Programming Forums > Script Programming > Python

clanotheduck · Sep 25th, 2005, 11:38 AM

Is there anyway for this to happen?

At the moment, I am working on a little text adventure. I have also recently discovered the joy of functions, but they have one problem; they can't return a value for a global variable!

The following code is a test for a question system I am making for my text adventure game.

At the moment, I want my function to give a value for "answer".

(Toggle Plain Text)

inventory = [ "cat" , "gun" , "wallet" , "condom" ]

answer = 0


def questions(q,ansone,anstwo,ansoneres,anstwores,ansunknown):
    questionloop = 0
    while questionloop != 3:
        ans = raw_input(q)
        if ans == "inven":
            print inventory
        elif ans == ansone:
            print ansoneres
            questionloop = 3
            answer = 1
        elif ans == anstwo:
            print anstwores
            questionloop = 3
            answer = 2
        else:
            print ansunknown
       

questions("Where is my cat?! :","dead","alive","NOOOOOOOO!","THANK GOD!","WTF?!")

if answer == 1:
    print " answer equals 1, the story will continue with this path."
elif answer == 2:
    print " answer equals 2, the story will continue with this path."
else:
    print "no one is going to ever see this text. HAHAHAHAHA!"

And obviously, I always get the text no one will ever see.

Can anyone help me out here?

clanotheduck · Sep 25th, 2005, 11:40 AM

I have no idea why this forum made a space in my local variable "ansuknown"

Cerulean · Sep 25th, 2005, 12:55 PM

Quote:

they can't return a value for a global variable!

Sure they can, but you're not returning a value. You're trying to set the value of a global variable in your function. Python can also do this, but you need to use the global keyword in your function to tell Python that you're referring a global "answer" variable, not a local one that you just created, so your function would be:

(Toggle Plain Text)

def questions(q,ansone,anstwo,ansoneres,anstwores,ansunknown):
    global answer
    questionloop = 0
    while questionloop != 3:
        ans = raw_input(q)
        if ans == "inven":
            print inventory
        elif ans == ansone:
            print ansoneres
            questionloop = 3
            answer = 1
        elif ans == anstwo:
            print anstwores
            questionloop = 3
            answer = 2
        else:
            print ansunknown

With that said, you should be returning a value from the function, not setting a global variable and checking it from somewhere else - that will get very messy and very difficult to maintain. You want to be returning a value from the function:

(Toggle Plain Text)

inventory = [ "cat" , "gun" , "wallet" , "condom" ]

def questions(q, ansone, anstwo, ansoneres, anstwores, ansunknown):
    questionloop = 0
    while questionloop != 3:
        ans = raw_input(q)
        if ans == "inven":
            print inventory
        elif ans == ansone:
            print ansoneres
            questionloop = 3
            return 1
        elif ans == anstwo:
            print anstwores
            questionloop = 3
            return 2
        else:
            print ansunknown

answer = questions("Where is my cat?! :", "dead", "alive", "NOOOOOOOO!", "THANK GOD!", "WTF?!")
...

clanotheduck · Sep 25th, 2005, 1:06 PM

oh wow, thanks a bunch!

Arevos · Sep 25th, 2005, 1:56 PM

If you're interested, here's a small piece of sample code for part of an adventure game. If you run this code you'll be given a prompt. "inventory" shows your inventory, "look hat/stick" looks at the specific items, and "quit" quits the program. More items and verbs can easily be added.

If you want me to, I'll give you a step-by-step run down of what it all means.

(Toggle Plain Text)

class Item:
   def __init__(self, name, description):
      self.name = name
      self.description = description

inventory = [ 
      Item("hat", "A battered green hat"),
      Item("stick", "A sturdy walking stick")
]

def a_an(word):
   if word[0] in "aeiou":
      return "an " + word
   else:
      return "a " + word

def view_inventory():
   for item in inventory:
      print a_an(item.name)

def look_at_item(name):
   matching_items = [item for item in inventory if item.name == name]
   first_item = matching_items[0]
   print first_item.description

verbs = {
   'inventory' : view_inventory,
   'look' : look_at_item
}

input = ""
while True:
   input = raw_input("> ")

   if input == "quit":
      break

   words = input.split()
   first_word = words[0]
   other_words = words[1:]

   try:
      verbs[first_word](*other_words)
   except TypeError:
      print "I don't know what you mean."
   except KeyError:
      print "I don't know what you mean."

Sep 25th, 2005, 11:38 AM	#1
clanotheduck Newbie Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Can a function give a global variable a value? Is there anyway for this to happen? At the moment, I am working on a little text adventure. I have also recently discovered the joy of functions, but they have one problem; they can't return a value for a global variable! The following code is a test for a question system I am making for my text adventure game. At the moment, I want my function to give a value for "answer". (Toggle Plain Text) inventory = [ "cat" , "gun" , "wallet" , "condom" ] answer = 0 def questions(q,ansone,anstwo,ansoneres,anstwores,ansunknown): questionloop = 0 while questionloop != 3: ans = raw_input(q) if ans == "inven": print inventory elif ans == ansone: print ansoneres questionloop = 3 answer = 1 elif ans == anstwo: print anstwores questionloop = 3 answer = 2 else: print ansunknown questions("Where is my cat?! :","dead","alive","NOOOOOOOO!","THANK GOD!","WTF?!") if answer == 1: print " answer equals 1, the story will continue with this path." elif answer == 2: print " answer equals 2, the story will continue with this path." else: print "no one is going to ever see this text. HAHAHAHAHA!" inventory = [ "cat" , "gun" , "wallet" , "condom" ] answer = 0 def questions(q,ansone,anstwo,ansoneres,anstwores,ansunknown): questionloop = 0 while questionloop != 3: ans = raw_input(q) if ans == "inven": print inventory elif ans == ansone: print ansoneres questionloop = 3 answer = 1 elif ans == anstwo: print anstwores questionloop = 3 answer = 2 else: print ansunknown questions("Where is my cat?! :","dead","alive","NOOOOOOOO!","THANK GOD!","WTF?!") if answer == 1: print " answer equals 1, the story will continue with this path." elif answer == 2: print " answer equals 2, the story will continue with this path." else: print "no one is going to ever see this text. HAHAHAHAHA!" And obviously, I always get the text no one will ever see. Can anyone help me out here?

Sep 25th, 2005, 1:56 PM	#5
Arevos Programming Guru Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: England Posts: 1,499 Rep Power: 5	If you're interested, here's a small piece of sample code for part of an adventure game. If you run this code you'll be given a prompt. "inventory" shows your inventory, "look hat/stick" looks at the specific items, and "quit" quits the program. More items and verbs can easily be added. If you want me to, I'll give you a step-by-step run down of what it all means. (Toggle Plain Text) class Item: def __init__(self, name, description): self.name = name self.description = description inventory = [ Item("hat", "A battered green hat"), Item("stick", "A sturdy walking stick") ] def a_an(word): if word[0] in "aeiou": return "an " + word else: return "a " + word def view_inventory(): for item in inventory: print a_an(item.name) def look_at_item(name): matching_items = [item for item in inventory if item.name == name] first_item = matching_items[0] print first_item.description verbs = { 'inventory' : view_inventory, 'look' : look_at_item } input = "" while True: input = raw_input("> ") if input == "quit": break words = input.split() first_word = words[0] other_words = words[1:] try: verbs[first_word](other_words) except TypeError: print "I don't know what you mean." except KeyError: print "I don't know what you mean." class Item: def __init__(self, name, description): self.name = name self.description = description inventory = [ Item("hat", "A battered green hat"), Item("stick", "A sturdy walking stick") ] def a_an(word): if word[0] in "aeiou": return "an " + word else: return "a " + word def view_inventory(): for item in inventory: print a_an(item.name) def look_at_item(name): matching_items = [item for item in inventory if item.name == name] first_item = matching_items[0] print first_item.description verbs = { 'inventory' : view_inventory, 'look' : look_at_item } input = "" while True: input = raw_input("> ") if input == "quit": break words = input.split() first_word = words[0] other_words = words[1:] try: verbs[first_word](other_words) except TypeError: print "I don't know what you mean." except KeyError: print "I don't know what you mean."

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Sep 25th, 2005, 11:40 AM	#2
clanotheduck Newbie Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	I have no idea why this forum made a space in my local variable "ansuknown"

Sep 25th, 2005, 1:06 PM	#4
clanotheduck Newbie Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	oh wow, thanks a bunch!

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Programming Forums > Script Programming > Python

Can a function give a global variable a value?