Originally posted by EnforcerGIS
I am not talking about making a computer game here...more of an application for the pen and paper type of game. Any other ideas?
There are always other ideas. Although I really like OOP and think classes are great, I'm not sure that classes is the way you want to go with this. From what you've said, it sounds like you want to make this program so that you can use it practically for your friends. If that is the case, I'd suggest using structs. Something like:
Code:
struct player
{
int health, special, strength, level, etc;
string name;
// and if any of the following matters . . .
char gender;
int height, weight, age, etc;
};
The disadvantages to using structs IMO are the following: there's no constructors, and you can't have any functions that express relations between stats. For example, if the stats of a player are a function of his level, you should construct a class to do that. Otherwise, use structs because they're easier.
Really, if you're only going to do this one player at a time and if all you're doing is generating the stats, you could get away with forsaking structs or classes all together and just bang out a solution that works. I have a friend in my computer programming class that is finishing up a character generator for Dungeons and Dragons. Because that class hasn't covered structs or classes yet, he was unable to use them. His program still works, it's just not the 'best' or most elegant solution to the problem. The most important thing about coding out any program is first that it works. That's one thing my teacher keeps telling me as I and some others in my class prepare for a programming competition.
If you're just doing this for personal use, no one's going to see your code, so you can be as easy on yourself as you want. Choose the paradigm that's right for you.
Oh, and about graphics, although they look impressive for folks that know nothing about programming, they're probably not worth it for this program. A console program will suffice for this.
Well, this post sure was long enough. I hope I helped after all I said. Best of luck to ya!