Develop Reference

how do I get the mov function to work properly

So, I have this input command that's supposed to give the user unprompted input and if it's an invalid command to output 'input' is an invalid command. However, go north, west, etc. is a valid command but the code does not recognize it as so. Pls help :)
btw, player is a module that has a class in it for moving the player's location.
Code:
import world, tiles
from player import Player
game = "play"
while game == "play":
x = input()
y = " is not a valid command"
string = x + y
if x == "go north":
Player.go_north
if x == "go south":
Player.go_south
if x == "go east":
Player.go_east
if x == "go west":
Player.go_west
if x == "pick up":
print("pick up what?")
else:
print(string)

There seems to be a couple of things wrong potentially. First, Player.go_* are being referenced as attributes, but I expect they should be functions if they do something? Technically I guess they could be properties, but this feels like the wrong way to use them.
Second, I think your if/else logic is not what you want. You check for each direction, but even if it suceeds, it drops down to the next if statement. So what happens is at the last check, if it's not "pick up", it will always print the invalid command string. You either want every conditional to be part of a if/elif/else so that once it hits one, it skips the others, or you need to have a continue after any successful check, since if you find a match, you just want to continue with the loop.
So something like:
import world, tiles
from player import Player
player = Player()
game = "play"
while game == "play":
x = input()
y = " is not a valid command"
string = x + y
if x == "go north":
player.go_north()
elif x == "go south":
player.go_south()
elif x == "go east":
player.go_east()
elif x == "go west":
player.go_west()
elif x == "pick up":
print("pick up what?")
else:
print(string)

Python fill-in-the-blanks code

I am a programming beginner and I am trying to build a fill-in-the-blank quiz. I am almost finished but I am stuck on 2 problems I am not able to solve, whatever I do. I would really appreciate your help with this. Thank you for helping me with this!
If you try to run the code and play the game:
1) It prints the quiz according to the difficulty(easy-insane) and quiz you want to play(apple, bond and programming quiz) which is great but afterwards it prompts you to choose difficulty again (the player_level() function keeps going even though the player/user has already chosen the difficulty level. I don't really understand why it does it? The player_level() procedure seems perfectly okay and logical to me.
2) The errors:
a) local variable blanks_index referenced before assignment
b) global name list_of_answers is not defined.
I know that it is related to the initialize_game() function but I don't know how to change the code so it refers all the variables (blanks_index, answers_index, player_lives) correctly.
It could be solved by creating global variables(I guess) but that is not a good practice so I am trying to avoid it. Formerly, the whole function initialise_game() and play_game() were one function, but as there are over 25 lines of code in one function, it is not a good practice as it is long and messy and I know that I can separate it but I don't know how.
Here is the code:
"""3 diffferent quizzes : Apple quiz, James Bond quiz, Programming quiz"""
"""Quiz and answers about Apple"""
Apple_quiz = ("The most valuable company in terms of market cap in 2016 is, ___1___."
"It was founded in ___2___. Its flagship product is called ___3___."
"___1___ has many competitors, the biggest rival is ___4___,founded by"
" nobody but the richest man on the planet,___5___ ___6___.")
list_of_answers_Apple = ["Apple", "1976", "Iphone", "Microsoft", "Bill", "Gates"]
"""Quiz and answers about Bond"""
Bond_quiz = ("James Bond is agent ___1___. He serves his country,___2___ ___3___"
" against its enemies. His car of choice is usually ___4___ ___5___."
" His favorite drink is ___6___.")
list_of_answers_Bond = ["007", "United", "Kingdom", "Aston", "Martin", "Martini"]
"""Quiz and answers about programming basics"""
Programming_quiz = ("___1___ are created with the def keyword. ___1___ are also called ___2___"
" You specify the inputs a ___1___ take by adding ___3___ separated by commas"
" between the parentheses. ___3___ can be standard data types such as string, number"
" ,dictionary, tuple, and ___4___ or can be more complicated such as ___5___"
" and ___6___ functions.")
list_of_answers_Programming = ["Functions", "procedures", "arguments", "lists", "objects", "lambda"]
blank_space = ["___1___", "___2___", "___3___", "___4___", "___5___", "___6___]"]
#List of levels with corresponding lives/guesses that player can have
quiz_list = ["Apple", "Bond", "Programming"]
level_list = ["easy", "medium", "hard", "superhard", "insane"]
lives_easy = 5
lives_medium = 4
lives_hard = 3
lives_superhard = 2
lives_insane = 1
def choose_quiz():
""" Prompts player to pick a type of quiz and loads the quiz """
#Input = player_quiz (raw input from player)
#Output = loaded quiz, player chose
while True:
player_quiz = raw_input("Please, select a quiz you want to play: "
"(Apple, Bond or Programming): ")
if player_quiz == "Apple":
return Apple_quiz
elif player_quiz == "Bond":
return Bond_quiz
elif player_quiz == "Programming":
return Programming_quiz
else:
print "We don't have such quiz, pick again!"
def answers_for_quiz():
""" Loads appropiate answers to the quiz that player has chosen"""
#Input = player quiz (raw input from player)
#Output = loaded quiz answers from the quiz player chose
player_quiz_pick = choose_quiz()
if player_quiz_pick == Apple_quiz:
return list_of_answers_Apple
elif player_quiz_pick == Bond_quiz:
return list_of_answers_Bond
elif player_quiz_pick == Programming_quiz:
return list_of_answers_Programming
def player_level():
""" Loads a difficulty that player chooses """
#Input = player_level_input (raw input of player choosing a difficulty)
#Output = corresponding number of lives:
#Easy = 5 lives, Medium = 4 lives
#Hard = 3 lives, Superhard = 2 lives
#Insane = 1 life
while True:
player_level_input = raw_input("Please type in a difficulty level: "
"(easy, medium, hard, superhard, insane): ")
if player_level_input == "easy":
return lives_easy #Easy = 5 lives
elif player_level_input == "medium":
return lives_medium #Medium = 4 lives
elif player_level_input == "hard":
return lives_hard #Hard = 3 lives
elif player_level_input == "superhard":
return lives_superhard #Superhard = 2 lives
elif player_level_input == "insane":
return lives_insane #Insane = 1 life
else:
print "We do not have such difficulty! Pick again!"
def correct_answer(player_answer, list_of_answers, answers_index):
""" Checks, whether the the answer from player matches with the answer list. """
#Input: player_answer (raw input that player enters in order to fill in the blank)
#Output: "Right answer!" or "Wrong! Try again!" this output will be later used in the game
if player_answer == list_of_answers[answers_index]:
return "Right answer!"
return "Wrong! Try again!"
def initialize_game():
"""Functions that sets up a game so we can play it """
player_quiz_pick, player_level_pick, list_of_answers = choose_quiz(), player_level(), answers_for_quiz()
print player_quiz_pick
print "\nYou will get maximum " + str(player_level_pick) + " guesses for this game. Good luck.\n"
blanks_index, answers_index, player_lives = 0, 0, 0
#for elements in blank_space:
while blanks_index < len(blank_space):
player_answer = raw_input("Please type in your answer for " + blank_space[blanks_index] + ": ")
if correct_answer(player_answer,list_of_answers,answers_index) == "Right answer!":
print "Correct answer! Keep going!\n"
player_quiz_pick = player_quiz_pick.replace(blank_space[blanks_index],player_answer)
answers_index += 1
blanks_index += 1
print player_quiz_pick
if blanks_index == len(blank_space):
print "Congratulations! You nailed it! You are the winner!"
else:
player_level_pick -= 1
if player_level_pick == 0:
print "Game over! Maybe next time!"
break
else:
print "One life less, that sucks! Have another shot!"
print "You have " + str(player_level_pick) + " guesses left."
initialize_game()

Your main problem is that you keep calling the same functions over and over again and do not save the input into variables. Here are some tips about your code and questions:
You are not doing anything with your player_level() method call, so the player doesn't actually chooses a level in a way that affects the game. You should change the function call, so the returned value will be stored.
//the call to the method:
player_level_pick = player_level()
Afterwards, you keep calling the player_level() method, and not using the actual answer that the user supplied. Change all player_level() appearences to player_level_pick - the variable you use to save the answer (as I showed above). Same goes to all other unneeded function calls such as choose_level().
You should initialize number_of_guesses, player_lives, list_of_answers, and other vars to a matching value to player_level_pick as well, so it will hold the right value according to the level. Likewise, you should change this line:
# the line that checks if game is over
# change from:
if number_of_guesses == player_lives:
# to :
if number_of_guesses == 0:
In order to return multiple values, you have to use tuples. Using multiple return statements one after the other does not work anywhere.
so, instead of:
return list_of_answers
return number_of_guesses
return blanks_index
return answers_index
return player_lives
you should use tuples, and unpack them properly:
# the return statement:
return (list_of_answers, number_of_guesses, blanks_index, answers_index, player_lives)
# and the unpacking in the calling function:
list_of_answers, number_of_guesses, blanks_index, answers_index, player_lives = initialize_game()
this way, all of the returned values go into the wanted variables in the calling function. this way, you need to call the initialize_game() from play_game(). it will be the efficient way for you.
Just saying it again, as I said in the end of (4) - you should unit initialize_game() and play_game() into a single function (because a lot of data is the same needed data), or just call initialize_game() from play_game().
Better practice then using this recursivly: return choose_level(), you should use a while True: loop, and just brake when you get a proper answer.

Trying to return a boolean value from a function

I am trying to program a simple text based game. In order to do this, I am having the user go to three separate rooms to complete a task and receive a piece. In order to do this, I have a value set as False then, upon completion of the room, I have a return statement used to change the Boolean value to True. When all three room functions return a True, then I set that to open a function that progresses the game. As of know, however, the return does not take place, and thus the Boolean values remain unchanged.
Here is an example of one door function:
def door1(incomp1):
if incomp1 == False:
print 'You enter door 1 and find a hideous internet troll.'
print "The troll says, 'LOOK AT THIS LOSER'"
options = ["YOU'RE THE LOSER", "I don't care." , "YOUR MOM IS FAT"]
options2 = [1,2,3]
for x in options:
print "\t :> %s" % x
choice1 = raw_input("What is your response? :>")
if ('loser' in choice1) or ('fat' in choice1):
print "You are sucked into the troll's behaviour and are driven insane"
print "After three days of insanity, you starve to death"
dead()
elif 'care' in choice1:
print 'The troll cannot feed off of your anger.'
print 'The troll starves and you recover one piece of the lever from his stomach.'
change()
entrywayopen()
return incomp1 == True
else:
unknown()
change()
door1(incomp1)
elif incomp1 == True:
print 'You already recovered the piece from room 1.'
entrywayopen()
So, I have incomp1 already at a value of False when the function is called. The user must get the correct answer, in this case the elif statement. At the end, I have it to return incomp1 == True. Yet, the value remains unchanged. My endgame in this room strategy is to return a value of True for the statement if door1(incomp1) and door2(incomp2) and door3(incomp3):. What is causing the Boolean change in value to not be returned?

A little about Python boolean expressions:
every python expression can be evaluated as a boolean
None, False, 0, 0.0, empty strings, lists, tuples and dictionaries are False; most others objects are True
that means: instead of x == True you can usually just write x, in your case: if incomp1:
If you are executing a function and it finishes without hitting a return, a None will be returned implicitly. If you do a boolean comparison on it, it will evaluate as False.

You need to replace "return incomp1 == True" with just "return True". Then call the door1 function like this "incomp1 = door1(incomp1)".
This will change the value of incomp1 to the value returned by the function "True".
You can also replace "elif incomp1 == True:" with a simple "else".
You might also consider adding a .lower() to choice1 = raw_input("What is your response? :>"). This will make it so if the player uses a capital letter in the input it will still function as desired.
def door1(incomp1):
if incomp1 == False:
print 'You enter door 1 and find a hideous internet troll.'
print "The troll says, 'LOOK AT THIS LOSER'"
options = ["YOU'RE THE LOSER", "I don't care." , "YOUR MOM IS FAT"]
options2 = [1,2,3]
for x in options:
print "\t :> %s" % x
#choice1 = raw_input("What is your response? :>")
choice1 = raw_input("What is your response? :>").lower()
if ('loser' in choice1) or ('fat' in choice1):
print "You are sucked into the troll's behaviour and are driven insane"
print "After three days of insanity, you starve to death"
dead()
elif 'care' in choice1:
print 'The troll cannot feed off of your anger.'
print 'The troll starves and you recover one piece of the lever from his stomach.'
change()
entrywayopen()
return True
else:
unknown()
change()
door1(incomp1)
#elif incomp1 == True:
else:
print 'You already recovered the piece from room 1.'
entrywayopen()
incomp1 = door1(incomp1)

Beginner to Python - why the heck is my while loop not working?

I am trying to write a program for an assignment where you input a specific command and you can play Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock against the computer.
It was done and working until I realized that the assignment instructions wanted me to make it so that you keep playing the game until one person gets five wins.
So I thought, no big deals, let's throw in a while loop and some variables to track the wins. But when I run the program, it only runs once still. I don't know what I am doing wrong - as this should work. This is my first time working with Python (version 3.3) and this IDE, so I really need some help. Usually I'd just debug but I can't figure out how to work the one in this IDE.
Here is my code. The trouble while-loop is at the way bottom. I am nearly positive everything inside the class works. I would like to note that I already tried while(computerWins < 5 and userWins < 5), so I don't think the condition is the problem.
import random
computerWins = 0
userWins = 0
print ('SELECTION KEY:\nRock = r\nPaper = p\nScissors = sc\nLizard = l\nSpock = sp')
class rockPaperScissorsLizardSpock:
#Two methods for converting from strings to numbers
#convert name to number using if/elif/else
#also converts abbreviated versions of the name
def convertName(name):
if(name == 'rock' or name == 'r'):
return 0
elif(name == 'Spock' or name == 'sp'):
return 1
elif(name == 'paper' or name == 'p'):
return 2
elif(name == 'lizard' or name == 'l'):
return 3
elif(name == 'scissors' or name == 'sc'):
return 4
else:
print ('Error: Invalid name')
#convert number to a name using if/elif/else
def convertNum(number):
if(number == 0):
return 'rock'
elif(number == 1):
return 'Spock'
elif(number == 2):
return 'paper'
elif(number == 3):
return 'lizard'
elif(number == 4):
return 'scissors'
else:
print ('Error: Invalid number')
#User selects an option, and their selection is saved in the 'choice' variable
#Using a while loop so that the user cannot input something other than one of the legal options
prompt = True
while(prompt):
i = input('\nEnter your selection: ')
if(i=='r' or i=='p' or i=='sc' or i=='l' or i=='sp'):
prompt = False
else:
print('Invalid input.')
prompt = True
#Convert the user's selection first to a number and then to its full string
userNum = convertName(i)
userChoice = convertNum(userNum)
#Generate random guess for the computer's choice using random.randrange()
compNum = random.randrange(0, 4)
#Convert the computer's choice to a string
compChoice = convertNum(compNum)
print ('You chose', userChoice)
print ('The computer has chosen', compChoice)
#Determine the difference between the players' number selections
difference = (compNum - userNum) % 5
#Use 'difference' to determine who the winner of the round is
if(difference == 1 or difference == 2):
print ('The computer wins this round.')
computerWins = computerWins+1
elif (difference == 4 or difference == 3):
print ('You win this round!')
userWins = userWins+1
elif(difference == 0):
print ('This round ended up being a tie.')
#Plays the game until someone has won five times
while(computerWins != 5 and userWins != 5):
rockPaperScissorsLizardSpock()
if(computerWins == 5 and userWins != 5):
print ('The computer wins.')
elif(computerWins != 5 and userWins == 5):
print ('You win!')

The essential problem is that rockpaperscissorslizardspock is a class, where you expect it to be a function. The code inside it runs exactly once, when the whole class definition is parsed, rather than each time you call the class as you seem to expect.
You could put the relevant code into an __init__ method - this is a fairly direct analogue of a Java constructor, and hence is is run each time you call the class. But in this case, you probably don't need it to be in a class at all - calling the class creates a new instance (like doing new MyClass() in Java), which you don't use. You would also in this case (or if you made it into a function) need to make some more modifications to make sure the game state persists properly.
The easiest actual solution is to:
delete the line class rockpaperscissorslizardspock: (and unindent everything below it)
Take all the code that was under the class but not in a function - everything from the player makes a selection to determining the winner of the round - and paste it in place of the call to rockpaperscissorslizardspock() in the bottom loop.

The first thing is that you are using a class where you should probably be using a function.
Your code initially runs because python is loading the class.
However, the line rockPaperScissorsLizardSpock() is creating new anonymous instances of your class which calls a constructor that you haven't defined so it does nothing.
One of the interesting things about python is that it allows nested functions so if you change the class to a def you're almost there.
After that, you'll run into trouble with global variables in a local context. That problem is already explained in another StackOverflow question: Using global variables in a function other than the one that created them.

Here is my suggestion for the skeleton to a more simple solution. Use some ideas from here if you like.
import random
legal_shapes = ['r', 'p', 'sc', 'sp', 'l']
scoreboard = [0, 0]
print('SELECTION KEY:\nRock = r\nPaper = p\nScissors = sc\nLizard = l\n'
'Spock = sp')
while(max(scoreboard) < 5):
print("\nScore is {}-{}".format(*scoreboard))
# pick shapes
p1_shape = input('Enter your selection: ')
if p1_shape not in legal_shapes:
print('Not legal selection!')
continue
p2_shape = random.choice(legal_shapes)
print('\np1 plays {} and p2 plays {}'.format(
p1_shape.upper(), p2_shape.upper()))
# determine int values and result indicator
p1_shape_int = legal_shapes.index(p1_shape)
p2_shape_int = legal_shapes.index(p2_shape)
res = (p1_shape_int - p2_shape_int) % 5
if res != 0:
res = abs((res % 2) - 2)
# Print winner
if res == 0:
print(' -> Draw!!')
else:
print(' -> p{} wins'.format(res))
scoreboard[res-1] += 1
print("\nThe game is over!!")
print("p{} won with score {}-{}".format(res, *scoreboard))
It outputs something like
(env)➜ tmp python3 rsp.py
SELECTION KEY:
Rock = r
Paper = p
Scissors = sc
Lizard = l
Spock = sp
Score is 0-0
Enter your selection: T
Not legal selection!
Score is 0-0
Enter your selection: l
p1 plays L and p2 plays SP
-> p2 wins
Score is 0-1
Enter your selection: l
p1 plays L and p2 plays SC
-> p2 wins
...
The game is over!!
p2 won with score 2-5

text based game in python

heres my code
direction = 0
while direction != ("quit"):
direction = input("> ")
if direction[0:4] != "quit" and direction != "go north" and direction != "go south" and direction != "go east" and direction != "go west" and direction != "go up" and direction != "go down" and direction[0:4] != "look":
if direction[0:2] == "go" and direction[3:] == (""):
print("please tell me more")
else:
print("huh?")
elif direction[0:1] == "go" and direction != "north" and direction != "south" and direction != "east" and direction != "west" and direction != "up" and direction != "down":
print ("please tell me more")
elif direction[0:4] == "quit":
print ("OK ... but a small part of you may never leave until you have personally saved Muirfieland from the clutches of evil .. Bwahahahahahah (sinister laugh).")
elif direction[0:4] == "look":
print ("You see nothing but endless void stretching off in all directions ...")
else:
print ("You wander of in the direction of " + direction)
im trying to add this into my code
if the first word is recognised but the second is not, it will respond with :
"sorry, im afraid i cant do that"
im just having troubles getting that one bit into my code, any help will be appreciated thanks.

So quick analysis... You're making text parser which works as following:
Get first word of "command", if we don't know word user used invalid input -> inform and restart
If user used known "command", parse its arguments (like: go north, go south) and let "nested" function take care of argument
Note that "main parsing function" doesn't need to know whether arguments for go() are valid, it just delegates responsibility for validation to go().
So I think you should build code (class) like this:
class Game:
# Initialize internal variables, method automatically called on g = Game()
def __init__(self):
self._exit = False
# Array of known commands, used in run, basically maps commands
# to function and it says: if will get 'go' execute self._go
self._commands = {
'go': self._go,
'quit': self._quit
}
# Array of go sub commands, used by _go
self._commands_go = {
'north': self._go_north
# ...
}
# Mathod for parsing command, if it gets "comamnd" returns ("command",None)
# if "command arg1 arg2" returns ("command", "arg1 arg2")
#staticmethod
def parse_command(string):
string = str(string)
index = string.find(' ')
if index < 0:
return (string, None)
return (string[:index], string[index+1:])
# This is main method; the only one which should be called from outside
# It will just read data from input in never ending loop and parse commands
def run(self):
while not self._exit:
src = input('> ')
(command,args) = Game.parse_command( src)
# Do we have this command, execute it
if command in self._commands:
self._commands[command](args)
else:
print( 'I\'m sorry I don\'t known command {}, try one of these:'.format(command))
print( '\n'.join( self._commands.keys()))
#######################################################
# All game commands go here
#######################################################
def _quit(self,args):
self._exit = True
print( 'Bye bye')
# Movement handling, will get executed when user types 'go ...' nad '...' will be in arg
def _go(self,args):
# No argument
if args is None:
print( 'Go excepts one of these:', '; '.join( self._commands_go.keys()))
return False
# Split sub command anr arguments
(command,args) = Game.parse_command(args)
if command not in self._commands_go:
print( 'Go excepts one of these:', '; '.join( self._commands_go.keys()))
return False
if args is not None:
print( 'Too many arguments for go')
return False
self._commands_go[command](args)
return True
# Go north
def _go_north(self, args):
print( 'Going north')
game = Game()
game.run()
Which would allow you to:
build complex nested commands
build nice and readable commands hierarchy (inventory item 123 update use potion 345) instead of hardly readable set of complex conditions
build function aliases go north can be aliased as gn by adding 'gn': self._go_north to _commands
build reusable arguments parsing (item_id, action, args) = self._parse_item_action(args)
take advantages of object oriented programming (no global variables, everything will be class attribute, lower risk of accidental variables overwriting)
And if you need to parse goasdf as go you can just simply:
for i in self._commands:
if input.startswirh( i):
return self._commands[i](...)
print('Invalid command')
return False
Note: I haven't tested the code, it's just out of my head.

Your code looks quite confusing to me, here is just a simpler version of your code:
flag = 0
count = 0
direction = 0
while direction != ("quit"):
direction = input("> ")
count += 1
if recognised and count == 1: # word is recognised
flag = 1
print "whatever you want..."
elif (not recognised) and count == 2 and flag == 1:
flag = 0
print "sorry, im afraid i cant do that"
else:
flag = 1
print "second is recognised or whatever you want..."
In my code, I've set a flag if first guess is recognised and incremented the count also. On second guess, I'm just checking the flag and count's value.

Not very relative with your code but, When you could instead get the user input, split it so it turns into a list and compare the first word then the second so it could be something like
user = user_input("> ")
user = user.split()
if user[0] == "look"
if user[1] == "left"
do something
if user[1] == "right"
do something
else
print ("sorry, im afraid i cant do that")
Not sure if this is what your looking for though

Simply, I think you need to learn more code to make things a lot easier for yourself here, though maybe classes are a bit much, and I don't mean this in an insulting way.
As a simple start, I'd suggest using the in keyword rather than ==.
For example:
if "north" in direction:
do something
This will "do something" if the input is North, NORTH, go North, go north please and so on.
To solve your issue therefore your code could use something like this:
input = ("> ")
if "go" in input and not ("north" in input and "south" in input...):
print "That is not a direction you can go in."
And so on. The "and not (...)" section can be rewritten much neater but I wrote it as-is to show what is happening easier.
truthcase = None
directions = ["north", "south", ...]
for i in directions:
if i not in input:
continue
else:
truthcase = True
truthcase = False
if "go" in input and not truthcase:
print something
Hopefully this helps.