Usage: maze_solver.exe [OPTIONS] <--generator <GENERATOR>|--input <INPUT>> [ROWS] [COLUMNS]
Arguments:
[ROWS] Number of rows to draw [default: 16]
[COLUMNS] Number of columns to draw [default: 48]
Options:
-g, --generator <GENERATOR> Generator used [possible values: depth_first_search, breadth_first_search, kruskal]
-i, --input <INPUT> Input path used
-s, --solver <SOLVER> Solver used. If Some, then the generator will run with a delay of 0 [possible values: depth_first_search, a_star]
-t, --trace Flag to enable drawing visited cells
-d, --delay <DELAY> Number of milliseconds between animation [default: 25]
-h, --help Print help information
-V, --version Print version information
Here are some examples:
# Animate generating a 10 by 12 maze using the depth-first seach generator.
cargo run --release -- 10 12 -g depth_first_search
# Animate generating a 16 by 48 maze using the depth-first seach generator and a delay of 0ms (instant).
cargo run --release -- -g depth_first_search -d 0
# Animate solving a 16 by 48 kruskal maze using the depth-first search solver.
cargo run --release -- -g kruskal -s depth_first_search
# Animate solving a 16 by 48 kruskal maze with trace using the depth-first search solver.
cargo run --release -- -g kruskal -s depth_first_search -t
# Animate solving the medium sized example using the depth-first search solver.
cargo run --release -- -i examples/medium.maze -s depth_first_search
I tested that this works on at least Windows 10, Ubuntu and macOS.
The following generators are included:
Randomized depth-first search.
Randomized breadth-first search.
Kruskal's algorithm.
The following solvers are included:
Depth-first search
A*
No gif yet.
It was important to me that large mazes could be drawn in a limited space, which meant that some thought had to be given on how the maze should be represented. A simple (yet effective) representation would look like this:
+ +-+ [N, H]
| | | [V, V, V]
+ +-+ [N, H]
| | [V, N, V]
+-+ + [H, N]
H: Horizontal,
V: Vertical,
N: None,
This is 5x5 character matrix to represent a 2x2 maze. We can do better by combining the vertical and horizontal walls into the same line:
_ ___ [H, N, H, H, H]
| |_| [V, N, H, V, H]
|__ | [V, H, N, N, V]
H: Horizontal,
V: Vertical,
N: None,
This gives us a 3x3 character matrix, which is a lot better! Furthermore, if replace the underscores with underlines, then we can actually draw characters inside the cells. This allows for very nice looking animations.