WinColl

https://rrthomas.github.io/wincoll

by Reuben Thomas rrt@sc3d.org

WinColl is a simple puzzle game in which you tunnel through caverns collecting diamonds while avoiding being squashed by falling rocks. It is based on Repton (but without eggs and monsters).

I originally wrote WinColl for Acorn RISC OS. Original and updated RISC OS versions are available.

The name of the game is an abbreviation of my school’s. “Repton” is also the name of a school, but I don’t believe the game was named after it!

Credits

Paul Smith designed the title graphics, and Alistair Turnbull helped with the game graphics.

Level design by Alistair Turnbull, Paul Wilson, Reuben Thomas, Paul Smith, Jeremy Douglas, and Daniel Thomas.

The sounds are from Freesound, lightly adapted.

Installation and use

The game provides instructions on how to play.

Binary installers

Installers are available for GNU/Linux, macOS and Windows. See the latest release:

• The GNU/Linux version is a single binary; you need to make it executable and then either copy it to a directory on your path, or run it directly: chmod +x NAME-OF-FILE; ./NAME-OF-FILE. If you get an error that mentions error: MESA-LOADER: failed to open … then you can try the following incantation to run the game: LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 ./wincoll-Linux-X64.
• The macOS version is a disk image file containing an application. Drag the application to a suitable location (e.g. your Applications folder). macOS will probably refuse to run it until you have approved it in System Settings→Privacy and Security, under “Security”.
• The Windows version is a standard Microsoft installer.
• The RISC OS version should be unpacked with the unzip utility on RISC OS; if !SparkFS is used, the file names and types will not be set correctly.

Python package

If you are a Python user, this is the simplest way to get WinColl on most machines.

Install with pip: pip install wincoll, then execute the command wincoll.

Creating and editing levels

Currently, to play edited or new levels you must have a source check-out of WinColl from GitHub. (If this doesn’t make sense to you, sorry! I hope to provide a simpler way to edit and play new levels soon.)

The level files are in the wincoll/levels subdirectory of the project, and are Tiled level editor files, so you will need to install Tiled to edit them or create new levels.

Having saved an edited level you can install the Python package with pip install . or run it directly with PYTHONPATH=. python -m wincoll.

Some notes about level design:

• A set of levels is numbered according to the lexical order of their file names.
• Some supplied levels have a brick wall all the way around. This is not necessary: there’s an imaginary brick wall around the outside of the level already.
• Levels need exactly one start position, given by placing the Win character.
• No checks are done to make sure a level is possible to complete; for example, you can place diamonds surrounded by bricks, or have safes but no key.
• A complete level set requires a Tiled tileset. You can simply copy the tileset file WinColl.tsx from wincoll/levels.
• When designing a level, you will also need tile graphic files in the levels directory, as Tiled cannot find them otherwise. You can copy them from wincoll/levels.

I welcome pull requests for new levels, or a simple issue with a level attached, in a Zip file. If GitHub is not your thing, feel free to email me your level. It’s helpful if you can indicate where you think your level should go in order of increasing difficulty.

Improving WinColl

New levels, usability improvements and translations are welcome, as are usability improvements: for example, the ability to rebind keys would be welcome. See the open issues for specific things I’d like improved.

Some levels useful for testing are in test-levels.

Copyright and Disclaimer

WinColl is distributed under the GNU Public License version 3, or, at your option, any later version. See the file COPYING.

THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITH NO WARRANTY. USE IS AT THE USER'S RISK. WinColl’s code is copyright Reuben Thomas, and its levels and graphics by Reuben Thomas, Alistair Turnbull, Paul Smith and Jeremy Douglas.

The font “Acorn Mode 1”, which is based on the design of Acorn computers’ system font, as used on the Acorn Archimedes on which WinColl was originally written, is by p1.mark and Reuben Thomas and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The sound effects are copyrighted and licensed as follows:

• Diamond collection: Ding.wav by datasoundsample under CC BY 4.0
• Rock fall: Rockfall in mine.wav by Benboncan under CC BY 4.0
• Safe unlock: Old Church Bell (no noise) by igroglaz under CC 0
• Death splat: Splat1.wav by Shakedown_M under CC 0

• End of level whistle slide: FX swanee whistle down.wav by v0idation under CC 0
• End of game fanfare: Short Brass Fanfare 2.wav by MC5 under CC BY 4.0