Universal Windows Platform – Light Game

Light Game demonstrates how to create a simple game to toggle all the squares to White from Black.

Step 1

If not already, follow Setup and Start on how to Install and get Started with Visual Studio 2017 or in Windows 10 choose Start, and then from the Start Menu find and select Visual Studio 2017.

vs2017

Step 2

Once Visual Studio Community 2017 has started, from the Menu choose File, then New then Project…

vs2017-file-new-project

Step 3

From New Project choose Visual C# from Installed, Templates then choose Blank App (Universal Windows) and then type in a Name and select a Location and then select Ok to create the Project
vs2017-new-project-window

Step 4

Then in New Universal Windows Project you need to select the Target Version this should be at least the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (10.0; Build 16299) and the Minimum Version to be the same.

vs2017-target-platform

The Target Version will control what features your application can use in Windows 10 so by picking the most recent version you’ll be able to take advantage of those features. To make sure you always have the most recent version, in Visual Studio 2017 select Tools Extensions and Updates… then and then see if there are any Updates

Step 5

Once done select from the Menu, Project, then Add New Item…

vs2017-project-add-new-item

Step 6

From the Add New Item window select Visual C#, then Code from Installed then select Code File from the list, then type in the Name as Library.cs before selecting Add to add the file to the Project

vs2017-add-new-item-library

Step 7

Once in the Code View for Library.cs the following should be entered:

using System.Linq;
using Windows.Foundation;
using Windows.UI;
using Windows.UI.Popups;
using Windows.UI.Xaml;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Input;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Media;

public class Library
{
    private const string app_title = "Light Game";
    private const int size = 7;
    private const int on = 1;
    private const int off = 0;
    private readonly Color lightOn = Colors.White;
    private readonly Color lightOff = Colors.Black;

    private int _moves = 0;
    private bool _won = false;
    private int[,] _board = new int[size, size];

    public void Show(string content, string title)
    {
        IAsyncOperation<IUICommand> command = new MessageDialog(content, title).ShowAsync();
    }

    private bool Winner()
    {
        for (int row = 0; row < size; row++)
        {
            for (int column = 0; column < size; column++)
            {
                if (_board[column, row] == on)
                {
                    return false;
                }
            }
        }
        return true;
    }

    private void Toggle(Grid grid, int row, int column)
    {
        _board[row, column] = (_board[row, column] == on ? off : on);
        Grid element = (Grid)grid.Children.Single(
                    w => Grid.GetRow((Grid)w) == row
                    && Grid.GetColumn((Grid)w) == column);
        element.Background = _board[row, column] == on ?
            new SolidColorBrush(lightOn) : new SolidColorBrush(lightOff);
    }

    private void Add(Grid grid, int row, int column)
    {
        Grid element = new Grid
        {
            Height = 40,
            Width = 40,
            Margin = new Thickness(5),
            Background = new SolidColorBrush(lightOn)
        };
        element.Tapped += (object sender, TappedRoutedEventArgs e) =>
        {
            if (!_won)
            {
                element = ((Grid)(sender));
                row = (int)element.GetValue(Grid.RowProperty);
                column = (int)element.GetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty);
                Toggle(grid, row, column);
                if (row > 0)
                {
                    Toggle(grid, row - 1, column); // Toggle Left
                }
                if (row < (size - 1))
                {
                    Toggle(grid, row + 1, column); // Toggle Right
                }
                if (column > 0)
                {
                    Toggle(grid, row, column - 1); // Toggle Above
                }
                if (column < (size - 1))
                {
                    Toggle(grid, row, column + 1); // Toggle Below
                }
                _moves++;
                if (Winner())
                {
                    Show($"Well Done! You won in {_moves} moves!", app_title);
                    _won = true;
                }
            }
        };
        element.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, column);
        element.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, row);
        grid.Children.Add(element);
    }

    private void Layout(ref Grid grid)
    {
        _moves = 0;
        grid.Children.Clear();
        grid.ColumnDefinitions.Clear();
        grid.RowDefinitions.Clear();
        // Setup Grid
        grid.Background = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.DarkGray);
        for (int index = 0; (index < size); index++)
        {
            grid.RowDefinitions.Add(new RowDefinition());
            grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition());
        }
        for (int row = 0; (row < size); row++)
        {
            for (int column = 0; (column < size); column++)
            {
                Add(grid, row, column);
            }
        }
    }

    public void New(ref Grid grid)
    {
        Layout(ref grid);
        _won = false;
        // Setup Board
        for (int column = 0; (column < size); column++)
        {
            for (int row = 0; (row < size); row++)
            {
                _board[column, row] = on;
            }
        }
    }
}

In the Library.cs there are using statements to include the necessary functionality. There is a int[,] to represent items within the game that have been toggled plus a pair of Color items for squares that will be On or Off, the Show method is used to display a MessageDialog and a Winner Method to check if the game has been won, which is when all the squares are On. Toggle is used to switch squares to their On or Off colours, Add is used to add or toggle sets of squares of the game so that items left, right, above and below a tapped square are toggled along with the one being tapped. Layout is used to set items within the look-and-feel of the game and used by New to setup the game itself.

Step 8

In the Solution Explorer select MainPage.xaml

vs2017-mainpage-library

Step 9

From the Menu choose View and then Designer

vs2017-view-designer

Step 10

The Design View will be displayed along with the XAML View and in this between the Grid and /Grid elements, enter the following XAML:

<Viewbox>
	<Grid Margin="50" Name="Display" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center"/>
</Viewbox>
<CommandBar VerticalAlignment="Bottom">
	<AppBarButton Name="New" Icon="Page2" Label="New" Click="New_Click"/>
</CommandBar>

The first block of XAML the main user interface of the Application, this features a ViewBox containing a Grid Control that will be the look-and-feel of the game. The second block of XAML is is the CommandBar which contains New – to start a game.

Step 11

From the Menu choose View and then Code

vs2017-view-code

Step 12

Once in the Code View, below the end of public MainPage() { … } the following Code should be entered:

Library library = new Library();

private void New_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
	library.New(ref Display);
}

Below the MainPage() Method an instance of the Library Class is created, then New_Click is used to call the New method to setup the game in the Library Class

Step 13

That completes the Universal Windows Platform Application so Save the Project then in Visual Studio select the Local Machine to run the Application

vs2017-local-machine

Step 14

After the Application has started running use New to start playing, you can win by setting all the White squares to Black in the Application

ran-light-game

Step 15

To Exit the Application select the Close button in the top right of the Application

vs2017-close

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