plain-text-TUTORIAL

	       10-MINUTE COMPLETE STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL
	       ========================================

			  * PREREQUISITES :
			  =================
 * The TankWars.zip file - Unzip it in any folder of your choice
 * 10 minutes

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			   * INTRODUCTION :
			  =================
 * As mentioned in the README, all you need to do to control your Tank
is fill in the get_player_move () function in DecisionMaker1.cpp.
 * This tutorial will take you through a series of increasingly
complex definitions for that function.
 * That will also familiarize you with the general information and
structure of the code available to you to make your ultimate,
indestructible Tank
 * If you're really, REALLY impatient, you can simply check out the
code bits under each step and copy-paste them into your DecisionMaker
file and run them. You'd probably figure the rest out as you go along.

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			  * AIM OF THE GAME:
			  =================
 * To end the game with maximum points
 * The game ends when either your Falcon (military base) is killed or
if your Tank dies or if the same happens to the opponent or if the
Maximum number of moves are exceeded

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			   * DESCRIPTION :
			  =================
 * The general structure of the Game is as follows :
  * The 'Arena' Class is the environment in which the game runs and
where the Bots clash . It contains all objects.
  * So, in TankWars.cpp, where we want to have each Tank make its
move, we simply call various methods of Arena object which will carry
out various actions. This goes on until the game ends.
  * We need not be concerned with any of that
  * All that matters is that at each iteration, DecisionMaker1 is
asked for a Move which will be used to make the Tank move on the Map
  * Of course, it is not just a matter of returning a Move, because
you have to consider all the various elements on the Map, like Gold
pieces, Machine Guns, Enemy Tank, Enemy Base (ie. Falcon), etc. in
order to win the game
  * So, we'll consider all the mechanisms in place to give us the
information we need and analyze them to return the best move we can
think of

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		   * STEP 0 - THE CO-ORDINATE AXES
	           =====================================

  (0, 0)
  +------------------------> (y-axis)
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  v
  (x-axis)

		       ^ UP
                       |
                       |
               LEFT | RIGHT
              <--------|-------->
                       |
                       |
                       |
		       v DOWN

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	      * STEP 1 - A SIMPLE PROOF-OF-CONCEPT TANK:
	      ==========================================
 * This will make your Tank carry out the same action each time
 * Just write :

   ==CODE==
   return Move (GO_RIGHT);
   ==CODE==

 * Then, 'make play' on the command-line, followed by 'make display'
 * Not surprisingly, this makes your Tank move right each time
 * However, that would have either led to it being shot by one of the
Machine Guns out there or inevitably dashing into a wall and dying.
 * Note : If your Tank dies, the opponent gains 400 points, so that is
another incentive to stay alive

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	       * STEP 2 - EACH OF THE 8 MOVES POSSIBLE
	      ==========================================
  // Choose any one of the following 8 moves
  // Go in one of the four directions

  ==CODE==
  return Move (GO_UP);
  return Move (GO_DOWN);
  return Move (GO_LEFT);
  return Move (GO_RIGHT);

  // Shoot in one of the four directions
  return Move (SHOOT_UP);
  return Move (SHOOT_DOWN);
  return Move (SHOOT_LEFT);
  return Move (SHOOT_RIGHT);
  ==CODE==

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	   * STEP 3 - CARRIES OUT EACH OF THE FOUR ACTIONS
	      ==========================================
 * Now, you may not be satisfied with merely moving right or shooting
left all the time.
 * Let's try making some complex moves
 * Say you want to pick up the gold piece nearest to you
 * It's simple. All you need to do is

   ==CODE==
   int my_action_plan = GO_TO_NEAREST_GOLD
   get_best_move_for (my_action_plan)
   ==CODE==

 * You can pass any of the following default Action Plans as
parameters
  * GO_TO_NEAREST_GOLD:
   * Each time, your Tank will move in the direction of the nearest
gold piece. Neat, huh?
  * ATTACK_ENEMY_FALCON:
   * That will take your Tank closer to the Enemy Falcon and shoot if
it is in your sights.
  * ATTACK_ENEMY_TANK:
   * This will take your Tank closer to the Enemy Tank and shoot if it
is in your sights
  * DEFEND_MY_FALCON:
   * Just go back towards your Falcon so that you can defend it from
any attack
 * get_best_move_for, as the name suggests, gets you the best move you
could make for a particular Action Plan.

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	   * STEP 4 - INTRODUCE CALCULATE_BEST_ACTION_PLAN
	   =============================================
 * However, it can get pretty monotonous doing the same action again
and again.
 * To aid in making your Tank dynamic and more adaptive, we have come
up with a rudimentary Decision Making model
   You can use it to calculate the best moves for your Tank based on
the situation and your preferences.
 * We provide four different strategies that you can choose by
default.
 * They are
  * AGGRESSIVE
  * DEFENSIVE
  * GREEDY
  * CUSTOMIZED
 * To put it in action, just say

   ==CODE==
   int my_strategy = AGGRESSIVE;
   int my_action_plan = calculate_best_action_plan_for (my_strategy);
   // Now, my_action_plan will contain one of the four basic action
plans mentioned above
   return get_best_move_for (my_action_plan);
   ==CODE==

 * Explanation
  * What calculate_best_action_plan_for does is it looks for the
utility or expected benefits of each of the four default Action Plans.
  * This is done based on the weightage given for each plan and the
difficulty of carrying each plan out as defined in your DecisionMaker
object.
  * It then returns the Action Plan which has maximum expected benefit
  * To see what the default weightages are, go to
DECISION_MAKER::DMinitializer function in DecisionMaker1.cpp
  * To see how the default difficulty values are determined, go to
DECISION_MAKER::fill_difficulty_table function in DecisionMaker1.cpp
  * By default, the difficulty of carrying out an action plan is the
shortest distance to the goal object. ie. for GO_TO_NEAREST_GOLD, the
difficulty is the distance to the nearest gold
  * In short, if a particular Action Plan, say ATTACK_ENEMY_TANK, is
given higher weightage than the others then it will be recommended as
the best plan when the distance from the enemy tank is not too high

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	       * STEP 5 - CREATING SOME LOCAL FUNCTIONS
	      ==========================================
 * Simple. You can just create new functions in the DecisionMaker1.cpp
file and call them.
 * Just remember not to change anything anywhere else.

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	     * STEP 6 - CHANGING DECISION TABLE WEIGHTAGE
	     ===========================================
 * Of course, you don't have to put up with the default weightages or
the default ways of calculating difficulties. Try experimenting.
 * Go to [ DMinitializer function ]
 * For example, if you feel DEFENSIVE plan should never even consider
ATTACK_ENEMY_TANK or ATTACK_ENEMY_FALCON, then put weightages for them
as 0.
 * Maybe set GREEDY's weightage for GO_TO_NEAREST_GOLD as 100 and
everything else as 0. That's really greedy! :-). Be careful, though,
chances of getting shot by Machine Guns and the Enemy tank are very
high.
 * You can set the values for each Strategy in the Weightage Table on
the fly by calling set_weightage_table (...).
 * This can be useful when you want to tweaks based on the current
situation

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	 * STEP 7 - CHANGING THE WAY DIFFICULTY IS DETERMINED
	 ===============================================
 * As said before, the difficulty for each plan is just the shortest
distance to the goal object
 * Customizing that is simple
 * Say you feel shooting at and hitting an Enemy Tank when it is
pretty far away is very difficult since it can move away before the
bullet reaches it
 * By default, the fill_difficulty_table () called from
DecisionMaker1's get_player_move function fills the table with the
current values of shortest distances
 * So, simply comment that function call out and call
set_difficulty_table ()

   ==CODE==
   // fill_difficulty_table ();
   int attack_enemy_tank_difficulty;
   if (my_info.opp_tank.shortest_distance >= 10){
        // 10 is just for the sake of the example
        set_difficulty_table(info.nearest_gold.shortest_distance,
info.opp_falcon.shortest_distance, MAX_DIFFICULTY,
info.my_falcon.shortest_distance);
   }
   else{
        set_difficulty_table (info.nearest_gold.shortest_distance,
info.opp_falcon.shortest_distance, info.opp_tank.shortest_distance,
info.my_falcon.shortest_distance);
   }
   ==CODE==

 * MAX_DIFFICULTY is practically infinity.
 * NOTE : You MUST call set_difficulty_table (...) or
fill_difficulty_table () (whichever you use) from get_player_move ()
so that the table is filled each time. Otherwise, you would be working
with an outdated table

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		* Your Score and Number of Moves left
		=====================================
 * The get_player_move () function receives your score [my_score] and
your enemy's score [enemy_score].
 * It also receives the [total_moves_done] so far
 * MAX_NUMBER_OF_MOVES tells you how many moves you can make

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* Introducing the Map + Position + Move + Direction
 * OK! So, now you have an all-new, shiny, mean and destructive Tank
at your command.
 * But, how exactly do you analyze the game?
 * TODO
* Introduction - Can shoot items
* Introduction - Everything else in Info Hints about various advanced
strategies Dodge bullet Attack bunkers Creating maps