CS430: Programming Assignment 1 (Due Wednesday, October 15)

In the popular game of Tetris, we are given an initial m-by-n gameboard (typically 20-by-10, or 20 high and 10 wide), which is a partially filled rectangular grid. In the easiest version of the game, the gameboard is initially empty. The player is given, one by one, a piece consisting of four filled squares arranged in one of seven possible tetrominos (square, L, backwards L, I, T, S, and Z). Each piece begins in the middle of the top row of the game board, and falls downward at a constant speed. As it falls, the player can rotate the piece and slide it horizontally. If, when the piece comes to rest, all gridsquares in an entire row h of the gameboard are filled, row h is cleared: all rows above h fall one row lower and the top row of the game board is replaced by an entirely unfilled row. As soon as a piece is fixed in place, the next piece appears at the top of the gameboard. In some implementations, a one piece lookahead is provided: when the ith piece begins falling, the identity of the i+1st piece is revealed. A player loses when a new piece is blocked by filled gridsquares from entering the gameboard. The player's objective is to maximize the number of rows cleared. Write down condition action rules for a reactive agent that plays a good game of Tetris.

Using one of the many free downloadable versions of Tetris (in Java) available on the web, implement your agent and report the scores it achieves on the standard Tetris game. Here are pointers to two downloadable versions:

gnu.org JavaTetris
Nathan's tetris
What to turn in:
- A written description of your condition-action rules.
- The URL from which you obtained the java source.
- A source listing of the part of the java program where you implemented your rules.
- The scores of your agent over 10 trials.
You may consult with your fellow students over which downloadable implementation is the best one to use as a starting point.