File menu settings

Setting the map selection mode

When the program starts it will automatically load the first map in the first map set. The user can select an alternative using the map set selection and map selection methods in the File menu, or the buttons in the Toolbar. When the user is finished with a map another can be selected, and so on. However, using the map selection mode options in the File menu the user can configure the program so that when the current map is completed it will (1) automatically load the next map; (2) automatically load the next unsolved map; (3) automatically load the next map for which the user has not matched or beaten the built-in score. These settings also have similar effects on the Toolbar arrow keys. For example: the "Next level" button will select the next unsolved map if option (2) is chosen.

The map selection mode can also be used to set the program to "Loop for ever". In this mode the program will show an animation of the solution for each map in turn: when it gets to the end of a set it will move on to the next; when it gets to the end of the last set it will go back to the start of the first. This can be used as a learning device or just an irritating toy forever flickering on your screen. It's useful to me for checking that all the maps and solutions are in sync. Obviously, if you have loaded an external map set the loop will halt as, to proceed, it needs solutions. Having set "Loop for ever" clicking on "Show solution", i.e. "?" in the Toolbar will start the looping off.

Setting the animation speed

The animation speed is defined by the delay between moves measured in milliseconds. It can be set from the "Set animation delay" option in the File menu. The value chosen also affects the speed with which the man responds to mouse clicks.

Setting the font size

Although this program runs on many different platforms, font sizes on machines vary. The "Set font size" option in the File menu allows users to configure it to their taste.

Setting the skin

With nothing better to do, I decided the program was crying out for a text terminal look (there must have been Curses based text terminal versions of Sokoban in the past), so I added one. This option in the File menu allows users to switch between the original and the retro look or "skin". A typical result is shown in Figure 1.