yeah, I'm just keeping this thread open because I have another wrinkle.

In my code

def prompt_house():
    global gold
    prompt_hou = raw_input('>')
    if prompt_hou == 'examine table':
        print '''There are a lot of car magazines here. You flip through them and find
5 gold.'''
        gold = gold+5
        prompt_house()

(or any other code where I get gold for that matter)

If I examine the table more than once, for each time I examine it I get 5 more gold. How do I fix this?

Do not use recursion as a loop, but use a while loop in the function itself. You also need to set a flag that the gold has been taken. Further note that a triple quoted string relaxes the indentation rule:

def prompt_house():
    global gold
    gold_taken = False
    while True:
        prompt_hou = raw_input('>')
        if prompt_hou == 'examine table' and not gold_taken:
            print \
'''There are a lot of car magazines here.
You flip through them and find 5 gold.
'''
            gold = gold+5
            gold_taken = True
        elif prompt_hou == 'go west':
            # this gets you out of the loop
            go_west()
        # more elif choices here ...
            

def go_west():
    # just a dummy funk
    global gold
    print gold
    pass

# test
gold = 0
prompt_house()

okay, I tried that just now...

def prompt_house():
    global gold
    gold_taken = False
    while True:
       prompt_hou = raw_input('>')
    if prompt_hou == 'examine table' and not gold_taken:
        print  '''There are a lot of car magazines here.
you flip through them and find 5 gold.'''
        gold = gold+5
        gold_taken = True
        prompt_house()

(I tried putting it in there like you had it but it gave me syntax errors)

So, when I tried to run this program, go to the house and examine the table, the program just stopped responding. I could still type stuff in, and the was still the single '>' there, but it just didn't print anything or do anything...

by the way, how would I do more than one case of getting gold in the same room?

In line 11 of your code you still go back to the originating function, that's called recursion. You should not do that!

How do I fix it to where I can prevent recursion but still be able to do what was done under recursion?

Okay, solved.

and note for ZZucker's code:

After writing the other commands, you have to write a command for

elif prompt_hou == 'examine table' and gold_taken:
          print '''There are a lot of car magazines here.'''
          go_west()

and that works.

now i have a lot of re-writing to do...

::edit::
quick question: would writing something like this

def prompt_clear():
    prompt_cle = raw_input('>')
    if prompt_cle == 'south':
        field()
    elif prompt_cle == 'help':
        print 'look, examine (object), north, south, east, west'
        prompt_clear()
    elif prompt_cle == 'read sign':
        print """The sign says: Behold the mysterious grating! For some unknown reason, it will not open until you have 57 gold.
Why the odd number? I don't know...just play along will ya? You won't get out unless you do!"""
pass1()

def pass1():
global gold
prompt_clear()

work or would that still be recursion?

*sigh*

I've got to learn to be patient and try stuff before I post...
sorry for spamming this thread with so many posts.

okay, now for some odd reason, when I ported ZZucker's code to mine, I get the same problem as before...I can get the gold in the same spot over and over and over.
My code:

def prompt_house():
    global gold
    gold_taken = False
    while True:
        prompt_hou = raw_input('>')
        if prompt_hou == 'examine table' and not gold_taken:
            print  '''There are a lot of car magazines here.
you flip through them and find 7 gold.'''
            gold = gold+7
            gold_taken = True
            pass3()

     while False:
         prompt_hou = raw_input('>')
         if prompt_hou == 'examine table' and gold_taken:
            print 'There are a lot of car magazines here.'
            pass3()

and Zzucker's code:

def prompt_house():
    global gold
    gold_taken = False
    while True:
        prompt_hou = raw_input('>')
        if prompt_hou == 'examine table' and not gold_taken:
            print \
                  '''There are a lot of car magazines here.
You flip through them and find 5 gold.
'''
            gold = gold+5
            gold_taken = True
        elif prompt_hou == 'go west':
            # this gets you out of the loop
            go_west()
            # more elif choices here ...
        elif prompt_hou == 'examine table' and gold_taken:
            print '''There are a lot of car magazines here.'''
            go_west()
def go_west():
# just a dummy funk
    global gold
    print gold
    pass
                # test
gold = 0
prompt_house()

In Zzuvker's code, I can only get the gold ONCE, and once only. But in mine, infinite! Why??

::edit:: I have tried without the false case in mine, I have tried without the pass4()....but nothing makes a difference! it still lets me get the gold more than once!! Can somebody help please?

::edit2::

I have modified the code to this:

def prompt_kitchen():
    global gold
    gold_taken = False
    while True:
        prompt_kit = raw_input('>')
        if prompt_kit == 'examine cabinet 1' and not gold_taken:
            print \
                  '''This cabinet has a lot of cups in it with all different
designs and shapes. Where are the people anyway? How come there's nobody here?
In one of the cups you find 8 gold.
'''
            gold = gold+8
            gold_taken = True
        elif prompt_kit == 'examine cabinet 1' and gold_taken:
            print \
                  '''This cabinet has a lot of cups in it with all different
designs and shapes. Where are the people anyway? How come there's nobody here?'''
            pass4()

but still no go...

ah-ha! looks like something's up with the beginning...because I added a pass4()

def pass4():
    global gold
    print 'You have', gold, 'gold'
    pass

to the end of the first gold case, and after I examined cabinet one (twice) the second time it switched over to the gold_taken case...but after I went south and then north again, it switched _back_ over to the not gold_taken case...

So does anyone know how to fix that problem in te post above?

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