Thread: Let's build tic-tac-toe (noughts and crosses) together...

As long as this is not a homework assignment, I don't see a problem with it. There is a danger of people using what you come up with to cheat that you should be aware of, but I'm sure this wouldn't be the only potential source. And hopefully a teacher would be able to spot a blatant rip-off.

That being said, I wish you luck. Getting a team of programmers to cooperate in an organized way is a bit like herding cats- who are all out of their minds on catnip.

I was looking for something like this.

Very cool idea, if you want to get a team together of newbies, message me for my Skype or something =p

Originally Posted by 2by4

I recently had an argument with a moderator, who asked me to open a new thread. The same moderator then locked that new thread. I have lost the confidence in putting in effort in this thread, which the same moderator may lock if he doesn't get his way in a dispute.

Feel free to actually use my name. Our initial argument was about whether a Swing Timer must be initialized in its own thread so as to not lock up the gui (it doesn't, but you were telling a confused OP that it does). I informed you of your mistake, and when you didn't believe me, I wrote a program demonstrating it. You then shifted the argument to a personal one about me not seeing things from your perspective, which wasn't true, and even if it was, it would have nothing to do with the original technical argument. Since these are technical forums, not personal ones, I closed the thread as it was degrading into nontechnical personal arguments that had nothing to do with the original point. I'm not being sensitive, I'm not holding grudges, and I didn't want to carry the argument into this thread. This is a technical forum, and I demonstrated that you were technically incorrect, which is fine, but we just don't have the time for personal arguments. Let's get back to work.

I'd like to see you experiment with getting a group together from these forums to do a project, and I'd bet you'd get a few newbies interested in a project over winter break. But it's up to you.

@Tjstretch sounds good. I like the idea of a lobby where you can invite players to a game. Perhaps we could also have some sort of scoreboard system (wins/losses). How would you handle the server though? Do you have the hardware to spare?

Some of my own thoughts: I remember playing tic tac toe against my dad. Eventually, it became boring because it was always a draw. Reading up on it the logic is not particularly difficult: link.

 if firstMove play top left
 for each unused square
    calculate friend moves
    if friend == 2 play square (win!)
    calculate block moves
    if block == 2 play square
    if there is one maximum friend+block play square    
    else pick a max at random
    if there are no good choices (imminent draw) play random

Perhaps we could spice up the plays with a bit of randomness. Say a percentage chance to make a mistake in the friend + block calculation. Or a chance to play the first move differently.

Also, any thoughts on art? A white square with a red X is boring. What about a theme or style to make it interesting. A little effort on the artistic side would pay off methinks.

I happen to have an available server that could be used, assuming that it doesn't get to extremely popular. (Linux, 1 year old, sole purpose is for this sort of stuff)

I started coding a little bit, but the ai was still a little difficult to implement. So far I only have a way to check if anyone won yet. I was just making sure all the documentation I made was up-to-date, if you want me to upload it.

About the GUI:
I was thinking about a variable length grid of buttons, each with an X or O, but luckily buttons can also use Icons, so maybe we can add that. (I am a terrible artist thought D: ) I was going to implement it so that it would look like (in ASCII characters, not the actual picture)

|==================|
|A label, saying something
|   (Win/Loss maybe?)
|
|
|    The GAME
|
|
| Chat box
|==================|

Edit:

@randomness, I was thinking 85-95% chance of making the correct move for the bot, especially for blocking a win

Edit 2:
I've been kind of going at it for a while, but I'm already encountering a few problems, so I can tell some of it will probably be redone, but for now this is what I have. I'm exactly what norm described, a cat on catnip Couldn't resist starting.

2 Things I know have to be redone

1: The AI for the bot
2: How the connecting works... I can't decide how to get it to connect two players together, and the invitation... unless each player constantly has a serversocket open, which I was trying to avoid.
Also, the server is up and running.


Also, if I wasn't suppose to start yet, I won't mind restarting.. this one only kind of worked anyway.

EDIT: Making all links up to date, cant take away attachment though
TicTacToeSrc0.3.zip

I haven't gotten the connecting to work yet, because I can't figure out how to make the invitation to send, it's mostly a design issue. I could either connect directly, which would require the other client to have a serversocket open, or use it through the server, in which the client would have to be constantly checking his socket for some kind of message.

As for the single player (Against a bot) I am hoping to make it initiate a fight with a bot if you click on your own name.

I got a few of these on the server after a couple resets, I presume because your client froze:

java.net.SocketException: Connection reset
        at java.net.SocketInputStream.read(SocketInputStream.java:189)
        at java.net.SocketInputStream.read(SocketInputStream.java:121)
        at java.net.SocketInputStream.read(SocketInputStream.java:203)
        at java.io.DataInputStream.readUnsignedShort(DataInputStream.java:337)
        at java.io.DataInputStream.readUTF(DataInputStream.java:589)
        at java.io.DataInputStream.readUTF(DataInputStream.java:564)
        at TicTacToe.Server.TTTServer$ClientHandler.run(TTTServer.java:163)

Version: 1.7
IDE: Dr Java
File: It should create a file named names.txt after the first run. EDIT: I just realized what you're talking about, I had forgotten about that. Yes there is, I suppose it should have a "default" value, I will set that up.

Edit: It wasn't Norm who said the catnip thing, it was Kevin, my bad!

The fix for the names file:
TTTBot.java

Ok I updated it again, the AI isn't working for some reason, but now you can see what it will look like if you click on your own name on the list. Multiplayer is still not working.


EDIT: Making all links up to date,
TicTacToeSrc0.3.zip

Oh the switch statement works in 1.7, but always better to be backwards compatible. Actually that was the only reason I went to 1.7.

Yeah I tried to do the logic myself and it got a little confusing, and I also had to worry about a variable length grid.

Cant wait to see what you come up with! If you need a server to host it on (If you use that design, of course its not the only one) just ask. Has to be kn a port greater than 1024 and not 10010-10020

Asking certainly makes for local palyer.. actually I might steal that idea

At the array size... I never even thought of doing it like that.

Thanks for the release i'm going to checker out.

I think that the multiplayer is working now, updated all the links but here is another one. Had to make the client listen on port 10017 in order to make it work, which made the code a little more complicated and added another private class to the server. Also I made sure that the server's source was in this one. Also, emperor are you giving a shot at tic tac toe as well or just watching? Also, there has to be a better way to do the server, if anyone happens to have any ideas, do tell.
TicTacToeSrc0.3.zip

Give it a crack 777.

Looks like this thread has turned into 'show us your tic-tac-toe'. I'm working on my own AI and my game is not nearly as ambitious or complete as Tjstretches. But then that guy farts and jokes in java so I'd be gunning for an honorable mention if this were a competition.

Hopefully we can bring something together communally, but for now let's just have fun and share some code.

Speaking of which. Here is my first effort (see attached). It is mashed together pretty quickly and it is only 2P but I will use this so I can muck around with the AI a little. The more I think about it the more idea's I get. Could combine randomness with optimal choice, could start random and build up a table of non-working choices (so it starts dumb and learns from it's mistake). Could make it cocky or lazy so after it wins a couple in a row and decides to skip a few calculations. Pity TTT is such a crappy game cause I'm having fun.

If you want to write an AI to assist me, here is my design:

Abstracter:
You can not assume a specific size of grid (Must check the length of the grid or

gameBoard.getDifficulty().getSize()

You CAN assume that your character is 'O' and the other player is 'X' for now.
Currently it checks for win in the updateGrid method in the game panel, so I think checking for win is not necessary (?)

In TTTBot.play():
There is a already initialized global private gameboard called gameBoard, you can get the 2d character grid by calling gameBoard.getGrid(), to check if a spot is empty, check it against

gameBoard.isUsed(x, y);

, and to place a block call

gameBoard.place(this, x, y);

Documentation for gameBoard:

public boolean isUsed(int x,
             int y)
Returns:
if the x, y location has something on it already

public void place(TTTPlayer player,
         int x,
         int y)
Attempt to place or move at the specified (x,y) location.
Parameters:
player - The player that is playing 
x - The x location
y - The y location
Throws:
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - if any arguments are not valid

Just got the chance to look at christophers program, and it looks pretty cool! I like how the console looks, pretty impressive!
Also like the simplicity of the program, certainly easier to get the main gist than mine, however you might want to consider using javadoc commenting, because that makes it look much more official, if nothing else

EDIT So I don't triple post:

7777 an 85% unbeatable AI (85% chance to block there win, 100% to make a win, or something like that)