Battleship

Getting Started

The entire setup guide is here.

API

These are the functions you can use when developing your own ships.

Table of contents

Ship
Arena
Coordinate

Ship Class

Initial Ship Properties

You have a total of 10 points to distribute amongst the four properties. These methods must be called in the constructor of the ship class.

initializeName(String name)

• String name: String name of your ship
• Returns: void

initializeOwner(String owner)

• String owner: String name of the person who created the ship
• Returns: void

initializeHull(int hull)

• int hull: The number of hits a ship can sustain.
• Returns: void

initializeFirepower(int firepower)

• int firepower: The number of shots a ship can make in a turn.
• Returns: void

initializeSpeed(int speed)

• int speed: The number of spaces the ship can move on a turn, movement is limited to NORTH, SOUTH, WEST, EAST.
• Returns: void

initializeRange(int range)

• int range: The (squared) radius in which a ship can fire at.
• Returns: void

public class SampleShip extends Ship {
    // constructor method are called once when a new object is instantiated(created)
    public SampleShip() {
        this.initializeName("Boaty McBoatFace");
        this.initializeOwner("Nick");
        // 10 points to distribute among the methods below
        this.initializeHull(2);
        this.initializeFirepower(3);
        this.initializeSpeed(2);
        this.initializeRange(3);
    }
}

Ship Actions

Protected Methods

These methods can only be called by the ship they belong to.

doTurn(Arena arena);

The code you put this method will be run each turn to instruct ship behavior. Use data from the battlefield given by the Arena object to perform different actions.

• Arena arena: Arena object used to get battlefield information
• Returns: void

@override
protected void doTurn(Arena arena) {
    // instruction for ship behavior here
}

move(Arena arena, Direction direction)

Move ship in a give direction if there are remaining moves available, the spot is not taken by another ship or considered outside of the game boundary.

• Arena arena: arena for the game; can be used to get battlefield information
• Direction direction: direction to move in (NORTH, SOUTH, WEST, EAST)
• Returns: void

@override
protected void doTurn(Arena arena) {
    // instruction for ship behavior here
    int numMoves = this.getRemainingMoves();

    while(numMoves > 0) {
        // move north, west until there's only one turn left
        this.move(arena, Direction.NORTH);
        this.move(arena, Direction.WEST);
        // update the number of turn remaining
        numMoves = this.getRemainingMoves();
    }
    this.move(arena, Direction.EAST);
}

fire(Arena arena, int x, int y)

Fire at given coordinates if there are remaining shots available.

• Arena arena: arena for the game
• int x: x coordinate to fire at
• int y: y coordinate to fire at
• Returns: void

@override
protected void doTurn(Arena arena) {
    // instruction for ship behavior here
    this.fire(arena, 1, 3);

    // get a list of nearby ships
    List<Ship> targets = this.getNearbyShips(arena);
    // access the list if there are any nearby ships
    if (targets.size() > 0) {
        // get the first ship in the targets list
        Ship ship = targets.get(0);
        Coord location = ship.getCoord();
        int x = location.getX();
        int y = location.getY();
        this.fire(arena, x, y);
    }
}

Public Methods

These methods can be called on any ship.

[Deprecated] getShipCoord(Arena arena, Ship ship)

Get the coordinates of another ship if it is within the range of your ship.

• Note: You do not have to use this method because you can now get the coordinates of any ship, even if it is outside the range of your ship.
• Arena arena: takes an arena object
• Ship ship: another ship
• Returns: Coord

getNearbyShips(Arena arena)

Returns a list of ships (exclusing your own) that are within the range of your ship.

• Arena arena: takes an arena object
• Returns: List

Q: "What do the angle brackets mean?"

A: These are called "generics." You can use Lists to store any kind of object. So the way to read List<Ship> out loud is: "a List of Ship objects."

@override
protected void doTurn(Arena arena) {
    // instruction for ship behavior here
    this.fire(arena, 1, 3);

    // get a list of nearby ships
    List<Ship> targets = this.getNearbyShips(arena);

    // loop over all nearby ships
    for (int index = 0; index < targets.size(); index += 1) {
        Ship shipInfo = targets.get(index);
        System.out.println("One nearby ship has " + shipInfo.getHealth() + " HP left.");
    }

    System.out.println("There are " + targets.size() + " number of nearby ships");

    // if there is atleast one nearby ships
    if (targets.size() > 0) {
        // get the first ship in the list
        Ship first = targets.get(0);
        // get the fourth ship in the list
        Ship fourth = targets.get(0);
    }
}

Methods that can be used on any ship

getCoord()

Get the coordinate of your ship, check out the Coord class for more information.

• Note: You can now get the coordinates of any ship, even if it is outside the range of your ship.
• Returns: Coord

Example of getting x and y from Coord object

Coord coord = this.getCoord():
int x = coord.getX();
int y = coord.getY();
System.out.println("My ship is at (" + x + ", " + y + ").");

isSameTeamAs(Ship other)

Check if another ship is on the same team as the ship calling this method.

• Ship other: another ship to compare
• Returns: boolean

Example of checking if a ship is on your team:

List<Ship> nearby = this.getNearbyShips(arena);
for (int i = 0; i < nearby.size(); i++) {
    Ship other = nearby.get(i);
    boolean isOnMyTeam = this.isSameTeamAs(other);
    if (isOnMyTeam) {
        System.out.println("This ship is on my team!");
    } else {
        System.out.println("This ship is an enemy.");
    }
}

Example of checking if two different ships are on the same team as each other:

Ship first = nearby.get(0);
Ship second = nearby.get(1);
if (first.isSameTeamAs(second)) {
    System.out.println("These two ships are conspiring with each other.");
} else {
    System.out.println("These two ships are not friends with each other.");
}

getRemainingMoves()

Get the number of moves a ship has left on this turn.

• Returns: int

getRemainingShots()

Get the number of shots a ship has left on this turn.

• Returns: int

isSunk()

Get whether or not the ship has sunk

• Returns: boolean

getName()

Get the name of a ship.

• Returns: String

getOwner()

Get the name of the owner of a ship.

• Returns: String

getHealth()

Get the number of hits a ship has remaining before it sinks.

• Returns: int

getHull()

Get the hull strength of a ship.

• Returns: int

getFirepower()

Get the firepower of a ship.

• Returns: int

getSpeed()

Get the speed of a ship.

• Returns: int

getRange()

Get the range of a ship.

• Returns: int

Example Usage:

List<Ship> list = this.getNearbyShips(arena);
Ship enemy = list.get(0);
System.out.println("Enemy Ship: " + enemy.getName());
System.out.println("Firepower: " + enemy.getFirepower());

if (enemy.getSpeed() > this.getSpeed()) {
    System.out.println("The enemy ship will move before my ship.");
} else if (enemy.getSpeed() > this.getSpeed()) {
    System.out.println("The enemy ship will move after my ship.");
} else {
    System.out.println("The enemy ship might move before or after my ship.");
}

int hitsTaken = enemy.getHull() - enemy.getHealth();
System.out.println("Enemy has taken " + hitsTaken + " hits.");

Arena Class

getAllShips()

Returns a list of ships in the arena that have not yet sunk.

• Returns: List

getAllSpawnedShips()

Returns a list of ships, whether or not they have sunk.

• Returns: List

isInRange(Ship a, Ship b)

Determines if ship b is within the range of ship a.

• Ship a: ship to check range from
• Ship b: ship to check for
• Returns: boolean

getXSize()

Get horizontal size of arena.

• Returns: int

getYSize()

Get vertical size of arena.

• Returns: int

Example of map size usage

Coord myShipLocation = this.getCoord();
// if current x location plus one is equal to the size of the map
// then we have reached the EAST edge of the map
if (myShipLocation.getX() + 1 == arena.getXSize()) {
    this.move(arena, Direction.WEST);
}
// similar example but uses y location and a variable to store the values
int shipYLocation = myShipLocation.getY();
// if current y location minus one is equal to zero
// then we have reached the NORTH edge of the map
if (shipYLocation - 1 == 0) {
    this.move(arena, Direction.SOUTH);
}

getTurn()

Get the number of this turn.

• Returns: int

countLiveShips()

Get the number of ships that are currently alive in the arena.

• Returns: int

getRandom()

Get the random object for the arena. Do not create your own random objects, use this object for any randomness.

• Returns: Random

Examples of common random methods:

// Get a random integer between 0 (inclusive) and 4 (exclusive)
int i = arena.getRandom().nextInt(4);

// Get a random double between 0.0 and 1
double d = arena.getRandom().nextDouble();

// Get a random object from a list
List<Ship> list = this.getNearbyShips(arena);
int index = arena.getRandom().nextInt(list.size());
Ship r = list.get(index);

Coord Class

public int getX()

gets the x location of a coordinate object

• returns: int

public int getY()

gets the y location of a coordinate object

• returns: int

Full Example of a simple ship

// doTurn Example, place in your ship class
@Override
protected void doTurn(Arena arena) {
    // your implementation of a ship

    // gets the current location of the ship
    Coord coord = this.getCoord();
    int x = coord.getX();
    int y = coord.getY();

    if (x > 8) {
        this.move(arena, Direction.WEST);
    }
    else if (x < 2) {
        this.move(arena, Direction.EAST);
    }
    else if (y > 8) {
        this.move(arena, Direction.NORTH);
    }
    else if (y < 2) {
        this.move(arena, Direction.SOUTH);
    }
    else {
        // make a list of all the location, and store it in a variable
        Direction[] possibleMovement = {Direction.NORTH, Direction.SOUTH, Direction.WEST, Direction.EAST};

        // get a random number and store it in a variable
        int randomNumber = arena.getRandom().nextInt(4)

        // get a random movement by using the random number to access one possibleMovement
        this.move(arena, possibleMovement[randomNumber]);
    }

    // ship using this instruction will fire at location (x: 0, y: 0) each turn
    this.fire(arena, 0, 0);
}