Thread: Assignment help

Hi,

I'm taking an intro to programming class in 1st year university, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what is wrong in my code.

We have to program the game of nim using 2 functions, a draw function which basically draws the layout using the inputted number of rocks per row, and then redraws the board when the player subtracts rocks.

The second is the play function, which takes all the inputs from the main function and converts them into the new values for the draw function. The play function returns a zero when all the rows equal zero.

In the main function there are just the input prompts and the shift between players. It loops until the play function returns zero.

Im fairly sure I have the majority of it working, but there are a few key issues that make it unplayable:

1. For some reason the draw function doubles up for the board setup and the 2nd player's turn.
2. I cannot figure out how to get my player 2 to return to player one after the loop begins again, I have tried many methods and still it does not work.
3. The inputted variables do work directly after the players turn, but on the next player's turn the board is reset to the original specifications.

This is really giving me a headache and I've spent hours and hours trying to find a solution.
I also realize there are probably dozens of things that will be bothering you REAL programmers, and I apologize profusely, however I'm more interested in just getting the damn thing to work properly before going into efficiency..

Thank's for any help!

(also sorry for the wall of text..)

Code:

#include <stdio.h>

void draw_nim(int row_1, int row_2, int row_3) //function draws the gameboard
{
    //Each of the following take the inputted row value and proceeds to output the number of O's that is inputted as well
    //for Row 1
    
    printf("Row 1: ");
    for(int i = 0; i < row_1; i = i + 1)
    {
    printf("O");
    }
    printf("\n");


    //Row 2
    
    printf("Row 2: ");
    for(int i = 0; i < row_2; i = i + 1)
    {
    printf("O");
    }
    printf("\n");
    
    //Row 3
    
    printf("Row 3: ");
    for(int i = 0; i < row_3; i = i + 1)
    {
    printf("O");
    }
    printf("\n");
}


int play_nim(int rownum, int rocknum, int row_1, int row_2, int row_3) //The play function. This takes the inputted changes to the board and actually impliments them
{
    if(row_1 > 0 && row_2 > 0 && row_3 > 0) //checks to make sure all the rows are are greater than zero (still have rocks present)
    {
        if(rownum == 1) //for row 1 it removes the rocks the player inputs
        {
        row_1 = row_1 - rocknum;
        }


        if(rownum == 2) //for row 2 it removes the rocks the player inputs
        {
        row_2 = row_2 - rocknum;
        }
    
        if(rownum == 3) //for row 3 it removes the rocks the player inputs
        {
        row_3 = row_3 - rocknum;
        }
    
        draw_nim(row_1, row_2, row_3);
    }
    else return 0; //if there are no rocks left on the board the function returns zero
}


int main(void)
{
    int row_1, row_2, row_3; //The number of rocks in each row
    int rownum, rocknum; //The inputted row number and number of rocks to be removed from said row
    int player; //The variable stating which player is currently playing
    
    //Game Setup
    
    printf("Enter the number of rocks in each row: "); //Player imputs how many rocks rows 1, 2 and 3 each have
    scanf("%d %d %d", &row_1, &row_2, &row_3);
    
    while(row_1 <= 0 || row_2 <= 0 || row_3 <= 0) //checks to make sure that only a positive value is imputted for each row
    {
    printf("You must enter in values greater than zero. Try again:");
    scanf("%d %d %d", &row_1, &row_2, &row_3); //lets the player input new values if the first are invalid
    }
    
    draw_nim(row_1, row_2, row_3); //draws the initial board
    
    //Main Game
    
    player = 1; //makes player 1 is active
    if(player = 2)
        player = 1;
    else player = 1;
    
    while(play_nim(rownum, rocknum, row_1, row_2, row_3) > 0) //will loop until the "play_nim" function returns a zero
    {
    printf("Player %d - Enter the row and number of rocks to remove: ", player); //Player one picks the row and number of rocks to remove
    scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
    
    //Defensive Programming and subsequent reentry of variables in case of invalid inputs
    
    while(rownum > 3 && rownum <= 0) //Makes sure only rows 1-3 are imputted
    {
        printf("Invalid move. Try again: ");
        scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
    }
    
        if(rownum == 1)
    {
        while(rocknum > row_1 || row_1 == 0) //ensures that player 1 cannot take more rocks than row 1 contains
        {
        printf("You can't take more rocks than there is left in the row! Try again: ");
        scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
        }
    }
    
    if(rownum == 2) //ensures that player 1 cannot take more rocks than in row 2
    {
        while(rocknum > row_2 || row_2 == 0)
        {
        printf("You can't take more rocks than there is left in the row! Try again: ");
        scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
        }
    }
    
    if(rownum == 3)
    {
        while(rocknum > row_3 || row_3 == 0) //player 1 cannot take more rocks than in row 2
        {
        printf("You can't take more rocks than there is left in the row! Try again: ");
        scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
        }
    }
    
    while(rocknum <= 0) //player 1 cannot take more rocks than in row 3
    {
        printf("You cannot take zero or negative rocks! Try again: ");
        scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
    }
    
    play_nim(rownum, rocknum, row_1, row_2, row_3); //takes the inputted values and sticks them in the play function
    
    player = player + 1
    
    printf("Player %d - Enter the row and number of rocks to remove: ", player);
    scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
    
    //Defensive Programming (all the lines of code are the exact same as the programming for player 1)
    
    while(rownum > 3 && rownum <= 0)
    {
        printf("You may only pick rows 1 to 3. Try again: ");
        scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
    }
    
    if(rownum == 1)
    {
        while(rocknum > row_1)
        {
        printf("You can't take more rocks than there is left in the row! Try again: ");
        scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
        }
    }
    
    if(rownum == 2)
    {
        while(rocknum > row_2)
        {
        printf("You can't take more rocks than there is left in the row! Try again: ");
        scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
        }
    }
    
    if(rownum == 3)
    {
        while(rocknum > row_3)
        {
        printf("You can't take more rocks than there is left in the row! Try again: ");
        scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
        }
    }
    
    while(rocknum <= 0)
    {
        printf("You cannot take zero or negative rocks! Try again: ");
        scanf("%d %d", &rownum, &rocknum);
    }
    
    play_nim(rownum, rocknum, row_1, row_2, row_3);
    }
    
    printf("Player %d wins!", player); //when the rows all read zero and the play function returns a zero, the game ends. This declares the winner
    
    return 0; //the program then proceeds to die.
}