Re: [Tutor] help, complete beginner please!

[Alan Gauld]

"kevin hayes" <kevino...@gmail.com> wrote

Hi all! I'm trying to write a basic text adventure game to start 
learning
python (just for fun). I've gone through the first four chapters of 
a "learn
python game programming book" and I'm having trouble with the 
exercise on
writing a text adventure.

Sorry I don't know the book but...

        I'm looking for the simplest version of this as possible, 
because
I'm having trouble with the concepts.

What is your programming background? Have you programmed in
any other language before or is Python your fist?

an idea where I'm at. However, I would really like someone to lay 
out a
little code structure for me.

I think you are maybe trying to run too fast.

Its good practice in programming to build things up slowly, pece by 
piece.
In your case forget about the loop initially. Just write the 
individual functions
and test each one individually. Once you get the functions working on
their own you can start to build the structure to call them. [This 
approach
is known as bottom-up programming in case you are interested]

This approach is particularl;y powerful in a language like Python 
because
if you put the functions in a file you can import that file as a 
module
(have you covered modules yet?)

Then at the intreractive prompt(>>>) you can interactively test your
functions to check they work.


keepGoing = True
while keepGoing == True:

   global gold

You don;t need this global is only used inside a function definition
so that the function can modify variables outside the function.
You are not inside a function at this point.

   gold = 0

   def RoomOne():

Here you are defining a function inside the while loop.
So you will redefine the function every time through the loop.
This is wasteful and not needed. Take the definition
outside the loop.

       print "You find yourself in a large room. Above you is a 
massive
crystal"
       print "chandelier. In front of you is round stone fountain, 
spewing
water"
       print "from it's center. On the walls hang green satin 
drapery.  The
ceiling"
       print "is comprised of three ornate arches. There is an arch 
in
front of you"
       print "and to your right and left. A staircase leads up from 
under
the arch"
       print "in front of you. Under the arches to your left and 
right are
large wooden"
       print "doors, each with an iron handle. Enter 'Help' for a 
full list
of commands."

Use a triple quoted string to avoid multiple print statements.

   RoomOne()
   Command = raw_input("Please enter a command. ")
   Command = Command.upper()
   if Command == "N":
       RoomFour()
   elif Command == "S":
       print "You ditched the creepy castle and headed for the 
road."
       keepGoing == False
   elif Command == "E":
       RoomTwo()
   elif Command == "HELP":
       print "List of Commands: 'Help',then enter for this list."
       print                   "'N', then enter = Door to the 
North."
       print                   "'S', then enter = Door to the 
South."
       print                   "'E', then enter = Door to the East."
       print                   "'W', then enter = Door to the West."
       print                   "'Look at', then 'objects name', then 
enter
= Looks at an object."
       print                   "'Pick Up', then 'objects name', then 
enter
= Picks up an object."
       print                   "'Q', then enter = Quit Game."

   elif Command == "W":
       RoomSix()
   elif Command == "LOOK AT FOUNTAIN":
       print "There appears to be 4 gold coins in it."
   elif Command == "PICK UP 4 GOLD COINS":
       gold = gold + 4
       print "Current Gold = ", gold
   elif Command == "Q":
       keepGoing = False

   else:
       print "That doesn't work."

   def RoomTwo():
       print "Current Gold = ", gold
       print "In the middle of the room is a large Gargoyle with 
fiery red
eyes."
       print "He's holding a cup. In the southeast corner of the 
room you
see a broom"
       print "with dust and cob-webs on it. Next to the broom is a 
dead
rat."
       print "To the north is another door. In front of the door is 
an
overturned basket."

   promptTwo = raw_input("What are you going to do? ")
   promptTwo = promptTwo.upper()

   if promptTwo == "N":
       RoomThree()
   elif promptTwo == "S":
       print "There is no door there."
   elif promptTwo == "W":
       RoomOne()
   elif promptTwo == "E":
       print "There is only a wall there."
   elif promptTwo == "Q":
       keepGoing = False
   elif promptTwo == "PICK UP BASKET":
       print "You pick up the basket, revealing 2 gold pieces."
       RoomTwo()
   elif promptTwo == "PICK UP 2 GOLD COINS":
       gold = gold + 2
       print "Current Gold = ", gold
       RoomTwo()
   elif promptTwo == "LOOK AT GARGOYLE":
       print "Looking at the Gargoyle you notice he's really mean, 
and
really still."
       RoomTwo()
   elif promptTwo == "LOOK AT BROOM":
       print "Looking at the broom, you notice it's unnecessarity 
dirty."
   elif promptTwo == "PICK UP BROOM":
       print " You pick up the broom. But you don't notice anything
special, so you"
       print "set it back down where it was."
   elif promptTwo == "LOOK AT CUP":
       print "You look at the cup, and find nothing of interest."
   elif promptTwo == "LOOK AT DEAD RAT":
       print "You look at the dead rat and find it utterly 
disgusting."
   elif promptTwo == "HELP":
       print "List of Commands: 'Help',then enter for this list."
       print                   "'N', then enter = Door to the 
North."
       print                   "'S', then enter = Door to the 
South."
       print                   "'E', then enter = Door to the East."
       print                   "'W', then enter = Door to the West."
       print                   "'Look at', then 'objects name', then 
enter
= Looks at an object."
       print                   "'Pick Up', then 'objects name', then 
enter
= Picks up an object."
       print                   "'Q', then enter = Quit Game."
   else:
       print "That didn't work."


   def RoomThree():
       print "Current Gold = ", gold
       print "To the north is a giant replica of a wooley mamoth. 
His
tusks are made"
       print "of gold. To the east is a painting of Mother Theresa. 
Under
the painting"
       print "is a baby's crib. The only doors you see are to the 
south and
west."

   promptThree = raw_input("What would you like to do? ")
   promptThree = promptThree.upper()

You could improve the generality of the code by building a data model
of your castle using a multi dimensional list.

Rooms = [[Room3, Room4,NotExist],
              [Room0,Room1,Room2]]

You can access your functions like:

Rooms[X][Y]()

Now you can define your movement commands as arithmetic operations
on the indices of the Rooms map, eg:

N increment the Y index
S decrement the Y index
E increment the X index
W decrement the X index

If you pass the direction value as a parameter the room functions can
check if a valid entrance exists on that side. So in Room3 you might 
have:

def Room3(dir):
   if dir == 'N':
       raise NoDoorError, "Cannot enter Room3 from the South"
    # rest of code here

Just some ideas.

HTH,
--
Alan Gauld
Author of the Learn to Program web site
http://www.alan-g.me.uk/





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