Need Input on new project

[zodiac976]

I just woke up this morning and had all these ideas pop into
my head for a text RPG. I have been gaming for 21 years and
95% of the games I played were RPG's and now I play MMORPG's.
I have been programming in C++ for about 7 months. I am not a
genius but I love this language and it is also my first language.
My question is I know a TEXT RPG will take quite some time to
finish and I want to know if I should start setting it up or is it
too difficult for my current experience in programming? If so
any advice on creating a TEXT RPG would be greatly appreciated.

[dandymcgee]

I think it's a great beginner project. I am not at all implying it will be easy, but without having to worry about all kinds of graphics related issues you can focus more directly on the core elements of a simple RPG. Just take it slow, step by step, and don't forget to ask for help when you get stuck. Mar is the local guru on this topic and I'm sure he'll have plenty of advice for you in the very near future.

[zodiac976]

I think it's a great beginner project. I am not at all implying it will be easy, but without having to worry about all kinds of graphics related issues you can focus more directly on the core elements of a simple RPG. Just take it slow, step by step, and don't forget to ask for help when you get stuck. Mar is the local guru on this topic and I'm sure he'll have plenty of advice for you in the very near future.

Thanks, I have a lot of ideas I want to throw in it .

[eatcomics]

My advice... Don't start with a battle system, it's never implemented right in the beginning...

[MarauderIIC]

You'll want need to know how pointers work and get comfortable using them.

[ultimatedragoon69]

pointers are good, i also suggest getting familiar with references in the parameters it will help alot. Well it helped my code anyway.

[programmerinprogress]

yeah, references rock, stops you having to constantly dereferencing, makes everything so much neater when you're passing by reference to a function

I never made a text RPG, I did, however make my own version of battleships in the console, along with beeps and different coloured text, you can make some really good stuff with just text, I think it's a matter of whether you feel like you could step up into using a multimedia library, and if you actually want ot need to, if you're really enthusiastic about doing a text RPG, then go for it, just make sure you are aware of your goal, you're competant enough to program it, and that you at least have a rough idea of how its going to work before you code it.

good luck

[zodiac976]

I tend to use references way more often than pointers,
actually I haven't used a pointer in a while....

[programmerinprogress]

I tend to use references way more often than pointers,
actually I haven't used a pointer in a while....

well pointers are great for dynamic allocation and loads of other things, they can also be reassigned so they're much more flexible than references, references are intended for changing function parameters to pass by reference instead of value, so I would say I use pointers more, but I find references equally as useful

[zodiac976]

Yea I know pointers but I haven't come across anything in
my projects where I need a pointer..maybe I know less
about them than I think. Like why point to a function
when you can call it...never mind I am stupid.

[MarauderIIC]

If you want to be able to allocate or deallocate things, or if you want to be able to select things based on criteria, you need a pointer, because you can't reseat a reference.

[zodiac976]

Can you show a small example of selecting by
criteria?

[davidthefat]

http://textbasedrpg.com/

[zodiac976]

Well I have my text RPG set up to enter the first location
and you have options per area.

I also record the name, stats, exp, etc into a file to keep
track of level ups when I do get around to that.

In my first project I used nothing but a few references and
in this huge text RPG project I have yet to use a pointer
or reference.

I look at other people's source code when I can get them
and I notice they make use of pointers a lot.

I am getting concerned about not using pointers much as
it seems everyone plugs them into their code.

[MarauderIIC]

Can you show a small example of selecting by
criteria?

Code: Select all

void myFunc(int someParam) {
    Something* s; //s for "shorthand"
    s = myArray[someParam];
    s->doSomething();
}