Implementing "First Click Safe"
How can we implement a "first click is always safe" feature in our bomb placement logic?
Implementing a "first click is always safe" feature is a common practice in Minesweeper games. It ensures that the player's first move is never a game-ending one, which can be frustrating.
Let's explore how we can modify our bomb placement logic to accommodate this feature.
The Basic Approach
The key idea is to delay bomb placement until after the first click. Here's how we can implement this:
- Don't place bombs during grid initialization.
- When the player clicks a cell for the first time, place bombs in all cells except the clicked one and its neighbors.
- Then proceed with revealing the clicked cell and its neighbors as usual.
Let's modify our MinesweeperGrid class to implement this approach:
#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>
#include <random>
#include <vector>
class MinesweeperCell {
public:
bool hasBomb{false};
bool isRevealed{false};
int row, col;
MinesweeperCell(int r, int c) :
row(r), col(c) {}
};
class MinesweeperGrid {
private:
std::vector<std::vector<MinesweeperCell>>
grid;
int rows, cols, bombCount;
bool firstClick{true};
public:
MinesweeperGrid(int r, int c, int bombs) :
rows(r), cols(c), bombCount(bombs) {
grid.resize(rows,
std::vector<MinesweeperCell>(
cols, MinesweeperCell(0, 0)));
for (int i = 0; i < rows; ++i) {
for (int j = 0; j < cols; ++j) {
grid[i][j] = MinesweeperCell(i, j);
}
}
}
void RevealCell(int row, int col) {
if (firstClick) {
PlaceBombs(row, col);
firstClick = false;
}
MinesweeperCell &cell = grid[row][col];
cell.isRevealed = true;
if (cell.hasBomb) {
std::cout << "Game Over!\n";
} else {
std::cout << "Cell revealed safely.\n";
}
}
private:
void PlaceBombs(int safeRow, int safeCol) {
std::vector<MinesweeperCell *>
availableCells;
for (int i = 0; i < rows; ++i) {
for (int j = 0; j < cols; ++j) {
if (std::abs(i - safeRow) > 1 ||
std::abs(j - safeCol) > 1) {
availableCells.push_back(&grid[i][j]);
}
}
}
std::random_device rd;
std::mt19937 g(rd());
std::shuffle(availableCells.begin(),
availableCells.end(), g);
for (int i = 0; i < bombCount &&
i < availableCells.size();
++i) {
availableCells[i]->hasBomb = true;
}
}
};
int main() {
MinesweeperGrid grid(
10, 10, 10); // 10x10 grid with 10 bombs
grid.RevealCell(5, 5); // First click
grid.RevealCell(0, 0); // Second click
return 0;
}Cell revealed safely.
Cell revealed safely.Key Points of the Implementation
- Delayed Bomb Placement: We don't place bombs during grid initialization. Instead, we wait for the first
RevealCell()call. - Safe Area: In
PlaceBombs(), we exclude the clicked cell and its immediate neighbors from possible bomb locations. - Random Placement: We shuffle the list of available cells and place bombs in the first
bombCountcells, ensuring random distribution. - Flexibility: This approach allows us to easily adjust the size of the safe area around the first click if needed.
Potential Improvements
- Optimization: For large grids, we could optimize by only shuffling the first
bombCountelements ofavailableCells. - Neighbor Revealing: In a full implementation, we'd also want to reveal neighboring cells if the clicked cell has no adjacent bombs.
- Bomb Count Validation: We should add a check to ensure
bombCountis less than the number of available cells after excluding the safe area.
This "first click is always safe" feature significantly improves the player experience in our Minesweeper game, reducing frustration and encouraging more strategic gameplay from the very first move.
Adding Bombs to the Grid
Updating the game to to place bombs randomly in the grid and render them when cells are cleared.