[GAME] Santaban - A Christmas-themed Sokoban clone

[Mijikai]

I like the retro look
Thanks for sharing & happy holidays.

[Padraig]

Thanks Mijikai!

And many thanks to all others who took a look. Downloads reached a whopping 39 over the last days with most visitors coming from this forum.

[ChrisR]

I increased your download counter to over 40
It's been a long time since I played Sokaban (in French). The levels are very nice
I've enjoyed getting to level 7 so far.

[Padraig]

Heh, thanks a lot, also for the positive feedback! Looking forward to a screenshot of level 50 complete!

[PeDe]

Hello Padraig,

thanks for the nice game.
I'm at level 20, and have already spent a few hours with it.

How are the levels or moves created, automatically or manually?

Peter

[ChrisR]

Looking forward to a screenshot of level 50 complete!

The challenge is open, Joulopukki will perhaps offer the source as gift to the 1st one who finishes the 50th level
The only thing I missed personally was being able to teleport Santa to a specific square (if the route is possible, of course), to avoid repeating the same path every time before pushing a new gift. But well, it would require managing the mouse...

[Mijikai]

I already extracted the passwords
I wont post them but here is some proof

[Padraig]

@Peter: Thanks mate, glad you like it.

How are the levels or moves created, automatically or manually?

I created every level manually in Tiled. I've used box positions of existing Sokoban levels though, as I didn't have enough time to design and playtest any self-made positions. I started coding mid November and am actually quite happy I finished 50 levels in time for this Christmas at all

@ChrisR: Hehe, yeah well, as the passwords have already been extracted, I'm afraid this won't be an option anymore. Maybe a Santaban speedrun instead? But actually you wouldn't want to see the code at the moment anyway. If I find time to clean it up and to also comment it properly I might just release it without any tradeoff.
And you are right, the controls could be optimized. It is on the list.

@Mijikai: Well, well, well... I actually thought about scrambling the level passwords at some point. But then I just couldn't be bothered in the end as it doesn't make much sense, especially for a freeware prog. I then also thought about packing the executable to avoid easy extraction, but that triggered too man anti virus programs. I can live with what HyperRipper directly unpacks at the moment. If you have actually managed to unpack each and every asset, even the lousily protected ones, then congrats for actually bothering! Frankly, that makes the old cracker in me very very happy as well!
Thank god I didn't leave the level skip and auto solver in...

Oh and always remember: Santa wouldn't cheat when delivering presents, would he?

[Mijikai]

I did my routine analyses and somehow kept going - i blame coffee & music

[Padraig]

Haha, fair enough!

[PeDe]

In level 22 there is a field that is blocked by a block of ice, but you can still walk on it. I guess it's a mistake, because as a hidden help I don't think it's good.

Peter

[Padraig]

Crap, you are right, that ice block was not supposed to be there. Well spotted and sorry! Guess I should have hired you for play testing before the release. I fixed quite some errors myself, but this one slipped my eye.

Anyway, the error has been fixed now. An updated version is available for download on itch.io (link in first post).
Or you can just fire up a hex editor, open the existing Santaban.exe and then change 0x0E at address 0x433CC8 to 0x05.

Pad

[PeDe]

There is a mistake in level 29. A free field is not accessible. I think it is important for the solution.

Peter

[Padraig]

Thanks Peter.

The collision detection in level 29 is correct, but the obstacle wasn't visible, i.e. I simply forgot to put something there. Meh.

I just reviewed the remaining levels from level 29 onwards with tile highlighting on and also found another missing obstacle in level 36. Both errors have been fixed now, the updated version can be downloaded from the link in the first post again.

I really hope, that's all bugs fixed now. If not, let me know, it's really appreciated!

[PeDe]

Thanks for the corrections.
There is a small mistake at level 34, the target fields are missing a dark grass.

Edit:
The game reacts to keys when it does not have the focus. If you want to write down the level code in the text editor and press the space bar, the game starts the next level. If you are not careful, the code is gone and you have to play again.
Perhaps the key query can be limited to the game only.

Peter