Project Time Table

The following are important dates when project reports or demonstrations will be required. Note that these dates apply to local students only. NTU student dates will vary depending upon video tape viewing schedule.

Oct. 23 Demonstrations of projects.

These demonstrations will be of the board display, rules of the game, and other interactions involved in play. Your program should play a "random" game (pick any available move), should recognize when a game is completed, should recognize when a legal or illegal move is made (and take appropriate actions), and should ask if another game is desired. Any other added features ("bells and whistles") which you feel should be part of the user interface should be demonstrated here. Each student will turn in a copy of their program on this date (e-mailed). Submit, in class, a page describing what must be done to execute your program.

Oct. 25 Written report.

A hard-copy of your written report should be turned in on this date (approximately 1 page in length). This report will detail what intelligence you intend to implement in your program. Note: you might not be able (due to time until the end of the semester, time limits for a move, and space within the machine) to fully implement all of this. Your report should therefore be structured to contain the following two sections:

  1. This is what I will definitely implement, and
  2. This is what I hope to implement provided I don't have any major difficulties.

Nov. 16 Mini-Max/Alpha-Beta Search Implemented.

On this date you should have a search program implemented that, as a minimum, performs Mini-Max search. You should submit your code electronically for evaluation.

Nov. 27 All projects must be fully implemented and running for final demonstrations.

These demonstrations will be used to show what you have a final program. You will be graded on the program playing a legal game, any changes which have been made since the last demonstration, and how well the program plays. You are to submit a version of your program and, again, a page describing how to load your program and what function should be executed to start your program.

Nov. 27 - Dec. 6 Tournament.

Everyone in the class locally will be divided into groups of approximately four. Everyone in a groups will play all other members of the group. Play will consist of two games -- you start one, your opponent starts the other. If class members desire, a second tournament round will be played to allow you to compete against programs of more equal skill levels and to find the best program in the class. Points on the final project grade will be awarded for how well the programs fare in this competition.

NTU students will be given the option of playing other students from the class. Arrangements for this tournament will be made toward the end of the semester. If no tournament is played between NTU students, the points for this section of the project will be distributed appropriately to the other project components.

Dec. 8 All tournament results due.

Dec. 6 Final written report.

This report will detail the entire project. As a minimum this report should include:

  1. A description of the game which was implemented.
  2. A description of the approach which was taken.
  3. A description of all programs written and all major variables used.
  4. A flowchart of the program.
  5. A calling hierarchy showing how the various functions call each other.
  6. A description of what intelligence was implemented and what was not. Discuss why the non-implemented intelligence was not implemented.
  7. A discussion of what you would do differently if you were able to start over.
  8. A users manual on how to use the system (from login till completion of a game).
  9. A complete code listing.

Grading

The grading of the project will be according to the following scale:

Return to the Project Description Return to the Course Description