Into The Breach (ish)

Assignment 2
Semester 1, 2024
CSSE7030
Due date: 24 May 2024, 16:00 GMT+10

1 Introduction
In this assignment, you will implement a (heavily) simplified version of the video game ”Into The
Breach”. In this game players defend a set of civilian buildings from giant monsters. In order to
achieve this goal, the player commands a set of equally giant mechanical heroes called ”Mechs”.
There are a variety of enemy and mech types, which each behave slightly differently. Gameplay is
described in section 3 of this document.

Unlike assignment 1, in this assignment you will be using object-oriented programming and following
the Apply Model-View-Controller design pattern shown in lectures. In addition to creating code for
modelling the game, you will be implementing a graphical user interface (GUI). An example of a
final completed game is shown in Figure 1.

2 Getting Started
Download a2.zip from Blackboard — this archive contains the necessary files to start this assign-
ment. Once extracted, the a2.zip archive will provide the following files:

a2.py This is the only file you will submit and is where you write your code. Do not make changes
to any other files.

a2 support.py Do not modify or submit this file, it contains pre-defined classes, functions, and con-
stants to assist you in some parts of your assignment. In addition to these, you are encouraged
to create your own constants and helper functions in a2.py where possible.

levels/ This folder contains a small collection of files used to initialize games of Into The Breach. In
addition to these, you are encouraged to create your own files to help test your implementation
where possible.

3 Gameplay
This section describes an overview of gameplay for Assignment 2. Where interactions are not ex-
plicitly mentioned in this section, please see Section 4.

3.1 Definitions
Gameplay takes place on a rectangular grid of tiles called a board, on which different types of entities
can stand. There are three types of tile: Ground tiles, mountain tiles, and building tiles. Building

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Figure 1: Example screenshot from a completed implementation. Note that your display may look
slightly different depending on your operating system.

tiles each possess a given amount of health, which is the amount of damage they can suffer before
they are destroyed. A building is destroyed if its health drops to 0. A tile may be blocking, in which
case entities cannot stand on it. Tiles that are not blocking may have a maximum of one entity
standing on them at any given time. Ground tiles are never blocking, mountain tiles are always
blocking, and building tiles are blocking if and only if they are not destroyed.

Entities may either be Mechs, which are controlled by the player, or Enemies, which attack the
player’s mechs and buildings. There are two types of mech; the Tank Mech and the Heal Mech. There
are also two types of enemy; the Scorpion and the Firefly. Each entity possesses 4 characteristics:

1. position: the coordinate of the tile within the board on which the entity is currently standing.

2. health: the remaining amount of damage the entity can suffer before it is destroyed. An entity
is destroyed the moment its health drops to 0, at which point it is immediately removed from
the game.

3. speed : the number of tiles the entity can move during its movement phase (see below for
details). Entities can only move horizontally and vertically; that is, moving one tile diagonally
is considered two individual movements.

4. strength: how much damage the entity deals to buildings and other entities (i.e. the amount
by which it reduces the health of attacked buildings or entities).

The game is turn based, with each turn consisting of a player movement phase, an attack phase, and
an enemy movement phase. During the player movement phase, the player has the option to move
each of the mechs under their control to a new tile on the grid. During the attacking phase, each
mech and enemy perform an attack: an action that can damage mechs, enemies, or even buildings.
Each enemy, mech, and building can only receive a certain amount of damage. If a mech or enemy
is destroyed before they attack during a given attack phase, they do not attack during that attack
phase. During the enemy movement phase, each enemy chooses a tile as their objective, and then
moves to a new tile on the grid such that they are closer to their objective. The order in which

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mechs and enemies move and attack is determined by a fixed priority that will be displayed to the
user at all times.
A valid path within the board is a sequence of movements into vertically or horizontally adjacent
non-blocking tiles which do not contain an entity. The length of a valid path is the number of
movements made within it. Note that each entity can only move through valid paths of length less
than or equal to their maximum path length (speed).
A game of Into The Breach is over when either:

1. The player wins because at the end of an attack phase, all enemies are destroyed, at least one
mech is not destroyed, and at least one building on the board is not destroyed.

2. The player loses because at the end of an attack phase, all buildings on the board are destroyed,
or all mechs are destroyed.

3.2 Game phases

The game begins with a board of tiles, with entities occupying non-blocking tiles (at least one mech
and at least one enemy). The exact set of tiles and entities is given by the level file used to initialise
the game. Next to the board of tiles, a list is presented. Each element of the list displays an entity,
alongside its position, current health, and current strength. The list is ordered by entity priority,
with the highest priority entity appearing at the top (see Figure 1 for an example).
The following four phases repeat until the end of the game:

1. Player movement phase: This is the main phase of the game where all user interaction occurs.
The user may click on any tile on the board. The action taken after a tile is clicked is sum-
marized in Table 1. See Figure 2 for an example of the movement system. During the player
movement phase, the user may also click one of the three buttons:

ˆ If the user clicks the Save button, they should be prompted to enter a name for their save
file via a filedialog. Upon entering a name and clicking to save the file, a new level file
should be created based on the current game state. If a mech has been moved before the
save button is clicked, the user is warned instead via an error message box.
ˆ If the user clicks the Load button they should be prompted to select a saved file with a
filedialog. When they select a file gameplay should restart as if the selected level file was
the file used to initialise the game.
ˆ If the user clicks the Undo button, the most recent move made by the user during the
current player movement phase is reverted
ˆ If the user clicks the End Turn button, the current player movement phase is ended, and
the program moves onto the attack phase.

2. Attack phase: During the attack phase each entity, in descending order of priority, makes an
attack. An attack affects a certain set of tiles depending on the entity making it. See Table 2
for the tiles affected by each entity. If a building tile is affected by an attack, then that building
loses health equal to the strength of the attacking entity. If an entity is on a tile affected by
an attack, then that entity is affected in a manner depending on what entity is performing the
attack. See Table 2 for the effects of attacks for each entity. If an entity is destroyed during
the attack phase by an entity with higher priority, it does not attack and is removed from
the game. After each entity has performed an attack, the program immediately moves to the
enemy movement phase.

3. Enemy movement phase: During the enemy movement phase, all enemies are assigned an
objective. An objective is the position of a tile on the board and is assigned based on the type
of entity as described in Table 3. Each enemy, in descending priority order, then moves to the

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 tile that minimizes the length of the shortest path from itself to it’s objective. Note that the
enemy can only move to tiles reachable via valid paths of length no greater than it’s speed. If
there exists no valid path from an enemy to its objective, the enemy does not change position.
After every enemy has moved, the display is updated and the program moves to termination
checking.

4. Termination checking: If all enemies are destroyed, at least one mech is not destroyed, and at
least one building on the board is not destroyed, the user has won and a victory message is
displayed via an info messagebox. If all buildings on the board are destroyed or all mechs are
destroyed, the user has lost and a defeat message is displayed via an info messagebox. Both
victory and defeat messageboxes ask the user if they wish to play again. If the user does want
to play again, then the game is reinitialised using the level file and gameplay starts again from
the beginning. If the user does not want to play again the program closes the game window
and exits gracefully. If no messageboxes were displayed then the program immediately returns
to the player movement phase.

Clicked Tile Action to take

Tile containing a mech that Tiles which the mech can move to are highlighted in green. Valid tiles
has not moved during the are those to which a valid path can be formed from the mech’s position
current movement phase with length less than or equal to the mech’s speed.
Tile highlighted by click- The relevant mech is moved to that tile.
ing a tile containing a mech
that has not moved during
the current movement phase
Tile containing an enemy, or Tiles which will be attacked by that entity during the following attack
Tile containing a mech that phase are highlighted in red.
has moved during the cur-
rent player movement phase
Any other tile. Nothing.

Table 1: Effect of clicking tiles during player movment phase. Every time the user clicks a tile, all
previous highlighting is removed.

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Figure 2: Movement of a mech during the player movement phase. The user clicks on the Heal
Mech, and then clicks on one of the highlighted squares. Clicking the heal mech again highlights the
squares it will attack.

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Entity Tiles Affected Attack Effect
Tank Mech The two sets of five tiles extend- Receive damage equal to strength of tank mech.
ing in a horizontal line from the
tank mech: beginning from the
tile directly left of the tank mech
and extending left, and beginning
from the tile directly right of the
tank mech and extending right re-
spectively.
Heal Mech The four tiles directly adjacent to If target is a mech, recover health equal to strength
heal mech (not including diago- of heal mech. Do nothing otherwise.
nals)
Scorpion The four sets of two tiles ex- Receive damage equal to strength of scorpion.
tending in horizontal and verti-
cal lines from the scorpion: be-
ginning from the tile directly left
of the scorpion and extending left,
beginning from the tile directly
right of the scorpion and extend-
ing right, beginning from the tile
directly above of the scorpion and
extending upward, and beginning
from the tile directly below scor-
pion and extending downwards
respectively.
Firefly The two sets of five tiles extend- Receive damage equal to strength of firefly.
ing in a vertical line from the fire-
fly: beginning from the tile di-
rectly above of the firefly and ex-
tending upwards, and beginning
from the tile directly below the
firefly and extending downwards
respectively.

Table 2: Entity attack behavior

Enemy Assigned Objective

Scorpion Position of tile containing mech with the greatest health. If two
mechs are tied for greatest health, choose position of tile containing
the mech with the highest priority.
Firefly Position of building tile with the least health amongst the buildings
that are not destroyed. If two buildings are tied for the least health,
choose the position of the building tile in the bottommost row.
If there is still a tie for lowest health, choose the position of the
building tile in the rightmost column.

Table 3: Enemy objectives

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4 Implementation
NOTE: You are not permitted to add any additional import statements to a2.py. Doing
so will result in a deduction of up to 100% of your mark. You must not modify or remove the
import statements already provided to you in a2.py. Removing or modifying these existing import
statements may result in your code not functioning, and may result in a deduction of up to 100%
of your mark.

Required Classes and Methods

You will be following the Apple Model-View-Controller design pattern when implementing this as-
signment, and are required to implement a number of classes in order to do so.

The class diagram in Figure 3 provides an overview of all of the classes you must implement in
your assignment, and the basic relationships between them. The details of these classes and their
methods are described in depth in Sections 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3. Within Figure 3:
ˆ Orange classes are those provided to you in the support file, or imported from TkInter.
ˆ Green classes are abstract classes. However, you are not required to enforce the abstract nature
of the green classes in their implementation. The purpose of this distinction is to indicate to
you that you should only ever instantiate the blue and orange classes in your program (though
you should instantiate the green classes to test them before beginning work on their subclasses).
ˆ Blue classes are concrete classes.
ˆ Solid arrows indicate inheritance (i.e. the “is-a” relationship).
ˆ Dotted arrows indicate composition (i.e. the “has-a” relationship). An arrow marked with 1-1
denotes that each instance of the class at the base of the arrow contains exactly one instance
of the class at the head of the arrow. An arrow marked with 1-N denotes that each instance of
the class at the base of the arrow may contain many instances of the class at the head of the
arrow.

Figure 3: Basic class relationship diagram for the classes in assignment 2.

The rest of this section describes the required implementation in detail. You should complete the
model section before attempting the view and controller sections, ensuring that everything you
implement is tested thoroughly, operating correctly, and passes all relevant Gradescope tests. You
will not be able to earn marks for the controller section until you have passed all Gradescope tests
for the model section.
NOTE: It is possible to recieve a passing grade on this assessment by completing section 4.1, pro-
viding all hidden tests are passed, and no marks are lost on style (See section 5.2 for more detail on
style requirements)

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4.1 Model
The following are the classes and methods you are required to implement as part of the model.
You should develop the classes in the order in which they are described in this section and test
each one (including on Gradescope) before moving on to the next class. Functionality marks are
awarded for each class (and each method) that work correctly. You will likely do very poorly if you
submit an attempt at every class, where no classes work according to the description. Some classes
require significantly more time to implement than others. The marks allocated to each class are not
necessarily an indication of their difficulty or the time required to complete them. You are allowed
(and encouraged) to write additional helper methods for any class to help break up long methods,
but these helper methods MUST be private (i.e. they must be named with a leading underscore).

4.1.1 Tile()
Tile is an abstract class from which all instantiated types of tile inherit. Provides default tile be-
havior, which can be inherited or overridden by specific types of tiles. Abstract tiles are represented
by the character T. The init method does not take any arguments beyond self.

Tile should implement the following methods:

ˆ repr (self) -> str

Returns a machine readable string that could be used to construct an identical instance of the
tile.

ˆ str (self) -> str

Returns the character representing the type of the tile.

ˆ get tile name(self) -> str

Returns the name of the type of the tile (i.e. the name of the most specific class to which the
tile belongs).

ˆ is blocking(self) -> bool

Returns True only when the tile is blocking. By default tiles are not blocking

Examples:

>>> tile = Tile()

>>> tile
Tile()
>>> str(tile)
'T'
>>> tile.get_tile_name()
'Tile'
>>> tile.is_blocking()
False

4.1.2 Ground(Tile)
Ground inherits from Tile. Ground tiles represent simple, walkable ground with no special proper-
ties. Ground tiles are never blocking and are represented by a space character (’ ’).

Examples:

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>>> ground = Ground()
>>> ground
Ground()
>>> str(ground)
' '
>>> ground.get_tile_name()
'Ground'
>>> ground.is_blocking()
False

4.1.3 Mountain(Tile)
Mountain inherits from Tile. Mountain tiles represent unpassable terrain. Mountain tiles are always
blocking and are represented by the character M.

Examples:

>>> mountain = Mountain()

>>> mountain
Mountain()
>>> str(mountain)
'M'
>>> mountain.get_tile_name()
'Mountain'
>>> mountain.is_blocking()
True

4.1.4 Building(Tile)
Building inherits from Tile. Building tiles represent one or more buildings that the player must
protect from enemies. Building tiles have an integer health value and can be destroyed. A building
tile is destroyed when its health drops to zero. The health value of a building can never increase
above 9. Building tiles are blocking only when they are not destroyed. Building tiles are represented
by their current health value, as a string.

In addition to the Tile methods that must be supported, Building should additonally implement
the following methods:

ˆ init (self, initial health: int) -> None

instantiates a building with the specified health. A precondition to this function is that the
specified health will be between 0 and 9 (inclusive).

ˆ is destroyed(self) -> bool

Returns True only when the building is destroyed.

ˆ damage(self, damage: int) -> None

Reduces the health of the building by the amount specified. Note that damage is not constrained
to be positive. The health of the building should be capped to be between 0 and 9 (inclusive).
This function should do nothing if the building is destroyed.

Examples:

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>>> building = Building(5)
>>> building
Building(5)
>>> str(building)
'5'
>>> building.is_destroyed()
False
>>> building.is_blocking()
True
>>> building.damage(-10)
>>> str(building)
'9'
>>> building.damage(15)
>>> str(building)
'0'
>>> building.is_destroyed()
True
>>> building.is_blocking()
False
>>> building.damage(-1)
>>> str(building)
'0'

4.1.5 Board()
Board represents a structured set of tiles. A board organizes tiles in a rectangular grid, where each
tile has an associated (row, column) position. (0,0) represents the top-left corner, (1,0) represents
the position directly below the top-left corner, and (0, 1) represents the position directly right of the
top left corner. The methods that must be implemented in Board are:

ˆ init (self, board: list[list[str]]) -> None

Sets up a new Board instance from the information in the board argument. Each list in board
represents a row of the board. The first list represents the top-most row of the board, and the
last list represents the bottom-most row of the board. The first character of each inner list
represents the left-most tile on that row, and the last character of each inner list represents the
right-most tile on that row. Each character should be mapped to the tile that the character
represents.
A precondition to this function is that each list (each row) within the given board will have
the same length. Another precondition to this function is that the given array will contain at
least one row. The final precondition to this function is that each character provided will be
the string representation of one of the tile subclasses described in previous sections.

ˆ repr (self) -> str

Returns a machine readable string that could be used to construct an identical instance of the
board.

ˆ str (self) -> str

Returns a string representation of the board. This is the string formed by concatenating the
characters representing each tile of a row in the order they appear (left to right), and then
concatenating each row in order (from top to bottom), separating each row with a new line
character.

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 ˆ get dimensions(self) -> tuple[int, int]

Returns the (#rows, #columns) dimensions of the board.

ˆ get tile(self, position: tuple[int, int]) -> Tile

Returns the Tile instance located at the given position. A precondition to this function is that
the provided position will not be out of bounds, that is,
(0,0) <= position < self.get dimensions()

ˆ get buildings(self) -> dict[tuple[int, int], Building]

Returns a dictionary mapping the positions of buildings to the building instances at those
positions. This dictionary should only contain positions at which there is a building tile.

Examples:

>>> tiles = [[" ","4"],["6","M"]]

>>> board = Board(tiles)
>>> board
Board([[' ', '4'], ['6', 'M']])
>>> str(board)
' 4\n6M'
>>> board.get_dimensions()
(2, 2)
>>> board.get_tile((0,1))
Building(4)
>>> board.get_buildings()
{(0, 1): Building(4), (1, 0): Building(6)}

4.1.6 Entity()
Entity is an abstract class from which all instantiated types of entity inherit. This class provides
default entity behavior, which can be inherited or overridden by specific types of entities. All entities
exist at a given (row, column) position, and possess integer health, speed, and strength values. Note:
it is not the role of an entity to determine if the position it occupies exists or is valid. Like buildings,
entities can be destroyed. An entity is destroyed when its health drops to zero. Entities can be
friendly (that is, under player control), or not. Abstract entities are represented by the character E.
Entity should implement the following methods:

ˆ init (
self,
position: tuple[int, int],
initial health: int,
speed: int,
strength: int
) -> None:

Instantiates a new entity with the specified position, health, speed, and strength.

ˆ repr (self) -> str

Returns a machine readable string that could be used to construct an identical instance of the
entity.

ˆ str (self) -> str

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 Returns the string representation of the entity. The string representation of an entity is a
comma separated list containing (in order): the character representing the type of the entity;
the row currently occupied by the entity; the column currently occupied by the entity; the
current health of the entity; the entity’s speed; and the entity’s strength.

ˆ get symbol(self) -> str

Returns the character that represents the entity type.

ˆ get name(self) -> str

Returns the name of the type of the entity (the name of the most specific class to which this
entity belongs).

ˆ get position(self) -> tuple[int, int]

Returns the (row, column) position currently occupied by the entity.

ˆ set position(self, position: tuple[int, int]) -> None

Moves the entity to the specified position.

ˆ get health(self) -> int

Returns the current health of the entity

ˆ get speed(self) -> int

Returns the speed of the entity

ˆ get strength(self) -> int

Returns the strength of the entity

ˆ damage(self, damage: int) -> None

Reduces the health of the entity by the amount specified. Note that the amount of damage
suffered is not constrained to be positive. The health of the entity should be capped to be
non-negative. The health of the entity should not be capped to any maximum value. This
function should do nothing if the entity is destroyed.

ˆ is alive(self) -> bool

Returns True if and only if the entity is not destroyed.

ˆ is friendly(self) -> bool

Returns True if and only if the entity is friendly. By default, entities are not friendly

ˆ get targets(self) -> list[tuple[int, int]]

Returns the positions that would be attacked by the entity during a combat phase. By default,
entities target vertically and horizontally adjacent tiles. When overriding get targets in
subclasses, see Table 2. Note: The order of elements in this list does not matter.

ˆ attack(self, entity: "Entity") -> None

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 Applies this entity’s effect to the given entity. By default, entities deal damage equal to the
strength of the entity. When overridding the attack method in subclasses, refer to Table 2.
Note: as the attack method is defined as part of the definition of the Entity class, the typehint
for entity will need to be wrapped in double quotes or else python will throw a syntax error.
The type of entity is still Entity.

Examples:

>>> e1 = Entity((0,0),1,1,1)
>>> e1
Entity((0, 0), 1, 1, 1)
>>> str(e1)
'E,0,0,1,1,1'
>>> e1.get_symbol()
'E'
>>> e1.get_name()
'Entity'
>>> e1.is_friendly()
False
>>> e1.get_health()
1
>>> e1.get_speed()
1
>>> e1.get_strength()
1
>>> e1.get_position()
(0, 0)
>>> e1.set_position((24,4))
>>> e1.get_position()
(24, 4)
>>> e1.get_targets()
[(24, 5), (24, 3), (25, 4), (23, 4)]
>>> e1.get_health()
1
>>> e1.damage(2)
>>> e1.get_health()
0
>>> e1.is_alive()
False
>>> e1.damage(-4)
>>> e1.get_health()
0
>>> e2 = Entity((1,0),2,1,1)
>>> e2.get_health()
2
>>> e1.attack(e2)
>>> e2.get_health()
1

4.1.7 Mech(Entity)
Mech is an abstract class that inherits from Entity from which all instantiated types of mech inherit.
This class provides default mech behavior, which can be inherited or overridden by specific types of

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mechs. All mechs can be active (that is, able to be moved by user input), or not. Mechs are always
active upon instantiation. Additionally, all mechs also keep track of their previous position, that is,
the position they were at before the most recent call to set position. Mechs of any type are always
friendly. Abstract mechs are represented by the character M.

In addition to the Entity methods that must be supported, Mech should additionally implement the
following methods:
ˆ get old position(self) -> tuple[int,int]

Returns the previous position of the mech. If set position has never been called on the mech,
then the previous position will be current position.
ˆ enable(self) -> None

Sets the mech to be active.

ˆ disable(self) -> None

Sets the mech to not be active.

ˆ is active(self) -> bool

Returns true if and only if the mech is active.

Examples:
>>> mech = Mech((0,0),1,1,1)
>>> mech.get_symbol()
'M'
>>> mech.get_name()
'Mech'
>>> mech.is_friendly()
True
>>> mech.is_active()
True
>>> mech.get_old_position()
(0, 0)
>>> mech.set_position((1,1))
>>> mech.get_old_position()
(0, 0)
>>> mech.set_position((0,2))
>>> mech.get_old_position()
(1, 1)
>>> mech.disable()
>>> mech.is_active()
False
>>> mech.enable()
>>> mech.is_active()
True

4.1.8 TankMech(Mech)
TankMech inherits from Mech. TankMech represents a type of mech that attacks at a long range
horizontally. Tank mechs are represented by the character T.

Examples:

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>>> tank = TankMech((0,0),1,1,1)
>>> tank.get_symbol()
'T'
>>> tank.get_name()
'TankMech'
>>> tank.get_targets()
[(0, 1), (0, -1), (0, 2), (0, -2), (0, 3), (0, -3), (0, 4), (0, -4), (0, 5), (0, -5)]

4.1.9 HealMech(Mech)
HealMech inherits from Mech. HealMech represents a type of mech that does not deal damage, but
instead supports friendly units and buildings by healing (that is, increasing health); that is, HealMech
objects ‘damage‘ friendly units and buildings by a negative amount. In order to achieve this, the
get strength method of the HealMech should return a value equal to the negative of the heal mech’s
strength. A heal mech does nothing when attacking an entity that is not friendly. Heal mechs are
represented by the character H.

Examples:

>>> heal = HealMech((0,0),1,1,2)

>>> heal.get_symbol()
'H'
>>> heal.get_name()
'HealMech'
>>> heal.get_strength()
-2
>>> friendly = TankMech((1,1),1,1,1)
>>> not_friendly = Entity((1,1),1,1,1)
>>> friendly.get_health()
1
>>> heal.attack(friendly)
>>> friendly.get_health()
3
>>> not_friendly.get_health()
1
>>> heal.attack(not_friendly)
>>> not_friendly.get_health()
1

4.1.10 Enemy(Entity)
Enemy is an abstract class that inherits from Entity from which all instantiated types of enemy
inherit. This class provides default enemy behavior, which can be inherited or overridden by specific
types of enemies. All enemies have an objective, which is a position that the entity wants to move
towards. The objective of all enemies upon instantiation is the enemy’s current position. Enemies
of any type are never friendly. Abstract enemies are represented by the character N.

In addition to the Entity methods that must be supported, Enemy should additionally implement
the following methods:

ˆ get objective(self) -> tuple[int, int]

Returns the current objective of the enemy.

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 ˆ update objective(self, entities: list[Entity], buildings: dict[tuple[int, int],
Building]) -> None

Updates the objective of the enemy based on a list of entities and dictionary of buildings,
according to Table 3. The default behavior (that is, the behavior in the abstract Enemy class)
is to set the objective of the enemy to the current position of the enemy. If no valid objective
exists, then the enemy’s objective should not change.
A precondition to this function is that the given list of entities is sorted in descending priority
order, with the first entity in the list being the highest priority.

Examples:

>>> enemy = Enemy((0,0),1,1,1)

>>> enemy.get_symbol()
'N'
>>> enemy.get_name()
'Enemy'
>>> enemy.get_objective()
(0, 0)
>>> enemy.set_position((3,3))
>>> entities = [TankMech((0,1),1,1,1), HealMech((0,2),2,1,1)]
>>> buildings = {(1,0): Building(1), (1,1): Building(2)}
>>> enemy.update_objective(entities, buildings)
>>> enemy.get_objective()
(3, 3)

4.1.11 Scorpion(Enemy)
Scorpion inherits from Enemy. Scorpion represents a type of enemy that attacks at a moderate
range in all directions, and targets mechs with the highest health. Scorpions are represented by the
character S.
Examples:

>>> scorpion = Scorpion((0,0),1,1,1)

>>> scorpion.get_symbol()
'S'
>>> scorpion.get_name()
'Scorpion'
>>> scorpion.get_targets()
[(0, 1), (0, -1), (1, 0), (-1, 0), (0, 2), (0, -2), (2, 0), (-2, 0)]
>>> entities = [TankMech((0,1),1,1,1), HealMech((0,2),2,1,1)]
>>> buildings = {(1,0): Building(1), (1,1): Building(2)}
>>> scorpion.update_objective(entities, buildings)
>>> scorpion.get_objective()
(0, 2)

4.1.12 Firefly(Enemy)
Firefly inherits from Entity. Firefly represents a type of enemy that attacks at a long range
vertically, and targets buildings with the lowest health. Fireflies are represented by the character F.
Examples:

>>> firefly = Firefly((0,0),1,1,1)

>>> firefly.get_symbol()

16
'F'
>>> firefly.get_name()
'Firefly'
>>> firefly.get_targets()
[(1, 0), (-1, 0), (2, 0), (-2, 0), (3, 0), (-3, 0), (4, 0), (-4, 0), (5, 0), (-5, 0)]
>>> entities = [TankMech((0,1),1,1,1), HealMech((0,2),2,1,1)]
>>> buildings = {(1,0): Building(1), (1,1): Building(2)}
>>> firefly.update_objective(entities, buildings)
>>> firefly.get_objective()
(1, 0)

4.1.13 BreachModel()
BreachModel models the logical state of a game of Into The Breach.

BreachModel should implement the following methods:

ˆ init (self, board: Board, entities: list[Entity]) -> None
Instantiates a new model class with the given board and entities. A precondition to this
function is that the provided list of entities is in descending priority order, with the highest
priority entity being the first element of the list, and the lowest priority entity being the last
element of the list.
ˆ str (self) -> str
Returns the string representation of the model. The string representation of a model is the
string representation of the game board, followed by a blank line, followed by the string repre-
sentation of all game entities in descending priority order, separated by newline characters.
ˆ get board(self) -> Board

Returns the current board instance.

ˆ get entities(self) -> list[Entity]

Returns the list of all entities in descending priority order, with the highest priority entity
being the first element of the list.
ˆ has won(self) -> bool

Returns True iff the game is in a win state according to the game rules (see section 3).
ˆ has lost(self) -> bool

Returns True iff the game is in a loss state according to the game rules (see section 3).
ˆ entity positions(self) -> dict[tuple[int, int], Entity]

Returns a dictionary containing all entities, indexed by entity position.

ˆ get valid movement positions(self, entity: Entity) -> list[tuple[int, int]]

Returns the list of positions that the given entity could move to during the relevant move-
ment phase. Note that this function does not check if the entity has already moved during a
given movement phase. The list should be ordered such that positions in higher rows appear
before positions in lower rows. Within the same row, positions in columns further left should
appear before positions in columns further right. You should make use of get distance from
a2 support.py when implementing this method.

17
 ˆ attempt move(self, entity: Entity, position: tuple[int, int]) -> None

Moves the given entity to the specified position only if the entity is friendly, active, and can
move to that position according to the game rules (see section 3). Does nothing otherwise.
Disables entity if a successful move is made.

ˆ undo move(self) -> None

Undoes the move most recently successfully attempted since the last call of end turn. Does
nothing if no such move exists.

ˆ ready to save(self) -> bool

Returns true only when no move has been made since the last call to end turn.

ˆ assign objectives(self) -> None

Updates the objectives of all enemies based on the current game state

ˆ move enemies(self) -> None

Moves each enemy to the valid movement position that minimizes the distance of the shortest
valid path between the position and the enemy’s objective. If there is a tie for minimum
shortest distance, the enemy moves to the position in the bottom-most row. If there is still a
tie for minimum shortest distance, the enemy moves to the position in the rightmost column.
If there is no valid path from an enemy to its objective, the enemy does not move. Enemies
move in descending priority order starting with the highest priority enemy. You should make
use of get distance from a2 support.py when implementing this method.

ˆ make attack(self, entity: Entity) -> None

Makes given entity perform an attack against every tile that is currently a target of the entity.
The effect on each tile is described under the attack phase heading in section 3

ˆ end turn(self) -> None

Executes the attack and enemy movement phases as described in section 3 (ignoring the display
update), and then sets all mechs to be active.

Examples:

>>> board = Board([['M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M'], ['M', '
', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', '3', '
', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ', '3', 'M', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', '
', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', '2', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', '
', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', '2', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M'], ['M', '
2', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M', 'M', 'M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', '
', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M']])
>>> entities = [TankMech((1, 1), 5, 3, 3), TankMech((1, 2), 3, 3, 3), HealMech
((1, 3), 2, 3, 2), Scorpion((8, 8), 3, 3, 2), Firefly((8, 7), 2, 2, 1), Firefl
y((7, 6), 1, 1, 1)]
>>> model = BreachModel(board, entities)
>>> str(model)
'MMMMMMMMMM\nM M\nM 3 M\nM 3M M\nM M\nM2 M\nM2 M
MMMM\nM2 MMM\nM M\nMMMMMMMMMM\n\nT,1,1,5,3,3\nT,1,2,3,3,3\nH,1,3,2,3
,2\nS,8,8,3,3,2\nF,8,7,2,2,1\nF,7,6,1,1,1'
>>> model.get_board()

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Board([['M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ',
' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', '3', ' ', ' ', ' ', '
M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ', '3', 'M', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ',
' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', '2', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', '
M'], ['M', '2', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M'], ['M', '2', ' ', ' ',
' ', ' ', ' ', 'M', 'M', 'M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', '
M'], ['M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M']])
>>> model.get_entities()
[TankMech((1, 1), 5, 3, 3), TankMech((1, 2), 3, 3, 3), HealMech((1, 3), 2, 3, 2
), Scorpion((8, 8), 3, 3, 2), Firefly((8, 7), 2, 2, 1), Firefly((7, 6), 1, 1, 1
)]
>>> model.has_won()
False
>>> model.has_lost()
False
>>> model.entity_positions()
{(1, 1): TankMech((1, 1), 5, 3, 3), (1, 2): TankMech((1, 2), 3, 3, 3), (1, 3):
HealMech((1, 3), 2, 3, 2), (8, 8): Scorpion((8, 8), 3, 3, 2), (8, 7): Firefly(
(8, 7), 2, 2, 1), (7, 6): Firefly((7, 6), 1, 1, 1)}
>>> model.ready_to_save()
True
>>> tank = model.entity_positions()[(1,1)]
>>> tank.is_active()
True
>>> model.get_valid_movement_positions(tank)
[(2, 1), (2, 2), (2, 3), (3, 1), (3, 2), (4, 1)]
>>> model.attempt_move(tank, (2,1))
>>> model.entity_positions()
{(2, 1): TankMech((2, 1), 5, 3, 3), (1, 2): TankMech((1, 2), 3, 3, 3), (1, 3):
HealMech((1, 3), 2, 3, 2), (8, 8): Scorpion((8, 8), 3, 3, 2), (8, 7): Firefly(
(8, 7), 2, 2, 1), (7, 6): Firefly((7, 6), 1, 1, 1)}
>>> tank.is_active()
False
>>> model.ready_to_save()
False
>>> model.undo_move()
>>> model.entity_positions()
{(1, 1): TankMech((1, 1), 5, 3, 3), (1, 2): TankMech((1, 2), 3, 3, 3), (1, 3):
HealMech((1, 3), 2, 3, 2), (8, 8): Scorpion((8, 8), 3, 3, 2), (8, 7): Firefly(
(8, 7), 2, 2, 1), (7, 6): Firefly((7, 6), 1, 1, 1)}
>>> tank.is_active()
True
>>> model.ready_to_save()
True
>>> model.attempt_move(tank, (2,1))
>>> model.entity_positions()
{(2, 1): TankMech((2, 1), 5, 3, 3), (1, 2): TankMech((1, 2), 3, 3, 3), (1, 3):
HealMech((1, 3), 2, 3, 2), (8, 8): Scorpion((8, 8), 3, 3, 2), (8, 7): Firefly(
(8, 7), 2, 2, 1), (7, 6): Firefly((7, 6), 1, 1, 1)}
>>> model.get_board().get_tile((2,5))
Building(3)
>>> model.make_attack(tank)

19
>>> model.get_board().get_tile((2,5))
Building(0)
>>> heal = model.entity_positions()[(1,3)]
>>> model.attempt_move(heal,(2,2))
>>> model.entity_positions()
{(2, 1): TankMech((2, 1), 5, 3, 3), (1, 2): TankMech((1, 2), 3, 3, 3), (2, 2):
HealMech((2, 2), 2, 3, 2), (8, 8): Scorpion((8, 8), 3, 3, 2), (8, 7): Firefly((
8, 7), 2, 2, 1), (7, 6): Firefly((7, 6), 1, 1, 1)}
>>> tank.get_health()
5
>>> model.make_attack(heal)
>>> tank.get_health()
7
>>> board2 = Board([['M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M'], ['M', '
', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', '3', ' '
, ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ', '3', 'M', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', ' '
, ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', '2', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ',
' ', ' ', 'M'], ['M', '2', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M'], ['M', '2',
' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', 'M', 'M', 'M'], ['M', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', '
', ' ', 'M'], ['M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M', 'M']])
>>> entities2 = [TankMech((1, 1), 5, 3, 3), TankMech((1, 2), 3, 3, 3), HealMech
((1, 3), 2, 3, 2), Scorpion((8, 8), 3, 3, 2), Firefly((8, 7), 2, 2, 1), Firefly
((7, 6), 1, 1, 1)]
>>> model2 = BreachModel(board2, entities2)
>>> model2.entity_positions()
{(1, 1): TankMech((1, 1), 5, 3, 3), (1, 2): TankMech((1, 2), 3, 3, 3), (1, 3):
HealMech((1, 3), 2, 3, 2), (8, 8): Scorpion((8, 8), 3, 3, 2), (8, 7): Firefly((
8, 7), 2, 2, 1), (7, 6): Firefly((7, 6), 1, 1, 1)}
>>> model2.end_turn()
>>> model2.entity_positions()
{(1, 1): TankMech((1, 1), 5, 3, 3), (8, 5): Scorpion((8, 5), 3, 3, 2), (7, 5):
Firefly((7, 5), 1, 1, 1)}

4.2 View
The following are the classes and methods you are required to implement to complete the view
component of this assignment. As opposed to section 4.1, where you would work through the
required classes and methods in order, GUI development tends to require that you work on various
interacting classes in parallel. Rather than working on each class in the order listed, you may find
it beneficial to work on one feature at a time and test it thoroughly before moving on. It is likely
that you will also need to implement components from the controller class (IntoTheBreach) in order
to develop each feature. Each feature may require updates / extensions to the IntoTheBreach and
BreachView classes, and potentially additions to other view classes as well. The recommended order
of features (after reading through the following section in its entirety) are as follows:

1. play game, main, and title: Create the window, ensure it displays when the program is run and
set its title. Gradescope calls play game in order to test your code, so you cannot earn marks
for the View or Controller sections until you have implemented this function (See section 4.3
for details).

2. Title banner: Render the title banner at the top of the window.

3. GameGrid:

20
 ˆ Basic tile display.
ˆ Highlighting tiles.
ˆ Entities display on top of tiles. Annotating building health on top of buildings.
ˆ Do not bind any commands to mouse buttons at this stage. This will be done when
working on the controller.

4. SideBar:

ˆ Basic display (non-functional). Sidebar headings appear correctly. This step could also
be done before the GameGrid.
ˆ Functionality. Ability to display entries and update.

5. ControlBar

ˆ Basic display. Buttons are laid out correctly. This step could also be done before both
the GameGrid and SideBar.
ˆ Buttons are assigned the passed commands (You can assume None is passed in for each
command until you complete the relevant feature in the controller section).

4.2.1 GameGrid(AbstractGrid)
GameGrid inherits from AbstractGrid provided in a2 support.py. GameGrid is a view component
that displays the game board, with entities overlaid on top. Tiles are represented by certain colored
squares, and entities are displayed by annotating special Unicode symbols (that is, regular plaintext
that does not appear on most keyboards) on top of these squares. a2 support.py provides the exact
colors and unicode symbols for you to display. An example of a completed GameGrid is presented in
Figure 4. GameGrid should implement the following methods:
ˆ redraw( self, board: Board, entities: list[Entity], highlighted: list[tuple[int,
int]] = None, movement: bool = False ) -> None:

Clears the game grid, then redraws it according to the provided information. Note that you
must draw on the GameGrid instance itself (not directly onto master or any other tkinter
widget). Destroyed buildings are colored differently from buildings that are not destroyed. If a
list of highlighted cells are provided, then the color of those cells are overridden to be one of two
highlight colors based on if movement is True (in which case possible moves are being highlighted
and tiles should be MOVE COLOR from a2 support.py) or False (in which case attacked tiles are
being highlighted and tiles should be ATTACK COLOR also from a2 support.py). If highlighted
is None then no highlighting occurs and the movement parameter is ignored. The health of
every building that is not destroyed is annotated on top of their respective building tiles. The
special Unicode character associated with each entity is annotated on top of the tiles located at
the position of each respective entity. All annotations appear in the center of their respective
cells.

ˆ bind click callback(self, click callback: Callable[[tuple[int, int]], None]) ->

None

Binds the <Button-1> and <Button-2> events on itself to a function that calls the provided
click handler at the correct position. Note: We bind both <Button-1> and <Button-2> to
account for differences between Windows and Mac operating systems. Note: handling callbacks
is an advanced task. These callbacks will be created within the controller, as this is the only
place where you have access to the required modelling information. Integrate GameGrid into
the game before attempting this method.

21
 Figure 4: Example of a completed GameGrid partway through a game.

4.2.2 SideBar(AbstractGrid)
SideBar inherits from AbstractGrid provided in a2 support.py. SideBar is a view component
that displays properties of each entity. Entities appear in descending priority order, with the highest
priority entity appearing at the top of the sidebar, and the lowest priority entity appearing at the
bottom of the sidebar. A Sidebar object is a grid with 4 columns. The top row displays the text
”Unit” in the first column, ”Coord” in the second column, ”Hp” in the third column, and ”Dmg”
in the fourth column. The SideBar maintains a constant height, but the number of rows will vary
depending on the number of entities remaining in the game. Rows should expand out to fill available
space. You do not need to handle visual artifacts caused by too many rows being present. An
example of a completed SideBar is presented in Figure 5.

SideBar should implement the following methods:

ˆ init (self, master: tk.Widget, dimensions: tuple[int, int], size: tuple[int, int])
-> None

Instantiates a SideBar with the specified dimensions and size.

ˆ display(self, entities: list[Entity]) -> None

Clears the side bar, then redraws the header followed by the relevant properties of the given
entities on the SideBar instance itself. Each entity in the given list should receive a row on
the side bar containing (in order from left to right):

– The special Unicode symbol used to display the entity on the GameGrid (provided in
a2 support.py)
– The current position of the entity
– The current health of the entity
– The damage the entity will deal during a given attack phase

Entities appear in descending priority order, with the highest priority entity appearing at the
top of the sidebar, and the lowest priority entity appearing at the bottom of the sidebar. A

22
 Figure 5: Example of a completed SideBar partway through a game

Figure 6: Example of a completed ControlBar

precondition to this function is that the given list of entities will be sorted in descending priority
order.

4.2.3 ControlBar(tk.Frame)
ControlBar inherits from tk.Frame. ControlBar is a view component that contains three buttons
that allow the user to perform administration actions. In order from left to right, the ControlBar
contains a save, load, undo, and end turn button. An example of a completed ControlBar is
presented in Figure 6. ControlBar should implement the following method:
ˆ init ( self, master: tk.Widget, save callback: Optional[Callable[[], None]] =
None, load callback: Optional[Callable[[], None]] = None, undo callback: Optional[Call
None]] = None, turn callback: Optional[Callable[[], None]] = None, **kwargs ) ->
None

Instantiates a ControlBar as a special kind of frame with the desired button layout. Note
that the buttons must be created into the ControlBar frame itself. Each button receives the
associated callback as its command. Note: handling callbacks is an advanced task. These
callbacks will be created within the controller, as this is the only place where you have access
to the required modelling information. Start this task by trying to render display correctly,
without the callbacks. Integrate this view component into the game before working on the
callbacks. Note that the tk.Button class can accept None as a command, so you can receive
full marks for this component without implementing callbacks in the controller.

4.2.4 BreachView()
The BreachView class provides a wrapper around the smaller GUI components you have imple-
mented, providing a single view interface for the controller. The view should be laid out such that
there is a banner at the top of the window, with the GameGrid and SideBar appearing horizontally
adjacent just below it. The ControlBar should appear below these two components. a2 support.py

23
provides constants for the pixel sizes of each component. The SideBar should be the same height
as the GameGrid. The banner and ControlBar should span the width of both the GameGrid and
SideBar. An example of a completed BreachView is presented in Figure 1. BreachView must
implement the following methods:
ˆ init (
self,
root: tk.Tk,
board dims: tuple[int, int],
save callback: Optional[Callable[[], None]] = None,
load callback: Optional[Callable[[], None]] = None,
undo callback: Optional[Callable[[], None]] = None,
turn callback: Optional[Callable[[], None]] = None,
) -> None

Instantiates view. Sets title of the given root window, and instantiates all child components.
The buttons on the instantiated CommandBar receive the given callbacks as their respective
commands.

ˆ bind click callback(self, click callback: Callable[[tuple[int, int]], None]) ->

None

Binds a click event handler to the instantiated GameGrid based on click callback

ˆ redraw( self, board: Board, entities: list[Entity], highlighted: list[tuple[int,

int]] = None, movement: bool = False ) -> None

Redraws the instantiated GameGrid and SideBar based on the given board, list of entities, and
tile highlight information.

4.3 Controller
The controller is a single class, IntoTheBreach, which you must implement according to this section.
As with the view section, you may find it beneficial to work on one feature at a time, instead of
working through the required classes and functions in order. You should work on these features in
tandem with features from the View section. Each feature may require updates / extensions to the
BreachView class, and potentially updates to other view classes as well.
The recommended order of features (after reading through the following section in its entirety) are
as follows:
1. play game, main: Create the window and ensure it displays when the program is run. Grade-
scope calls play game in order to test your view and controller code, so you cannot earn marks
for the View or Controller sections until you have implemented this function.

2. Tile selection (This will require binding mouse buttons in the GameGrid class. See section 4.2
for details).

3. Mech Movement

4. Movement undo (This will require passing a function to the CommandBar class)

5. Ending turn (this will require passing a function to the ControlBar class; see section 4.2 for
details).

6. Saving/Loading game (this will require passing functions to the ControlBar class).

7. Win/Loss handling

24
4.3.1 IntoTheBreach()
IntoTheBreach is the controller class for the overall game. The controller is responsible for creating
and maintaining instances of the model and view classes, event handling, and facilitating communi-
cation between the model and view classes. The controller will need to track which entity occupied
the tile last clicked on by the user in order to correctly highlight tiles on the board (referred to as
the focussed entity in the below methods). Refer to Table 1 for highlighting rules.

IntoTheBreach should implement the following methods:

ˆ init (self, root: tk.Tk, game file: str) -> None

Instantiates the controller. Creates instances of BreachModel and BreachView, and redraws
display to show the initial game state. You can assume that IO errors will not occur when
loading a board from game file during this function.

ˆ redraw(self) -> None

Redraws the view based on the state of the model and the current focussed entity.

ˆ set focussed entity(self, entity: Optional[Entity]) -> None

Sets the given entity to be the one on which to base highlighting. Or clears the focussed entity
if None is given.

ˆ make move(self, position: tuple[int, int]) -> None

Attempts to move the focussed entity to the given position, and then clears the focussed entity.
Note that you have implemented a method in BreachModel that enforces the validity of a move
according to the game rules already.

ˆ load model(self, file path: str) -> None

Replaces the current game state with a new state based on the provided file. A precondition to
this function, is that if the file opens, then it will contain exactly the string representation of a
BreachModel. However, you may NOT assume that IOErrors will not occur when opening this
file. If an IOError occurs when opening the given file, an error messagebox should be displayed
to the user explaining the error that occurred, and the game state should not change. An
example of the messagebox that should occur in the event of an IOError is given in Figure 7.

ˆ save game(self) -> None

If the the user has made no moves since the last time they clicked the end turn button, opens
a asksaveasfilename file dialog to ask the user to specify a file, and then saves the current
game state to that file. If the user has made at least one move since the last time they clicked
the end turn button, shows an error message box explaining to the user that they can only
save at the beginning of their turn. An example of this error message box is given in Figure 8.
You should make sure to use exactly the messages provided in a2 support.py. You do not
need to handle IOErrors for this operation.

ˆ load game(self) -> None

Opens a askopenfilename file dialog to ask the user to specify a file, and then loads in a new
game state from that file. If an IO error occurs when loading in a new game state, then a
messagebox should be shown to the user explaining the error as described in load model.

ˆ undo move(self) -> None

25
Figure 7: Example of an IO error messagebox. You may or may not have an icon in the top left
corner depending on how you test this function, this will not impact your mark.

Figure 8: Example of an invalid save attempt messagebox

Undoes the move most recent valid move performed by the user since the last time they clicked
the end turn button. Does nothing if no such move exists.

ˆ end turn(self) -> None

Executes the attack phase, enemy movement phase, and termination checking according to
section 3. Examples of the messageboxes that should appear during termination checking are
given in Figure 9.

ˆ handle click(self, position: tuple[int, int]) -> None

Handler for a click from the user at the given (row, column) position. Applies the game rules
specified in Table 1.

4.4 play game(root: tk.Tk, file path: str) -> None

The play game function should be fairly short and do exactly two things:

1. Construct the controller instance using the given file path and the root tk.Tk parameter.

2. Ensure the root window stays opening listening for events (using mainloop).

Note that the tests will call this function to test your code, rather than main.

Figure 9: Examples of win (left) and loss (right) messageboxes

26
4.5 main() -> None
The purpose of the main function is to allow you to test your own code. Like the play game function,
the main function should be fairly short and do exactly two things:

1. Construct the root tk.Tk instance.

2. Call the play game function passing in the newly created root tk.Tk instance, and the path
to any map file you like (e.g. ‘levels/level1.txt’).

5 Assessment and Marking Criteria

This assignment assesses course learning objectives:

1. apply program constructs such as variables, selection, iteration and sub-routines,

2. apply basic object-oriented concepts such as classes, instances and methods,

3. read and analyse code written by others,

4. analyse a problem and design an algorithmic solution to the problem,

5. read and analyse a design and be able to translate the design into a working program, and

6. apply techniques for testing and debugging, and

7. design and implement simple GUIs.

There are a total of 100 marks for this assessment item.

5.1 Functionality
Your program’s functionality will be marked out of a total of 50 marks. The breakdown of marks
for each implementation section is as follows:

ˆ Model: 25 Marks

ˆ View: 15 Marks

ˆ Controller: 10 Marks

Your assignment will be put through a series of tests and your functionality mark will be proportional
to the number of tests you pass. You will be given a subset of the functionality tests before the due
date for the assignment.

You may receive partial marks within each section for partially working functions, or for implement-
ing only a few functions.

You need to perform your own testing of your program to make sure that it meets all specifications
given in the assignment. Only relying on the provided tests is likely to result in your program failing
in some cases and you losing some functionality marks. Note: Functionality tests are automated, so
string outputs need to match exactly what is expected.

When evaluating your view and controller, the automated tests will play the game and attempt
to identify components of the game, how these components function during gameplay will then be
tested. Well before submission, run the functionality tests to ensure components of your application
can be identified. If the autograder is unable to identify components, you will not receive marks for

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these components, even if your assignment is functional. The tests provided prior to submission
will help you ensure that all components can be identified by the autograder.

Your program must run in Gradescope, which uses Python 3.12. Partial solutions will be marked
but if there are errors in your code that cause the interpreter to fail to execute your program, you
will get zero for functionality marks. If there is a part of your code that causes the interpreter to
fail, comment out the code so that the remainder can run. Your program must run using the Python
3.12 interpreter. If it runs in another environment (e.g. Python 3.8 or PyCharm) but not in the
Python 3.12 interpreter, you will get zero for the functionality mark.

5.2 Code Style

The style of your assignment will be assessed by a tutor. Style will be marked according to the style
rubric provided with the assignment. The style mark will be out of 50, note that style accounts for
half the marks availible on this assignment.

The key consideration in marking your code style is whether the code is easy to understand. There
are several aspects of code style that contribute to how easy it is to understand code. In this
assignment, your code style will be assessed against the following criteria.

ˆ Readability

– Program Structure: Layout of code makes it easy to read and follow its logic. This
includes using whitespace to highlight blocks of logic.
– Descriptive Identifier Names: Variable, constant, and function names clearly describe
what they represent in the program’s logic. Do not use Hungarian Notation for identifiers.
In short, this means do not include the identifier’s type in its name, rather make the name
meaningful (e.g. employee identifier).
– Named Constants: Any non-trivial fixed value (literal constant) in the code is represented
by a descriptive named constant (identifier).

ˆ Algorithmic Logic

– Single Instance of Logic: Blocks of code should not be duplicated in your program. Any
code that needs to be used multiple times should be implemented as a function.
– Variable Scope: Variables should be declared locally in the function in which they are
needed. Global variables should not be used.
– Control Structures: Logic is structured simply and clearly through good use of control
structures (e.g. loops and conditional statements).

ˆ Object-Oriented Program Structure

– Classes & Instances: Objects are used as entities to which messages are sent, demonstrat-
ing understanding of the differences between classes and instances.
– Encapsulation: Classes are designed as independent modules with state and behaviour.
Methods only directly access the state of the object on which they were invoked. Methods
never update the state of another object.
– Abstraction: Public interfaces of classes are simple and reusable. Enabling modular and
reusable components which abstract GUI details.
– Inheritance & Polymorphism: Subclasses are designed as specialised versions of their
superclasses. Subclasses extend the behaviour of their superclass without re-implementing
behaviour, or breaking the superclass behaviour or design. Subclasses redefine behaviour

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 of appropriate methods to extend the superclasses’ type. Subclasses do not break their
superclass’ interface.
– Model View Controller: Your program adheres to the Model-View-Controller design pat-
tern. The GUI’s view and control logic is clearly separated from the model. Model
information stored in the controller and passed to the view when required.

ˆ Documentation:

– Comment Clarity: Comments provide meaningful descriptions of the code. They should
not repeat what is already obvious by reading the code (e.g. # Setting variable to
0). Comments should not be verbose or excessive, as this can make it difficult to follow
the code.
– Informative Docstrings: Every function should have a docstring that summarises its pur-
pose. This includes describing parameters and return values (including type information)
so that others can understand how to use the function correctly.
– Description of Logic: All significant blocks of code should have a comment to explain how
the logic works. For a small function, this would usually be the docstring. For long or
complex functions, there may be different blocks of code in the function. Each of these
should have an in-line comment describing the logic.

5.3 Assignment Submission

You must submit your assignment electronically via Gradescope (https://gradescope.com/). You
must use your UQ email address which is based on your student number
(e.g. s4123456@student.uq.edu.au) as your Gradescope submission account.

When you login to Gradescope you may be presented with a list of courses. Select
CSSE7030. You will see a list of assignments. Choose Assignment 2. You will be prompted to
choose a file to upload. The prompt may say that you can upload any files, including zip files. You
must submit your assignment as a single Python file called a2.py (use this name – all lower case),
and nothing else. Your submission will be automatically run to determine the functionality mark. If
you submit a file with a different name, the tests will fail and you will get zero for functionality.
Do not submit any sort of archive file (e.g. zip, rar, 7z, etc.).

Upload an initial version of your assignment at least one week before the due date. Do this even
if it is just the initial code provided with the assignment. If you are unable access Gradescope,
contact the course helpdesk (csse7030@eecs.uq.edu.au) immediately. Excuses, such as you were not
able to login or were unable to upload a file will not be accepted as reasons for granting an extension.

When you upload your assignment it will run a subset of the functionality autograder tests on your
submission. It will show you the results of these tests. It is your responsibility to ensure that your
uploaded assignment file runs and that it passes the tests you expect it to pass.

Late submissions of the assignment will not be marked. Do not wait until the last minute to submit
your assignment, as the time to upload it may make it late. Multiple submissions are allowed and
encouraged, so ensure that you have submitted an almost complete version of the assignment well
before the submission deadline of 16:00. Submitting after the deadline incurs late penalties. Ensure
that you submit the correct version of your assignment.

In the event of exceptional personal or medical circumstances that prevent you from handing in the
assignment on time, you may submit a request for an extension. See the course profile for details of

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how to apply for an extension.

Requests for extensions must be made before the submission deadline. The application and sup-
porting documentation (e.g. medical certificate) must be submitted via my.UQ. You must retain the
original documentation for a minimum period of six months to provide as verification, should you
be requested to do so.

5.4 Plagiarism
This assignment must be your own individual work. By submitting the assignment, you are claiming
it is entirely your own work. You may discuss general ideas about the solution approach with other
students. Describing details of how you implement a function or sharing part of your code with
another student is considered to be collusion and will be counted as plagiarism. You may not
copy fragments of code that you find on the Internet to use in your assignment.

Please read the section in the course profile about plagiarism. You are encouraged to complete
both parts A and B of the academic integrity modules before starting this assignment. Submitted
assignments will be electronically checked for potential cases of plagiarism.

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