Refactored MsPacMan-vs-Ghosts code v2.1.2 from competition: https://www.facebook.com/pacman.vs.ghosts (competition webpage is already dead)

Current version: 2.2.0

PacMan-vs-Ghosts -> main project containing PacManSimulator (runnable as is), which is featuring keyboard-controlled Ms PacMan, use arrows, 'P' to pause the game, 'N' to advance the game 1 frame

PacMan-vs-Ghosts-Agents -> example agents (both Ms PacMan and Ghosts), this project must reference PacMan-vs-Ghosts in order to compile ... start to develop your own agent by editting any of example agents

PacMan-vs-Ghosts-Tournament -> console app that can be used to quickly evaluate agents (multiple seeds, multiple repetitions, output results to CSV)

FEATURES:

-- Fully working PacManSimulator that can run visualized / headless -- PacMan controller can be hijacked (press 'H' and manually navigate Pac-Man) or the simulation paused with 'P' and then advance frame by frame via 'N' -- access the level info via Maze module and more OOP way than "indices/C-like getters" -- fixed bug in PacManReplayer, use 'P'ause, 'N'ext frame, and 'Z' to make replay run faster or 'X' to make replay run slower -- Visualizer can be Scale2x -- draw custom debug info via GameView static methods -- you can run the game WITHOUT ghosts as well (in order to play with pathfinding only) -- you can use console app to quickly evaluate your agents

EXERCISES:

The project is/was used to teach basic AI techniques (mainly graph-searches). It contains exercises to be given to students including visualization of graph-search algorithm execution.

v 2.2.0

• CODE MOVED TO MY OWN REPOSITORY: https://github.com/kefik/MsPacMan-vs-Ghosts-AI
• changed the way images and text files are loaded (now they are loaded as resources)
• reworked Exec into PacManSimulator & PacManReplayer
• you can run the game WITHOUT ghosts as well (in order to play with pathfinding only)
• fixed native ghosts bug (infinite loop)
• PacManReplayer is fully working! Issue from 2.1.2 solved by explicitly logging node indices (positions) of Ms Pac-Man & Ghosts
• GameView allows to display DebugTexts as well
• Example agents moved to separate project PacMan-vs-Ghosts-Agents
• Direction enum created
• PacMan & Ghosts actions are now transfered in PacManAction & GhostsActions objects rather than numbers
• Maze module created that allows you to access the maze in an OOP way
• PacManHijackController created that allows you to pause/advance single frame/hijack PacMan controls at any time (great for debugging!)
• Visualization now contains Scale2x mode (taken from MarioAI, kudos to Sergey Karakovskiy), which is enabled as default
• starter package deleted (all example agents contain main() methods so they are directly runnable / modifiable / copy-paste ...)
• the simulation features TIMED execution of Pac-Man/Ghosts logic only (but you can always set high thinking time as there is no "fixed" waiting)

v 2.1.2

• changed the way the images and text files are loaded to allow applet version to work
• added a way to G to record games for javascript replays on web-site
• localised file-name descriptors
• added the following helper methods:
  • public int getNextEdibleGhostScore();
  • public int getNumActivePills();
  • public int getNumActivePowerPills();
  • public int[] getPillIndicesActive();
  • public int[] getPowerPillIndicesActive();
• updated the sample controllers to use the new functions
• added boolean flag to GameView to prevent unnecessary storing of information
• use StringBuilder to save replays
• updated recording feature to flush string after each save
• include starter package in code distribution

known issues:

• bug in recording replays: the ghost update method (every nth game tick) causes the replay to crash whenever a power pill has been eaten). This is caused by the lack of update for edible ghosts. Fix in progress.

v 2.1.1

• changed the graphics in GameView to do double buffering
• added the ability to do simple visuals for debugging/testing/demonstrations
• changed the way a game is initialised: removed the singleton pattern
• added NearestPillPacManVS to illustrate the visuals
• added 5 (utility) methods in Game/G:
  • public int[] getPath(int from,int to);
  • public int getTarget(int from,int[] targets,boolean nearest,DM measure);
  • public int[] getGhostPath(int whichGhost,int to);
  • public int getGhostPathDistance(int whichGhost,int to);
  • public int getGhostTarget(int from,int[] targets,boolean nearest);
• changelog now included in source code distribution

v 2.1.0

• fixed the creation of the junction array in the class Node (changed from >3 to >2)
• changed the spelling from juntionIndices to junctionIndices
• added 2 methods to Game (and G) to get all possible directions for Ms Pac-Man and the ghosts as an array
  • changed the sample controllers accordingly
  • changed the game core accordingly
• removed Random from G (can use it from Game)
• changed advanceGame(-) to return the actual actions taken (primarily for replays)
• fixed the replay mechanism which was buggy in some cases where a life was lost
• added a sample experimental setup to Exec to illsutrate how to run many games efficiently
• fixed nearestPillPac-Man to include search for power pills
• changed the way ghost reversals are done (now using a Boolean flag)
• added more comments to source code, especially in Game

v 2.0.2

• fixed the isJunction function which now checks for more than 2 options, not 3 (thanks to Daryl)

v 2.0.1

• fixed the speed of the ghosts when edible - now they move more slowly, as before (thanks to Kien)
• the scores obtained for eating ghosts in succession was incorrect - now it is 200-400-800-1600 (thanks to Kien)
• added the ability to record and replay games by saving the actions taken by the controllers

v 2.0.0

• complete revamp of the code. Please see documentation on the website for information regarding the code