GIS

Now let’s discuss catch(), which is the main method in our gaming logic.

Here we receive the player’s coordinates and the target pokémon’s ID number, and we need to answer whether the player has actually caught the pokémon or not (remember that each pokémon has a chance to escape).

First thing, we validate the received player data against its Avro schema. And we check whether such a pokémon exists in our database and is displayed on the map (the pokémon must have the active status):

catch = function(self, pokemon_id, player)
    -- check player data
    local ok, tuple = self.player_model.flatten(player)
    if not ok then
        return false
    end
    -- get pokemon data
    local p_tuple = box.space.pokemons:get(pokemon_id)
    if p_tuple == nil then
        return false
    end
    local ok, pokemon = self.pokemon_model.unflatten(p_tuple)
    if not ok then
        return false
    end
    if pokemon.status ~= self.state.ACTIVE then
        return false
    end
    -- more catch logic to follow
    <...>
end

Next, we calculate the answer: caught or not.

To work with geographical coordinates, we use Tarantool gis module.

To keep things simple, we don’t load any specific map, assuming that we deal with a world map. And we do not validate incoming coordinates, assuming again that all received locations are within the planet Earth.

We use two geo-specific variables:

wgs84, which stands for the latest revision of the World Geodetic System standard, WGS84. Basically, it comprises a standard coordinate system for the Earth and represents the Earth as an ellipsoid.
nationalmap, which stands for the US National Atlas Equal Area. This is a projected coordinates system based on WGS84. It gives us a zero base for location projection and allows positioning our players and pokémons in meters.

Both these systems are listed in the EPSG Geodetic Parameter Registry, where each system has a unique number. In our code, we assign these listing numbers to respective variables:

wgs84 = 4326,
nationalmap = 2163,

For our game logic, we need one more variable, catch_distance, which defines how close a player must get to a pokémon before trying to catch it. Let’s set the distance to 100 meters.

catch_distance = 100,

Now we’re ready to calculate the answer. We need to project the current location of both player (p_pos) and pokémon (m_pos) on the map, check whether the player is close enough to the pokémon (using catch_distance), and calculate whether the player has caught the pokémon (here we generate some random value and let the pokémon escape if the random value happens to be less than 100 minus pokémon’s chance value):

-- project locations
local m_pos = gis.Point(
    {pokemon.location.x, pokemon.location.y}, self.wgs84
):transform(self.nationalmap)
local p_pos = gis.Point(
    {player.location.x, player.location.y}, self.wgs84
):transform(self.nationalmap)

-- check catch distance condition
if p_pos:distance(m_pos) > self.catch_distance then
    return false
end
-- try to catch pokemon
local caught = math.random(100) >= 100 - pokemon.chance
if caught then
    -- update and notify on success
    box.space.pokemons:update(
        pokemon_id, {{'=', self.STATUS, self.state.CAUGHT}}
    )
    self:notify(player, pokemon)
end
return caught

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GIS