I'm somewhat of a beginner and I'm wondering if I'd be able to derive a Connect Four game out of my existing Tic Tac Toe game. I somewhat understand the mechanics, but am stumped at how to expand the board to 7 (rows) x 6 (columns). I know that there won't be any use for rows, because a column would be fine because a piece drops to the bottom of a Connect Four game. Below is my Tic Tac Toe code.
"""
Author: Victor Xu
Date: Jan 12, 2021
Description: An implementation of the game Tic-Tac-Toe in Python,
using a nested list, and everything else we've learned this quadmester!
"""
import random
def winner(board):
"""This function accepts the Tic-Tac-Toe board as a parameter.
If there is no winner, the function will return the empty string "".
If the user has won, it will return 'X', and if the computer has
won it will return 'O'."""
# Check rows for winner
for row in range(3):
if (board[row][0] == board[row][1] == board[row][2]) and
(board[row][0] != " "):
return board[row][0]
# COMPLETE THE REST OF THE FUNCTION CODE BELOW
for col in range(3):
if (board[0][col] == board[1][col] == board[2][col]) and
(board[0][col] != " "):
return board[0][col]
# Check diagonal (top-left to bottom-right) for winner
if (board[0][0] == board[1][1] == board[2][2]) and
(board[0][0] != " "):
return board[0][0]
# Check diagonal (bottom-left to top-right) for winner
if (board[0][2] == board[1][1] == board[2][0]) and
(board[0][2] != " "):
return board[0][2]
# No winner: return the empty string
return ""
def display_board(board):
"""This function accepts the Tic-Tac-Toe board as a parameter.
It will print the Tic-Tac-Toe board grid (using ASCII characters)
and show the positions of any X's and O's. It also displays
the column and row numbers on top and beside the board to help
the user figure out the coordinates of their next move.
This function does not return anything."""
print(" 0 1 2")
print("0: " + board[0][0] + " | " + board[0][1] + " | " + board[0][2])
print(" ---+---+---")
print("1: " + board[1][0] + " | " + board[1][1] + " | " + board[1][2])
print(" ---+---+---")
print("2: " + board[2][0] + " | " + board[2][1] + " | " + board[2][2])
print()
def make_user_move(board):
"""This function accepts the Tic-Tac-Toe board as a parameter.
It will ask the user for a row and column. If the row and
column are each within the range of 0 and 2, and that square
is not already occupied, then it will place an 'X' in that square."""
valid_move = False
while not valid_move:
row = int(input("What row would you like to move to (0-2):"))
col = int(input("What col would you like to move to (0-2):"))
if (0 <= row <= 2) and (0 <= col <= 2) and (board[row][col] == " "):
board[row][col] = 'X'
valid_move = True
else:
print("Sorry, invalid square. Please try again!
")
def make_computer_move(board):
"""This function accepts the Tic-Tac-Toe board as a parameter.
It will randomly pick row and column values between 0 and 2.
If that square is not already occupied it will place an 'O'
in that square. Otherwise, another random row and column
will be generated."""
computer_valid_move = False
while not computer_valid_move:
row = random.randint(0, 2)
col = random.randint(0, 2)
if (0 <= row <= 2) and (0 <= col <= 2) and (board[row][col] == " "):
board[row][col] = 'O'
computer_valid_move = True
def main():
"""Our Main Game Loop:"""
free_cells = 9
users_turn = True
ttt_board = [[" ", " ", " "], [" ", " ", " "], [" ", " ", " "]]
while not winner(ttt_board) and (free_cells > 0):
display_board(ttt_board)
if users_turn:
make_user_move(ttt_board)
users_turn = not users_turn
else:
make_computer_move(ttt_board)
users_turn = not users_turn
free_cells -= 1
display_board(ttt_board)
if (winner(ttt_board) == 'X'):
print("Y O U W O N !")
elif (winner(ttt_board) == 'O'):
print("I W O N !")
else:
print("S T A L E M A T E !")
print("
*** GAME OVER ***
")
# Start the game!
main()
Also, I'm unsure how to check for a winning combination (connecting 4 in a row) since the board has become much larger. In a 3 x 3 tic tac toe board, I could list out the diagonal coordinates and that would be it, but it's much more difficult with a board larger than 4 x 4. Any guidance would be appreciated!
EDIT
I've created a 7 x 6 board for my Connect Four game, but now I don't know how to verify if a column's space is empty because Connect Four pieces drop to the bottom. Below is my code:
"""
Author: Victor Xu
Date: Jan 12, 2021
Description: An implementation of the game Tic-Tac-Toe in Python,
using a nested list, and everything else we've learned this quadmester!
"""
import random
def winner(board):
"""This function accepts the Tic-Tac-Toe board as a parameter.
If there is no winner, the function will return the empty string "".
If the user has won, it will return 'X', and if the computer has
won it will return 'O'."""
# No winner: return the empty string
return ""
def display_board(board):
"""This function accepts the Tic-Tac-Toe board as a parameter.
It will print the Tic-Tac-Toe board grid (using ASCII characters)
and show the positions of any X's and O's. It also displays
the column and row numbers on top and beside the board to help
the user figure out the coordinates of their next move.
This function does not return anything."""
print(" 0 1 2 3 4 5 6")
print(" " + board[0][0] + " | " + board[0][1] + " | " + board[0][2] + " | " + board[0][3] + " | " + board[0][
4] + " | " + board[0][5] + " | " + board[0][6])
print(" ---+---+---+---+---+---+---")
print(" " + board[1][0] + " | " + board[1][1] + " | " + board[1][2] + " | " + board[1][3] + " | " + board[1][
4] + " | " + board[1][5] + " | " + board[1][6])
print(" ---+---+---+---+---+---+---")
print(" " + board[2][0] + " | " + board[2][1] + " | " + board[2][2] + " | " + board[2][3] + " | " + board[2][
4] + " | " + board[2][5] + " | " + board[2][6])
print(" ---+---+---+---+---+---+---")
print(" " + board[3][0] + " | " + board[3][1] + " | " + board[3][2] + " | " + board[3][3] + " | " + board[3][
4] + " | " + board[3][5] + " | " + board[3][6])
print(" ---+---+---+---+---+---+---")
print(" " + board[4][0] + " | " + board[4][1] + " | " + board[4][2] + " | " + board[4][3] + " | " + board[4][
4] + " | " + board[4][5] + " | " + board[4][6])
print(" ---+---+---+---+---+---+---")
print(" " + board[5][0] + " | " + board[5][1] + " | " + board[5][2] + " | " + board[5][3] + " | " + board[5][
4] + " | " + board[5][5] + " | " + board[5][6])
print(" ---+---+---+---+---+---+---")
print(" " + board[6][0] + " | " + board[6][1] + " | " + board[6][2] + " | " + board[6][3] + " | " + board[6][
4] + " | " + board[6][5] + " | " + board[6][6])
print()
def make_user_move(board):
"""This function accepts the Tic-Tac-Toe board as a parameter.
It will ask the user for a row and column. If the row and
column are each within the range of 0 and 2, and that square
is not already occupied, then it will place an 'X' in that square."""
valid_move = False
while not valid_move:
col = int(input("What col would you like to move to (0-6):"))
if (0 <= col <= 6) and (board[col] == " "):
board[col] = 'X'
valid_move = True
else:
print("Sorry, invalid square. Please try again!
")
def make_computer_move(board):
"""This function accepts the Tic-Tac-Toe board as a parameter.
It will randomly pick row and column values between 0 and 2.
If that square is not already occupied it will place an 'O'
in that square. Otherwise, another random row and column
will be generated."""
computer_valid_move = False
while not computer_valid_move:
col = random.randint(0, 6)
if (0 <= col <= 6) and (board[col] == " "):
board[col] = 'O'
computer_valid_move = True
def main():
"""Our Main Game Loop:"""
free_cells = 42
users_turn = True
ttt_board = [[" ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " "], [" ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " "],
[" ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " "], [" ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " "],
[" ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " "], [" ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " "],
[" ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " ", " "]]
while not winner(ttt_board) and (free_cells > 0):
display_board(ttt_board)
if users_turn:
make_user_move(ttt_board)
users_turn = not users_turn
else:
make_computer_move(ttt_board)
users_turn = not users_turn
free_cells -= 1
display_board(ttt_board)
if (winner(ttt_board) == 'X'):
print("Y O U W O N !")
elif (winner(ttt_board) == 'O'):
print("I W O N !")
else:
print("S T A L E M A T E !")
print("
*** GAME OVER ***
")
# Start the game!
main()
Whenever I enter a column number, it says that it's not a valid square...
