so_long

A tiny 2D top‑down game for the 42 curriculum built with MiniLibX. Your goal is simple: collect all the items and reach the exit while navigating a valid, enclosed map.

This repository contains:

• mandatory/ — the required implementation
• bonus/ — optional enhancements (e.g., enemies, move counter on-screen, animations)
• Makefile — build targets for mandatory and bonus

Features

• Renders a tile-based map with walls, player, collectibles, and exit
• Validates maps (rectangular, enclosed by walls, correct element counts, and solvable path)
• Player movement using keyboard with step counting printed to the terminal
• Window close button (red cross) properly exits and frees resources
• Bonus (if enabled in your Makefile):
  • Enemies or hazards
  • Animated sprites
  • On-screen move counter

Project Rules (42 subject highlights)

Your program must:

• Accept a single .ber map file as an argument
• Use MiniLibX for rendering
• Ensure the map:
  • Is rectangular
  • Is surrounded by walls (1)
  • Contains exactly one player (P) and one exit (E)
  • Contains at least one collectible (C)
  • Is solvable (player can collect all C and reach E)
• Print the move count to the terminal after each valid move
• Handle errors gracefully, printing a clear error message and exiting
• Free all allocated resources and avoid memory leaks

Map Format

• File extension: .ber
• Allowed characters:
  • 0 — empty space
  • 1 — wall
  • P — player (exactly one)
  • C — collectible (one or more)
  • E — exit (exactly one)
  • M — enemy (bonus only, optional)

Example:

111111
1P0C01
100001
1C0E11
111111

Constraints:

• The map must be fully enclosed by 1
• The map must be rectangular (all rows same length)
• There must be a valid path to collect all C and reach E

Build

The Makefile provides standard targets.

Common targets:

• make or make all — build the mandatory program (usually so_long)
• make bonus — build the bonus program (usually so_long_bonus)
• make clean — remove object files
• make fclean — remove objects and binaries
• make re — rebuild from scratch

Example:

# Mandatory build
make

# Bonus build (if implemented)
make bonus

Notes:

• The Makefile is typically configured for the 42 environment. If you build locally, ensure MiniLibX and required system libraries are available on your machine.
• On Linux you may need development packages for X11 and Xext (for example: libx11-dev, libxext-dev, zlib1g-dev, libbsd-dev, xorg). On macOS, Apple Clang and the 42-provided MiniLibX are usually sufficient.

Run

Provide a .ber file as the only argument:

./so_long path/to/map.ber
# or (bonus)
./so_long_bonus path/to/map.ber

If your repository includes sample maps (e.g., in a maps/ directory), you can run:

./so_long maps/simple.ber

Controls

• W, A, S, D or arrow keys — move
• ESC — quit
• Window close button — quit

Each valid move increments and prints the move count to the terminal. In the bonus, a move counter may also be drawn on screen.

Errors and Edge Cases

Typical error cases your program should handle:

• Wrong number of arguments
• File not found or unreadable
• Invalid file extension (must be .ber)
• Invalid characters in the map
• Map not rectangular or not enclosed by walls
• Wrong element counts (P, E, C)
• No valid path to collect all C and reach E

On error, print a clear message and exit. Ensure all allocations are freed.

Directory Structure

.
├── Makefile
├── README.md
├── mandatory/
│   ├── ... source files for required part
│   └── ...
└── bonus/
    ├── ... source files for bonus part
    └── ...

Exact source file names may vary by implementation.

Development Notes

• Follow 42’s Norminette for C code style
• Check for memory leaks (e.g., with valgrind on Linux)
• Handle all failure paths (file I/O, allocations, MLX calls) and free resources on exit
• Decouple parsing/validation, pathfinding, rendering, and input handling where possible

Troubleshooting

• “mlx” or X11 include/link errors:
  • Verify MiniLibX paths in the Makefile
  • Install X11 dev packages on Linux
  • Ensure you’re using Apple Clang on macOS (the 42 default)
• Window doesn’t appear or closes immediately:
  • Check return values of MLX initialization and window creation
  • Confirm the event loop is running
• Sprites not displayed:
  • Verify asset paths and image loading return values

License

This project is part of the 42 school curriculum. If you intend to reuse or distribute, check your school’s policies and add a license file as appropriate.

Author

• GitHub: otmansabir