| yesteryear forever |

tic-tac-toe in BASH from scratch

This tic-tac-toe computer game is a sub-project of my cardboard computer project that originally started as an interactive robot with a digital face named 'facebot' which eventually morphed into more of an art project. But, the interaction piece survived. I imagined the facebot providing fun, random facts, displaying the current temperature, and even playing games, all while presenting a simple digital face on an LED matrix to show correlated emotions.

The random facts part was easy: I simply had a text file with a bunch of 1-2 sentence factoids that a python script would randomly parse and print on screen. The temperature portion was much more complicated since it integrated special sensors, hardware, and code to display the current temperature, but I had already implemented similar things in many other projects like a rover, a couple rockets, and a home weather station. So, that ended up being relatively easy to incorporate as well.

What I hadn't built previously was any type of computer game. I wasn't ready to design anything from scratch, and I wanted it to be simple and universal. Naturally, tic-tac-toe was the first thing that came to mind.

I wrote it as a shell script since I was doing a lot of work with Linux machines at the time. Incidentally, Bash is still my favorite thing to "code" in - I know, it's scripting, not coding, nerds ;P - simply because it is what I'm most comfortable with, I'm sure. Plus, it just feels more raw, and I'm all about technological brutalism.

I tinkered with this thing for a while as I do most things. I start with an idea, create something simple, then iterate. Create and iterate, create and iterate... Who knows how many versions it went through? But it eventually got to a point that was functional and that was good enough for me.

There's really no challenge other than overcoming luck. The computer chooses its move randomly so it is pretty easy to win. And if you do, a python script is called that displays a smiley on the LED matrix. Lose and a sad face is called. Tie? Indifferent... (I think I also put heart eyes and a "flat" face in there, too?)

DISCLAIMER: As I've said before, to all the real programmers out there, a programmer I am not. The only programming I do is for fun as a hobby. I realize my code is sloppy, inefficient, and downright ugly. But hey, for my purposes, it works! And absolutely no AI was used to write any portion; AI wasn't even a thing! Get off my lawn! ;P

---

SOURCE CODE

#!/bin/bash

##############
#   SETUP    #
##############

ROW=0	# character row
COL=0	# character column
X=0		# count
BOL=0	# border column
a="blank"
b="blank"
c="blank"
d="blank"
e="blank"
f="blank"
g="blank"
h="blank"
i="blank"

##############
#  FUNCTIONS #
##############

blank() {
	X=0
	while [ $X -le 6 ]; do
		tput cup $ROW $COL
		echo -e "       "
		ROW=$((ROW+1))
		X=$((X+1))
		done
}

print_x() {
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e "\e[92m       "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e " *   * "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e "  * *  "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e "   *   "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e "  * *  "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e " *   * "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e "\e[0m       "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
}

print_o() {
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e "\e[95m       "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e "  ***  "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e " *   * "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e " *   * "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e " *   * "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e "  ***  "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
	tput cup $ROW $COL; echo -e "\e[0m       "; ROW=$((ROW+1))
}

print_vertical_border() {
	X=0
	while [ $X -le 6 ]; do
		tput cup $ROW $BOL
		echo -e "\e[94m\e[104m#\e[0m"
		ROW=$((ROW+1))
		X=$((X+1))
		done
}

print_horizontal_border() {
	echo -e "\e[94m\e[104m#######################\e[0m"
}

win_check() {
	# HUMAN WIN
	if [[ ($a = "print_x" && $b = "print_x") && $c = "print_x" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/sad.py &
		echo -e "\e[92m\n\n  YOU WIN! :) \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($d = "print_x" && $e = "print_x") && $f = "print_x" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/sad.py &
		echo -e "\e[92m\n\n  YOU WIN! :) \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($g = "print_x" && $h = "print_x") && $i = "print_x" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/sad.py &
		echo -e "\e[92m\n\n  YOU WIN! :) \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($a = "print_x" && $d = "print_x") && $g = "print_x" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/sad.py &
		echo -e "\e[92m\n\n  YOU WIN! :) \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($b = "print_x" && $e = "print_x") && $h = "print_x" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/sad.py &
		echo -e "\e[92m\n\n  YOU WIN! :) \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($c = "print_x" && $f = "print_x") && $i = "print_x" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/sad.py &
		echo -e "\e[92m\n\n  YOU WIN! :) \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($a = "print_x" && $e = "print_x") && $i = "print_x" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/sad.py &
		echo -e "\e[92m\n\n  YOU WIN! :) \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($c = "print_x" && $e = "print_x") && $g = "print_x" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/sad.py &
		echo -e "\e[92m\n\n  YOU WIN! :) \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	# COMP WIN
	elif [[ ($a = "print_o" && $b = "print_o") && $c = "print_o" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/happy.py &
		echo -e "\e[91m\n\n  I WIN! :P \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($d = "print_o" && $e = "print_o") && $f = "print_o" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/happy.py &
		echo -e "\e[91m\n\n  I WIN! :P \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($g = "print_o" && $h = "print_o") && $i = "print_o" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/happy.py &
		echo -e "\e[91m\n\n  I WIN! :P \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($a = "print_o" && $d = "print_o") && $g = "print_o" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/happy.py &
		echo -e "\e[91m\n\n  I WIN! :P \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($b = "print_o" && $e = "print_o") && $h = "print_o" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/happy.py &
		echo -e "\e[91m\n\n  I WIN! :P \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($c = "print_o" && $f = "print_o") && $i = "print_o" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/happy.py &
		echo -e "\e[91m\n\n  I WIN! :P \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($a = "print_o" && $e = "print_o") && $i = "print_o" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/happy.py &
		echo -e "\e[91m\n\n  I WIN! :P \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	elif [[ ($c = "print_o" && $e = "print_o") && $g = "print_o" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/happy.py &
		echo -e "\e[91m\n\n  I WIN! :P \n\e[0m"
		sleep 2 
	  	exit
	fi
}

draw_check() {
	if [[ $a != "blank" && $b != "blank" && $c != "blank" && $d != "blank" && $e != "blank" && $f != "blank" && $g != "blank" && $h != "blank" && $i != "blank" ]]; then
		python /facebot/python/neutral.py &
		echo -e "\e[96m\n\n  It's a draw :/\n\e[0m"
		sleep 2
		exit
	fi
}

print_screen() {
	tput clear

	ROW=0; COL=0; $a
	ROW=0; BOL=7; print_vertical_border
	ROW=0; COL=8; $b
	ROW=0; BOL=15; print_vertical_border
	ROW=0; COL=16; $c

	print_horizontal_border

	ROW=8; COL=0; $d
	ROW=8; BOL=7; print_vertical_border
	ROW=8; COL=8; $e
	ROW=8; BOL=15; print_vertical_border
	ROW=8; COL=16; $f

	print_horizontal_border

	ROW=16; COL=0; $g
	ROW=16; BOL=7; print_vertical_border
	ROW=16; COL=8; $h
	ROW=16; BOL=15; print_vertical_border
	ROW=16; COL=16; $i
	
	echo -e "         a|b|c   \e[90m(Q to quit)\e[0m"
	echo -e "         d|e|f"
	echo -ne "         g|h|i   \e[1;37mMake a choice: \e[0m"
}

human_turn() {
while [ 1 ]; do
	
	print_screen

	read -n 1 COMP

	if [ ${!COMP} != "blank" 2>/dev/null ]; then	# is choice already picked?
		echo -e "\n\n\e[93m  Please choose again... \e[0m"
		sleep 2
	else
		case $COMP in
			A|a) a="print_x"; break ;;
			B|b) b="print_x"; break ;;
			C|c) c="print_x"; break ;;
			D|d) d="print_x"; break ;;
			E|e) e="print_x"; break ;;
			F|f) f="print_x"; break ;;
			G|g) g="print_x"; break ;;
			H|h) h="print_x"; break ;;
			I|i) i="print_x"; break ;;
			Q|q) echo -e "\n Thanks for playing! :) \n"
				 sleep 2 
  				 exit ;;
			*)   echo -e "\n\e[93m  Please enter a valid selection... \e[0m"
				 sleep 2 ;;
		esac
	fi
done
}

computer_turn() {
while [ 1 ]; do
	COMP=$(< /dev/urandom tr -dc _a-i | head -c${1:-1})

	if [ ${!COMP} != "blank" ]; then	# is choice already picked?
		echo > /dev/null
	else
		case $COMP in
			A|a) a="print_o"; break ;;
			B|b) b="print_o"; break ;;
			C|c) c="print_o"; break ;;
			D|d) d="print_o"; break ;;
			E|e) e="print_o"; break ;;
			F|f) f="print_o"; break ;;
			G|g) g="print_o"; break ;;
			H|h) h="print_o"; break ;;
			I|i) i="print_o"; break ;;
		esac
	fi
done
}

##############
#    MAIN    #
##############
while [ 1 ]; do

	print_screen
	win_check
	draw_check

	human_turn

	print_screen
	win_check
	draw_check
	
	computer_turn

done

2020-01-07

| toggle dark mode | | random post |

the past

• 3D-Printed Telescope
• Adena Rover
• Backyard Astronomy for Beginners
• Cardboard Computer
• Cell Tower Dystopia
• computer@code.ode
• Cosmic Scale
• Explorers and Innovators
• Fallout 4 Was Made for Me
• The Fisher Observatory
• Stop Motion Music Video
• Goonies Treasure Map Replica
• The Great American Eclipse
• Remote Lamp Switch
• The Hopewell 1.5 Rocket
• The Hopewell 1 Rocket
• Innocence Ending
• Junkbot
• A Morning Run
• Music Projects
• Nature-Tech Romance
• Nomad’s Sky
• Orbits for Dummies
• Play With Your Food
• Puppet Monster
• Puzzle Box
• Spaceship Design
• Keyboard Test
• The A.I. Scare
• tic-tac-toe BASH
• Turtle Feeder
• Virus Mutation Simulation
• The White Whale
• Why I Love Stargazing
• Yellow House Recording Studio