Archipelago - One-player version taking shape!

The one-player version of the game is really starting to take shape!

Introduction

In the last update I introduced team-based decision making for computer players. This is the process by which the potential moves for a computer player are collated and ranked and also allocated between ships to ensure that two ships do not pursue the same goal.

Over the last week I have added the resource delivery moves to this decision making process. I also added the necessary code for the gameboard and contract updates once the computer player arrived with the required goods.

With the completion of this functionality computer players can now:

• Search the islands on the board for resources;
• Claim those resources;
• Collect goods from those resource tiles once a relevant contract is announced; and
• Deliver those goods to Kingdom islands to fulfil contracts.

This completes the basic moves required for a computer player to complete and win the game. Although there is a fair amount still to add, a basic one-player version of the game is now taking shape!

In addition I added the following features:

• Automated scrolling of the board so that computer ships are on the screen when they move.
• Automated end-turn for computer player and pirate moves so that the human player does not have to keep pressing the button.
• Some improvements to the gameboard for when players are eliminated.

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Repository

The repository for Archipelago can be found here. Background details of the project and the road-map can be found in the read-me file.
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago

For a full view of the current state of the game see my github-hosted page. Please note that the game is not yet complete - you can see current progress and test functionality and play the basic one-player version but there is still plenty to be added!
https://miniature-tiger.github.io/archipelago/

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New Features covered by this Contribution

Contract delivery decision making

The main addition is integrating the resource delivery moves into the computer decision making process. This allows computer players to choose and allocate between three move types: resource searches, resource collection and contract delivery. One such array of ranked moves can be seen below:

The code changes for this new feature can be found here:
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago/commit/c707c074d607cf732a76a459e189177c66356786

Contract delivery move integration and graphics

Once a computer player makes a delivery move, the game board, dashboard, contract, and trade route arrays and graphics need to be updated. This commit integrates these changes. The gif below illustrates such a move:

The code changes for this new features can be found here:
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago/commit/51461b3da4958592b55133eb63da8070465af9f1

Automated scrolling, end-turn and listener management

Now that the basic computer player moves are in place I worked on ways to improve the feel of the game-play. The first two changes I made here are:

• Automate the end-turn of the computer player moves and the pirate moves so that the human player only has to action their own moves. I also reworked the event listeners, separating between listeners that are on at all times (score dropdown, settings management) and action event listeners (end turn, piece movement, building, board searches) which are turned on and off to prevent interruption of automated moves and transitions.
• For computer and pirate moves scroll the screen to the ship that is about to move. There is a delay before the scrolling, before tiles are activated, and before the ship starts to move so the game does not feel rushed. The scrolling is limited to upper and lower edges of board and there is a restriction on minimum scrolling to prevent jumpiness.

Another gif to illustrate!

The code changes for these new features can be found here:
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago/commit/845dc64d3b9fc062039e0c78f6b8a0ec727d7433
and here:
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago/commit/12ce73691d960fbd82c7d414e81e0cd6328ff679

Players elimination improvements

Finally some changes to improve the game when a player is eliminated.

• Trade route SVGs are removed from the board for the eliminated player as well as removal of associated points and resetting of contracts array (since contracts were not completed).
• Bug removed that caused game to freeze if first player in new round of moves had just been eliminated.

The code changes for these new features can be found here:
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago/commit/b7d86b9dd35b3bc5f83630e43f516052242ef69e

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Proof of Work Carried Out

This is the full url to my github account:
https://github.com/miniature-tiger

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Contact / Contribute

That is all for this update. If you have any queries please drop them in the comments or contact me on discord.

Have fun!