Hugo Jonker

Arnout de Mooij and I are proud to announce the first official release of SokoBan 2012! This is a classic version of the game Sokoban, completely programmed by Arnout and myself. We started programming this around the time we both just had access to pentiums. Or perhaps even slightly before. Well, it took so long this game can go straight into nostalgia haven!

Quick install

1. download and unzip soko2012.zip
   Android users: you’ll need an unzip utility.
2. install DosBox 0.74 or higher
3. For Windows only, here’s how to create a shortcut (see also the below picture):
   • Go to the Desktop.
   • Select the DosBox icon.
   • Press Ctrl+C and then Ctrl+V to copy the shortcut.
   • Right-click, select “Properties”
   • At the end of the field “Target“, add the full path of soko2012.exe.
     E.g., if “Target” was "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.74\DOSBox.exe" -userconf, and the files were extracted to C:\Users\hugo.jonker\Downloads\sokoban\, then “Target” should become "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.74\DOSBox.exe" -userconf C:\Users\hugo.jonker\Downloads\sokoban\soko2012.exe.
   • Change the field “Start in:” to point to the folder where you extracted the zipfile.
     E.g., continuing the previous example, “Start in:” would now become C:\Users\hugo.jonker\Downloads\sokoban\.
   • Change to the Tab “General” and rename the icon to SokoBox.

To play:

• Unix: run startsoko.sh from the command line.
• Windows: Double-click the SokoBox icon.
  Potentially the game runs slow, press Ctrl+F12 a few times to speed up DosBox.
• Android: Run DosBox and enter the following commands:
  • cd Downloads\sokoban
  • soko2012.

Screenshots

Features

• 48 completely original fields
• 22 completely original, totally not-ripped graphical sets, including:
  • a fastfood-themed set
  • a halloween-themed one
  • a crisis-themed one (bring your money to the bank)
  • a Sinterklaas-themed one
  • a christmas-themed one (notice that Sinterklaas != Santa)
  • a few inspired by videogames of the 8-bit era
  • and more!
• a stand-alone level editor
• a stand-alone graphics editor (heavily updated in 2012!)
• Keeping tracks of 2 types of highscores:
  1. the best efforts (least moves, then quickest) for the first 10 levels
  2. the 10 players who got the farthest completing all levels
• A player-state saving system, so that you could continue to improve your score for the 2nd type of highscore
• Level selector with thumbnails of the levels
• a demo mode (don’t touch any key for a while in the beginning, and the game will play one of the first 20 levels).
  Pointless? FUN! :)
• Opening and ending scrolling titles
• Insanely trivial-to-break encryption scheme for said titles :)
• And, lest we forget: CHEATS! Including a complete internal level editor. I kid you not.

System requirements

• A system capable of running DosBox 0.74 or higher

Yeah, that’s sort of it. This game was in development for a while, and unlike Duke Nukem Forever, we never deviated from the original specs. Sure, we need some memory (640K is enough :),  CPU (press Ctrl+F12 to speed up, Ctrl+F11 to slow down — these are dosbox controls, not ours), and some graphical requirements (stock VGA modes). Really, your smartphone can handle these. With two fingers in its nose.  :)

Development history

Question: what does this version of Sokoban have in common with such pretentious names as Guns n’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy, or the game Duke Nukem Forever?
Answer:

• Chinese democracy: in development 1998-2008
• Duke Nukem Forever: in development 1997-2010
• Sokoban by us: in development 1994-2012

Message to take home: all good things deliver. Alternatively: not everyone can maintain their development quality as long as Arnout and I can :)

Thanks

Big thanks due to everyone who helped and inspired us. You’re probably named in the titles already!

Questions/comments

If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to contact me!
If you’re reading this blog, you ought to know how :)