call function and change variables?

nefus · 12-31-2009, 08:00 PM

I want to make a character builder for a tabletop game system I enjoy but when making a character there are selections you need to make that effect a series of skills. Is there a way to do something like this below well?

Code:

if picks_background { 
   $var1 = "x";
   $var2 = "y";
  }

How do you return those variables correctly? The thing is there might be anywhere from 10 to 20 things effected by selecting a specific background. A different background might not even have the same variables listed, it might have var6 and var9 instead.

tdub311 · 12-31-2009, 11:15 PM

You could return them in an array like so:

if picks_background {
$var1 = "x";
$var2 = "y";
$vars = array("var1"=>$var1, "var2"=>$var2);
return $vars;
}

nefus · 01-01-2010, 01:19 AM

So your suggestion would be to return an array. Then I'd have to query the array to find out what was in it I guess.... hmmm...

Village Idiot · 01-02-2010, 03:32 AM

There are a number of ways to do this, objects are probably the most efficient. If you are not using objects anywhere else, don't bother with this. But here is how I would do it based off of what I know (this is not tested and is merely for methodical purposes)

Charicter Definitions:
Archer - speed: 10, attack: 15, range: 15, rateOfFire: 10, armor: 3
Swordsman - speed: 15, attack: 25, armor: 50

class.php

PHP Code:


			
class player
{
function _construct{
//pseudo code
foreach(name and value in $playerDefFile)
{
$playerSkills[name]=value;
}
 
public $playerName; //String
private $playerDefFile;
private $playerSkills as array('n/a'=>"speed", 'n/a'=>attack, 'n/a'=>"range", 'n/a'=>"rateOfFire", 'n/a'=>"armor", 'n/a'=>");
}

archer.def

Code:

speed: 10
attack: 15
range: 15
rateOfFire: 10
armor: 3

swordsman.def

Code:

speed: 15
attack: 25
armor: 50

This will make any non-used attributes equal to 'n/a' so the program can later on see if that attribute can be used. This also gives you a generic base for all your types of players so you can have multiple ones in an game (thus being a generic aproach) and you can add/modify players without any code changes (thus being an explansible one).

ps. I do have some experience in C++ game development, so I've programmed generic players before.

nefus · 01-02-2010, 04:11 AM

Now thats a whole different angle than the one I considered. Below is sort of how I was starting to construct the function.

Code:

function barbarian_background(){
    $background = array("Athletics"=>'10', "Perception"=>'5', "Resilience"=>'10', "Stealth"=>'5');
    return $background;
        }
$background = barbarian_background();

print_r($background);

if(array_key_exists("Athletics", $background)) {
    echo "<br> Bingo!  Athletics is there.  Currently it's at a ".$background["Athletics"].".  Let's update that to ";
    $background["Athletics"] =  $background["Athletics"] + 5;
    echo $background["Athletics"].".";
    
    }

I'm just not sure how to handle things like picking 2 of 5 possible skills to add 5 bonus points to at this point. Or picking 1 of 6 possible new skills yet.

I'm sure I can figure it out though, still I am open to suggestions.