Description
Assignment Description. The purpose of this assignment is to give you some experience programming
with logic programming. You will be using SWI-Prolog for this assignment.
Part One – Logic Puzzles. To successfully complete this program, you will have to use lists in Prolog
and provide solutions to the following logic problems along with your Prolog source code.
The three logic puzzles are as follows:
It’s a Tie. I have provided a sample solution for this one on Beachboard. Use this as a model for your
own solutions.
Imaginary Friends. The first part of your assignment is to write (and turn in) a Prolog program to
solve this logic puzzle. Once you understand the “It’s a Tie” solution, this should be easy. Do this one first.
Star Tricked. The second part is to write (and turn in) a Prolog program to solve this logic puzzle.
This one is a little trickier–you need to figure out how to describe the ordering of weekdays–but it’s not too
hard.
These problems make unusually extensive use of the NOT operator, \+. Here’s what you need to know
about this operator:
• \+ works as you would expect when all variables are completely instantiated (bound).
• Prolog tries to prove things, so if expression E contains unbound variables, \+E will try to find variable
bindings that will make E true.
It is easy to check whether a solution is correct: Just check whether it satisfied each of the numbered rules
in the problem.
Deliverables. Upload your .pl source code and a text file with the queries asked to solve each puzzle to
Beachboard Dropbox. Your assignment will not be graded unless the query file is included along with
your source code.
Part Two – Adventure Game. Remember back to the first week of class? Guess what? You get to make
another adventure game! This time, it’ll be in Prolog.
Your assignment is to write an adventure game in SWI-Prolog (almost like we did with Inform!). The
requirements are exactly the same as the Inform assignment: pick any theme you like for your adventure
game: rescue, survival, treasure hunt, “a day in the life,” or whatever else appeals to you.
Copy the file adventure.pl (on Beachboard) and use it as a starting point. This is an absolutely boring
game consisting of one room, one object, and one direction you can go (but going in that direction takes you
back to the same room). Add to this code to create your own game; if it doesn’t do what you want, fix it
so that it does. This is free code, to use or modify any way you like. If you don’t want to use it, that’s okay
too.
You can get additional ideas from the file spider.pl (also on Beachboard).
Your program should contain one (or more, if you like) of each of the following:
• Locked door. In its most boring form, you must find a key and use it to unlock a door, thus giving
you access to one or more additional rooms. With a little more imagination: You aren’t admitted
without a badge. You need to buy a ticket. You must give the troll a gold piece before you can cross
the bridge. Waving the magic wand causes the rainbow bridge to appear. Et cetera. Any sort of locked
door puzzle will do.
• Hidden object. Boring form: You open a box and find something inside. More interesting: You
break open a treasure chest. You use the combination to a safe. You peer into the crystal ball. You
buy the candy bar from the vending machine. You disassemble the robot to get some part out of it.
• Incomplete object. Your flashlight needs batteries. Your gun needs bullets. Your car needs gas.
Your bicycle has a flat tire. You need a computer to get at the information on a floppy disk. You are
a zombie and need a brain.
• Limited resouces. You have a limited amount of time (to find the bomb before it goes off) or money
(to buy the things you need), or food, drink, or sleep (so you don’t collapse), or some other resource.
Maybe you can find more resources in the game, maybe you can’t. Depending on just what you decide
to do, you may want to figure out how to do arithmetic in Prolog.
You should have a start/0 predicate (similar to the one provided in the source code of the adventure.pl file)
that I can use to start your game and find out what commands you have added. Don’t make me look at the
code to figure out how to run your program!
Also include an inventory command (abbreviation: i) to tell what the player is currently holding.
Play the game by running Prolog and typing queries into it. Prolog can easily read Prolog terms, but
reading anything else is awkward, and not worth learning how to do. (However, if you want to ask the user
for a number, you can use the read(X) predicate; a number is a term. Just remember to type a period after
the number.)
You may simply re-create the game that you made for the first assignment (as long as it meets all of the
requirements), or you may do something completely new.
Deliverables. Submit your .pl source code, a transcript of a sample run of your program, and a readme.txt
file that briefly describes your game, and in particular briefly describes your locked door, hidden object,
incomplete object, and limited resource. Make sure to also include the query file (or, at the very minmum,
clear instructions on how to run your game) in order to receive credit.
4 CECS 342
