Help with getting started on a small C++ program

Hi, I am trying to design a small minesweeper game with 5 rows and 5 columns, user has 20 guesses and there is 10 mines.

I have started the code - http://pastebin.com/rvnrNSTnNow I am trying to write the main code part but I am having trouble working out how to add in random mines via arrays.

This is for my studies so I am just looking for help with getting started, not actual code. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

Link is broken. Why don't you use the boards code tags?

Sorry, here is the basic code I have so far:

Code:

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#include <iostream> //Includes the iostream#include <conio.h> //Includes conio.h
using namespace std; //Uses namespace std


int main() //start of main function


{
    int row1[4]; int row2[4]; int row3[4]; int row4[4]; int row5[4]; //Row arrays (values)
    char ShowRow1[4]; char ShowRow2[4]; char ShowRow3[4]; char ShowRow4[4]; char ShowRow5[4]; // Row arrays (Display chars)
    int mineTotal = 10; // Total number of mines left on grid
    int guessTotal = 20; // Total amount of guesses available
    int guessCorrect = 0; // Total amount of correct guesses
    int guessIncorrect = 0; // Total amount of incorrect guesses
    int turnNumber = 1; // Shows the turn number
    int rowGuess, columnGuess; // Values for user guess (row and column)
    int user_option; // User option number
   
       
        cout << "Welcome to Minesweeper" << endl << "Please enter an option" << endl; // Displays welcome message
        cout << "1 - Play Game" << endl << "Press any other key to exit" << endl; // Displays options
        cin >> user_option; //User inputs choice


        if (user_option == 1) // Starts code if user enters "Play Game" - 1
        {
       
        // MINESWEEPER CODE GOES HERE
               
        _getch();


       
        }
        else {return 0;} //Exits the game if any other key is entered other than 1


}

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Code:

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int row1[4]; int row2[4]; int row3[4]; int row4[4]; int row5[4]; //Row arrays (values)

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This would be easier to work with as a 2-dimensional array, int row[ROWS][COLUMNS].

Quote:

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I am having trouble working out how to add in random mines via arrays.

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Think about how you would randomly place mines on a real-life minesweeper board (if such a thing exists :)).

That code only has 4 columns. If you wanted 5 then you'd have to change those 4's to fives.
But yeah, your approach is wrong. You don't declare an array for each row for the same reason that you don't declare a separate variable for each cell in that row. You need 2D arrays.

After fixing that, start with the easy bits, for example write the function that displays the board, or the function that counts the number of surrounding cells that are mines.

You really haven't done much at all, and you aren't going to get much help until you're a lot further on into the project. Make no mistake, we will not be writing he code for you. We help more in the design discussion and in the code review stages, but the bit in the middle is largely up to you, unless you have a very specific coding question.