pinch_points/sim/

bot.rs

//! A basic signpost-placing opponent. Deterministic and pure: the action is
//! a function of the board alone, so bot matches replay bit-for-bit and the
//! same bot could later run host-side in online games.
//!
//! Heuristic, in priority order:
//! 1. Defend: a walking gull near the castle gets a signpost slammed in
//!    front of it, pointing back where it came from.
//! 2. Recruit: the most valuable crab nearby that is not already heading
//!    castle-ward gets a signpost on the tile ahead of it, pointing home.
//!
//! Fierce additionally reads the terrain (see [`BotLevel::reads_terrain`]):
//! it shoves gulls into kelp they cannot enter, walks its crabs around tide
//! pools instead of through them, and never spends a signpost whose turn a
//! turnstile would immediately undo.
//!
//! The bot acts on a fixed cadence (staggered per seat so bots do not move
//! in lockstep, and rotated per cycle so no seat is permanently quickest;
//! see [`BotLevel::acts_on`]) and simply retries next window if a placement
//! was rejected.

use crate::sim::board::{Board, PlayerAction, PlayerId, TileKind};
use crate::sim::crab::{CrabKind, Handedness};
use crate::sim::direction::Direction;
use crate::sim::gull::GullState;

/// Bot difficulty. Levels differ in reaction cadence and search radii;
/// Hard additionally plays offense, steering gulls at the leading rival's
/// castle. All levels stay pure functions of the board.
#[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Debug, Default)]
pub enum BotLevel {
    Easy,
    #[default]
    Normal,
    Hard,
}

impl BotLevel {
    /// Ticks between decisions, staggered per seat.
    fn cadence(self) -> u64 {
        match self {
            BotLevel::Easy => 40,
            BotLevel::Normal => 20,
            BotLevel::Hard => 12,
        }
    }

    fn defend_radius(self) -> i32 {
        match self {
            BotLevel::Easy => 2,
            BotLevel::Normal => 4,
            BotLevel::Hard => 6,
        }
    }

    /// How far the bot will walk to attack rather than play its own corner.
    /// Only the fierce bot attacks at all, and only when the gull is on its
    /// way past.
    fn reach(self) -> i32 {
        match self {
            BotLevel::Easy | BotLevel::Normal => 0,
            BotLevel::Hard => 5,
        }
    }

    /// How far the bot will go for a jackpot: a golden crab, or a molting
    /// one and the lure that follows it home. Worth crossing the board for,
    /// where chasing a rival is not. Fierce only; the other levels see no
    /// further than their own corner.
    fn jackpot_reach(self) -> i32 {
        match self {
            BotLevel::Easy | BotLevel::Normal => 0,
            BotLevel::Hard => 14,
        }
    }

    /// One placement in this many is aimed the wrong way: the easy bot's
    /// hand slips. Zero means it never blunders.
    ///
    /// Derived from the tick and the seat rather than a random draw: the bot
    /// must stay a pure function of the board so every peer of an online
    /// match derives the same move for an AI seat.
    fn blunder_every(self) -> u64 {
        match self {
            BotLevel::Easy => 4,
            BotLevel::Normal => 8,
            BotLevel::Hard => 0,
        }
    }

    /// Whether the bot picks the crab that is *worth* the most (a molting
    /// crab and its lure, a golden jackpot) or just the nearest one. The
    /// easy bot cannot tell a jackpot from a common crab.
    fn values_the_catch(self) -> bool {
        !matches!(self, BotLevel::Easy)
    }

    /// Ticks the bot's cursor spends crossing one tile: the bot has a hand to
    /// walk to a tile, as a player does, and this is how fast it is. A default
    /// human cursor covers a tile in under three ticks, so Normal matches a
    /// player and Fierce stays within reach of one.
    fn cursor_ticks_per_tile(self) -> u64 {
        match self {
            BotLevel::Easy => 4,
            BotLevel::Normal => 3,
            BotLevel::Hard => 2,
        }
    }

    fn recruit_radius(self) -> i32 {
        match self {
            BotLevel::Easy => 4,
            BotLevel::Normal => 7,
            BotLevel::Hard => 10,
        }
    }

    /// Whether this level plays the terrain (kelp, pools, turnstiles) or
    /// treats the beach as flat sand. Fierce only.
    fn reads_terrain(self) -> bool {
        matches!(self, BotLevel::Hard)
    }

    /// Whether this seat gets to think on this tick.
    ///
    /// Every seat decides once per cadence window (an unequal rate simply
    /// lets the faster thinker play more) at a moment drawn from the window
    /// and the seat. Drawn rather than a fixed grid of slots because
    /// the spawner holes fire on even ticks, so a seat parked on an odd slot
    /// would meet every new crab a beat before a seat on an even one.
    ///
    /// Ties inside a single tick are the sim's business, not the bot's:
    /// see [`Board::action_order`](crate::sim::Board).
    fn acts_on(self, player: PlayerId, ticks: u64) -> bool {
        let cadence = self.cadence();
        let window = ticks / cadence;
        let mut z = window.wrapping_mul(0x9E37_79B9_7F4A_7C15)
            ^ u64::from(player).wrapping_mul(0xBF58_476D_1CE4_E5B9);
        z ^= z >> 31;
        z = z.wrapping_mul(0x94D0_49BB_1331_11EB);
        z ^= z >> 29;
        ticks % cadence == z % cadence
    }
}

/// How far from a rival castle a Hard bot will weaponize a passing gull.
const ATTACK_RADIUS: i32 = 6;

/// Ticks before a held cursor starts repeating, matching the human default.
const CURSOR_LIFT: u64 = 8;

/// Why the bot wants this tile. A gull bearing down on your castle is worth
/// spending your last signpost on, since it carries off half the bank,
/// where a wayward crab is not.
#[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Debug)]
enum Intent {
    Defend,
    Recruit,
    Attack,
}

/// What the bot wants to do this tick, and whether its hand could get there
/// in time to do it.
///
/// A bot's cursor is wherever it last placed a signpost, read off the board
/// rather than stored, so the bot stays a pure function of the state and
/// every peer of an online match derives the same move for it.
pub fn bot_action(board: &Board, player: PlayerId, level: BotLevel) -> PlayerAction {
    let (wanted, intent) = decide(board, player, level);
    let wanted = fumble(wanted, player, level, board.ticks());
    // Only a placement has a tile to walk to, or a post to cost; nothing
    // else waits or weighs.
    if let PlayerAction::Place { x, y, .. } = wanted
        && (!hand_arrived(board, player, level, x, y)
            || !worth_the_walk(board, player, level, x, y, intent))
    {
        return PlayerAction::None;
    }
    wanted
}

/// The easy bot's hand slips: one placement in four comes out pointing the
/// wrong way. A legible difficulty knob, one you can watch happen, where
/// "thinks less often" is invisible.
fn fumble(action: PlayerAction, player: PlayerId, level: BotLevel, ticks: u64) -> PlayerAction {
    let every = level.blunder_every();
    if every == 0 {
        return action;
    }
    // Only a placement can come out crooked; the tile is still the right one.
    if let PlayerAction::Place { x, y, dir } = action
        && (ticks ^ u64::from(player)).is_multiple_of(every)
    {
        return PlayerAction::Place {
            x,
            y,
            dir: dir.right(),
        };
    }
    action
}

/// Whether this placement is worth the trip.
///
/// Defending is always worth it: a gull reaching a castle carries off half
/// the bank. Chasing a rival across the board is not: the walk is dead time
/// that costs more than the raid pays. Offence has to be on the way.
///
/// Deliberately not a rule about evicting its own posts: churn helps rather
/// than hurts, because a crab walks a tile every twenty ticks and a post
/// aimed where one was four seconds ago is aimed at nothing.
fn worth_the_walk(
    board: &Board,
    player: PlayerId,
    level: BotLevel,
    x: u8,
    y: u8,
    intent: Intent,
) -> bool {
    if intent != Intent::Attack {
        return true;
    }
    let Some((from_x, from_y, _)) = board.newest_signpost_of(player) else {
        return true;
    };
    let steps = i32::from(x.abs_diff(from_x)) + i32::from(y.abs_diff(from_y));
    steps <= level.reach()
}

/// Whether the bot's cursor has had time to reach `(x, y)` since its last
/// placement. With nothing of its standing it has been idle for at least a
/// signpost's lifetime, which is longer than any walk across a beach.
fn hand_arrived(board: &Board, player: PlayerId, level: BotLevel, x: u8, y: u8) -> bool {
    let Some((from_x, from_y, since)) = board.newest_signpost_of(player) else {
        return true;
    };
    let steps = u64::from(x.abs_diff(from_x)) + u64::from(y.abs_diff(from_y));
    // Charged the way a player's hand works: the first tap moves a tile at
    // once, and only a held key waits for the repeat to kick in. So a
    // neighbouring tile is free, and a trip across the beach costs about what
    // it costs a human.
    let walk = match steps {
        0 | 1 => 0,
        far => CURSOR_LIFT + (far - 1) * level.cursor_ticks_per_tile(),
    };
    board.ticks().saturating_sub(since) >= walk
}

/// What the bot wants to do this tick.
///
/// Four strategies in order of what a round is won and lost on: a gull about
/// to raid you costs half your bank, a jackpot is worth crossing the beach
/// for, a wayward crab is bread and butter, and shoving a gull at the leader
/// is the luxury you buy last. Each answers `None` when it has nothing to say.
fn decide(board: &Board, player: PlayerId, level: BotLevel) -> (PlayerAction, Intent) {
    let nothing = (PlayerAction::None, Intent::Recruit);
    if !level.acts_on(player, board.ticks()) {
        return nothing;
    }
    let Some(castle) = castle_of(board, player) else {
        return nothing;
    };
    defend(board, player, level, castle)
        .or_else(|| chase_jackpot(board, player, level, castle))
        .or_else(|| recruit(board, player, level, castle))
        .or_else(|| attack(board, player, level))
        .unwrap_or(nothing)
}

/// Turn back the nearest gull threatening our castle.
fn defend(
    board: &Board,
    player: PlayerId,
    level: BotLevel,
    castle: u16,
) -> Option<(PlayerAction, Intent)> {
    let mut best: Option<(i32, u16, Direction)> = None;
    for gull in board.gulls() {
        if gull.state != GullState::Walking {
            continue;
        }
        let d = manhattan(board, gull.tile, castle);
        if d > level.defend_radius() {
            continue;
        }
        // A gull walking away is no threat, and a post that turns it round
        // would make one: only a bird whose next step closes on the castle
        // is worth a signpost, the way recruit and attack leave alone a
        // creature already heading the right way.
        let closing = board
            .step(gull.tile, gull.dir)
            .is_some_and(|next| manhattan(board, next, castle) < d);
        if closing && best.is_none_or(|(bd, ..)| d < bd) {
            best = Some((d, gull.tile, gull.dir));
        }
    }
    let (_, tile, dir) = best?;
    // Fierce shoves the gull into kelp beside its next tile when that is
    // safe: a walking gull cannot enter kelp, so the sim turns it along the
    // weed instead, and the shove is only taken when neither turn brings
    // the bird closer than sending it back the way it came. Otherwise, and
    // for the terrain-blind levels, reverse it.
    let out = board
        .step(tile, dir)
        .filter(|_| level.reads_terrain())
        .and_then(|target| safe_kelp_shove(board, target, tile, dir, castle))
        .unwrap_or_else(|| dir.reverse());
    let action = place_ahead(board, player, tile, dir, out, level)?;
    Some((action, Intent::Defend))
}

/// Fierce only: go after a jackpot anywhere on the beach. A golden crab pays
/// fifty and a molt turns the whole board toward home, so unlike chasing a
/// rival this walk pays for itself.
fn chase_jackpot(
    board: &Board,
    player: PlayerId,
    level: BotLevel,
    castle: u16,
) -> Option<(PlayerAction, Intent)> {
    if level.jackpot_reach() == 0 {
        return None;
    }
    let mut best: Option<(u32, i32, u16, Direction)> = None;
    for crab in board.crabs() {
        let worth = match crab.kind {
            CrabKind::Golden => 50,
            CrabKind::Molting => 30, // 5 points, and then the lure
            CrabKind::Giant => 10,
            CrabKind::Common | CrabKind::Juvenile | CrabKind::Sparkling => continue,
        };
        let d = manhattan(board, crab.tile, castle);
        if d == 0 || d > level.jackpot_reach() || crab.dir == toward(board, crab.tile, castle) {
            continue;
        }
        if best.is_none_or(|(bw, bd, ..)| worth > bw || (worth == bw && d < bd)) {
            best = Some((worth, d, crab.tile, crab.dir));
        }
    }
    let (_, _, tile, dir) = best?;
    let ahead = board.step(tile, dir).unwrap_or(tile);
    let home = homeward(board, ahead, castle, level, TileKind::Pool);
    let action = place_ahead(board, player, tile, dir, home, level)?;
    Some((action, Intent::Recruit))
}

/// Turn the best wayward crab in range toward home.
fn recruit(
    board: &Board,
    player: PlayerId,
    level: BotLevel,
    castle: u16,
) -> Option<(PlayerAction, Intent)> {
    let mut best: Option<(u32, i32, u16, Direction)> = None;
    for crab in board.crabs() {
        let d = manhattan(board, crab.tile, castle);
        if d == 0 || d > level.recruit_radius() {
            continue;
        }
        if crab.dir == toward(board, crab.tile, castle) {
            continue; // already coming to us
        }
        // The easy bot cannot tell a jackpot from a common crab and simply
        // grabs at whatever is closest.
        let value = if level.values_the_catch() {
            crab.kind.value()
        } else {
            1
        };
        if best.is_none_or(|(bv, bd, ..)| value > bv || (value == bv && d < bd)) {
            best = Some((value, d, crab.tile, crab.dir));
        }
    }
    let (_, _, tile, dir) = best?;
    let ahead = board.step(tile, dir).unwrap_or(tile);
    let home = homeward(board, ahead, castle, level, TileKind::Pool);
    let action = place_ahead(board, player, tile, dir, home, level)?;
    Some((action, Intent::Recruit))
}

/// Fierce only: steer a gull that is already near the leading rival's castle
/// the rest of the way in.
fn attack(board: &Board, player: PlayerId, level: BotLevel) -> Option<(PlayerAction, Intent)> {
    if level != BotLevel::Hard {
        return None;
    }
    let target = leading_rival_castle(board, player)?;
    for gull in board.gulls() {
        if gull.state != GullState::Walking {
            continue;
        }
        let d = manhattan(board, gull.tile, target);
        if d == 0 || d > ATTACK_RADIUS || gull.dir == toward(board, gull.tile, target) {
            continue;
        }
        let ahead = board.step(gull.tile, gull.dir).unwrap_or(gull.tile);
        let aim = homeward(board, ahead, target, level, TileKind::Kelp);
        if let Some(action) = place_ahead(board, player, gull.tile, gull.dir, aim, level) {
            return Some((action, Intent::Attack));
        }
    }
    None
}

/// The castle of the highest-scoring rival (ties to the lowest seat).
fn leading_rival_castle(board: &Board, player: PlayerId) -> Option<u16> {
    let scores = board.scores();
    let mut best: Option<(u32, PlayerId)> = None;
    for seat in 0..crate::sim::MAX_PLAYERS as PlayerId {
        if seat == player {
            continue;
        }
        let Some(_) = castle_of(board, seat) else {
            continue;
        };
        if best.is_none_or(|(s, _)| scores[seat as usize] > s) {
            best = Some((scores[seat as usize], seat));
        }
    }
    best.and_then(|(_, seat)| castle_of(board, seat))
}

/// A seat's castle as a tile index, the form the bot's distance and step
/// helpers speak.
fn castle_of(board: &Board, player: PlayerId) -> Option<u16> {
    board.castle_of(player).map(|(x, y)| board.index_of(x, y))
}

fn manhattan(board: &Board, a: u16, b: u16) -> i32 {
    let (ax, ay) = board.coords(a);
    let (bx, by) = board.coords(b);
    (ax - bx).abs() + (ay - by).abs()
}

/// Greedy direction from `from` toward `to` (the sim's lure tiebreak).
fn toward(board: &Board, from: u16, to: u16) -> Direction {
    let (fx, fy) = board.coords(from);
    let (tx, ty) = board.coords(to);
    Direction::toward(tx - fx, ty - fy)
}

/// The other axis's direction toward `to`, when that axis has ground left
/// to cover. Straight lines have no second option.
fn cross_toward(board: &Board, from: u16, to: u16) -> Option<Direction> {
    let (fx, fy) = board.coords(from);
    let (tx, ty) = board.coords(to);
    let (dx, dy) = (tx - fx, ty - fy);
    match toward(board, from, to) {
        Direction::Left | Direction::Right => (dy != 0).then(|| Direction::toward(0, dy)),
        Direction::Up | Direction::Down => (dx != 0).then(|| Direction::toward(dx, 0)),
    }
}

/// The kind of the tile one step from `tile` in `dir`, if it is on the board.
fn kind_ahead(board: &Board, tile: u16, dir: Direction) -> Option<TileKind> {
    let target = board.step(tile, dir)?;
    let (x, y) = board.coords(target);
    Some(board.tile_at(x as u8, y as u8))
}

/// Whether a walking gull standing on `tile` may step toward `dir`: the
/// bot's reading of the sim's passability (no wall on the edge, a tile on
/// the far side, and neither rock nor kelp there), so it can predict what
/// the wall resolution will do with a post it is about to plant.
fn gull_passable(board: &Board, tile: u16, dir: Direction) -> bool {
    let (x, y) = board.coords_u8(tile);
    !board.wall_at(x, y, dir)
        && !matches!(
            kind_ahead(board, tile, dir),
            None | Some(TileKind::Rock | TileKind::Kelp)
        )
}

/// Where the sim sends a gull of `handed` hand that a signpost on `tile`
/// has aimed at kelp: its preferred side, else the other, else back. The
/// same ladder as the board's wall resolution, which the bot cannot call.
fn kelp_turn(board: &Board, tile: u16, into_kelp: Direction, handed: Handedness) -> Direction {
    let (first, second) = match handed {
        Handedness::Left => (into_kelp.left(), into_kelp.right()),
        Handedness::Right => (into_kelp.right(), into_kelp.left()),
    };
    if gull_passable(board, tile, first) {
        first
    } else if gull_passable(board, tile, second) {
        second
    } else {
        into_kelp.reverse()
    }
}

/// A direction out of `target` (the tile ahead of a gull on `tile` walking
/// `travel`) that aims straight into kelp, when the shove is safe. Kelp is
/// a wall to a walking gull, so the sim turns the bird along the weed by
/// its handedness, and a right-handed gull turned to its right may be
/// facing the castle. The shove is only offered when, whichever hand the
/// gull has, the turn leaves it no closer than plain reversal would (which
/// sends it back onto `tile`). Kelp straight ahead does not count: that is
/// the gull's own line, and a post there changes nothing.
fn safe_kelp_shove(
    board: &Board,
    target: u16,
    tile: u16,
    travel: Direction,
    castle: u16,
) -> Option<Direction> {
    let reversed = manhattan(board, tile, castle);
    Direction::ALL.into_iter().find(|&dir| {
        dir != travel
            && kind_ahead(board, target, dir) == Some(TileKind::Kelp)
            && [Handedness::Left, Handedness::Right]
                .into_iter()
                .all(|handed| {
                    let turned = kelp_turn(board, target, dir, handed);
                    board
                        .step(target, turned)
                        .is_none_or(|next| manhattan(board, next, castle) >= reversed)
                })
    })
}

/// Which way to send a walker standing on `from` to reach `to`. Fierce
/// steps around `hazard`, the terrain that stops this walker (tide pools
/// halve a crab's speed, kelp walls out a gull), when the other axis makes
/// progress too; the other levels always take the greedy step.
fn homeward(board: &Board, from: u16, to: u16, level: BotLevel, hazard: TileKind) -> Direction {
    let greedy = toward(board, from, to);
    if !level.reads_terrain() || kind_ahead(board, from, greedy) != Some(hazard) {
        return greedy;
    }
    match cross_toward(board, from, to) {
        Some(other) if kind_ahead(board, from, other) != Some(hazard) => other,
        _ => greedy,
    }
}

/// Place a signpost on the tile ahead of a creature, pointing `dir_out`, if
/// that tile can take one of ours.
fn place_ahead(
    board: &Board,
    player: PlayerId,
    creature_tile: u16,
    creature_dir: Direction,
    dir_out: Direction,
    level: BotLevel,
) -> Option<PlayerAction> {
    let target = board.step(creature_tile, creature_dir)?;
    let (x, y) = board.coords(target);
    let (x, y) = (x as u8, y as u8);
    if board.tile_at(x, y) != TileKind::Empty {
        return None;
    }
    // A turnstile deflects whatever crosses it, so a post aimed straight
    // into one buys a turn the log immediately takes back. Fierce spends
    // the signpost somewhere it survives instead.
    if level.reads_terrain()
        && matches!(
            kind_ahead(board, target, dir_out),
            Some(TileKind::Turnstile { .. })
        )
    {
        return None;
    }
    match board.signpost_at(x, y) {
        Some(sp) if sp.owner != player => None,
        Some(sp) if sp.dir == dir_out => None, // already doing its job
        _ => Some(PlayerAction::Place { x, y, dir: dir_out }),
    }
}

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests;