Brian Damgaard has published a new version of his great and widely used Sokoban YASC program.

The release notes for this new version:

• The "Find similar puzzles" variant of the puzzle duplicate finder has been significantly improved.
  It now uses the Levenshtein edit distance algorithm for comparisons. ("Levenshtein" is spelled correctly - it's not a typo.) 
  Previously, this variant relied on a simpler, more direct comparison method. 
  While it also used normalized puzzle boards and also allowed for a match threshold percentage to account for variations, the results were less flexible than those achieved with the new algorithm. 
  The other two duplicate finder variants, "Find all duplicate puzzles" and "Find duplicates of the current collection", remain unchanged. 
  They still search for exact duplicates (considering puzzle normalization) rather than  similar puzzles, as the computational cost of a similarity-based search would be prohibitive.
• The built-in puzzle generator has been enhanced to produce better-quality puzzles. 
  Previously, it was prone to carving dead-end tunnels and placing goals or boxes in them.
  While this was an easy way for the generator to increase the number of pushes - a key metric for creating more complex and interesting puzzles - such puzzles often turned out to be trivial and too easy to solve.
  For example, here is an auto-generated puzzle with a promising beginning, but after unwinding its initial knot, the remainder becomes trivial:
  "--9#|--#3-4.#|--#--6#|--#3-#|3#-$-#|#-$--4#|#7-#|4#-$$-#|3-##@-##|4-4#".
  The improved algorithm now avoids creating dead-end tunnels in most cases, resulting in more challenging puzzles.
• Bugfix: Filling the optimizer task queue with solutions from a puzzle file containing thousands of puzzles can take so long time that the user might choose to switch to another application during the import.
  This worked as expected, but if the user switched to the Windows desktop instead of another application, then a harmless but highly technical error message would appear on the screen.
  After dismissing the message, the user could restart the import from where it left off.
  This issue has now been resolved for the optimizer task queue and the puzzle generator task queue. 
  The solver task queue, which uses a similar import mechanism, already handled this scenario correctly.
  

• Minor changes.

George Petrov has published YSokoban 1.849.

The release notes for this new version:

• Bugfix: rare crash during save of a solution.
  

A feature comparison of the main Sokoban programs can be found in the Sokoban Wiki.

Brian Damgaard has published a new version of his great and widely used Sokoban YASC program. There are also new versions of the optimizer (YASO) and the solver (YASS).

The release notes for this new version:

• The puzzle file format has undergone a major overhaul, most notably abandoning the run-length encoding feature.
  This includes both the simple form that allowed moves like 'rrrUUUU' to be encoded as '3r4U', and the advanced grouping form that encoded moves like 'rrUUUrrUUU' as '2(2r3U)'.
  The feature was not only never used in practice, but there was no real need for it. 
  For programmers, it greatly increased the implementation complexity, far more than could be justified.
  Thanks to Matthias Meger and Eric Sunshine for their valuable contributions to both the file format and its description.
• New feature: The application now includes an automatic "Check for Updates" feature, installing updates automatically when available.
   The update check frequency can be customized with options for weekly, monthly, yearly, or never. To adjust these settings, go to "Settings | Control | Miscellaneous".
• New feature: A graphical user interface (GUI) is now available for configuring all solver and optimizer plugins that come with Sokoban YASC.
  The program includes plugin scripts for several major solvers (e.g., Festival) and optimizers (e.g., JSoko). While the YASS solver and YASO optimizer are bundled with Sokoban YASC, the other programs must be downloaded separately from their respective websites due to license restrictions. 
  Once installed, the provided plugin scripts seamlessly integrate these external programs into the Sokoban YASC environment, allowing users to launch, stop, and manage tasks from the solver and optimizer queues.
  Previously, the only way to adjust settings such as 'time limit' or 'memory limit' for these external programs was by manually editing plain text files. 
  Although  functional, this method was far less user-friendly than a graphical user interface with checkboxes, radio buttons, drop-down lists for multiple choices, and other common GUI elements. 
  The novelty is that the underlying SokLisp scripting language has been enhanced with the ability to support GUI windows. 
  This upgrade enables the plugin scripts to offer a much more convenient, user-friendly interface for managing the settings.
   Additionally, it allows the plugins to offer new, advanced features, such as saving and swapping different sets of settings tailored for various types of tasks.
• The accompanying solution optimizer uses four optimization strategies. 
  One of them, “Global Optimization,” often requires considerable time with only minimal chances of finding improvements.
  Nevertheless, this method remains essential for optimizing secondary metrics, such as player lines, alongside moves and pushes.
  This capability makes the method particularly valuable for finding truly optimal solutions in very small puzzles.
   Now, the “Global Optimization” strategy includes a 50-million pushes limit, providing a more balanced trade-off between runtime and the likelihood of discovering improvements.
• Minor changes.

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

Brian Damgaard has published a new version of his great and widely used Sokoban YASC program.

The release notes for this new version:

Bugfix (1.674): 
When running an external solver or optimizer plugin,  everything worked fine if the plugin was allowed to run to completion.
However, manually terminating the plugin had stopped working.
Thanks to Anian Wu and Matthias Meger for reporting this bug.

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

George Petrov has published YSokoban 1.848.

The release notes for this new version:

• Bugfix: macro stops working and does preform undo
• Bugfix: exported positions changed
• Bugfix: wrong display of a rotated level with skin which uses alternate wall.

A feature comparison of the main Sokoban programs can be found in the Sokoban Wiki.

Brian Damgaard has published a new version of his Sokoban solver "YASS - Yet Another Sokoban Solver and Optimizer".

This version has improved support for running multiple instances of the solver simultaneously.

You can find details about which levels have been solved by which solver in the Sokoban Wiki or on the Sokoban Statistics Website.

Brian Damgaard has published a new version of his great and widely used Sokoban YASC program.

The release notes for this new version:

• Reverse game play
  While playing the game in reverse mode, there was a special case where the program correctly prevented pulls that would lead to a deadlock, but it didn't provide a message explaining this.
  Thanks to Matthias Meger for reporting this omission.
• Scripting language
  Various improvements and bug fixes of the built-in SokLisp scripting language.
• Minor changes

Florent Diedler has released a new version of Sokolution - one of the best Sokoban solvers.

 This is a bugfix version which replaces version 6.32.

Change log for version 6.33:

• Fix bugs due to symmetry thanks to Matthias
• Fix another small bug

You can find details about which levels have been solved in the Sokoban Wiki.

Florent Diedler has released a new version of Sokolution - one of the best Sokoban solvers.

 This is a bugfix version which replaces version 6.32.

Change log for version 6.33:

• Fix bugs due to symmetry thanks to Matthias
• Fix another small bug

You can find details about which levels have been solved in the Sokoban Wiki.

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

Florent Diedler has released a new version of Sokolution - one of the best Sokoban solvers.

Change log for version 6.3:

• Allow to load some big levels by adding walls in "dead areas"
• Misc improvements

You can find details about which levels have been solved in the Sokoban Wiki.

Florent Diedler has released a new version of Sokolution - one of the best Sokoban solvers.

Change log for version 6.2:

• Improved strategy for complicated levels
• Fix for possible memory corruption

You can find details about which levels have been solved in the Sokoban Wiki.

Björn Källmark has published Sokoban for Windows version 3.3 build 15.

Release notes for this version:

• Faster start
• Database problem for own files fixed.
• Start problem on new install fixed.
• Plus numerous other improvements.

 A feature comparison of the main Sokoban programs can be found in the Sokoban Wiki.

Florent Diedler has released a new version of Sokolution - one of the best Sokoban solvers.

Change log for version 6.1:

• Improve global speed of the solver
• Allow to solve more difficult levels...

You can find details about which levels have been solved in the Sokoban Wiki.

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

Björn Källmark has published Sokoban for Windows version 3.3 build 14.

​

Release notes for this version:

• Possible moves symbol scales.
• Font size setting for all dialogs.
• Animation speed has a wider range.
• Animation acceleration on/off selectable.
• Edit mode bugs fixed.
• Skins bug corrected.
• Plus numerous other improvements.

 A feature comparison of the main Sokoban programs can be found in the Sokoban Wiki.

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

Takaken has published MOP for Sokoban 2.2, a program for playing the Sokoban game.

It offers many features such as support for solving a level by using a solver program and automatically pushing a box to a selected destination.

Takaken has published MOP for Sokoban 2.1, a program for playing the Sokoban game.

It offers many features such as support for solving a level by using a solver program and automatically pushing a box to a selected destination.

A new JSoko version has been released.

Please check out the release notes.

Please report any bugs, problems or suggestions to: JSoko@mail.de

Takaken has published MOP for Sokoban 2.0, a program for playing the Sokoban game.

It offers many features such as support for solving a level by using a solver program and automatically pushing a box to a selected destination.

George Petrov has published YSokoban 1.847.

The release notes for this new version:

• Change: macro continues at the end of ()/{} even without *
• Change: play macro button changes to stop when started
• Added: command stopMacro
• Bugfix: make mixed case Ctrl-L
• Change: more optimization for RLE

A feature comparison of the main Sokoban programs can be found in the Sokoban Wiki.