COMP 3411 Artificial Intelligence
Session 1, 2018
Project 3, Option 1: Treasure Hunt
Due: Sunday 3 June, 11:59 pm
Marks: 18% of final assessment
For this project you will be implementing an agent to play a simple text-based adventure game. The agent is considered to be stranded on a small group of islands, with a few trees and the ruins of some ancient buildings. It is required to move around a rectangular environment, collecting tools and avoiding (or removing) obstacles along the way.
The obstacles and tools within the environment are represented as follows:
Obstacles Tools
| T | tree | a | axe |
| - | door | k | key |
| ~ | water | o | stepping stone |
| * | wall | $ | treasure |
The agent will be represented by one of the characters ^, v, < or >, depending on which direction it is pointing. The agent is capable of the following instructions:
L turn left
R turn right
F (try to) move forward
C (try to) chop down a tree, using an axe
U (try to) unlock a door, using an key
When it executes an L or R instruction, the agent remains in the same location and only its direction changes. When it executes an F instruction, the agent attempts to move a single step in whichever direction it is pointing. The F instruction will fail (have no effect) if there is a wall or tree directly in front of the agent.
When the agent moves to a location occupied by a tool, it automatically picks up the tool. The agent may use a C or U instruction to remove an obstacle immediately in front of it, if it is carrying the appropriate tool. A tree may be removed with a C (chop) instruction, if an axe is held. A door may be removed with a U (unlock) instruction, if a key is held.
If the agent is not holding a raft or a stepping stone and moves forward into the water, it will drown.
If the agent is holding a stepping stone and moves forward into the water, the stone will automatically be placed in the water and the agent can step onto it safely. When the agent steps away, the stone will appear as an upper-case O. The agent can step repeatedly on that stone, but the stone will stay where it is and can never be picked up again.
Whenever a tree is chopped, the tree automatically becomes a raft which the agent can use as a tool to move across the water. If the agent is not holding any stepping stones but is holding a raft when it steps forward into the water, the raft will automatically be deployed and the agent can move around on the water, using the raft. When the agent steps back onto the land (or a stepping stone), the raft it was using will sink and cannot be used again. The agent will need to chop down another tree in order to get a new raft.
If the agent attempts to move off the edge of the environment, it dies.
To win the game, the agent must pick up the treasure and then return to its initial location.
Running as a Single Process
Copy the archive src.zip into your own filespace and unzip it. Then type
cd src javac *.java java Step -i s0.in
You should then see something like this:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~********************~~ ~~* a * T o *~~ ~~* o *-* v ** *~~ ~~**** *~~* *~~ ~~ oT * k * * ~~ ~~*~~* *~~ ~~ ~~ $ ************ ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Enter Action(s):
This allows you to play the role of the agent by typing commands at the keyboard (followed by <Enter>). Note:
- a key can be used to open any door; once a door is opened, it has effectively been removed from the environment and can never be “closed” again.
- an axe or key can be used multiple times, but each stone can be placed in the water only once.
- C or U instructions will fail (have no effect) if the appropriate tool is not held, or if the location immediately in front of the agent does not contain an appropriate obstacle.
Running in Network Mode
Follow these instructions to see how the game runs in network mode:
- open two windows, and cd to the src directory in both of them.
- choose a port number between 1025 and 65535 – let’s suppose you choose 31415.
- type this in one window:
java Step -p 31415 -i s0.in
- type this in the other window:
java Agent -p 31415
In network mode, the agent runs as a separate process and communicates with the game engine through a TCPIP socket. Notice that the agent cannot see the whole environment, but only a 5-by-5 “window” around its current location, appropriately rotated. From the agent’s point of view, locations off the edge of the environment appear as a dot.We have also provided a C version of the agent, which you can run by typing
make ./agent -p 31415
Writing an Agent
At each time step, the environment will send a series of 24 characters to the agent, constituting a scan of the 5-by-5 window it is currently seeing; the agent must send back a single character to indicate the action it has chosen.
You are free to write the agent in any language you choose. If you are writing in Java, your main file should be called Agent.java (you are free to use the supplied file Agent.javaas a starting point). If you are writing in C, you are free to use the files agent.c, pipe.c and pipe.h as a starting point. In other languages, you will have to write the socket code for yourself. You must include a Makefile with your submission, producing an executable called agent.
You may assume that the specified environment is no larger than 80 by 80, but the agent can begin anywhere inside it.
Additional examples of input and output files will be provided in the directory hw3step/sample.
There is a widget on the course Web site which allows you to edit your own input maps, test them using a graphical interface, and share them with others.
Question
At the top of your code, in a block of comments, you must provide a brief answer (one or two paragraphs) to this Question:
Briefly describe how your program works, including any algorithms and data structures employed, and explain any design decisions you made along the way.
Submission
COMP3411 students should submit by typing
give cs3411 hw3step Makefile ...
COMP9414/9814 students should submit by typing
give cs9414 hw3step Makefile ...
You can submit as many times as you like – later submissions will overwrite earlier ones. You can check that your submission has been received by using one of these commands:3411 classrun -check
9414 classrun -check
The submission deadline is Sunday 3 June, 11:59 pm.
15% penalty will be applied to the (maximum) mark for every 24 hours late after the deadline.
Questions relating to the project can be posted to the Forums on the course Web site.
If you have a question that has not already been answered on the Forum, you can email it to blair@cse.unsw.edu.au
Please ensure that you submit the source files and NOT any binary files. The give system will compile your program using your Makefile and check that it produces a binary file (or java class files) with the correct name.
Assessment
Your program will be tested on a series of sample inputs with successively more challenging environments. There will be:
- 12 marks for functionality (automarking)
- 6 marks for Algorithms, Style, Comments and answer to the Question
You should always adhere to good coding practices and style. In general, a program that attempts a substantial part of the job but does that part correctly will receive more marks than one attempting to do the entire job but with many errors.
Plagiarism Policy
Your program must be entirely your own work. Plagiarism detection software will be used to compare all submissions pairwise (including submissions for any similar projects from previous years) and serious penalties will be applied, particularly in the case of repeat offences.
DO NOT COPY FROM OTHERS; DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO SEE YOUR CODE
Please refer to the UNSW Policy on Academic Honesty and Plagiarism if you require further clarification on this matter.
Good luck!