Combat Turtles

This is a work in progress. It is currently undergoing beta testing and content development, but an early version is available here for those interested. Check back soon for the full release!

See the GitHub repository for this project here.

See the online documentation for this project here.

Note that this downloadable archive contains only source code and documentation. You must have Python installed in order to run it.

This project is meant as a learning tool for intermediate-level Python students. It is a Python module that defines a combat game in which programmable turtle robots move around a battlefield firing missiles to destroy each other. A parent class defines a variety of basic attributes and methods for these turtle robots, and a local AI directory contains a variety of subclasses of this parent class which define different turtle AIs.

The player is meant to write their own turtle AI by extending the included parent class and overwriting a few key methods. Custom AI submodules (in the form of standalone .py files) can be added to the AI directory to import the player's AI into the game. Several example and template subclasses are included in this directory to get the player started, and both the included and the online documentation contain detailed guides for writing custom AIs. Python students might enjoy competing against each other to see whom can come up with the best AI, while Python instructors might consider running a class tournament to encourage students to learn more about object-oriented programming.

The game, itself, is arena combat game in which two AI-controlled turtle robots fight to the death. Each turtle begins on one side of an arena full of obstacles. Turtles are free to move around the arena, negotiate obstacles, take cover, and aim and fire short-range explosive missiles at each other as their AIs dictate. The object of the game is to destroy the enemy turtle before it destroys you. Because the game and all AIs are written entirely in Python, these AIs can be as simple or as complicated as the player wishes.

THIS IS A FREE PACKAGE. I encourage you to download it, play with it, and modify the source code as much as you like free of charge. If, however, you really, really want to pay for it and it is within your means to do so, I would not say no to your financial support.