The source code for acclaimed 2D puzzler platformer VVVVVV has been released by creator Terry Cavanagh to celebrate the title’s 10th anniversary.
Breaking to news in a blog post, Cavanagh explained the code fro both the desktop and mobile versions of the game can now be grabbed over on Github, and confessed that “even by the standard of self taught indie devs, it’s kind of a mess.”
The desktop code is the version that was ported to C++ by Simon Roth back in 2011 and later updated and maintained by Ethan Lee, while the mobile code is written in Actionscript for Adobe AIR and is based on the original v1.0 flash version of the game.
“I think even a peek of the source code will quickly reveal that VVVVVV is not a technically sophisticated game,” commented Cavanagh. “I dunno, what can I say? I was young and more interested in getting something on the screen than implementing it properly. Maybe the best thing about VVVVVV’s source code is that is stands as proof of what you can hack together even if you’re not much of a programmer.
“Looking back through it myself all these years later, I find it really funny how much of it is basically just the same parts copy and pasted over and over, with the values changed. This basically makes it impossible to read and maintain ten years later, but back when I was in the thick of it, it made it really fast to iterate and add new things. I’ve gained better habits over the past decade, and I’m definitely a better programmer now — but it does seem to take me longer to do things.”
Those of you keen to check out the code for yourself should head over to Github. The full announcement from Cavanagh is also well worth a read, as it contains a bunch of insights and reflections from the Irish developer, as well as the details for a surprise birthday event.