ZAPPY: A Tribute to Zaphod Beeblebrox

Welcome to ZAPPY, a network game where teams compete on a dynamic tile map rich in resources. The goal is for your team to have at least 6 players reach the maximum elevation. Ready to get started? Let's dive in! 🚀

📋 Preliminaries

Binary Names

• Server: zappy_server
• GUI: zappy_gui
• AI: zappy_ai

Programming Languages

• Server: C
• GUI: C++
• AI: Free choice but we'll stick to C++ for this project

🌍 Environment

1. Geography

• The world, Trantor, is a flat plane with no elevations.
• The map loops: exiting on one side brings you back on the opposite side.

2. Resources

Trantor is rich in both minerals and food. Players will find:

• Food
• Stones: linemate, deraumere, sibur, mendiane, phiras, thystame

3. Activities

Players focus on:

• Feeding themselves
• Collecting stones

4. Individuals

• Inhabitants: Bodiless, pacifists, and occupy entire tiles.
• Survival: Requires food; 1 unit of food lasts 126 time units.

5. The Elevation Ritual

To elevate, players must gather specific stones and have the right number of same-level players on the same tile. Elevation details:

Level	Players	Linemate	Deraumere	Sibur	Mendiane	Phiras	Thystame
1 -> 2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2 -> 3	2	1	1	1	0	0	0
3 -> 4	2	2	0	1	0	2	0
4 -> 5	4	1	1	2	0	1	0
5 -> 6	4	1	2	1	3	0	0
6 -> 7	6	1	2	3	0	1	0
7 -> 8	6	2	2	2	2	2	1

6. Vision

Players' vision expands with each level.

Level one, the player only see itself and the first row directly in front of it. Level two, the player sees itself and the first two rows directly in front of it, and so on.

7. Sound Transmission

Players can broadcast messages. The sound travels in the direction indicated by the tile number.

🔧 Programs

Binaries

1. Server (C): Manages the game world.
2. Graphical Client (C++): Visualizes the game world. (using SFML)
3. AI Client (Free choice): Controls a player autonomously.

Usage

Server:

./zappy_server -p port -x width -y height -n team1 team2 ... -c clientsNb -f freq

GUI:

./zappy_gui -p port -h machine

AI:

./zappy_ai -p port -n team_name -h machine

Commands

Players can perform various actions such as moving, turning, looking around, broadcasting, and more. Here are some key commands:

Action	Command	Time (units)	Response
Move	Forward	7/f	ok
Turn right	Right	7/f	ok
Turn left	Left	7/f	ok
Look	Look	7/f	[tile1, tile2, ...]
Inventory	Inventory	1/f	[linemate n, sibur n, ...]
Broadcast	Broadcast text	7/f	ok
Fork	Fork	42/f	ok
Eject	Eject	7/f	ok/ko
Take object	Take object	7/f	ok/ko
Set object	Set object	7/f	ok/ko
Incantation	Incantation	300/f	Elevation underway/ko

Time Management

• Actions' execution time is calculated as action / f, where f is the reciprocal of the time unit.
• Default f value is 100.

🎮 Teams & Gameplay

• Teams start with n available slots (represented by eggs).
• Players have 10 life units initially (1260 time units or 1260/f seconds).
• Reproduction: Players can reproduce by laying eggs, increasing team slots.

📥 Protocol

Client-Server Communication

• Connection: Clients connect via TCP sockets.
• Initial Handshake:

  <-- WELCOME \n
  --> TEAM-NAME \n
  <-- CLIENT-NUM \n
  <-- X Y \n
  

Clients send up to 10 commands without waiting for responses. Server executes commands in the received order.

GUI protocol

Warning

The GUI protocol is a mandatory fixed protocol.
What is described below must be implemented as is. But you can add more commands if you want.

When a GUI connects to the server, it must send the following commands:

GRAPHIC

So the server knows it is a graphical client. The server will able to forward events to the GUI.
And more importantly, the client will be able to send GUI commands to the server.

Symbols and Meanings

Symbol	Meaning
X	width or horizontal position
Y	height or vertical position
q0	resource 0 (food) quantity
q1	resource 1 (linemate) quantity
q2	resource 2 (deraumere) quantity
q3	resource 3 (sibur) quantity
q4	resource 4 (mendiane) quantity
q5	resource 5 (phiras) quantity
q6	resource 6 (thystame) quantity
n	player number
O	orientation: 1(N), 2(E), 3(S), 4(W)
L	player or incantation level
e	egg number
T	time unit
N	name of the team
R	incantation result
M	message
i	resource number

Server Client Details

Server Command	Client Command	Details
msz X Y\n	msz\n	map size
bct X Y q0 q1 q2 q3 q4 q5 q6\n	bct X Y\n	content of a tile
bct X Y q0 q1 q2 q3 q4 q5 q6\n * nbr_tiles	mct\n	content of the map (all the tiles)
tna N\n * nbr_teams	tna\n	name of all the teams
pnw #n X Y O L N\n		connection of a new player
ppo #n X Y O\n	ppo #n\n	player’s position
plv #n L\n	plv #n\n	player’s level
pin #n X Y q0 q1 q2 q3 q4 q5 q6\n	pin #n\n	player’s inventory
pex #n\n		expulsion
pbc #n M\n		broadcast
pic X Y L #n #n ... \n		start of an incantation (by the first player)
pie X Y R\n		end of an incantation
pfk #n\n		egg laying by the player
pdr #n i\n		resource dropping
pgt #n i\n		resource collecting
pdi #n\n		death of a player
enw #e #n X Y\n		an egg was laid by a player
ebo #e\n		player connection for an egg
edi #e\n		death of an egg
sgt T\n	sgt\n	time unit request
sst T\n	sst T\n	time unit modification
seg N\n		end of game
smg M\n		message from the server
suc\n		unknown command
sbp\n		command parameter error

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Dive into the world of Trantor, gather resources, elevate your players, and lead your team to victory! 🌟