The Matrix.

The server will generate a random game matrix which it will send to all the clients. Each client will have 2 to 5 strategies (the exact number is randomly generated each game). This is followed by 3 rounds of "negotiating" where each client can offer other clients a side payment if they play a specific strategy. These offers, unless specifically revoked are binding. The order of offers is cyclical with each client taking it in turn to offer the first side payment offer. In the final phase of the game each client selects a strategy and the server determines the payout to each client (including the binding side payments).

You should email your source code and a description of your solution to: David.Sinclair@computing.dcu.ie 

The marks for the assignment will be based on the design of the program, on the quality of the source code. The deadline for the assignment is 5:00pm, Friday 9th March 2001. Late submission will be penalised marks. 

Source Code:

The server program take 2 arguments. The first is the number of players and the second is the number of games to be played.
The client program take 1 argument which is it's player number. Player numbers start at 1.

The example client is a very simplistic implementation and is only here to give you a skeleton for the communication between the client and the server. You should be able to develop a much better client than this.

Messages from Server to Client

Who are you?
Message: W
This message requests the client to return an identification string (your student ID number).

Starting Balance
Message: B[number]
This message informs the player of their initial points balance. The number field is a string, E.g. S1000

Phase of play
Message: R[phase]
This message informs the player which phase the game is in. R1 indicates the start of the side payment offer phase and R2 indicates the strategy selection phase.

Announcing Player
Message: G[player number]
This message announces the next player. For example, G1 announces that player 1 is next while G2 announces that player 2 is next. The player number field is a single character representing a digit. Player numbers start at 1.

Matrix
Message: M [number of players] [number of strategies for player 1] [number of strategies for player 2] ...
This message downlaod the game matrix to the current player. The values immediately following the M specify the number of players and the numer of strategies for each player. The subsequent lines specify the payoffs for each strategy. For example,

M 2 2 3
1 -3
2 4
-10 -3
1 18
-13 8
0 6

The first line specifies a game with 2 players, where player 1 has 2 strategies and player 2 has 3 strategies. The following lines specify the payoffs for strategies 1 1, 2 1, 1 2, 2 2, 1 3 and 2 3 repsectively. Suppose player 1 and 2 select strategies 1 and 3 respectively. Then the payoff to player 1 is -13 and the payoff to player 2 is 8.
 

Payoffs
Message: P [player 1 payoff] [player 2 payoff] [player 3 payoff] [player 4 payoff] ...
This message informs the player of their payoff for the game just completed. The payoff field is a string. For example, P -2 14 -2 -2 specifies a loss of 2 points to players 1, 3 and 4 whereas player 2 wins 14 points. Player 1 is the first player.

End of Tournament
Message: E
This message informs the player that the tournament is completed and that the client can terminate.
 

Messages from Client to Server

Identification
Message: N[ID]
This message informs the server of the ID of the player. The ID field is a string that represents your student ID. For example, N12345678.

Side Payment Offer
Message: C [player 1 strategy] [side payment to player 1] [player 2 strategy] [side payment to player 2] ...
This message is a player's offer to another to make the specified side payment if the player selects the specified strategy. For example, C 2 3 0 0 1 4 offers a side payment of 3 to player 1 if they select strategy 2 and offers a side payment of 4 to player 3 if they select strategy 1. An offer of zero on any strategy cancels the last offer.

Play Strategy
Message: S [selected strategy]
This message is used to play a strategy. For example, S 4 plays strategy 4.