AI Protocol¶

This page explains the communication protocol between the AI client and the server, as defined in the project specification.

Overview¶

The AI connects to the server via TCP and exchanges text commands. The server responds in plain text. The basic handshake:

<-- WELCOME\n
--> TEAM team_name\n
<-- CLIENT_NUM\n
<-- X Y\n

Where:

CLIENT_NUM is the number of available slots for the team.
X, Y are the map dimensions.

Command/Response Examples¶

Player Commands¶
Command	Time (1/f)	Response
Forward	7/f	ok
Right	7/f	ok
Left	7/f	ok
Look	7/f	[tile1, tile2, …]
Inventory	1/f	[object count, …]
Broadcast text	7/f	ok
Connect_nbr		number of remaining slots
Fork	42/f	ok
Eject	7/f	ok / ko
Take object	7/f	ok / ko
Set object	7/f	ok / ko
Incantation	300/f	Elevation underway / ko

Vision¶

The “look” command returns a list of visible tiles. Vision grows with level:

Level 1: 1 unit
Level 2: 2 units, etc.

Example server response for “look”:

[player, linemate,, food]

Sound/Broadcast¶

Players can broadcast messages. The server responds:

message K, text

Where K indicates direction relative to the receiver. Directions are determined by the tile layout around the player, choosing the shortest wraparound path on the toroidal map.

Reproduction¶

Players can fork to create an egg:

Fork command reserves a new slot for a teammate.
When a new client joins, it hatches an egg and spawns.

Time¶

All actions have duration:

duration = action_time / f

where f is the frequency set in server arguments.