tictactoe

Article
1/17/2024

Overview

Tictactoe (also known as noughts and crosses) is a two player game, in this case you versus your computer. In this version there are no levels of difficulty, and it is very tough to beat.

I originally wrote this game in Java, but I decided to convert it to C# and then to VB.Net, to share it here on MSDN. The Java code is very similar to very simple C#, so it was fairly easily converted, but it is simple C# (and VB), containing no LINQ, and as such it will, within my knowledge, work in any version of VS from 2005-13 (and probably earlier too).

To play, you just click a cell. When it is the computer’s turn to play, the game grid is strategically assessed and each cell is assigned a priority value according to its strategic value in the game. After rating all of the cells, the computer plays either the highest rated cell, or in the case of jointly rated cells, a random cell chosen from the joint highest rated cells. The used cells will never be chosen in this decision making algorithm as they are always assigned a rating of -1 which will always make them the lowest rated cells.

This has been a fun program to write, and converting between languages always leads to greater understanding and programming knowledge.

The code –The Form

The form code is very simple. Just a Button_Click event is handled...

Public Class  game
  
    Private Sub  Button1_Click_1(sender As Object, e As  EventArgs) Handles  Button1.Click
        Grid1.newGame()
    End Sub
  
End Class

The code – cell Class

The cell Class is again very simple, just holding 3 member variables...

Public Class  cell
    Public display As Char  = " "c
    Public color As Color = Color.Black
    Public priority As Integer  = -1
End Class

The code –grid Class

The grid Class inherits from Panel – it is an extended Panel. It holds some Class level variables that are used throughout the Class during game play...

Private matrix As cell()() = New cell(2)() {}
Private first As Char  = "X"c
Private current As Char  = "X"c
Private gameOver As Boolean  = False
Private moveCounter As Integer  = 0

Sub new sets the size of the Panel and initializes the matrix array...

Public Sub  New()
    Me.Size = New  Size(210, 210)
    For r As Integer  = 0 To  2
        matrix(r) = New  cell(2) {}
    Next
    For r As Integer  = 0 To  2
        For c As Integer  = 0 To  2
            matrix(r)(c) = New  cell()
            matrix(r)(c).display = " "c
            matrix(r)(c).color = Color.Black
        Next
    Next
End Sub

There are two overridden events handled in the extended Panel Class. These are the MouseClick event and the Paint event...

Protected Overrides  Sub OnMouseClick(e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs)
    If Not  gameOver Then
        Dim r As Integer  = CInt(Math.Floor(CDbl(e.Y) / 70))
        Dim c As Integer  = CInt(Math.Floor(CDbl(e.X) / 70))
        If matrix(r)(c).display = " "c Then
            matrix(r)(c).display = current
            current = "0"c
            Me.Invalidate()
            moveCounter += 1
            gameOver = checkLines()
            If Not  gameOver AndAlso  moveCounter < 9 Then
                playMove()
                moveCounter += 1
            End If
        End If
    End If
    MyBase.OnMouseClick(e)
End Sub
  
Protected Overrides  Sub OnPaint(e As System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs)
    MyBase.OnPaint(e)
    e.Graphics.DrawLine(Pens.Black, 70, 0, 70, 210)
    e.Graphics.DrawLine(Pens.Black, 140, 0, 140, 210)
    e.Graphics.DrawLine(Pens.Black, 0, 70, 210, 70)
    e.Graphics.DrawLine(Pens.Black, 0, 140, 210, 140)
  
    For r As Integer  = 0 To  2
        For c As Integer  = 0 To  2
            If matrix(r)(c).display <> " "c Then
                e.Graphics.DrawString(matrix(r)(c).display.ToString(), New  Font("Times New Roman", 20, FontStyle.Bold), New  SolidBrush(matrix(r)(c).color), CSng((c * 70) + 25), CSng((r * 70) + 25))
            End If
        Next
    Next
End Sub

The newGame procedure resets the Class level variables for a new game...

Public Sub  newGame()
    gameOver = False
    For r As Integer  = 0 To  2
        For c As Integer  = 0 To  2
            matrix(r)(c).display = " "c
            matrix(r)(c).color = Color.Black
        Next
    Next
    first = If((first = "X"c),  "0"c, "X"c)
    current = first
    Me.Invalidate()
    moveCounter = 0
    If current = "0"c Then
        playMove()
    End If
End Sub

The playMove procedure is the AI part of this program, where the computer chooses its move...

Public Sub  playMove()
  
    For r As Integer  = 0 To  2
        For c As Integer  = 0 To  2
            If matrix(r)(c).display = " "c Then
                matrix(r)(c).priority = 0
            Else
                matrix(r)(c).priority = -1
            End If
        Next
    Next
  
    If matrix(1)(1).display = " "c Then
        matrix(1)(1).priority = 2
    End If
    If matrix(0)(0).display = " "c Then
        matrix(0)(0).priority = 1
    End If
    If matrix(0)(2).display = " "c Then
        matrix(0)(2).priority = 1
    End If
    If matrix(2)(0).display = " "c Then
        matrix(2)(0).priority = 1
    End If
    If matrix(2)(2).display = " "c Then
        matrix(2)(2).priority = 1
    End If
  
    For r As Integer  = 0 To  2
        If matrix(r)(0).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(r)(0).display = matrix(r)(1).display AndAlso matrix(r)(2).display = " "c Then
            matrix(r)(2).priority += 3
        End If
        If matrix(r)(0).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(r)(0).display = matrix(r)(2).display AndAlso matrix(r)(1).display = " "c Then
            matrix(r)(1).priority += 3
        End If
        If matrix(r)(1).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(r)(1).display = matrix(r)(2).display AndAlso matrix(r)(0).display = " "c Then
            matrix(r)(0).priority += 3
        End If
    Next
    For c As Integer  = 0 To  2
        If matrix(0)(c).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(0)(c).display = matrix(1)(c).display AndAlso matrix(2)(c).display = " "c Then
            matrix(2)(c).priority += 3
        End If
        If matrix(0)(c).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(0)(c).display = matrix(2)(c).display AndAlso matrix(1)(c).display = " "c Then
            matrix(1)(c).priority += 3
        End If
        If matrix(1)(c).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(1)(c).display = matrix(2)(c).display AndAlso matrix(0)(c).display = " "c Then
            matrix(0)(c).priority += 3
        End If
    Next
  
    If matrix(0)(0).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(0)(0).display = matrix(1)(1).display AndAlso matrix(2)(2).display = " "c Then
        matrix(2)(2).priority += 3
    End If
    If matrix(0)(0).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(0)(0).display = matrix(2)(2).display AndAlso matrix(1)(1).display = " "c Then
        matrix(1)(1).priority += 3
    End If
    If matrix(1)(1).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(1)(1).display = matrix(2)(2).display AndAlso matrix(0)(0).display = " "c Then
        matrix(0)(0).priority += 3
    End If
    If matrix(0)(2).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(0)(2).display = matrix(1)(1).display AndAlso matrix(2)(0).display = " "c Then
        matrix(2)(0).priority += 3
    End If
    If matrix(0)(2).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(0)(2).display = matrix(2)(0).display AndAlso matrix(1)(1).display = " "c Then
        matrix(1)(1).priority += 3
    End If
    If matrix(1)(1).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(1)(1).display = matrix(2)(0).display AndAlso matrix(0)(2).display = " "c Then
        matrix(0)(2).priority += 3
    End If
  
    'int maxC=-1;
    Dim maxC As New  List(Of Integer)()
    'int maxR=-1;
    Dim maxR As New  List(Of Integer)()
    Dim maxPriority As Integer  = -1
  
    For r As Integer  = 0 To  2
        For c As Integer  = 0 To  2
            If matrix(r)(c).priority > maxPriority Then
                maxPriority = matrix(r)(c).priority
            End If
        Next
    Next
  
    For r As Integer  = 0 To  2
        For c As Integer  = 0 To  2
            If matrix(r)(c).priority = maxPriority Then
                maxC.Add(c)
                maxR.Add(r)
            End If
        Next
    Next
  
    Dim rnd As New  Random()
    Dim index As Integer  = rnd.[Next](maxC.Count())
  
    matrix(maxR(index))(maxC(index)).display = "0"c
    current = "X"c
    gameOver = checkLines()
    Me.Invalidate()
End Sub

Finally the checkLines Function, which checks for a win in any of the eight possible lines.

This returns a Boolean True or False depending on the state of play. Also any winning line is highlighted with red text...

Public Function  checkLines() As  Boolean
    For r As Integer  = 0 To  2
        If matrix(r)(0).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(r)(0).display = matrix(r)(1).display AndAlso matrix(r)(0).display = matrix(r)(2).display Then
            matrix(r)(0).color = Color.Red
            matrix(r)(1).color = Color.Red
            matrix(r)(2).color = Color.Red
            Return True
        End If
    Next
    For c As Integer  = 0 To  2
        If matrix(0)(c).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(0)(c).display = matrix(1)(c).display AndAlso matrix(0)(c).display = matrix(2)(c).display Then
            matrix(0)(c).color = Color.Red
            matrix(1)(c).color = Color.Red
            matrix(2)(c).color = Color.Red
            Return True
        End If
    Next
    If matrix(0)(0).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(0)(0).display = matrix(1)(1).display AndAlso matrix(0)(0).display = matrix(2)(2).display Then
        matrix(0)(0).color = Color.Red
        matrix(1)(1).color = Color.Red
        matrix(2)(2).color = Color.Red
        Return True
    End If
    If matrix(0)(2).display <> " "c AndAlso  matrix(0)(2).display = matrix(1)(1).display AndAlso matrix(0)(2).display = matrix(2)(0).display Then
        matrix(0)(2).color = Color.Red
        matrix(1)(1).color = Color.Red
        matrix(2)(0).color = Color.Red
        Return True
    End If
    Return False
End Function

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tictactoe

The code –The Form

The code – cell Class

The code –grid Class

See Also

Additional resources

Share via

tictactoe

The code –The Form

The code – cell Class

**The code –grid Class **

**See Also **

Articles related to game programming

Additional resources

The code –grid Class

See Also