%ents; ]> The &ksokoban; Handbook Anders Widell
awl@hem.passagen.se
2000 Anders Widell &FDLNotice; 16/12/2000 1.00.00 &ksokoban; is a KDE implementation of the Japanese warehouse keeper game "sokoban". This document describes &ksokoban; version 0.4.0. KDE kdegames game sokoban ksokoban
Introduction The first sokoban game was created in 1982 by Hiroyuki Imabayashi at the Japanese company Thinking Rabbit, Inc. "Sokoban" is japanese for "warehouse keeper". The idea is that you are a warehouse keeper trying to push crates to their proper locations in a warehouse. The problem is that you cannot pull the crates or step over them. If you are not careful, some of the crates can get stuck in wrong places and/or block your way. It can be rather difficult just to solve a level. But if you want to make it even harder, you can try to minimise the number of moves and/or pushes you use to solve the level. To make the game more fun for small kids (below 10 years or so), some collections with easier levels are also included in &ksokoban;. These are marked (easy) in the level collection menu. Of course, these levels can be fun for adults too, for example if you don't want to expose yourself to too much mental strain. The Game The objective of the game is to push all the red gems to the goal squares, which are marked with green glassy round things on the floor. Use the cursor keys or the mouse to move about. If you move onto a gem using the cursor keys or the middle mouse button, and there is noting blocking it on the opposite side, then you will push the gem. It isn't possible to pull the gems, so if you push a gem into a corner it will be stuck there. You can't step over the gems either, so you can also get trapped in a part of the maze by blocking the way with gems. Also note that it isn't possible to push more than one gem at a time. If you notice that you have moved the gems in such a way that the level is impossible to solve, then you can always use the undo feature to go back to a position where the mistake has not yet been made. You can of course also restart the level from the very beginning. Controls KeyAction Cursor keys Move one square in a direction CONTROL + Cursor keys Move as far as possible in a direction without pushing any gems SHIFT + Cursor keys Move as far as possible in a direction, pushing any gem in the way Left mouse button Move to any place in the maze that can be reached without pushing any gems Middle mouse button Move up/down/left/right in a straight line, pushing any gem in the way Right mouse button or U Undo the last move R Redo the last undone move N Go to the next level in the current level collection P Go to the previous level in the current level collection Escape Restart the current level Q Quit the game Loading external levels &ksokoban; has the ability to load external sokoban levels from text files. You can load levels using the menu Game Load levels... , or by specifying the level file URL as a command line argument when starting &ksokoban; from a shell. The external levels must be defined using the standard characters shown in the table below. If the file contains more than one level, the levels should be separated by blank lines. The file may also contain text between the levels. CharacterMeaning #Wall (space)Empty square .Goal square $Object on an empty square *Object on a goal square @Start position on an empty square +Start position on a goal square As an example, below is a text representation of the first level in the Microban level collection: #### # .# # ### #*@ # # $ # # ### #### Credits and License &ksokoban; is copyright © 1998-2000 by Anders Widell <awl@hem.passagen.se>. For the latest info on &ksokoban;, see the &ksokoban; home page at http://hem.passagen.se/awl/ksokoban/ The background graphics "starfield" was taken from the Gimp. All other graphics were created by Anders Widell <awl@hem.passagen.se> using the Povray ray tracer. All the currently included sokoban levels were created by David W. Skinner < sasquatch@bentonrea.com>. See his sokoban page at http://bentonrea.com/~sasquatch/sokoban/ &underFDL; &underGPL;