Choose Your Adventure Game - Part 5

For the next part, re-organize some code without changing the functionality of the game. This code-along covers basic methods.

Starting Point

For this code-along, start from the ending point of part four. If needed, fork this Repl project to begin.

Note that for this activity, the game will not change. The code will change, but it will function the same. This is mostly for demonstrative purposes.

Defining a New Method

Start by defining a new method that will kick things off for the program by setting the colors and printing the messages.

Make a new line under the Main block
- Make sure to be within the Program block still
Start with the three words to define a method: public static void
Next, put the method name: PrintIntro
After that, put parentheses and curly brackets: () { }

Run the code to make sure it works - it should not do anything different though. The code for this part should look something like this:

public static void PrintIntro()
{

}

Filling In the Method Body

Next, it's time to make the method do something!

Find the line in the Main method that sets the foreground to white
Find the line in the Main method that prints the intro statements
Highlight and copy the six lines between
Paste the six lines into the body of the PrintIntro method
Remove the six lines from the Main method

Run the program, and verify that the console does not change colors and the opening statements are not printed. This may seem like a step back, but it is necessary to help move things forward.

The code for the method should now look something like this:

public static void PrintIntro()
{
    Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.White;
    Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.DarkRed;
    Console.Clear();

    Console.WriteLine("You awaken in a strange place.");
    Console.WriteLine("You see a barn, a big tree, and a path through the woods.\n");
}

Calling the Method

Now, all that's left is to call the method from the Main method. This will make it so that all the code in the body of the method is executed at the beginning of each program run.

Find the top of the Main method
- Where the code from the PrintIntro body used to be
Make a new line
Call the method with the method name (PrintIntro) followed by parentheses ()

Run the program, and verify that the console changes colors and the opening statements are printed again! The code should look something like this:

PrintIntro();

Final Program

By the end of this code-along, the main.cs file should look something like this:

using System;

class Program {
  public static void Main (string[] args) {
    PrintIntro();

    Console.WriteLine("What is your name?");
    string name = Console.ReadLine();
    int health = 5;
    bool keepGoing = true;

    while (keepGoing)
    {
      Console.WriteLine("\nHello " + name);
      Console.WriteLine("Your health is " + health);

      Console.WriteLine("\nWhere do you go? (barn, tree, path)");
      string go = Console.ReadLine();

      Console.WriteLine("\nYou go to the " + go);

      if (go == "barn")
      {
        Console.WriteLine("You go into the barn and find a potion. +1health");
        health = health + 1;
      }
      else if (go == "tree")
      {
        Console.WriteLine("You check out the tree and find some bees. -1health");
        health = health - 1;
      }
      else if (go == "path")
      {
        Console.WriteLine("You walk down the path and face the monster.");
        health = health - 5;
        keepGoing = false;
      }
      else
      {
        Console.WriteLine("Invalid option.");
      }
    }

    if (health < 1)
    {
      Console.WriteLine("You have died.");
    }
    else
    {
      Console.WriteLine("You make it out of the woods.");
    }
  }

  public static void PrintIntro()
  {
    Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.White;
    Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.DarkRed;
    Console.Clear();

    Console.WriteLine("You awaken in a strange place.");
    Console.WriteLine("You see a barn, a big tree, and a path through the woods.\n");
  }
}

CYA Code-Along 5