Snake4d - a 4 spatial dimensional game [closed]

Question

I wrote a little 4 spatial dimension game, it's a 4D snake. The rule are the same as the game for the old Nokia cell phone - eat the food, don't cross yourself, don't go out of the borders.

What do you think of the idea? How do I make a better graphic of the UI? Do you have any suggestion? Like this actually seem a DOS game ...

Here is a little explanatory video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IUnqm8j4BE

And here there is a new version I did with OpenGL and C++: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaeqUp3jbls

Moreover I have a question, which from the two representation above you like more? Or better, do you have any idea how to represent the 4 dimension at the best?

Btw any comments, suggestions, and questions are appreciated about the UI, the game concept, etc.

Answer 1

Some thoughts:

Your first video refers to Time when introducing your fourth dimension. Time is not a spatial dimension and, therefore, is a metaphor that will only serve to confuse your audience.

From a quick Google search, I wasn't able to find any useful information about how to render 4 spatial dimensions onto a 2D screen but there must be some out there. The math behind 3D -> 2D is a right about at the limits of my mathematics mastery so I can't begin to postulate any effective ways to render an additional dimension. But, there's likely someone working on such research right now somewhere; you'll just need to find it.

The complexity of understanding movement between 4 dimensions is likely going to be beyond the grasp of much of your audience unless you spend a lot of time adjusting and catering to players through prototyping and playtesting. The difficulty of this dimensional leap is somewhat facetiously (but still applicably) addressed in this XKCD comic.

I'm not sure if you've heard of a game called Miegakure. It's a 4D platformer in which the player can shift between which 3 of the 4 spatial dimensions are visible/accessible. Unfortunately, the game is not yet released but there are some demo videos available on the game's site. Perhaps its approach to 4 dimensions could be helpful to you.

Good luck!