Thread: Help with Char Arrays in my game

Code:

    int enemyNumber = 1;
    char enemy[] = "Dragon";
    int enemyHealth = 500;
    int enemyMagic = 0;
    int enemyAttackMin = 50;
    int enemyAttackMax = 60;
    char enemySpell[];
    int costOfSpell = 1;
    int enemyMagicMin;
    int enemyMagicMax;

This is the initial enemy, Dragon. Once defeated, I change the enemy to Mad Golfer. Note that Dragon cannot use spells, hence his lack of a spell name. Here is the "changing code":

Code:

          enemyNumber = 2;
          char enemy[] = "Mad Golfer";
          enemyHealth = 300;
          enemyMagic = 14;
          enemyAttackMin = 5;
          enemyAttackMax = 20;
          char enemySpell[] = " throws his club at you!";
          costOfSpell = 1;
          enemyMagicMin = 70;
          enemyMagicMax = 100;

The thing is, the interger values adjust while the strings stay the same. I can't get them to change! The program displays Dragon as the name of the enemy instead of Mad Golfer. What am I doing wrong?

well for one thing, you are redeclaring your strings when you change them, that in itself is bad, and I don't see how it even compiles.

In your change code, take out the "char" prefixes. See if that helps.

Also, you dont need [] (brackets) when you redefine the string, just type:

varName = "string";

how about sticking that in a class too.

Also, you dont need [] (brackets) when you redefine the string, just type:

varName = "string";

I fail to see how that would work, considering the fact that varName is a fixed-length character array. The only reliable way to 'assign' strings to character arrays (i.e. c-strings) is to use strcpy(). A much better alternative, as Perspective suggested, is to use the std::string class, which CAN be assigned with the = operator and resized at will.