Play with this...it uses a tight loop to consume the keypresses until the set delay has expired. You also don't have to hold down the key to keep the snake moving. It was very responsive on my system:
class Program
{
public enum Direction
{
Up,
Down,
Right,
Left
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
const int delay = 75;
string snake = "O";
char border = 'X';
int x, y;
int length;
bool crashed = false;
Direction curDirection = Direction.Up;
Dictionary<string, bool> eaten = new Dictionary<string, bool>();
Console.CursorVisible = false;
ConsoleKeyInfo cki;
bool quit = false;
while (!quit)
{
Console.Clear();
Console.Title = "Use 'a', 's', 'd' and 'w' to steer. Hit 'q' to quit.";
// draw border around the console:
string row = new String(border, Console.WindowWidth);
Console.SetCursorPosition(0, 0);
Console.Write(row);
Console.SetCursorPosition(0, Console.WindowHeight - 2);
Console.Write(row);
for (int borderY = 0; borderY < Console.WindowHeight - 2; borderY++)
{
Console.SetCursorPosition(0, borderY);
Console.Write(border.ToString());
Console.SetCursorPosition(Console.WindowWidth - 1, borderY);
Console.Write(border.ToString());
}
// reset all game variables:
length = 1;
crashed = false;
curDirection = Direction.Up;
eaten.Clear();
x = Console.WindowWidth / 2;
y = Console.WindowHeight / 2;
eaten.Add(x.ToString("00") + y.ToString("00"), true);
// draw new snake:
Console.SetCursorPosition(x, y);
Console.Write(snake);
// wait for initial keypress:
while (!Console.KeyAvailable)
{
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(10);
}
// see if intitial direction should be changed:
cki = Console.ReadKey(true);
switch (cki.KeyChar)
{
case 'w':
curDirection = Direction.Up;
break;
case 's':
curDirection = Direction.Down;
break;
case 'a':
curDirection = Direction.Left;
break;
case 'd':
curDirection = Direction.Right;
break;
case 'q':
quit = true;
break;
}
// main game loop:
DateTime nextCheck = DateTime.Now.AddMilliseconds(delay);
while (!quit && !crashed)
{
Console.Title = "Length: " + length.ToString();
// consume keystrokes and change current direction until the delay has expired:
// *The snake won't actually move until after the delay!
while (nextCheck > DateTime.Now)
{
if (Console.KeyAvailable)
{
cki = Console.ReadKey(true);
switch (cki.KeyChar)
{
case 'w':
curDirection = Direction.Up;
break;
case 's':
curDirection = Direction.Down;
break;
case 'a':
curDirection = Direction.Left;
break;
case 'd':
curDirection = Direction.Right;
break;
case 'q':
quit = true;
break;
}
}
}
// if the user didn't quit, attempt to move without hitting the border:
if (!quit)
{
string key = "";
switch (curDirection)
{
case Direction.Up:
if (y > 1)
{
y--;
}
else
{
crashed = true;
}
break;
case Direction.Down:
if (y < Console.WindowHeight - 3)
{
y++;
}
else
{
crashed = true;
}
break;
case Direction.Left:
if (x > 1)
{
x--;
}
else
{
crashed = true;
}
break;
case Direction.Right:
if (x < Console.WindowWidth - 2)
{
x++;
}
else
{
crashed = true;
}
break;
}
// if the user didn't hit the border, see if they hit the snake
if (!crashed)
{
key = x.ToString("00") + y.ToString("00");
if (!eaten.ContainsKey(key))
{
length++;
eaten.Add(key, true);
Console.SetCursorPosition(x, y);
Console.Write(snake);
}
else
{
crashed = true;
}
}
// set the next delay:
nextCheck = DateTime.Now.AddMilliseconds(delay);
}
} // end main game loop
if (crashed)
{
Console.Title = "*** Crashed! *** Length: " + length.ToString() + " Hit 'q' to quit, or 'r' to retry!";
// wait for quit or retry:
bool retry = false;
while (!quit && !retry)
{
if (Console.KeyAvailable)
{
cki = Console.ReadKey(true);
switch (cki.KeyChar)
{
case 'q':
quit = true;
break;
case 'r':
retry = true;
break;
}
}
}
}
} // end main program loop
} // end Main()
}