[Tutor] Coding for a Secret Message in a Game

[Chris “Kwpolska” Warrick]

On Fri, Dec 13, 2013 at 5:10 AM, Sky blaze <skyblaze101 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi, I'm a newbie Python programmer. I was introduced to Python via the Hour
> of Code, and after completing all three of Grok Learning's tutorials, I was
> inspired to create a text-based RPG adventure. I composed this e-mail after
> searching for a forum for Python, and this address showed up in one of the
> results.
>
> Due to my inexperience with Python, I'm having trouble creating a code for
> one of the things I wanted to do for the game. The game starts out on a
> "title screen" with a message saying, "Type 'start' to begin!" I thought
> it'd be amusing to have the message change after the player types something
> other than "start" at least 10 times. I've attempted numerous times to code
> this, but all of them have failed. Could you help me with the coding? It
> should look something like this in the end:
>
>>Type "start" to begin!
>>No
>>Type "start" to begin!
>>Maybe
>>Type "start" to begin!
>>Perhaps
>>Type "start" to begin!
>>Nope
>>Type "start" to begin!
>>Why?
>>Type "start" to begin!
>>Are you sure?
>>Type "start" to begin!
>>You can't tell me what to do.
>>Type "start" to begin!
>>I'll start if I want to.
>>Type "start" to begin!
>>End
>>Y U NO TYPE "start"?!
>>Woah
>>Y U NO TYPE "start"?!
>>Okay, okay, I'll type it!
>>Y U NO TYPE "start"?!
>>start
>
> Here's the code I currently have so far:
> print("===INSTRUCTIONS===")
> input(">> ")
> print("When you see a \'>>\', hit Enter to advance the text.")
> print("When you see a \'> \', type in a command.")
> print("Commands are displayed in quotations.")
> print("Type them exactly as how they appear in quotations.")
> print("For example. Type \"hi\" to wave!")
> print("You would type hi next to the \'> \' prompt.")
> print("Now that the basics are out of the way, enjoy the game!")
> input(">> ")
> print("***SUPER GENERIC SHORT TEXT RPG ADVENTURE***")
> start = False #This is the start screen check
> print("Type \"start\" to begin.") #Command message to start the game
> start_prompt = input("> ") #Command prompt to start the game

Assuming Python 3.  If it’s python 2, do raw_input() instead.

> while start != True: #Infinite loop that doesn't end until "start" is typed
Most people tend to do “while not start:” in this case.  The reverse
would be “while start:” and this also applies to if’s.
>     if start_prompt == "start":
>         start = True #Continues from the title screen
>     else:
>         #This is where I'm stuck. I can loop it so it always returns the
> command message when
>         #"start" isn't typed, but changing the message upon having that
> occur at least 10 times is
>         #what's giving me trouble.

You need to count it somewhere, and test it.  With that, it becomes
fairly obvious, but with a catch: a one-off error can be easily made.
Have some code:

print("***SUPER GENERIC SHORT TEXT RPG ADVENTURE***")
start = False # This is the start screen check
print("Type \"start\" to begin.") # Command message to start the game
start_prompt = input("> ") # Command prompt to start the game
attempts = 1 # Count the start attempts made.  If you made it a zero,
that would break your example.

while not start:
    if start_prompt == "start":
        start = True
    else:
        attempts += 1
        if attempts < 10:
            print("Type \"start\" to begin.")
        else:
            print("Y U NO TYPE \"start\"?!")
        start_prompt = input("> ")

-- 
Chris “Kwpolska” Warrick <http://kwpolska.tk>
PGP: 5EAAEA16
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