Description
Introduction
The objective of this assignment is to let you practice the use of control flow constructs (conditional
and looping statements). You will write a C++ program to simulate the international TV game show
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in the math flavor and a simplified manner.
In case you are not familiar with this game show, you may look at this Wikipedia page. There was a
Hong Kong variant of the game show franchise, which was once a popular TV program during 2001-
2005. The main goal of the game is to win HK$1 million by correctly answering 15 multiple-choice
questions with 4 answer choices and increasing difficulty.
Answering each question correctly can win
a certain amount of money. The player can choose to walk away with the money earned thus far or
to continue tackling more difficult questions to increase their prize fund at the risk of losing what
they earned so far. The player has a set of lifelines that they may use only once to help them with a
question. There are also two “safety nets” at certain levels, passing which will guarantee a certain
prize fund to take away if the player gets the current question wrong.
Table 1: The game’s payout structure
Question number Question value (HK$)
15 1000000
14 500000
13 250000
12 150000
11 80000
10 60000#
9 40000
8 30000
7 20000
6 10000
5 8000#
4 4000
3 3000
2 2000
1 1000
In this assignment, we will adopt the payout structure used in the Hong Kong version of the game
(Table 1), in which level 5 and level 10 (highlighted in pink and marked with #) are taken as the
safety nets. That means if the player answers Question 5 right, they will earn at least HK$8,000 for
sure. Answering Question 10 correctly will guarantee a prize of HK$60,000.
To simplify the implementation, you are required to implement only one lifeline in this game, which
is adopted from the US version – Jump the Question. This lifeline allows the player to skip the current
question and move on to the next one, but not to earn the money of the question they skipped. The
lifeline can be used once only and cannot be used in the final question (Question 15).
Note that
when used in a “safety net” question, say skipping Question 5, the player moves on to Question 6
but this hasn’t yet guaranteed the take-away of HK$8,000. If the player answers Question 6 wrong,
they will leave the game empty-handed (HK$ 0). On the contrary, skipping Question 5 and getting
Question 6 correct, the safety net of getting HK$8,000 will still be effective for subsequent levels.
Program Specification
In the program output, each question begins with a header line whose format is:
Question n ($m):
where n is the question number and m is the question value.
Refer to Table 1 for the corresponding prize value for each question. Examples:
• Question 1 ($1000):
• Question 15 ($1000000):
For safety net questions, there is an extra symbol # shown to remind the player.
• Question 5 ($8000#):
• Question 10 ($60000#):
All the questions in this game are simple arithmetic questions of the following structure:
x op y,
where op is one of the binary operators below:
• + : addition
• – : subtraction
• * : multiplication
• / : integer division
The two operands x and y in each question are random integers in the range from 1 to 100, inclusive.
The choice of operator for a question is also picked randomly.
Each question will be displayed in the following format:
x op y = ?
For example,
20 + 15 = ?
Each question is followed by its answer list whose format is illustrated in the example below:
A. 14 B. 27 C. 35 D. 27 E. Jump F. Withdraw
The line shows 4 numeric answer choices plus two more options for using the “Jump the Question”
lifeline and withdrawing from the game. Note: one of the 4 numeric choices is the correct answer.
The other three answers are again random integers in the range from 1 to 100, inclusive. They could
be duplicated values (e.g., both choices B and D are 27), but they must be different from the correct
answer (35 in this case). The correct answer is randomly positioned in the 4-choice answer list. A
single space follows each dot symbol; two spaces exist between choices. For clarity, we revise the
example with the space characters shown as ␣ as follows:
A.␣14␣␣B.␣27␣␣C.␣35␣␣D.␣27␣␣E.␣Jump␣␣F.␣Withdraw
You do not have to validate the user input. We assume that all inputs are always valid options. We
will not test your program against invalid inputs, and the behavior of your program in such cases
could deviate from that of our sample program.
The following suggests a rough rundown of your program. Your actual program design and variable
naming may differ from what we provide here as long as they are correct.
• Prompt the user to enter an integer to seed the random number generator.
• Initialize the prize value for the 1st question, amount of money earned, and any other variables.
• Write the main loop for asking the user 15 questions, which carries out the following steps:
1. For each question, generate two random integers in [1, 100] for the operands x and y.
Generate another random integer in [0, 3], or [1, 4], to pick one of the operators (+, -, *, /) to
form the question x op y.
2. Compute the solution s (int) to the formed question x op y.
3. Print the question header. Remember to print # for safety net questions 5 and 10.
4. Print a line showing the question, e.g.,
20 + 15 = ?
5. Print the answer choice line, e.g.,
A. 14 B. 27 C. 35 D. 27 E. Jump F. Withdraw
In this step, generate 3 random integers in [1, 100] to be the wrong answers that mix with the
correct answer. Use extra looping to ensure their values are different from the correct value s.
To randomly place the correct answer in the output, you may generate another random integer
in [0, 3], or [1, 4], to decide which of A, B, C and D should be associated with s. Save the
character of the correct choice into a character variable, namely c. The option “E. Jump” should
be shown only if the lifeline was not yet used.
6. Prompt the user to enter an option (character ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’, ‘E’ or ‘F’) for the question. Save it
into a character variable. Note that your program should accept both uppercase and lowercase,
so ‘a’ or ‘A’ means the same choice. Entering ‘E’ while the option “E. Jump” has disappeared
(i.e., the lifeline has been used) is taken as a wrong answer leading to the end of the game.
7. Set the prize value for the next question according to Table 1.
8. If the input equals ‘F’ (i.e., withdraw), set money earned to be the withdrawal amount saved in
step 12; break the main loop to end the game.
9. If (1) the lifeline was not used, and (2) the question level is not 15 (final question), and (3) the
input equals ‘E’, then mark the lifeline as used and continue the next iteration, thus bypassing
the current question and its reward.
10. If user input does not equal c, print “Wrong!” and break the main loop.
11. (Reaching here means “correctly answered”.) Print “Right!” and save the current question value
into a variable denoting the withdrawal amount.
12. Handle safety net cases (Question 5 and Question 10). Set money earned to the guaranteed
value accordingly.
When the game ends, print two lines to indicate game-over and the amount of money earned, e.g.,
Game over!
You got $10000!
If the user wins $1000000, then print an extra line of congratulation:
Congrats! You are a millionaire!
Some Remarks on Implementation
This assignment aims mainly at practicing control flow (if, else, switch, ?:, while, do-while, for, break,
continue, etc.). You can use any combination of these constructs. The use of arrays is basically not
necessary but not forbidden in this assignment. You may use any function in the C++ standard library
if you see fit. But non-standard C++ or third-party library functions are not allowed.
To ease program testing and our grading, your program is required to prompt the user to enter the
seed (e.g., 1) for the random number generator before the game begins. Setting the seed value
makes your program output deterministic because the same random number sequence is generated
for the same seed.
You are also required to follow our stated method (using the mt19937 random
number generator) to generate the random integers. We have provided an example C++ source file
(example_rng.cpp) for how to generate a random integer within a specified range.
Also note the difference in random number sequences generated on Windows and on macOS due to
different library implementations. Even for the same seed, the two platforms may generate different
sets of random integers for the questions. The sample runs given below were conducted on macOS.
For Windows users, please use the sample program for Windows to perform your correctness checks.
Sample Runs
In the following sample runs, the blue text is user input and the other text is the program printout.
You can try the provided sample program for other input. Your program output should be exactly the
same as what the sample program produces (same text, symbols, letter case, spacings, etc.). Note
that there is a trailing space after the ‘:’ symbol in the user prompt text “Final answer: ”.
Sample Run 1
The player gets first 2 questions correct, skips Question 3, and withdraws at level 4, earning $2000.
Enter seed: 1↵
Question 1 ($1000):
38 + 13 = ?
A. 10 B. 76 C. 6 D. 51 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: D↵
Right!
Question 2 ($2000):
80 + 65 = ?
A. 77 B. 145 C. 72 D. 7 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: B↵
Right!
Question 3 ($3000):
26 + 51 = ?
A. 19 B. 85 C. 77 D. 12 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: E↵
Question 4 ($4000):
29 * 30 = ?
A. 69 B. 88 C. 870 D. 88 F. Withdraw
Final answer: F↵
Game over!
You got $2000!
Sample Run 2
The player gets first 4 questions correct, skips the safety-net Question 5, but answers the next
question wrong. In this case, safety net does not apply, and the player earns $0.
Enter seed: 1↵
Question 1 ($1000):
38 + 13 = ?
A. 10 B. 76 C. 6 D. 51 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: d↵
Right!
Question 2 ($2000):
80 + 65 = ?
A. 77 B. 145 C. 72 D. 7 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: b↵
Right!
Question 3 ($3000):
26 + 51 = ?
A. 19 B. 85 C. 77 D. 12 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: c↵
Right!
Question 4 ($4000):
29 * 30 = ?
A. 69 B. 88 C. 870 D. 88 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: c↵
Right!
Question 5 ($8000#):
95 * 97 = ?
A. 10 B. 9215 C. 8 D. 64 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: e↵
Question 6 ($10000):
62 – 23 = ?
A. 1 B. 39 C. 61 D. 82 F. Withdraw
Final answer: a↵
Wrong!
Game over!
You got $0!
Sample Run 3
The player gets first 4 questions correct, skips the safety-net Question 5, then answers Question 6
correct but Question 7 wrong. In this case, the safety net applies, and the player earns $8000.
Enter seed: 1↵
Question 1 ($1000):
38 + 13 = ?
A. 10 B. 76 C. 6 D. 51 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: d↵
Right!
Question 2 ($2000):
80 + 65 = ?
A. 77 B. 145 C. 72 D. 7 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: b↵
Right!
Question 3 ($3000):
26 + 51 = ?
A. 19 B. 85 C. 77 D. 12 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: c↵
Right!
Question 4 ($4000):
29 * 30 = ?
A. 69 B. 88 C. 870 D. 88 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: c↵
Right!
Question 5 ($8000#):
95 * 97 = ?
A. 10 B. 9215 C. 8 D. 64 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: e↵
Question 6 ($10000):
62 – 23 = ?
A. 1 B. 39 C. 61 D. 82 F. Withdraw
Final answer: b↵
Right!
Question 7 ($20000):
9 – 89 = ?
A. 48 B. 73 C. 31 D. -80 F. Withdraw
Final answer: c↵
Wrong!
Game over!
You got $8000!
Sample Run 4
The player gets first 6 questions correct, skips Question 7 ($20000), and then withdraws from the
game at Question 8 ($30000). In this case, the earning is $10000 only.
Enter seed: 2↵
Question 1 ($1000):
41 – 16 = ?
A. 25 B. 23 C. 44 D. 83 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: a↵
Right!
Question 2 ($2000):
76 * 8 = ?
A. 96 B. 608 C. 76 D. 86 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: b↵
Right!
Question 3 ($3000):
48 / 64 = ?
A. 21 B. 38 C. 0 D. 40 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: c↵
Right!
Question 4 ($4000):
68 * 5 = ?
A. 52 B. 39 C. 34 D. 340 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: d↵
Right!
Question 5 ($8000#):
59 – 68 = ?
A. -9 B. 69 C. 47 D. 71 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: a↵
Right!
Question 6 ($10000):
96 – 84 = ?
A. 67 B. 81 C. 53 D. 12 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: d↵
Right!
Question 7 ($20000):
77 + 51 = ?
A. 64 B. 80 C. 128 D. 50 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: e↵
Question 8 ($30000):
40 + 47 = ?
A. 16 B. 9 C. 87 D. 18 F. Withdraw
Final answer: f↵
Game over!
You got $10000!
Sample Run 5
The player gets all 15 questions correct, earning $1M. Note the extra congratulation message at the
end, and that the “E. Jump” option disappears in Question 15 (because the final question disallows it)
even if it was not used in all previous questions.
Enter seed: 2↵
Question 1 ($1000):
41 – 16 = ?
A. 25 B. 23 C. 44 D. 83 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: a↵
Right!
Question 2 ($2000):
76 * 8 = ?
A. 96 B. 608 C. 76 D. 86 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: b↵
Right!
Question 3 ($3000):
48 / 64 = ?
A. 21 B. 38 C. 0 D. 40 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: c↵
Right!
Question 4 ($4000):
68 * 5 = ?
A. 52 B. 39 C. 34 D. 340 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: d↵
Right!
Question 5 ($8000#):
59 – 68 = ?
A. -9 B. 69 C. 47 D. 71 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: a↵
Right!
Question 6 ($10000):
96 – 84 = ?
A. 67 B. 81 C. 53 D. 12 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: d↵
Right!
Question 7 ($20000):
77 + 51 = ?
A. 64 B. 80 C. 128 D. 50 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: c↵
Right!
Question 8 ($30000):
40 + 47 = ?
A. 16 B. 9 C. 87 D. 18 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: c↵
Right!
Question 9 ($40000):
23 – 74 = ?
A. 91 B. -51 C. 63 D. 84 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: b↵
Right!
Question 10 ($60000#):
97 + 44 = ?
A. 9 B. 77 C. 141 D. 11 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: c↵
Right!
Question 11 ($80000):
41 + 35 = ?
A. 71 B. 76 C. 87 D. 71 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: b↵
Right!
Question 12 ($150000):
20 * 57 = ?
A. 69 B. 1140 C. 41 D. 82 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: b↵
Right!
Question 13 ($250000):
62 – 71 = ?
A. 98 B. -9 C. 19 D. 85 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: b↵
Right!
Question 14 ($500000):
91 * 88 = ?
A. 53 B. 75 C. 73 D. 8008 E. Jump F. Withdraw
Final answer: d↵
Right!
Question 15 ($1000000):
91 / 100 = ?
A. 0 B. 17 C. 56 D. 22 F. Withdraw
Final answer: a↵
Right!
Game over!
You got $1000000!
Congrats! You are a millionaire!
Submission and Marking
§ Your program file name should be millionaire.cpp. Submit the file in Blackboard
(https://blackboard.cuhk.edu.hk/).
§ Insert your name, student ID, and e-mail as comments at the beginning of your source file.
§ You can submit your assignment multiple times. Only the latest submission counts.
§ Your program should be free of compilation errors and warnings.
§ Your program should include suitable comments as documentation.
§ Do NOT plagiarize. Sending your work to others is subject to the same penalty for copying work.
