159.270 : Write an Evaluation Function to Estimate the Strength of a Position at Each of the leaf Nodes of The Tree: Hardware-Oriented Computing Assignment, MU, New Zealand

159.270 Hardware-Oriented Computing

Project 1: Game Development

Instructions: Develop a computer player for a 4x4 checker game

Game rules:

- The starting position is as shown above

- In their turn, a player may move a piece 1 step diagonally forward (eg. B1-A2, or A4-B3)

- A piece may jump a single opponent’s piece into a vacant square on the other side (eg if there was a red piece at C2, then green could play B1-D3 or D1-B3). Any jumped pieces are captured and removed from the board.

- When a piece reaches the far end (green reaches row 4 or red reaches row 1), it becomes a King, and is allowed to move 1 step diagonally in any direction, either forwards or backwards.

- A player loses the game if they cannot make a legal move. Either their pieces are blocked, or all of their pieces have been captured.

- The game is a draw when both players have made 20 moves each (40 moves total).

This will require you to:

- Implement the gameplay. This is best implemented as a class that represents the game state, with a method for playing a move.

- For a given position, generate a list of possible moves.

- Represent at least three turns of play using a tree structure.

- Write an evaluation function to estimate the strength of a position at each of the leaf nodes of the tree. The evaluation function should not be random but may include a small random component.

- Use a search algorithm to find the best move for the current position.

- Create a minimal graphic interface allowing a user to play against the computer opponent. This can be text-based graphics on a console window.