELS There are 29 levels in Snake Byte. After you complete them, you go through them again. Hooray. Note that the * in the maps below may be points on the 40x40 grid but the - and | are lines. LEVEL 1 Blank. LEVEL 2 Bar in middle (10, 20) to (30, 20) Color: Orange/green stripes $$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ *-*-* $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$ LEVEL 3 Plus sign Color: red/orange stripes $$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ * $ $ | $ $ *-*-* $ $ | $ $ * $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$ LEVEL 4 E Color: white $$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ *-*-* $ $ | $ $ *-*-* $ $ | $ $ *-*-* $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$ LEVEL 5 Double-H Color: white/green $$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ * * * $ $ | | | $ $ *-*-* $ $ | | | $ $ * * * $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$ LEVEL 6 Box with opening at (20, 10) and (21,10) Color: black/purple $$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ *- -* $ $ | | $ $ * * $ $ | | $ $ *-*-* $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$ LEVEL 7 Zigzag in middle. Openings at (11-14, 10/30) as well as (26-29, 20). Color: Orange/black $$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ * *-* $ $ | | $ $ *-* * $ $ | | $ $ * *-* $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$ (NTS) LEVEL 8 Two lines. From (1,19) to (18,19) and (21,20) to (38,20). Color: green/red $$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $-*- -*-$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$ LEVEL 9 Columns Color: white/green Lines at (5/10/15/20/25/30/35, 10-30). LEVEL 10 Interlocked E(holes at (26-29, 10/20/30) and (11-14, 15/25)) Colors: blue E, green interlocking $$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ *-*-*-* * $ $ | | $ $ * *-*-*-* $ $ | | $ $ *-*-*-* * $ $ | | $ $ * *-*-*-* $ $ | | $ $ *-*-*-* * $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$$$$$ (NTS--box boundary at (10,10)/(30,30)) LEVEL 11 Box with vertical line(10/30, 19/20) Color: green/orange stripe $$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ *-*-* $ $ | | | $ $ * $ $ | | | $ $ *-*-* $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$ LEVEL 12 Box with sides(10/30, 20)open and line (20, 18-22) inside Color: red/orange stripe box with orange line $$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ *-*-* $ $ | | $ $ * $ $ | | $ $ *-*-* $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$ LEVEL 13 Maze that starts at (7,7) and each vertex to (31,31) is at (6x+1, 6x+1) Color: white/blue Maze map: (upper left removed so plum can bounce around) *-* *-* | | | *-* *-* * | *-* * *-* | | * * *-*-* | | * *-*-* * LEVEL 14 Rooms. A big box with corners at (5,5) and (34,34) and holes at (10/30,19) and (5/19/34,20) and reflections about y=x thereof Color: black/green LEVEL 15 Two square rooms. (18,1) to (18,18) to (1,18) on top, (23,38) to (23,23) to (38,23) on bottom. Holes at y=9, 10, 29, 30. Color: white/blue LEVEL 16 Broken-up plus, making four rooms. (19,1) to (19,16), (19,22) to (19,38), and reflections about y=x thereof LEVEL 17 Four lines, (1,18) to (18,18), (21,1) to (21,18), (18,21) to (18,38), (21,21) to (38,21). Color: white/green LEVEL 18 Lnes at x=y=19, breaks at (9,19), (19,9), (29,19), (19,29). Color: purple/black LEVEL 19 Squares with corners (5,5)/(34,34) and (10,10)/(29,29) and holes at x=20 and y=20(i.e. 4 holes each.) Colors: red/orange stripes for outside square, blue/black for inside LEVEL 20 Maze. Six columns/rows with corners at (5,5) and (35,35). Color: Blue (The top pixel is out so that the plum can move around.) -* *-*-* *-* | | | * * *-* * * * | | | * *-* * * *-* | | | | * * *-*-*-* * | * *-* *-*-* * | | * * * *-*-* * | | | | * * *-*-* *-* LEVEL 21 Two squares, with corners at (5,5) and (34,34) and (10,10) and (29,29) respectively. They have holes at (5/34, 19/20) and (29, 19/20). Color: purple LEVEL 22 Box with horizontal lines through (10/20/30, 10/20/30) and points removed in 1-square radius from (10/20/30, 10/20/30). Color: blue ***** * * * * * * *** *** * * * * * * ***** (NTS) LEVEL 23 Vertical lines at y=18 and y=21. Holes at (18, 9/10) and (21, 29/30). LEVEL 24 A bunch of horizontal lines from x=5 to x=34, broken at x=20. From (19,16 to (19,23) there is a straight line as well as from (21,16) to (21,23). Above and below there are horizontal lines every other coordinate. Rough sketch: etc. **** **** **** **** **** **** y=16 * * * * **** **** y=23 **** **** **** **** etc. LEVEL 25 A bunch of bent lines. Color: Blue/black and green/black. ggggggggggggggggggggggggg g b g bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb b g b b g b ggggggggggggggggggg b g b g b g b g bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb b g b g b b g b g b ggggggggggggggg b g b g b g b g b g b g bbbbbbbbbbbbb b g b g b g b b g b g b g b ggggggggggg b g b g b g b g b g b g b g b g bbbbbbbbb b g b g b g b g b b g b g b g b g b ggggggg b g b g b g b g b g b g b g b g b g b g bbbbb b g b g b g b g b g b b g b g b g b g b g b ggg This structure's upper corner is (3,6) and its lower corner is (36,33). LEVEL 26 Four rooms--tough to describe so I'll give a text map below. Colors: orange in upper left, blue/black in upper right, green/purple in lower left, blue in lower right. * * y=7 * * * * ******** ********* ******** ******** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ******************* ****************** ******************* ****************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ******** ********* ******** ******** * * * * * * y=32 LEVEL 27 Vertical and horizontal lines at x, y= 9, 19 and 29, except for when y, x=4, 14, 24, 34. This creates a "room" effect. Most have 4 units on each side of the door unless they are at the top or left, in which case there are 3 and 4. Color: blue LEVEL 28 Divided in two parts by a winding maze. Color: blue ********* * * * y=1 * * * * * * * ********* y=18 ********* y=20 * * * * * * * * * * y=38 ********* x=20^ LEVEL 29 Vertical and horizontal lines at x, y= 9, 19 and 29, except for when y, x=4, 34. Much tougher than 27, and you'll find that you may have to fill up a room by "swimming" back and forth. LEVEL 30 See level 1. Bonus and points are reset. ****************** End of FAQ proper VERSIONS/CREDITS * ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net for having this old favorite from my childhood. * Some people at the GameFAQs Apple IIe board(pepper2000 started a thread,) for bringing this game's memory back to me. * Galen Komatsu(gkomatsu@hawaii.edu) for pointing out how to catch the snake's tail. I think he was in on the thread too. 1.0.1 4/2/2001: added info about chasing your tail :) 1.0.0 1/28/2001: submitted first version to GameFAQs.com. Might add more level-specific strategy later.