Sokoban for PS1

[Shendo]

Seeing how PS1 lacks a Sokoban game (besides a JP release of Sokoban Basic) I decided to make a Sokoban clone.
Recently I made a version for the Chip16 virtual machine so I pretty much how to handle the game logic.

I decided to use a PSXSDK because I have gotten pretty familiarized with it and it's also free and open source.

Here is a screenshot of the progress so far. I have created a scrolling starfield effect
but it will be possible to turn it off if it annoys players.

Soko.png

I still have a lot of things to do:
Game logic, menus, music, saving and loading and maybe a level editor.

I am testing the game on a real PSone (SCPH-102) using PSXSERIAL.

[t0rxe]

What about Pushy on the Yaroze? That is pretty much a Sokoban game

[Shendo]

Hm, never heard about it until now. Nice game I must say.
Though it doesn't seem to contain 50 original levels which is what I'm aiming for.

[t0rxe]

Awesome! Can't wait to see what you create ^_^

[jman]

Hm, never heard about it until now. Nice game I must say.
Though it doesn't seem to contain 50 original levels which is what I'm aiming for.

I used to play a Sokoban clone on my Palm Tungsten. If my memory serves, that clone touted the feature of being able to automatically import levels complying to a "standard" Sokoban level file format.
It could be interesting developing an importer (here's a small trail); apparently it's a simple text file.

[Shendo]

Thanks for the info. I already converted original levels to my own format when
I was making Chip16 version and I reused that data here.

Anyway, player can be moved now and levels are solvable.
Collision detection is working and logic seems to be working pretty well.
I also added a 256 undo moves which are stored on a LIFO stack which diches the oldest data if it's full.

Changed a tileset but that probably won't be a final look. I still have to make player look good.

[jman]

Anyway, player can be moved now and levels are solvable.
Collision detection is working and logic seems to be working pretty well.
I also added a 256 undo moves which are stored on a LIFO stack which diches the oldest data if it's full.

it's cute. Thumbs up!

[Shendo]

More updates.

I used another, more suiting font and updated tileset and player sprite.

In older builds player was "jumping" from one grid position to another but i managed to create a smooth movement.
On the other hand crates are still "jumping" but I'll fix that.

I've also made a simple menu.
Still a lot to go but it's looking promising

[t0rxe]

It's looking pretty good so far

[Shendo]

Here is a video for you guys so you can see it in action, hehe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQelHte7ipY

Do note that video is a bit too fast. I recorded using blade's gpu plugin.

[t0rxe]

Very nice. Clean graphics and smooth game play. Now it just needs audio. VB/VH would be good for the effects, where XA can be used as the background music.

[Shendo]

PSXSDK has a built-in modtracker capability so I'll be using it for playing background music.
I have already found a cool .mod which I can use. For effects I'm using .VAG files.

On another note, if anyone is interested in beta testing let me know.
It can be on a real hardware or various emulator, doesn't matter. And you'll end up in the credits

[Shendo]

Title screen:


I've recently acquired a PS1 mouse (SCPH-1090) and I was thinking of adding support for it in the level editor.

[t0rxe]

Title screen looks good.
I also have a PS1 mouse (SCPH-1090) so I would be happy to test it for you.

[Greg]

Hello Shendo, I am volunteer for beta testing, I have a SCPH-7501 and a SCPH-7001 both are NTSC

[Shendo]

OK, I'll send you guys a PM with the build to test.

[t0rxe]

Thanks for letting me BETA test.

Here is my report list:
I would highly suggest adding in higher quality music. The players need to feel something new every time, and since there is approximately 650MB of data free on the disc, I would suggest filling it with lots of XA music.

Whilst in gameplay mode, pressing 'Start' brings up the menu to restart, quit, etc. You should be able to press 'Triangle' to close this window (I see 'Start' closes it, but it would be good to add both. The same goes for any other menus).

The first few levels are extremely difficult. I would suggest making them simple and building your way up. This will offer more levels, and less frustration from within the first few minutes.

The sprites and graphics in general are good, as well as the controls.
I did not find any bugs. I tested it on real hardware (SCPH-5502) and the pSX (PSXFIN) emulator.

[Shendo]

Thanks for the input.

The reason I used .mod music is because I'm uploading .EXEs to my PSone and the final EXE must not be over 1.8 MB.
But you are right, there is plenty of space on the CD so I'll switch to testing
on emulators and burning CDs for consoles.
Luckily my slim PS2 with the replacement laser reads CD/RWs without a problem so it will be my testing machine.

I was thinking of making music in "Music 2000" or if anyone wants to make music, be my guest

I added triangle as a back button for other menus but forgot for start menu, will fix.

Levels are from the original sokoban, but you are right.
I'll add 5 new easy training levels to ease the process of learning.

What do you think of the VHS rewind effect? Is it too much to have noise or should i just leave "REW" onscreen?
I was planning of adding tape rewind sound effect.

[t0rxe]

I would be up for trying to make some music in Music 2000. It would be better I reckon if you just went on YouTube though and searched for 'free music' or 'free video game music'. There are many great artists out there that provide free music

The VHS rewind effect it very cool. Leave it as it is. Yes, just add in the rewind sound effect.

[Greg]

Hello Shendo,

Tested on real hardware (SCPH-7501 NTSC ) CD.

Good graphics, good control

Suggestion: A sound when the player pass the level, and maybe a state menu showing the number of move make for each level completed.

I agree with t0rxe, the VHS rewind effect it very cool.