VVVVVV Source Code

#1

Post by radeeyate » Tue, May 06, 2025, 11:22 PM UTC

VVVVVV Source Code
github.com

Re: VVVVVV Source Code

#2

Post by neonsunset » Wed, May 07, 2025, 1:18 AM UTC

Was very confusing to see C++ and ActionScript until I realized this is VVVVVV and clearly not VVVV!

Re: VVVVVV Source Code

#3

Post by peterldowns » Wed, May 07, 2025, 1:38 AM UTC

Incredibly fun game, I'm not a huge gamer but I remember buying the Humble Bundle just to get this. One of the few games that I've spent the time to finish. Awesome work, Terry, and thank you for the great times!

btw also fuck you for veni vidi vici, jeez that took me a while!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CtiY5D6HCs

Re: VVVVVV Source Code

#4

Post by woleium » Wed, May 07, 2025, 1:41 AM UTC

tangentially related, great to see https://www.iiiiiiii.com/ is still going

Re: VVVVVV Source Code

#5

Post by dang » Wed, May 07, 2025, 1:52 AM UTC

Related. Others?

Is opening up your source code worth it? Terry Cavanagh thinks it was for VVVVVV - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25727963 - Jan 2021 (16 comments)

Many games are held together by duct tape - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22043156 - Jan 2020 (154 comments)

VVVVVV Source Code Released - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22011465 - Jan 2020 (1 comment)

VVVVVV’s source code is now public, 10 year anniversary jam happening now - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22011358 - Jan 2020 (223 comments)

VVVVVV 60% Off On The Mac App Store This Weekend - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2347676 - March 2011 (1 comment)

Re: VVVVVV Source Code

#6

Post by rafram » Wed, May 07, 2025, 1:55 AM UTC

Awesome game. Good to see the code is authentically bad for an indie game of that era.

Re: VVVVVV Source Code

#7

Post by TZubiri » Wed, May 07, 2025, 1:58 AM UTC

Loved the game, sweet and short.

It's one of those twists that reward programmers that can think outside of the box and execute instead of downloading some generic libraries and making yet another platformer.

Re: VVVVVV Source Code

#8

Post by zahlman » Wed, May 07, 2025, 1:58 AM UTC

neonsunset wrote: post #2

Was very confusing to see C++ and ActionScript until I realized this is VVVVVV and clearly not VVVV!

I was confused trying to figure out how they would interoperate, or be useful in the same project. Turns out the desktop version is in C++ and the mobile version is in ActionScript. I assume there were good reasons for this.

Re: VVVVVV Source Code

#9

Post by oofabz » Wed, May 07, 2025, 2:22 AM UTC

rafram wrote: post #6

Awesome game. Good to see the code is authentically bad for an indie game of that era.

Authentically bad is a good way to put it. My favorite part is the 3300 line Game::updatestate() function and its gigantic switch statement.

Re: VVVVVV Source Code

#10

Post by phire » Wed, May 07, 2025, 2:23 AM UTC

zahlman wrote: post #8

neonsunset wrote: post #2

Was very confusing to see C++ and ActionScript until I realized this is VVVVVV and clearly not VVVV!

I was confused trying to figure out how they would interoperate, or be useful in the same project. Turns out the desktop version is in C++ and the mobile version is in ActionScript. I assume there were good reasons for this.

The names are kind of misleading, as there appear to be both iOS and android ports of the "desktop version". I'm not sure which version you actually get if you buy the game on iOS/Android.

The original desktop release in 2010 was based on flash (presumably using Adobe Air for desktop? There was also a flash web demo), but there were issues, and flash was really hard to port to linux. So they rewrote the entire game in c++ in 2011, for easier porting. It's that rewrite that is what's labeled as "desktop version". It's the most up-to-date and polished version.

The "mobile version" is a fork of the original 1.0 flash code base, and IMO it's only really interesting because it's much closer to what Terry originally wrote.