Items Class The Items class is a helper class to handle the items database. The Items class reads in the entire .item file and is used to drop items when a monster is killed, as well as to show items in the player’s inventory. So, this class is very important—it keeps our main code tidy by providing a very useful helper function called getItem(). When creating an object using this class during program initialization, be sure to use Load() to load the .item file needed by the game. This should be the same .item file you used to specify drop items in the character editor. public class Items { //keep public for easy access public List<Item> items; public Items() { items = new List<Item>(); } private string getElement(string field, ref XmlElement element) { string value = ""; try { value = element.GetElementsByTagName(field)[0].InnerText; } catch (Exception){} return value; } public bool Load(string filename) { try { //open the xml file XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument(); doc.Load(filename); XmlNodeList list = doc.GetElementsByTagName("item"); foreach (XmlNode node in list) 358 Chapter 13 n Equipping Gear and Looting Treasure { //get next item in table XmlElement element = (XmlElement)node; Item item = new Item(); //store fields in new Item item.Name = getElement("name", ref element); item.Description = getElement("description", ref element); item.DropImageFilename = getElement("dropimagefilename", ref element); item.InvImageFilename = getElement("invimagefilename", ref element); item.Category = getElement("category", ref element); item.Weight = Convert.ToSingle(getElement("weight", ref element)); item.Value = Convert.ToSingle(getElement("value", ref element)); item.AttackNumDice = Convert.ToInt32(getElement( "attacknumdice", ref element)); item.AttackDie = Convert.ToInt32(getElement("attackdie", ref element)); item.Defense = Convert.ToInt32(getElement("defense", ref element)); item.STR = Convert.ToInt32(getElement("STR", ref element)); item.DEX = Convert.ToInt32(getElement("DEX", ref element)); item.STA = Convert.ToInt32(getElement("STA", ref element)); item.INT = Convert.ToInt32(getElement("INT", ref element)); item.CHA = Convert.ToInt32(getElement("CHA", ref element)); //add new item to list items.Add(item); } } catch (Exception) { return false; } return true; } public Item getItem(string name) { foreach (Item it in items) Looting Treasure 359 { if (it.Name == name) return it; } return null; } } Character Class A slightly improved character editor is needed for this chapter. Do you remember the three drop-item fields that have gone unused so far? Now we can finally enable those three drop-down combo list controls and fill them with items from the item database. This is where things start to get very interesting! I’ll show you the results in a bit. Some changes have been made to the Character class to support the three drop-item fields that are now functional. Check Character.cs to see the complete new class. Because of these changes, .char files saved with the old version of the character editor will generate an error. Please use the new character editor to save any characters you have created into the new format. Figure 13.5 shows the new character editor. Well, it’s the same old editor, but with the three item-drop fields now working! Take a look at the item name and quantity: one “Small Shield.” Take note of this, as I’ll show you this item in the game shortly. Take note also of the gold fields: minimum (5) to maximum (10). This is the random amount of gold that this monster will drop when killed. You can use any amount you want here, but just be sure that dropped gold is consistent with item prices at vendors that will be selling the player gear (and buying their drop items, most likely, as well). If your most awesome epic sword costs 250 gold, and the typical skeleton warrior drops 10–20 gold, then the player will be earning enough to buy the best weapon in the game within just a few minutes! I think many monsters will need to be set to a gold range of 0 to 1, so that only one gold is dropped 25 percent of the time. (In the item-drop code, a random number makes sure that items only drop at this rate—and that might even be too high! This is one of those factors that may need to be adjusted when gameplay testing reveals that monsters are dropping way too much gear, making the player rich very quickly. You want the player to struggle! If the game becomes too easy too fast, your player will become bored with it.) 360 Chapter 13 n Equipping Gear and Looting Treasure Here is the new code in the updated Character class (note changes in bold): public class Character { public enum AnimationStates { Walking = 0, Attacking = 1, Dying = 2, Dead = 3, Standing = 4 } private Game p_game; Figure 13.5 Setting the gold and drop items in the character editor. Looting Treasure 361 private PointF p_position; private int p_direction; private AnimationStates p_state; //character file properties; private string p_name; private string p_class; private string p_race; private string p_desc; private int p_str; private int p_dex; private int p_sta; private int p_int; private int p_cha; private int p_hitpoints; private int p_dropGold1; private int p_dropGold2; private string p_walkFilename; private Sprite p_walkSprite; private Size p_walkSize; private int p_walkColumns; private string p_attackFilename; private Sprite p_attackSprite; private Size p_attackSize; private int p_attackColumns; private string p_dieFilename; private Sprite p_dieSprite; private Size p_dieSize; private int p_dieColumns; private int p_experience; private int p_level; private bool p_alive; private int p_dropnum1; private int p_dropnum2; private int p_dropnum3; private string p_dropitem1; private string p_dropitem2; private string p_dropitem3; public Character(ref Game game) 362 Chapter 13 n Equipping Gear and Looting Treasure { p_game = game; p_position = new PointF(0, 0); p_direction = 1; p_state = AnimationStates.Standing; //initialize loadable properties p_name = ""; p_class = ""; p_race = ""; p_desc = ""; p_str = 0; p_dex = 0; p_sta = 0; p_int = 0; p_cha = 0; p_hitpoints = 0; p_dropGold1 = 0; p_dropGold2 = 0; p_walkSprite = null; p_walkFilename = ""; p_walkSize = new Size(0, 0); p_walkColumns = 0; p_attackSprite = null; p_attackFilename = ""; p_attackSize = new Size(0, 0); p_attackColumns = 0; p_dieSprite = null; p_dieFilename = ""; p_dieSize = new Size(0, 0); p_dieColumns = 0; p_experience = 0; p_level = 1; p_dropnum1 = 0; p_dropnum2 = 0; p_dropnum3 = 0; p_dropitem1 = ""; p_dropitem2 = ""; p_dropitem3 = ""; } Looting Treasure 363 //**** note: some code was omitted here *** public int DropNum1 { get { return p_dropnum1; } set { p_dropnum1 = value; } } public int DropNum2 { get { return p_dropnum2; } set { p_dropnum2 = value; } } public int DropNum3 { get { return p_dropnum3; } set { p_dropnum3 = value; } } public string DropItem1 { get { return p_dropitem1; } set { p_dropitem1 = value; } } public string DropItem2 { get { return p_dropitem2; } set { p_dropitem2 = value; } } public string DropItem3 { get { return p_dropitem3; } set { p_dropitem3 = value; } } //**** note: some code was omitted here *** 364 Chapter 13 n Equipping Gear and Looting Treasure public void Draw(int x, int y) { int startFrame, endFrame; switch (p_state) { case AnimationStates.Standing: p_walkSprite.Position = p_position; if (p_direction > -1) { startFrame = p_direction * p_walkColumns; endFrame = startFrame + p_walkColumns - 1; p_walkSprite.CurrentFrame = endFrame; } p_walkSprite.Draw(x,y); break; case AnimationStates.Walking: p_walkSprite.Position = p_position; if (p_direction > -1) { startFrame = p_direction * p_walkColumns; endFrame = startFrame + p_walkColumns - 1; p_walkSprite.AnimationRate = 30; p_walkSprite.Animate(startFrame, endFrame); } p_walkSprite.Draw(x,y); break; case AnimationStates.Attacking: p_attackSprite.Position = p_position; if (p_direction > -1) { startFrame = p_direction * p_attackColumns; endFrame = startFrame + p_attackColumns - 1; p_attackSprite.AnimationRate = 30; p_attackSprite.Animate(startFrame, endFrame); } p_attackSprite.Draw(x,y); break; Looting Treasure 365 case AnimationStates.Dying: p_dieSprite.Position = p_position; if (p_direction > -1) { startFrame = p_direction * p_dieColumns; endFrame = startFrame + p_dieColumns - 1; p_dieSprite.AnimationRate = 30; p_dieSprite.Animate(startFrame, endFrame); } p_dieSprite.Draw(x,y); break; case AnimationStates.Dead: p_dieSprite.Position = p_position; if (p_direction > -1) { startFrame = p_direction * p_dieColumns; endFrame = startFrame + p_dieColumns-1; p_dieSprite.CurrentFrame = endFrame; } p_dieSprite.Draw(x,y); break; } } //**** note: some code was omitted here *** public bool Load(string filename) { try { //open the xml file XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument(); doc.Load(filename); XmlNodeList list = doc.GetElementsByTagName("character"); XmlElement element = (XmlElement)list[0]; //read data fields string data; p_name = getElement("name", ref element); 366 Chapter 13 n Equipping Gear and Looting Treasure p_class = getElement("class", ref element); p_race = getElement("race", ref element); p_desc = getElement("desc", ref element); data = getElement("str", ref element); p_str = Convert.ToInt32(data); data = getElement("dex", ref element); p_dex = Convert.ToInt32(data); data = getElement("sta", ref element); p_sta = Convert.ToInt32(data); data = getElement("int", ref element); p_int = Convert.ToInt32(data); data = getElement("cha", ref element); p_cha = Convert.ToInt32(data); data = getElement("hitpoints", ref element); p_hitpoints = Convert.ToInt32(data); data = getElement("anim_walk_filename", ref element); p_walkFilename = data; data = getElement("anim_walk_width", ref element); p_walkSize.Width = Convert.ToInt32(data); data = getElement("anim_walk_height", ref element); p_walkSize.Height = Convert.ToInt32(data); data = getElement("anim_walk_columns", ref element); p_walkColumns = Convert.ToInt32(data); data = getElement("anim_attack_filename", ref element); p_attackFilename = data; data = getElement("anim_attack_width", ref element); p_attackSize.Width = Convert.ToInt32(data); Looting Treasure 367 [...]... game. Random(rad) - rad / 2; p.Y = (int)srcMonster.Y + game. Random(rad) - rad / 2; DropTreasureItem(ref itm, p.X, p.Y); //any items to drop? if (srcMonster.DropNum1 > 0 && srcMonster.DropItem1 != "") { count = game. Random(1, srcMonster.DropNum1); for (int n = 1; n < count; n++) { //25% chance for drop if (game. Random(100) < 25) { itm = items.getItem(srcMonster.DropItem1); p.X = (int)srcMonster.X + game. Random(rad)... (int)srcMonster.Y + game. Random(rad) - rad DropTreasureItem(ref itm, p.X, p.Y); } } } if (srcMonster.DropNum2 > 0 && srcMonster.DropItem2 != "") { count = game. Random(1, srcMonster.DropNum2); for (int n = 1; n < count; n++) { //25% chance for drop if (game. Random(100) < 25) { itm = items.getItem(srcMonster.DropItem2); p.X = (int)srcMonster.X + game. Random(rad) - rad p.Y = (int)srcMonster.Y + game. Random(rad)... private private private Game p _game; Font p_font; Font p_font2; PointF p_position; Button[] p_buttons; int p_selection; int p_sourceIndex; int p_targetIndex; Point p_mousePos; MouseButtons p_mouseBtn; int p_lastButton; MouseButtons p_oldMouseBtn; bool p_visible; Bitmap p_bg; Item[] p_inventory; public Inventory(ref Game game, Point pos) { p _game = game; p_position = pos; p_bg = game. LoadBitmap("char_bg3.png");... Treasure } } } if (srcMonster.DropNum3 > 0 && srcMonster.DropItem3 != "") { count = game. Random(1, srcMonster.DropNum3); for (int n = 1; n < count; n++) { //25% chance for drop if (game. Random(100) < 25) { itm = items.getItem(srcMonster.DropItem3); p.X = (int)srcMonster.X + game. Random(rad) - rad / 2; p.Y = (int)srcMonster.Y + game. Random(rad) - rad / 2; DropTreasureItem(ref itm, p.X, p.Y); } } } } The helper... of ourselves delving into the player’s game state data for just the Looting demo project, but I wanted to at least show you what’s in the class at this early stage since it’s in the project The only thing here is the Gold property In the final chapter, this class will be responsible for keeping track of all the player’s information, and for saving and loading the game public class Player : Character... p_buttons[n].rect; //draw button border p _game. Device.DrawRectangle(Pens.Gray, rect); //print button label if (p_buttons[n].image == null) { SizeF rsize = p _game. Device.MeasureString(p_buttons[n].text, p_font2); tx = (int)(rect.X + rect.Width / 2 - rsize.Width / 2); ty = rect.Y + 2; p _game. Device.DrawString(p_buttons[n].text, p_font2, Brushes.DarkGray, tx, ty); } } //check for (button click for (int n = 0; n < p_buttons.Length... loading the game public class Player : Character { private int p_gold; public Player(ref Game game) : base(ref game) { p_gold = 0; } public int Gold { get { return p_gold; } set { p_gold = value; } } public override string ToString() { return base.Name; } public void LoadGame(string filename) { } public void SaveGame(string filename) { } } 385 386 Chapter 13 n Equipping Gear and Looting Treasure Level... have the potential for huge levels with the dimensions that the level editor supports Some game designers (like yourself?) might really enjoy creating a large level using that much space As a demonstration game, I will not be working very hard to make creative and cunning level designs—I just need to show you how they work, so you can create creatively ingenious gameplay designs for players to enjoy!... looking for a non-collidable tile and positioning the player there? No, I don’t like accounting for conditions that should be assumed We decide that our game will use a certain tile data flag to represent the player’s spawn location, and if that is missing then the game needs to quit with an error message, just as if a sprite file is missing Either way, it’s up to you, but I’m going to opt for the... at the top), while Figure 14.3 shows the game running with the player sprite spawned at that location Here is some sample source code to give you the basic idea: 391 392 Chapter 14 n Populating the Dungeon Figure 14.2 Setting a new spawn point in the editor Point target = new Point(0, 0); bool found = false; for (int y = 0; y < 128; y++) { if (found) break; for (int x = 0; x < 128; x++) { target = . p_visible; private Bitmap p_bg; private Item[] p_inventory; public Inventory(ref Game game, Point pos) { p _game = game; p_position = pos; p_bg = game. LoadBitmap("char_bg3.png"); p_font = new Font("Arial",. srcMonster.DropItem1 != "") { count = game. Random(1, srcMonster.DropNum1); for (int n = 1; n < count; n++) { //25% chance for drop if (game. Random(100) < 25) { itm = items.getItem(srcMonster.DropItem1); p.X. srcMonster.DropItem2 != "") { count = game. Random(1, srcMonster.DropNum2); for (int n = 1; n < count; n++) { //25% chance for drop if (game. Random(100) < 25) { itm = items.getItem(srcMonster.DropItem2); p.X