How to share a level with SokoPlayer HTML5

SokoPlayer HTML5 is able to load a level from URL parameters. So you can share a level with your friends with just a hyperlink by email or on your blog.

Click the following example to see how it works.

An Example

The url parameters are in the following format.

?w=%1&h=%2&lvl=%3

Below is the full url with the parameters.

http://sokoban.ws/sokoplayer/?w=%1&h=%2&lvl=%3

The complete url of the above example:

http://sokoban.ws/sokoplayer/?w=21&h=21&lvl=___________HHHHHHHHH_|___________H___H___H_|___________H_H***H_H_|___HHHHHHHHH_*___*_H_|__HH_______H_*___*_H_|_HH__*_*_*_H__***__H_|_H__*_*_*__H_*___*_H_|HHHH*HHH_*_H_*___*_H_|H______H*a*___***__H_|H_*_*__H_*_H_H_H_HHHH|H*$***_H*__H_*______H|H______H__H_*******_H|H*****_H_H_*___*____H|H______HH____*****H_H|HHHHHH_H__H_*__*____H|____H_$._H__*__*____H|____H___H__********_H|____HHHHHH_____*____H|_________HHHHH_*_HHHH|_____________H_._H___|_____________HHHHH___

%1 and %2 are the width and height of the level, respectively. %3 is the level in MF8 format with line separator "|" (no line separators at the beginning or at the end). We don't want to invent a new format for Sokoban levels, but some letters (for example '#') used in the widely-accepted XSB format don't work in a URL. So MF8 format is a easy way to solve this problem. A better solution is to use compressed encoding but it requires a little more work. A compressed encoding can easily shorten the url length by two thirds.

MF8 format

_  -- floor
H  -- wall
a  -- player
x  -- player on goal
$  -- box
*  -- box on goal
.  -- goal

XSB to URL

You can convert a XSB level to a URL easily with SokoPlayer HTML5. First load the level into SokoPlayer HTML5, then click the button "output url" and you will see the URL in the output textarea.

You can also use SokoEditor HTML5 to edit levels online and export the URLs.

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Created on Jan. 12, 2012