Games::Euchre::AI 1.02

Games::Euchre::AI is a Player API for Euchre card game.

This class implements a skeletal Euchre player programming interface. Subclasses can be created quite easily as interactive interfaces or AI computer players.
If you wish to write your own computer player, I recommend you start with Games::Euchre::AI::Simple. If you wish to write your own human interface, I recommend you start with Games::Euchre::AI::Human.

CLASS METHODS

new

Create and initialize a new Euchre AI. This object is implemented as an empty hash. Subclasses may wish to use this hash for state storage.

INSTANCE METHODS

Actions

The following methods are called in the course of the game where the AI (or human) has to make a decision. The state of the game is always passed in a hashreference. The following fields are always available:

name is the name of the current player. This is useful for output messages.
names is a hash relating player number to player name for all four players.
debug is a boolean indicating if we are debugging game or the AIs. Your AI may wish to provide verbose output if debugging is going on.

bid STATEHASH

Choose trump or pass. The relevent details of the current state of the game are provided in a hash reference. Here is an example of that data structure:

{
name => Player 1,
names => {1 => Player 1, 2 => P2, 3 => P3, 4 => Fred},
number => 1,
turnedUp => KH,
passes => 1,
ourScore => 2,
theirScore => 4,
winScore => 10,
hangdealer => false,
notrump => false,
hand => [JS, QH, 9S, KC, AD],
debug => false,
}

turnedUp is the suit and value of the card on the top of the blind. This will be undef on the second round of bidding.

passes says how many people have passed so far
hangdealer is a boolean saying whether the hang-the-dealer optional rule is in effect

notrump is a boolean saying whether the no trump optional rule is in effect
This function must return one of: H, D, C, S, N, HA, DA, CA, SA, NA, or undef
N means no trump, A means alone, undef means pass. Not all of these are legal at any given round! Use the isLegalBid() method below if you are unsure.

pickItUp STATEHASH

If this is called, you are the dealer and someone called trump. Choose which card from your hand to discard in exchange for the top card of the blind. The relevent details of the current state of the game are provided in a hash reference. Here is an example of that data structure:

{
name => Player 1,
names => {1 => Player 1, 2 => P2, 3 => P3, 4 => Fred},
number => 1,
turnedUp => KH,
trump => H,
bidder => 2,
weBid => false,
usAlone => false,
themAlone => false,
hand => [JS, QH, 9S, KC, AD],
debug => false,
}

This method should return the 0-based index of the card to trade for the turnedUp card. Namely, this in the index of the hand array for the card that you choose.

playCard STATEHASH

Choose which card from your hand to play on this trick. The relevent details of the current state of the game are provided in a hash reference. Here is an example of that data structure:

{
name => Player 1,
names => {1 => Player 1, 2 => P2, 3 => P3, 4 => Fred},
number => 1,
trump => H,
bidder => 2,
weBid => true,
usAlone => false,
themAlone => false,
trick => 2,
ourTricks => 0,
theirTricks => 1,
ourScore => 2,
theirScore => 4,
winScore => 10,
played => [10H, 9H, QC],
playedBy => [2, 3, 4, 1],
hand => [JH, AH, AS, KS],
debug => false,
}

playedBy is an arrayref of numbers of the players in the order they will play. Without this, the alone possibility makes it hard to tell who played what.

Any needed information not stored here (like who was the dealer, what was the turn-up card, what happened in the first trick) is YOUR responsibility to collect and store in your instance.

This method should return the 0-based index of the card to play. Namely, this in the index of the hand array for the card that you choose.