so_long

And thanks for all the fish!

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About

so_long is a 2D tile-based game written in C using the MiniLibX graphics library, developed as part of the 42 School curriculum. The game is a Pac-Man inspired top-down maze where the player must collect all coins and reach the exit while avoiding enemies. The project covers window management, event handling, sprite animation, map parsing, and pathfinding validation.

A small 2D game that teaches you about textures, sprites, and basic gameplay elements.

Features

Mandatory

• Tile-based rendering — 32x32 pixel tiles with distinct textures for walls, floor, player, coins, and exit
• Smart wall textures — 16 different wall tiles that automatically adapt based on neighboring walls (corners, edges, crosses, borders)
• Player movement — WASD and arrow key support in four directions
• Collectibles — gather all coins before the exit unlocks
• Move counter — tracks and prints each movement to the terminal
• Map validation — robust .ber file parser with flood-fill path verification
• Win/lose conditions — win by reaching the exit after collecting everything; lose by touching an enemy

Bonus

• Animated player sprite — 13-frame directional animation (idle + 3 frames per direction)
• Animated coin sprites — 6-frame spinning coin animation
• Enemy ghosts — 4 colored ghost types (red, green, sky, purple) with 3-frame animations each
• Enemy AI — ghosts move randomly around the map, killing the player on contact
• On-screen move counter — HUD displayed directly in the game window
• Game loop rendering — continuous frame updates via mlx_loop_hook for smooth animations

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• GCC or CC compiler
• GNU Make
• MiniLibX with X11 libraries
• Linux (X11-based rendering)

Install dependencies:

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt-get install libx11-dev libxext-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install libX11-devel libXext-devel

Build

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd so_long

# Compile mandatory version
make

# Compile bonus version (animations, enemies, HUD)
make bonus

# Run with a map
./so_long maps/1_lvl.ber

# Run bonus version
./so_long_bonus maps/map_bonus.ber

Makefile Targets

Target	Description
make / make all	Build the mandatory version
make bonus	Build the bonus version (animations + enemies)
make clean	Remove object files
make fclean	Remove object files and binaries
make re	Full recompile (mandatory)
make reb	Full recompile (bonus)

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Usage

Controls

Key	Action
W / Up arrow	Move up
S / Down arrow	Move down
A / Left arrow	Move left
D / Right arrow	Move right
ESC	Exit the game

Objective

1. Collect all coins (C) on the map
2. Reach the exit (E)
3. Avoid ghosts (G) — touching one means game over (bonus)

Each move is counted and printed to the terminal (and displayed on-screen in bonus).

Map File Format (.ber)

1111111111111
1E001C00111C1
111011101G101
1C001C0011101
1110101110101
1C000000000P1
1111111111111

Character	Description
1	Wall
0	Floor (empty space)
P	Player spawn (exactly 1)
C	Collectible / coin (at least 1)
E	Exit (exactly 1)
G	Ghost / enemy (bonus only)

Map Rules

• Must be rectangular
• Must be fully enclosed by walls (1)
• Exactly one player (P) and one exit (E)
• At least one collectible (C)
• A valid path must exist from the player to all coins and the exit
• File must have .ber extension

See maps/ for example maps (both valid and invalid test cases).

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Key Concepts Learned

• MiniLibX — low-level graphics library for window management and image rendering
• Tile-based game design — grid maps, tile rendering, and sprite management
• Sprite animation — frame-based animation with directional sprites
• Flood fill algorithm — path validation to ensure map solvability
• Event-driven programming — keyboard hooks and window event handling
• Smart tile selection — neighbor-aware wall textures for seamless borders
• Game loop architecture — input handling, state update, and rendering cycle
• File parsing — reading and validating structured map files

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Limitations

• Linux only (X11 / MiniLibX dependency)
• Fixed tile size (32x32 pixels)
• Enemy movement is random (no pathfinding AI)
• No scoring system beyond move counter
• No multiple levels / level progression
• No sound effects

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License

This project was developed as part of the 42 School curriculum. Feel free to use it as a reference, but please respect the 42 School's academic integrity rules.

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Made at 42 Vienna