python help with taking in data, saving date, arrays, random.shuffle

[wokeup2sleep]

im a beginner at comp science, and my prof is using python, which is totally new tom me i had a few questions with the program im writing, im having a few problems.

brief summary
i have to do a project where there are nine boxes filled with number 1-8, and 1 space is empty, the game needs to be scrambled, also all the moves need to be saved. the game can be paused anytime during thegame. the object is to move the numbers into the black spot till they are all in order.

the grid i have needs to contain variables so that can be moved by the players

this what i have and i know it is far off

def board():
board = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 ,9]

for x in range(0, 9):
print "|"

if(board[x]==9):
print "_"
else:
print board[x]



if(x==8):
print "|"
board()




when i run that it looks like this

|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
_
|


and this is how i need it to look:

|1|2|3|
|4|5|6|
|7|8|_|

what am i doing wrong? also how do i use the random.shuffle( ) function so i can scramble the numbers?

help would be greatly appriciated...

also how would i save every move, also the random fuction isnt working so i can scramble the numbers.


i am probably doing everything wrong to make a game board, cause i need everything to to be interchanglable when the players wants to move and adjecent number to the blank spot, any help anyone???

thanks alot ahead of time

also i can't seem to import array or random
in addition my project is attached if anyone didnt understand what i needed to to do

[jlm699]

how to save every move in the system when a player makes it, so i can see a replay of the game if the game is won, also if the game is paused the game can be resumed.

This can be achieved with a list of lists... you simply have to save the order, and let your "print board" function worry about displaying it correctly.

(ie, have a game list, which is a list containing 'board lists')

Game list would be

[ [1,2,3,...], # orig. board order ( 1-8 + _ ),
  [2,1,3,...], # scrambled board,
  [2,_,1....], # board after move 1,
  [_,2,1....], # board after move 2,
  [3,2,1....], # ... etc. 
]
 

As far as swapping the numbers, you literally can use the list's index() function to find and switch the index of the '_' and the number that they typed, then just redisplay the board.

[wokeup2sleep]

sorry, im a bit confused, im totallty a beginner, and im ain a intro class

how i would i use the find(), to switch the position of the "_", with the selected number

also how would i use the list fuctions to save the moves, so when it replays it replays, so it shows that board every time, with the move made, or to resume, how would i create the function, so it copys the state ot the board.

also how will the game figure out that the player is won once it is back in it;s normal position

in addition, the revised board you sent me shows the 9 instead of having it shown as "_", what would it look like w/o the comprehension


if you would like i can show you the rules of the project i have the pdf file.

[jlm699]

No I understand the rules... it is a very simple game.

A good way to check if they have won, would be to check the current board list with a sorted ( sort() ) version of itself. Sort will place the '_' at the end since it counts digits as being lower than characters.

I didn't mean find() ... rather index(). Basically, here's a small example:

>>> b = ['a', 'b', 'c']
>>> idx = b.index('b')
>>> b[b.index('a')] = 'b'
>>> b[idx] = 'a'
>>> b
['b', 'a', 'c']
>>> b.sort()
>>> b
['a', 'b', 'c']
>>> 
 

Try to do this step by step... just worry about getting your game board to display and accept user commands.

[wokeup2sleep]

so how would i check the current board state...

i dont understand how i would take the useres input to switch the selected nnumber with the empty spot

so i have the board being generated randomly but how do i get the board so , when a player chooses a number it will switch with the empty slot

[jlm699]

so how would i check the current board state...

You would compare if board == sorted board.

i dont understand how i would take the useres input to switch the selected nnumber with the empty spot

By assigning the raw_input() return to a variable, you know the number that they want to move... then you use the index() function to find the index of that number in the list... which you then swap values with the index of the '_' . An example of swapping two values in a list is in my last post.

so i have the board being generated randomly but how do i get the board so , when a player chooses a number it will switch with the empty slot

You're going to want a loop that will kick out when the user inputs 'q'... otherwise perform the selected operation and then update the board on-screen.

I hope you realize that we cannot simply give you the answer, as you need to learn for yourself how to work with Python. In the short time since my last post I have made a complete version of this game and even created an executable from it. This is not very complex, it's actually a great way to demonstrate some basic python programming elements to a student.

[wokeup2sleep]

i dont know where to incorporate

idx = b.index(input("enter an adjacent number:"))
numList[numList.index(empty)] = 'b'
numList[idx] = 'a'
 

in this code

def boardStr(cols, rows, empty=1):
    numList = [str(i) for i in range(1, (cols*rows-empty)+1)]
    random.shuffle(numList)
    numList += ['_' for i in range(empty)]
    outStr = ''
 
    for i, s in enumerate(numList):
        outStr += '%2s' % (s)
        if not (i+1)%cols:
            outStr += '\n'
        else:
            outStr += '|'
    return outStr
 
print boardStr(3,3,1)
 

so that the number entered always replaces the empty value and where, the number that entered was turn in to the empty value.

also i dont no what to make the 'a' and 'b' into, i went through many trials and tribulations for the last few hours, and i still havent found anything that will replace the empty value with the number chosen, and the number chosen with the empty value.

also the grid shows up like this:
2|3|5
4|1|6
7|8|_

when i need it to look like

|2|3|5|
|4|1|6|
|7|8|_|
what did i mess up?

also , how would i do it so we play on the same board, instead of a new board printing everytime a player enters a number.

[jlm699]

i dont know where to incorporate
...
in this code
...
so that the number entered always replaces the empty value and where, the number that entered was turn in to the empty value.

You don't. You shouldn't even be using that exact function. That was an example of how to generate and print a board "string". Your main function should be keeping track of the board string.

The way I did it:

''' The sliders game
    3/5/2008 '''
import os, random, time
 
def dispBoard(brd):
    # Prints the board in a 3x3 matrix
 
def replay(gm_list):
    #Replays every move the player made using successive dispBoard calls
 
def slide(inp, brd_list, gm_list):
    # Checks to see if player made a valid move
    #  If the move was valid, swap the number they chose
    #   with the blank tile and save the new board layout
    #   otherwise do nothing
 
# This is the MAIN function... like main() in C++
if __name__ == '__main__':
    # here we'll initialize the 'game board'
    brd_list = [str(i) for i in range(1,9)]
    brd_list.append('_')
    game_list = []
    # We don't want shallow copies
    game_list.append([item for item in brd_list])
 
    inp = 'i' # initialize the user-input variable 
    while inp != 'q':
        os.system("cls")
        dispBoard(brd_list)
        # copy board to temp list, sort and compare
        # if temp_list == brd_list and not beginning of game, display 'You won!'
            print 'You won!!!'
            if raw_input('Replay? (y/n): ') == 'y':
                replay(game_list)
            break
        else:
            print '\n', ['(1-8) moves number to blank spot, (P)ause,',
                '(S)huffle,'][inp == 'i'], '(Q)uit'
 
        # save the user's input w/ raw_input
        # If shuffle and it is the beginning of game:
            random.shuffle(brd_list)
            # save new board layout to game_list
        # elif a number between 1 and 8
            slide(inp, brd_list, game_list)
        # else:
            # handle other inputs
 

There's a basic skeleton for you, but it's up to you to figure out how to use it. You need to first worry about making your own function to print the game board. We've given you some major hints so you should be able to do it no problem.

Then start building the swap function, which was already given to you. All you have to do is build onto it by validating the user's moves... (hint: draw a 3x3 matrix and write the indices as they would appear in the list, then think about which moves are valid.)

also the grid shows up like this:
2|3|5
4|1|6
7|8|_

when i need it to look like

|2|3|5|
|4|1|6|
|7|8|_|
what did i mess up?

also , how would i do it so we play on the same board, instead of a new board printing everytime a player enters a number.

You messed up by using exactly what we gave you. You need to make it your own and build off of that. It was really only meant as a clue for you. You can't really do it without re-printing the board every time. It simply doesn't work like that. I gave you a major clue as to how to do it so that it "appears" to be the same board every time. I hope this helps.