Added the definition and interactions for game effects and tools. The effect type was introduced to influence the player's interactive abilities or alter item's attributes. The tool type extends the player's interactive abilities. It also includes the part related to fire and fire extinguisher for more realistic simulation.

The random module is replaced with random instance across multiple classes within 'overcooked_simulator' to make the randomness in the Overcooked simulator controllable. The 'random' instance is initialised with a seed in 'overcooked_environment' and then passed to the classes that require randomness. This improves reproducibility of experiments, as the randomness can be controlled by the seed value.

Added a Hooks class to monitor events related to player actions, item interactions, and state changes in the game environment. A hook triggers a corresponding event when a specific action takes place, such as a player picking up an item or a game state changing. This feature will make debugging easier and provide valuable insights during gameplay.

The code changes include renaming the 'category' field from "Cooking Equipment" to "ItemCookingEquipment" in sample_state.json. The documentation has also been updated with more detailed explanations on how the system works, including how to install and use it. A few function signatures were changed and additional explanation comments were included in the counters.py and utils.py files for better code clarity.

The updates include adding docstrings and type hinting to several classes and methods in multiple Python files. This commit also includes fixes for inconsistent code formatting and minor bugs. The docstrings provide essential details about the classes and methods, improving readability and understanding for other developers. Furthermore, the added type hinting will enable better IDE assistance, static analysis, and clarity on expected input and output types. Lastly, the code formatting fixes and bug fixes enhance the overall code quality and maintainability.

This update introduces a penalty computation for items that the player puts into the trash in the Overcooked simulator. A new function has been added onto the Order class to calculate this penalty, and the Trashcan class has been updated to use this new function whenever an item is dropped off. This change helps to further emulate real gameplay mechanics.

The `overcooked_environment.py` file has been significantly refactored to streamline handling of counter setup. Post counter setup responsibilities have been shifted to the `CounterFactory` class. A utility function, `get_closest`, has been introduced in `utils.py` to determine the closest counter and is used in multiple classes. Minor updates are also made across several other classes for optimization and clarity. The 'other' score in `environment_config.yaml` has been changed from 0 to 20.

The commit refines the way the 'progress' method is called on counters in the overcooked simulator. Utilizing Python's introspection functions, the update identifies the relevant counter classes dynamically on setup, and stores them. Simplified calls to these relevant counters are then performed during steps in the simulation. Additionally, the code now checks the superclass with the built-in 'issubclass' function to create counters.

The print statements that are outputting the kitchen height in the overcooked_environment.py file, the command line arguments in the __main__.py file, and a redundant check in the counter_factory.py file have been removed. This is in an effort to declutter the console output and streamline the code.

The code changes include addition of in-line comments and docstrings, which clarify the purpose and functionality of various elements in the overcooked_environment and counter_factory modules. Several new comments explain the use of certain variables and functions, and additional explanations are offered for existing sections. This is part of an ongoing effort to improve the maintainability and readability of the codebase.

This commit simplifies the overcooked environment by refactoring the way counters are created and managed. A new CounterFactory class is introduced, offloading logic from the environment class. In addition, the symbol to character mapping and other environment-related configurations are moved to a separate YAML file. The .gitignore file is also updated to ignore the 'playground' directory. Making these changes enhances code maintainability and readability.