Member Avatar for ben1996123

I just decided that I wanted to make one with C++, but I'm not really sure what I should put in it. Any ideas? I don't just want it to be some boring thing where you have to "Press enter to continue" all the time.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Cireyoretihw

Dani AI

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Start by making something immediately playable instead of trying to build everything at once. Aim for a small, repeatable loop that feels interactive: move between locations, inspect things, pick up/use a handful of items, and have one type of meaningful interaction (a simple encounter, puzzle, or shop). That gives real choices instead of "press enter to continue" and keeps development focused so you get visible progress fast.

Keep the engine tiny and data-driven. Put game state in a few classes, keep main as a thin loop, and load rooms/items from plain text so you can tweak content without recompiling. Prefer STL containers and RAII (smart pointers) over raw new/delete. Make a compact parser that normalizes input (trim, lowercase) and maps verbs+objects to command handlers — parsing is more about forgiving UX than fancy techniques.

A minimal loop and an entity interface to copy into your codebase:

while (game.running()) {
  game.render();                // show location, inventory, prompts
  std::string cmd = readLine(); // get whole line
  Command c = parser.parse(cmd);
  game.handle(c);               // change game state, save history, etc.
}

struct Entity {
  virtual void act(GameState&) = 0;
  virtual ~Entity() = default;
};

Practical tips: version your save format, keep content files human-editable (one file per room/item), write tiny tests for combat and save/load, and add logging to trace hard-to-reproduce bugs. Prototype combat as pure functions so you can test balance quickly.

Many posters here pointed to bigger ideas — 's scripting/plugin vision and 's classic-game inspiration are excellent later goals. Follow and by starting small, iterate until the core loop is fun, then gradually add features (data-driven enemies, quests, scripting) rather than designing them all up front.

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Member Avatar for BCBTP

Try making it include:
Your own scripting language
OOP Design
Loadable Scripts
Threading
Online support
Script DLC, Script IDE, and a Script Store
Static and Dynamic libraries, so on a small update you just release a DLL rather then a new .exe(besides on major updates)

I am working on a side project to my 3D game that has support for most of this stuff.
My scripts are no more advanced then something like(but not exactly):

print:
     "A monster is incoming"
Attack(MonsterType, MonsterSpecialName, &Player):
     MonsterType = "Elf"
     MonsterSpecialName = "Scriptor"
     &Player = default_player

Honestly, a text based game is not to advanced and you can probably find all the resources needed on http://www.cplusplus.com.
You should first start by making a nice static library instead of the game itself, as you will realize you will be doing the same things over again alot(I saw 1 person who put a whole game in a main!!!...LOL.) Just PLEASE use OOP and make our lives easier, and if you don't ATLEAST use functions.

Member Avatar for ben1996123

Try making it include:
Your own scripting language
OOP Design
Loadable Scripts
Threading
Online support
Script DLC, Script IDE, and a Script Store
Static and Dynamic libraries, so on a small update you just release a DLL rather then a new .exe(besides on major updates)

I am working on a side project to my 3D game that has support for most of this stuff.
My scripts are no more advanced then something like(but not exactly):

print:
     "A monster is incoming"
Attack(MonsterType, MonsterSpecialName, &Player):
     MonsterType = "Elf"
     MonsterSpecialName = "Scriptor"
     &Player = default_player

Honestly, a text based game is not to advanced and you can probably find all the resources needed on http://www.cplusplus.com.
You should first start by making a nice static library instead of the game itself, as you will realize you will be doing the same things over again alot(I saw 1 person who put a whole game in a main!!!...LOL.) Just PLEASE use OOP and make our lives easier, and if you don't ATLEAST use functions.

Umm... All of that stuff is way too advanced for me at the moment... I was just wondering what to actually put in the game, stuff like monsters/battling/items, not stuff like online servers. Well, I would do that if I had any idea how to :P

Member Avatar for gusano79

Oh wow, L.O.R.D. has come flooding back to me... have a look at that for some inspiration; I remember it as being pretty nifty, back in the day.

You also might wander through the IF Archive; there are a lot of interesting text games and articles on game design in there. It's maybe a little different type of game than what you're looking for, but it's educational, anyway.

Member Avatar for phoenix_2000

If you're really starting out with programming, i'd advice going for something that can start out simple, like a rpg without combat (walking, talking, throwing switches etc).
Once you get about 5 minutes of gameplay, you could try to integrate some simple stuff like an inventory and mob fights.

and finally, later on you might want to add more complex stuff like your own gear, classes and spells.

Member Avatar for BCBTP

Yeah, but PLEASE use OOP, there is enough C++ function only text-based games.

Player *newplayer;
Monster *monster;
newplayer = new Player;
monster = new monster;
newplayer->combat(&monster);
delete newplayer;
delete monster;

I think that is right, I am still new to new and delete.

And in a OOP perfect text based game that would start combat with your default monster and player IMO.

Edited by BCBTP because: n/a
Member Avatar for cwarn23

You could always make a game where a user starts at door and the user has for options.
* Move up
* Move down
* Move left
* Move right
Upon selecting each option the user will move one tile across and will receive a message saying something like "You are now in a forest". Or "There is a gate that requires a key". And the user would have to go across the map to find a hidden object until the player gets to the finish line/tile. The memories.

Member Avatar for BCBTP

Yeah if you really want to get good, you should go to DirectX, OpenGL/SDL.
I like D3D alot, and I am working on a simple engine for it.

Member Avatar for phoenix_2000

guys, don't forget we're talking about someone that wants a simple starter project :)

Member Avatar for BCBTP

yeah. I still work on my text based game, more so the scripting lang which is in console(but will be used for everything), which is

if(str == "#alloc") Alloc(str);
if(str == "#asign") Asign(str);

But of course those functions arn't the easiest to write...
And also my scripting lang is more like a .lib only. Like I have no bare .exe to interpret.

Member Avatar for Cireyoretihw

my question is

is the user viewing text and entering text

or is the world generator is real time text message driven environment and the user is a GUI smartphone interface or dumb GUI screen & mouse ...

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