Milestone 1, Phase 3 in Progress

This post is just a quick update on the status of Milestone 1 Phase 3.

Requirement 1.4: The system shall provide an Auto Attack option that players may select if they would rather have the game select their tokens for them automatically after issuing the Attack command. 

Requirement 1.4 is complete.  The Auto Attack option exists and it functions correctly, both on the interface and in the data structures behind the scenes.

The in-game Options menu contains the Auto Attack option.  When it is turned on, players are not prompted to select a combat token to spend when attacking.  Instead, the game employs a simple but strategic algorithm to select one automatically.  This is the same logic that will be used by the AI when I get around to Requirement 1.6.

Requirement 1.5: After the player has selected a direction for attack, the system shall display the offensive combat tokens from the player’s inventory and allow the selection of a token to spend IFF the Auto Attack option is turned off.

Requirement 1.5 is in progress.  The Inventory screen has been parameterized so that it can initialize itself appropriately for each of its three purposes:  viewing the inventory, selecting a token for attack, and selecting a token for defense.  It also allows selection of a combat token to spend on an attack.  The token is correctly removed from inventory when it is selected.

Here's a demonstration of the differences between the "view inventory" mode and the "select an attack token" mode.

In the normal mode, the Inventory screen does not allow a token to be selected.  Instead, it allows you to switch between viewing offensive and defensive tokens for each of the three character types.

When a player is attacking, the Inventory screen opens in a different mode that removes the buttons for switching between views.  The only way to interact with the screen in this mode is to click on a token to select it.

Remaining tasks in Requirement 1.5:

• Choosing the Attack action should deduct an action point.  It does not currently do this.
• Power Tokens should be selectable as well, but currently only Combat Tokens can be selected.

Requirement 1.6: AI players shall be able to issue Attack commands that are subject to the same validation rules as the human players.

I haven't really started this one yet.  It seems simple on the surface, but there are a number of really bad bugs in the limited functionality that the AI already has, and these may need to be addressed before this requirement is implemented.  Further investigation is necessary before I'll know for sure.