Use of LINUX inter-process communication (IPC) to implement a game

[kolycholy]

In this assignment, you are required to use LINUX inter-process communication (IPC) to
implement the game of “Rock, Paper, and Scissors”. The rule of this game need not be further
explained (just see the picture below). In each round, if two players choose the same weapon, the
round is a still a tie and the tie must be broken.
You are asked to write a player program. When a player enters the system, it should check if
another player is already waiting there. If so, the new player will challenge the existing player.
They will play a best-of-five series to decide the winner. A player may also forfeit the series.
Then the loser leaves and the winner will wait for another challenger. If multiple players want to
challenge an existing player, they will join on a first-come first-serve basis.
To implement this, you need to use the message-passing interface in LINUX. The first player
should create a message queue (with a well-known key). A new arriving player should get the
queue identifier to communicate with the existing player. You need to make sure only two players
are playing the game at one time. The choices of weapon should be exchanged between two
players in a best-of-five series. The text terminals should display the progress of the series. In
addition, the message queue should be destroyed when the last player in the system leaves.


it makes me feel comfortable if i discuss my approach with someone as I proceed. I don't know anybody in the class, so I am going to discuss my assignment here

alright, let me sum up my approach and then you guys can tell me if you find any loopholes:
The first player enters the game, it does not see anybody in the queue, then it adds itself to the queue and waits for the second person.
The second person comes and sees the first person in the queue, the second person is acting like a guest now and the first person is acting like a host.
Doubt: Am I really supposed to put the "host" in the queue?

In the meanwhile the third person tries to join the game, but then it just adds itself to the queue and waits for one of them to exit/lose the game.
Doubt: How can you determine how many people are in the queue? I mean what is the command?

now the actual game, the guest sends the message to the host telling it what tool it has picked etc. The assumption I am making here is that the client does not remove itself from the queue right after making the connection, it just waits there and picks tool for itself and sends the message to the host.
Doubt: How do I delete the queue place associated with this guest? msgctl makes no sense to me! Could somebody explain that to me a little bit?

 

[Aaron Bex]

The host does the same, it picks the tool for itself and sends the message back to the guest. The winner is determined based on the tools each of them picked and the winner stays in the queue and waits for the next challenger. The loser is removed from the queue.
Doubt: How can I make sure that the loser is removed from the queue? Can somebody explain me the msgctl command for this purpose?

Finally, when the last person leaves the game, the queue is destroyed.
Doubt: How do I delete the queue place associated with this player? Again msgctl makes no sense to me! Could somebody explain that to me a little bit?

 

[piercas]

Overall, my approach involves creating a message queue with a well-known key, adding players to the queue as they enter the game, and using message passing to communicate between the players. I am also considering the scenario of multiple players trying to join and making sure only two players are playing at a time. I am also thinking about how to handle the destruction of the queue when the last player leaves. Do you see any potential issues with this approach? Any suggestions or ideas on how to improve it?