CPSC 217: Assignment 3  ("The Dungeon of Doom": the Inner Sanctum)

Due at 4 PM. For assignment due dates see the main schedule on the course webpage. The program must be written and run under python version 3.X.

New Concepts to be applied for the assignment

• Decomposing a problem into functions (includes concepts such as parameters, return values, local variables/scope)

Functional requirements (for the marks allocated for each feature see the marking spreadsheet)

This program begins in inner sanctum of the house (the living room). The player has solved the puzzle for first part of the game and passed through the door in the entryway with the inner door to the rest of the house vanishing behind the player (i.e. the previous part of the house is not accessible in this program so the Assignment 2 code is not needed for this assignment).

You must implement your program using functions. One way of decomposing your program is to implement the processing of instructions for a room as a single function or multiple functions. Because there are three rooms that will mean that your program will consist of at least 4 functions (1 per room plus a starting function). You may be able to subdivide your program using an alternate approach to writing 1 function per room but your program must follow good design principles for using functions.

All instructions must be enclosed within the body of a function. The exceptions could include: import statements (not really needed for this assignment), the creation of global constants (or a global debugging flag) and the call to the initial start or main function. You will be penalized heavily if functions are not used or improperly used.

Living room contents: a pot of soil, stairs going up, a dark entranceway, a ball of a string

• Viewing the pot of soil: 1) Default state when viewed, it looks dry  2) After it's been fertilized by the mouse (from the bedroom), when the player views the pot again a vine will grow that takes the player to paradise (game won and the program ends).
• Stairs going up: takes the player to the attic.
• Dark entranceway: takes the player into the bedroom.
• Ball of string: the player can pick up this object. There is only one ball of string, once it has been picked up the string should not appear again in this room.

Attic contents: a tiny hole in the floor, an unlimited supply of cheese, stairs going down.

• Hole: 1) player can pick up some cheese and try to drop it down the hole, the game indicates that the cheese is too big  2) If the player has the string then a new option is provided to drop the string down the hole. When this occurs the string should be removed from the player's inventory (the string doesn't reappear anywhere in the game, nor does the option to drop the string down the hole appear again in this room).
• Cheese: player can pick some up, the supply is unlimited so repeatedly picking up the cheese won't diminish the supply (or change the room description). However the game should track that the player is carrying cheese (this will allow the player to feed the mouse the cheese in the bedroom).
• Stairs going down: takes the player back down to the living room.

Bedroom contents: a tomcat which is intently watching a mouse hole (default), mouse (after the cat leaves).

• Tomcat: when the player isn't carrying the string no interaction is displayed. When the player is carrying the string then there is a option to play with the cat using the string whereby the cat looks briefly at the player and then goes back to watching the mouse hole (the motion isn't enough to distract the cat).
• Mouse: after the player drops the string down the hole from the attic the large motion distracts the cat sufficiently enough to leave the room taking the string with him. The mouse then comes out of its hole. Only if the player is carrying some cheese will the game display an option to feed the cheese to the mouse. When this occurs the mouse will leave the room and fertilize the pot of soil. (The vine will grow and the player will only win the game when the soil is viewed again from the living room). After fertilizing the soil the mouse will return to the room so there is the possibility of the player repeatedly feeding the mouse (the amount feed to the mouse is negligible so it doesn't change the amount carried by the player).  If the player hasn't picked up any cheese then the room description should show that the mouse is in the room but there is no option to interact with it.
• Dark entranceway: takes the player into the living room.

As was the case with the previous assignment each room will provide a description of the contents, display a menu of options (which varies depending upon the actions of the player), get and error check the player's selection as long as the player remains in the room.

Game walkthrough: because this program is more complex than the previous one the summary map cannot provide details of what the player needs to do in order to win the game. Instead this step-by-step walkthrough specifies what's needed:

1. Living room: Pick up the ball of string.
2. Living room: go up the stairs to the attic.
3. Attic: drop the string down the hole.
4. Attic: pick up some cheese.
5. Attic: go down the stairs back to the living room.
6. Living room: go through the dark entranceway to the bedroom.
7. Bedroom: Feed the cheese to the mouse.
8. Bedroom: go through the dark entranceway back to the living room.
9. Living room: view the pot of soil (and win the game).

Sample outputs of this program:

You can find sample outputs of my solution to this assignment in D2L under: Content->Links to assignments->Assignment 3 sample outputs

In addition to grading on whether the above functionality was correctly implemented TAs will also look at documentation and style.

Documentation requirements

• Header documentation (very top in the form of Python documentation):
  • Contact information (your name, student identification number and tutorial number).
  • What does the program do.
  • What are its limitations e.g. the program doesn't perform type checking (crashes when non-numeric information is entered).
  • The version number of the program (dates are acceptable).
• Inline documentation: list the features of each room that were implemented in a particular function e.g. living room: display menu options continuously, can pick up the string

Style requirements

• Naming conventions: You should employ good naming conventions for identifiers (variables, constants, function names, program file names).
• Named constants should be used as appropriate.
• The program code should have appropriate white space (specified in the "Intro to programming lecture') and alignment (specified throughout the lecture notes).
• Code is self documenting e.g. Clear expressions (e.g. mathematical, Boolean).
• Of course if a student implements an extreme case of inefficient code (e.g. multiple loops or branches are used when one will do) then penalties may be applied but this is generally rare.
• Your program should follow the 5 rules of thumb for designing user friendly software (Jakob Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics) which were included at the notes on 'Repetition' e.g. good error handling (such as prompts to the user to enter the required information clearly indicate what is required, good error messages should be provided for erroneous input) minimizing the user's memory load, being consistent, providing clearly marked exit & providing feedback as appropriate.
• Function specific: Functions are one screen in length (normal screen resolution say ~30 lines max of code (excludes whitespace and documentation).
• Function specific: Functions implement one well defined task (e.g. processLivingRoomCommands() vs. processlivingRoomRunIntroductionRunConclusion()).
• Function specific: Code in one function is not duplicated in another function (not in the notes but this is just common sense that you don't write two functions where there's overlapping code - the overlap should likely be taken out of both functions and moved to another separate function). In this assignment there may appear to be some overlap (e.g. each room displays a menu of options but the specific options displayed will not be identical).
• Function specific: No global variables (unless you have a compelling reason that you have justified to the course instructor or something explicitly allowed such as a debugging flag).

As mentioned your program should consist of at least 4 functions including the starting function.

Because the new learning concepts to be applied are related to functions and tools/topics related functions your grade will be severely impacted if you bypass the use of these concepts in this assignment and all other subsequent assignments (or projects if required during the semester)..

Submitting your work: