QB64 Phoenix Edition
Connect 4 with AI - Printable Version

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Connect 4 with AI - bplus - 06-10-2023

This game is generalized to do any number of columns and rows, I think. I have it setup for Standard Board Game at 7 columns and 6 Rows. This has been proven to be a certain winner but I forget, the first or 2nd player.

Don't worry AI aint that good but OK. 

Code: (Select All)

Option _Explicit ' Connect 4 NumRows X NumCols 2020_12_16.bas update bplus
DefLng A-Z
Const SQ = 60 '      square or grid cell
Const NumCols = 7 '  number of columns  7 across 6 down is standard for board game
Const NumRows = 6 '  you guessed it
Const NCM1 = NumCols - 1 ' NumCols minus 1
Const NRM1 = NumRows - 1 ' you can guess surely
Const SW = SQ * (NumCols + 2) '  screen width
Const SH = SQ * (NumRows + 3) '  screen height
Const P = 1 '      Player is 1 on grid
Const AI = -1 '    AI is -1 on grid
Const XO = SQ '    x offset for grid
Const YO = 2 * SQ ' y offset for grid

ReDim Shared Grid(NCM1, NRM1) ' 0 = empty  P=1 for Player,  AI=-1  for AI so -4 is win for AI..
ReDim Shared DX(7), DY(7) ' Directions
DX(0) = 1: DY(0) = 0 ': DString$(0) = "East"
DX(1) = 1: DY(1) = 1 ': DString$(1) = "South East"
DX(2) = 0: DY(2) = 1 ': DString$(2) = "South"
DX(3) = -1: DY(3) = 1 ': DString$(3) = "South West"
DX(4) = -1: DY(4) = 0 ': DString$(4) = "West"
DX(5) = -1: DY(5) = -1 ': DString$(5) = "North West"
DX(6) = 0: DY(6) = -1 ': DString$(6) = "North"
DX(7) = 1: DY(7) = -1 ' : DString$(7) = "North East"
ReDim Shared Scores(NCM1) ' rating column for AI and displaying them
ReDim Shared AIX, AIY ' last move of AI for highlighting in display
ReDim Shared WinX, WinY, WinD ' display Winning Connect 4
ReDim Shared GameOn, Turn, GoFirst, PlayerLastMoveCol, PlayerLastMoveRow, MoveNum ' game tracking
ReDim Shared Record$(NCM1, NRM1)

Screen _NewImage(SW, SH, 32)
_ScreenMove 360, 60
Dim mb, mx, my, row, col, r
_Title "Connect 4: " + _Trim$(Str$(NumCols)) + "x" + _Trim$(Str$(NumRows)) + " with AI"
GameOn = -1: GoFirst = AI: Turn = AI: MoveNum = 0
ShowGrid
While GameOn
    If Turn = P Then
        While _MouseInput: Wend
        mb = _MouseButton(1): mx = _MouseX: my = _MouseY
        If mb Then 'get last place mouse button was down
            _Delay .25 'for mouse release
            row = ((my - YO) / SQ - .5): col = ((mx - XO) / SQ - .5)
            If col >= 0 And col <= NCM1 And row >= 0 And row < 8 Then
                r = GetOpenRow(col)
                If r <> NumRows Then
                    Grid(col, r) = P: Turn = AI: PlayerLastMoveCol = col: PlayerLastMoveRow = r: MoveNum = MoveNum + 1
                End If
            Else
                Beep
            End If
        End If
    Else
        AIMove
        Turn = P: MoveNum = MoveNum + 1
    End If
    ShowGrid
    _PrintString (10, 10), Space$(50)
    _PrintString (10, 10), Str$(AIX) + Str$(AIY)
    _Display
    _Limit 60
Wend

Sub AIMove
    ' What this sub does in English:
    ' This sub assigns the value to playing each column, then plays the best value with following caveats:
    ' + If it finds a winning move, it will play that immediately.
    ' + If it finds a spoiler move, it will play that if no winning move was found.
    ' + It will poisen the column's scoring, if opponent can play a winning move if AI plays this column,
    '  but it might be the only legal move left.  We will have to play it if no better score was found.

    Dim c, r, d, cntA, cntP, bestScore, startR, startC, iStep, test, goodF, i
    Dim openRow(NCM1) ' find open rows once
    ReDim Scores(NCM1) ' evaluate each column's potential
    AIX = -1: AIY = -1 ' set these when AI makes move, they are signal to display procedure AI's move.
    For c = 0 To NCM1
        openRow(c) = GetOpenRow(c)
        r = openRow(c)
        If r <> NumRows Then
            For d = 0 To 3 ' 4 directions to build connect 4's that use cell c, r
                startC = c + -3 * DX(d): startR = r + -3 * DY(d)
                For i = 0 To 3 ' here we backup from the potential connect 4 in opposite build direction of c, r
                    cntA = 0: cntP = 0: goodF = -1 ' reset counts and flag for good connect 4
                    'from this start position run 4 steps forward to count all connects involving cell c, r
                    For iStep = 0 To 3 ' process a potential connect 4
                        test = GR(startC + i * DX(d) + iStep * DX(d), startR + i * DY(d) + iStep * DY(d))
                        If test = NumRows Then goodF = 0: Exit For 'cant get connect4 from here
                        If test = AI Then cntA = cntA + 1
                        If test = P Then cntP = cntP + 1
                    Next iStep
                    If goodF Then 'evaluate the Legal Connect4 we could build with c, r
                        If cntA = 3 Then ' we are done!  winner!
                            AIX = c: AIY = r ' <<< this is the needed 4th cell to win tell ShowGrid last cell
                            Grid(c, r) = AI '  <<< this is the needed 4th cell to win, add to grid this is AI move
                            Scores(c) = Scores(c) + 1000
                            Exit Sub
                        ElseIf cntP = 3 Then 'next best move spoiler!
                            AIX = c: AIY = r 'set the move but don't exit there might be a winner
                            Scores(c) = Scores(c) + 900
                        ElseIf cntA = 0 And cntP = 2 Then
                            Scores(c) = Scores(c) + 8
                        ElseIf cntA = 2 And cntP = 0 Then ' very good offense or defense
                            Scores(c) = Scores(c) + 4 'play this to connect 3 or prevent player from Connect 3
                        ElseIf cntA = 0 And cntP = 1 Then
                            Scores(c) = Scores(c) + 4
                        ElseIf (cntA = 1 And cntP = 0) Then 'good offense or defense
                            Scores(c) = Scores(c) + 2 ' play this to connect 2 or prevent player from Connect 2
                        ElseIf (cntA = 0 And cntP = 0) Then ' OK it's not a wasted move as it has potential for connect4
                            Scores(c) = Scores(c) + 1 ' this is good move because this can still be a Connect 4
                        End If
                    End If ' in the board
                Next i
            Next d
            If Stupid(c, r) Then Scores(c) = -1000 + Scores(c) ' poison because if played the human can win
        End If
    Next
    If AIX <> -1 Then ' we found a spoiler so move there since we haven't found a winner
        Grid(AIX, AIY) = AI ' make move on grid and done!
        Exit Sub
    Else
        If GetOpenRow(PlayerLastMoveCol) < NumRows Then 'all things being equal play on top of player's last move
            bestScore = Scores(PlayerLastMoveCol): AIY = PlayerLastMoveRow - 1: AIX = PlayerLastMoveCol
        Else
            bestScore = -1000 ' a negative score indicates that the player can beat AI with their next move
        End If
        For c = 0 To NCM1
            r = openRow(c)
            If r <> NumRows Then
                If Scores(c) > bestScore Then bestScore = Scores(c): AIY = r: AIX = c
            End If
        Next
        If AIX <> -1 Then
            Grid(AIX, AIY) = AI ' make first best score move we found
        Else 'We have trouble!  Oh but it could be there are no moves!!!
            ' checkWin is run after every move by AI or Player if there were no legal moves left it should have caught that.
            ' Just in case it didn't here is an error stop!
            Beep: Locate 4, 2: Print "AI has failed to find a proper move, press any to end..."
            Sleep ' <<< pause until user presses a key
            End
        End If
    End If
End Sub

Function GetOpenRow (forCol)
    Dim i
    GetOpenRow = NumRows 'assume none open
    If forCol < 0 Or forCol > NCM1 Then Exit Function
    For i = NRM1 To 0 Step -1
        If Grid(forCol, i) = 0 Then GetOpenRow = i: Exit Function
    Next
End Function

Function Stupid (c, r)
    Dim pr
    Grid(c, r) = AI
    pr = GetOpenRow(c)
    If pr <> NumRows Then
        Grid(c, pr) = P
        If CheckWin = 4 Then Stupid = -1
        Grid(c, pr) = 0
    End If
    Grid(c, r) = 0
End Function

Function GR (c, r) ' if c, r are out of bounds returns N else returns grid(c, r)
    ' need to check the grid(c, r) but only if c, r is on the board
    If c < 0 Or c > NCM1 Or r < 0 Or r > NRM1 Then GR = NumRows Else GR = Grid(c, r)
End Function

Sub ShowGrid
    Static lastMoveNum
    Dim i, r, c, check, s$, k$
    If MoveNum <> lastMoveNum Then ' file newest move
        If MoveNum = 1 Then ReDim Record$(NCM1, NRM1)
        If Turn = -1 Then
            Record$(PlayerLastMoveCol, PlayerLastMoveRow) = _Trim$(Str$(MoveNum)) + " " + "P"
        Else
            Record$(AIX, AIY) = _Trim$(Str$(MoveNum)) + " " + "A"
        End If
        lastMoveNum = MoveNum
    End If
    Cls
    Line (XO, YO)-Step(NumCols * SQ, NumRows * SQ), &HFF004400, BF
    For i = 0 To NumCols 'grid
        Line (SQ * i + XO, YO)-Step(0, NumRows * SQ), &HFFFFFFFF
    Next
    For i = 0 To NumRows
        Line (XO, SQ * i + YO)-Step(NumCols * SQ, 0), &HFFFFFFFF
    Next
    For r = NRM1 To 0 Step -1 ''in grid rows are reversed 0 is top row
        For c = 0 To NCM1
            If Grid(c, r) = P Then
                Line (c * SQ + XO + 3, r * SQ + YO + 3)-Step(SQ - 6, SQ - 6), &HFFFF2200, BF
            ElseIf Grid(c, r) = AI Then
                If c = AIX And r = AIY Then 'highlite last AI move
                    Line (c * SQ + XO + 3, r * SQ + YO + 3)-Step(SQ - 6, SQ - 6), &HFF680044, BF
                Else
                    Line (c * SQ + XO + 3, r * SQ + YO + 3)-Step(SQ - 6, SQ - 6), &HFF390027, BF
                End If
            End If
            s$ = _Trim$(Str$(Scores(c)))
            _PrintString (XO + c * SQ + (60 - Len(s$) * 8) / 2, YO + SQ * NumRows + 22), s$
        Next
    Next
    _Display
    check = CheckWin
    If check Then 'report end of round ad see if want to play again
        If check = 4 Or check = -4 Then
            For i = 0 To 3
                Line ((WinX + i * DX(WinD)) * SQ + XO + 5, (WinY + i * DY(WinD)) * SQ + YO + 5)-Step(SQ - 10, SQ - 10), &HFFFFFF00, B
            Next
        End If
        For r = 0 To NRM1
            For c = 0 To NCM1
                If Record$(c, r) <> "" Then
                    s$ = Mid$(Record$(c, r), 1, InStr(Record$(c, r), " ") - 1)
                    If Right$(Record$(c, r), 1) = "A" Then Color , &HFF390027 Else Color , &HFFFF2200
                    _PrintString (SQ * c + XO + (SQ - Len(s$) * 8) / 2, SQ * r + YO + 22), s$
                End If
            Next
            Color , &HFF000000
        Next
        If check = -4 Then
            s$ = " AI is Winner!"
        ElseIf check = 4 Then
            s$ = " Human is Winner!"
        ElseIf check = NumRows Then
            s$ = " Board is full, no winner." ' keep Turn the same
        End If
        Locate 2, ((SW - Len(s$) * 8) / 2) / 8: Print s$
        s$ = " Play again? press spacebar, any other to quit... "
        Locate 4, ((SW - Len(s$) * 8) / 2) / 8: Print s$
        _Display
        While Len(k$) = 0
            k$ = InKey$
            _Limit 200
        Wend
        If k$ = " " Then
            ReDim Grid(NCM1, NRM1), Scores(NCM1)
            If GoFirst = P Then GoFirst = AI Else GoFirst = P
            Turn = GoFirst: MoveNum = 0
        Else
            GameOn = 0
        End If
    End If
End Sub

Function CheckWin ' return WinX, WinY, WinD along with +/- 4, returns NumRows if grid full, 0 if no win and grid not full
    Dim gridFull, r, c, s, i
    gridFull = NumRows
    For r = NRM1 To 0 Step -1 'bottom to top
        For c = 0 To NCM1
            If Grid(c, r) Then ' check if c starts a row
                If c < NCM1 - 2 Then
                    s = 0
                    For i = 0 To 3 ' east
                        s = s + Grid(c + i, r)
                    Next
                    If s = 4 Or s = -4 Then WinX = c: WinY = r: WinD = 0: CheckWin = s: Exit Function
                End If
                If r > 2 Then ' check if c starts a col
                    s = 0
                    For i = 0 To 3 ' north
                        s = s + Grid(c, r - i)
                    Next
                    If s = 4 Or s = -4 Then WinX = c: WinY = r: WinD = 6: CheckWin = s: Exit Function
                End If
                If r > 2 And c < NCM1 - 2 Then 'check if c starts diagonal up to right
                    s = 0
                    For i = 0 To 3 ' north  east
                        s = s + Grid(c + i, r - i)
                    Next
                    If s = 4 Or s = -4 Then WinX = c: WinY = r: WinD = 7: CheckWin = s: Exit Function
                End If
                If r > 2 And c > 2 Then 'check if c starts a diagonal up to left
                    s = 0
                    For i = 0 To 3 ' north west
                        s = s + Grid(c - i, r - i)
                    Next
                    If s = 4 Or s = -4 Then WinX = c: WinY = r: WinD = 5: CheckWin = s: Exit Function
                End If
            Else
                gridFull = 0 ' at least one enpty cell left
            End If 'grid is something
        Next
    Next
    CheckWin = gridFull
End Function

Must be something wrong < 300 LOC!?!?

I threw out a challenge for an 8x8 board not proven that I could find to be anyone's certain advantage if they played perfect.

That news may be old as maths love to prove such things for all rows and cols.