CSCE-315: Programming Studio (Summer 2014)

Reversi Online Client-Server Protocol

  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
2|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
3|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
4|_|_|_|O|@|_|_|_|
5|_|_|_|@|O|_|_|_|
6|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
7|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
8|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
  a b c d e f g h

User always plays BLACK and will always make the first move.

• EXIT: exit and disconnect from the server
• DISPLAY: toggles board display
• UNDO: undo AI's move and your last move. Up to 10 UNDO's should be supported.
• LOCAL: tells server that a local game will be played
• EASY | MEDIUM | HARD : sets the AI skill level (difficulty).
• REMOTE <server> <port> client_difficulty server_difficulty: this server's AI against another server's AI (difficulty of both specified, respectively)
  • This server connects as a client.
  • This server will take the place of a human, so it will enter LOCAL HARD, etc. to establish the initial game.
  • NOTE: This server will play black and it will go first. The remote server will play white.

The server will show these messages to the user:

An unused port should be used for the server. The entire interface should be accessable using telnet, using plain ASCII text. You have to be extra cautious with your code since your server can easily become a security hole. Before you print anything that came from the client or the server, you have to first check if these are printable characters, and make sure the length of the input is within your input buffer size.

An example is shown below. Bold is server, italic is client). Text following ";" are comments and they are simply displayed as they are received and no further action is taken (comments on the far right column are mine, just to explain it a bit). "_" at the end is the cursor waiting for the user input.

WELCOME
LOCAL EASY			; set up AI difficulty
OK
DISPLAY_ON			; toggle board display
OK

;  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
;1|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;2|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;3|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;4|_|_|_|O|@|_|_|_|
;5|_|_|_|@|O|_|_|_|
;6|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;7|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;8|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;  a b c d e f g h
f5 				; enter move
OK
;  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
;1|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;2|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;3|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;4|_|_|_|O|O|O|_|_|
;5|_|_|_|@|O|@|_|_|
;6|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;7|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;8|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;  a b c d e f g h 
f4				; server tells you which move it made 
g1 				; enter move
ILLEGAL
;  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
;1|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;2|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;3|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;4|_|_|_|O|O|O|_|_|
;5|_|_|_|@|O|@|_|_|
;6|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;7|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;8|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
;  a b c d e f g h

_				; cursor waiting

Reversi Client

Here's an example template of the product backlog:

        Backlog example

And, here's the burndown chart:

        Burndown chart example

Some tips:

        For the project, you should focus on the tasks in the following
        order (near the top is most important). Set up your backlog
        accordingly. Your backlog will be much more detailed than this.

        1. Game mechanics
                - board and game state representation
                - operators
                - operator legality (is a certain move allowed?)
                - move: once a move is made, update the board (flip the
                        intervening tiles)
                - termination condition detection (can any more
                  pieces be placed?)
		- undo
                - game result report (win/lose/draw).

        2. Game Server
                - allows clients to connect
                - can use telnet (e.g., putty, with telnet option) to
                  connect

        3. Game AI
                - initially random player (randomly pick from available
                  moves).
                - min-max with limited depth
                - alpha-beta-pruning-based
                - customized heuristics

        As for the burndown chart, you will initially not have
        any data. Use your estimated time for each task and
        during which sprint you will get those done to come up
        with a mock burndown chart.