so_long

The objective for so_long is to create a small 2D game where the player moves through a maze read from a file, grabbing collectibles and making it to the exit.

Checklist of doom:

• File handling and ingress
• Map validation
  • Ensure map meets subject criteria
  • Ensure map is solvable
• Set up sprite intake
• Determine what to draw where
• Pick sprites based on surroundings and categories
  • Walls
  • Lava
  • Pillars
  • Floors
  • Shadows
  • Additional walls
• Set up rendering
• Animate stuff
  • Characters
  • Movement
  • Candles
  • Lava
• Set up gameplay loop
• Set up win condition
• Add GUI
• Add patrols
• Make sure there are no memory leaks :)

The Home Stretch

• Add a function on exiting the render loop which detaches all images from their spritesheet pixel buffers, to avoid double frees
• Free the entire map struct on ending the game
• Do not immediately exit the game when winning or losing, stick around for a death animation or a victory screen
• Rework animations to be on a get_time clock instead of a frame clock
• Add an indicator of where each patrol is moving next
• Add a validation for patrols that are "stuck" between two walls or start next to a player
• Rework the GUI to not re-render everything each time and use layered string images instead

Asset Credits

• The dungeon sprites are dungeonOld_ and the character sprites are dungeonSprites_, both by analogstudios.
• The GUI font is monogram by datagoblin. To get the font in a good bitmap layout, I used Codehead's Bitmap Font Generator.
• The paper backdrop for the GUI comes from Crusenho's GUI Essential pack with a small coloring update, which is distributed under a CC-BY-ND license.