This project has been created as part of the 42 curriculum by mobouifr.

so_long

A tiny 2D tile game built in C with MiniLibX.

Collect everything. Find the exit. Count your steps.

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What is this?

so_long is one of the first graphical projects in the 42 core curriculum. The concept is minimal on purpose — read a map from a .ber file, validate every rule, render it tile by tile, and let the player navigate to victory.

What's actually interesting is what's hiding under that simplicity. You parse a custom file format, validate its structure and playability, manage dynamic memory for the map grid, wire up keyboard hooks, run a render loop, and enforce game logic — all in C, all from scratch.

No game framework. No physics engine. Just C, file descriptors, and MLX pixels.

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Gameplay

Symbol	Meaning
1	Wall — impassable
0	Floor — walkable
P	Player spawn — exactly one
C	Collectible — at least one
E	Exit — exactly one

Collect every C, then step onto E. The player cannot walk through walls. Every valid move prints the current step count to the terminal.

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Features

Feature		Notes
.ber map loading	✓	Line-by-line via get_next_line
Rectangular map check	✓	Every row must have equal width
Character validation	✓	Only 1 0 P C E accepted
Required entity counts	✓	Exactly 1 P, exactly 1 E, at least 1 C
Border wall validation	✓	Outer frame must be walls
Playability check	✓	Flood fill verifies full reachability
Tile rendering with XPM	✓	Wall, floor, player, collectible, exit
Floor-first compositing	✓	Ensures consistent overlay on macOS and Linux
Movement + collision	✓	Arrow keys — target tile must be valid
Win condition	✓	Exit only triggers after all collectibles
ESC / window-close	✓	Both paths call clean shutdown

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Controls

Key	Action
↑	Move up
↓	Move down
←	Move left
→	Move right
ESC	Quit

Raw keycodes (Linux MiniLibX)

Up: 65362  ·  Down: 65364  ·  Left: 65361  ·  Right: 65363  ·  ESC: 65307

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Map format

A valid .ber map:

11111111111
10P00CC00E1
11111111111

Rules at a glance:

✓  Extension must be .ber
✓  Every row same width (rectangular)
✓  Fully enclosed by walls
✓  Exactly one P  ·  exactly one E  ·  at least one C
✗  Any other character → Error

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Project structure

so_long/
│
├── Makefile
├── so_long.h                    ← structs, prototypes, includes
├── so_long.c                    ← entry point and game loop
│
├── so_long_utils_00.c           ← map loading and memory
├── so_long_utils_01.c           ← validation helpers
├── so_long_utils_02.c           ← rendering and tile drawing
├── so_long_utils_03.c           ← movement and collision
├── so_long_mvp_utils.c          ← flood fill / playability
├── ft_putnbr_nl.c               ← move counter output
│
├── get_next_line/               ← line reader for the parser
├── maps/                        ← .ber level files
├── textures/                    ← XPM sprite assets
│
├── minilibx-linux/              ← MiniLibX Linux (X11)
├── minilibx_macos_opengl/       ← MiniLibX macOS OpenGL
└── minilibx_macos_metal/        ← MiniLibX macOS Metal (Apple Silicon)

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Getting started

git clone https://github.com/mobouifr/so_long.git
cd so_long
make
./so_long maps/map.ber

Always launch from the project root — texture paths are relative (textures/*.xpm).

Makefile rules

Rule	Effect
make	Compile so_long
make clean	Remove object files
make fclean	Remove objects and binary
make re	Full rebuild

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Resources

• MiniLibX documentation
• man 2 open · man 2 read · man 2 close · man 3 malloc · man 3 free
• 42 so_long subject guidelines