I'm currently working on a grid-based game in C where I have roads represented by dots ('.') and a player represented by 'P'. The goal is for the player to reach the destination ('G'). However, I'm facing a challenge in keeping the roads visible as the player moves through them.
Problem Description:
The grid is initialized with roads and borders, but the roads vanish when the player moves over them.
Despite my attempts to preserve road cells during player movement in the movePlayer function, the roads still disappear.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <ncurses.h>
#include "traffic.h"
void initializeGame(char **grid, int rows, int cols) {
int i, j; /* Declare loop control variables */
for (i = 0; i < rows; i++) {
for (j = 0; j < cols; j++) {
if (i == 0 || i == rows - 1 || j == 0 || j == cols - 1) {
grid[i][j] = '*'; /* Set border cells to "*" */
} else if ((i % 2 == 0) && (j > 0 && j < cols - 1)) {
grid[i][j] = '.'; /* Set road cells to "." on even rows */
} else {
grid[i][j] = ' '; /* Set other cells inside borders to empty */
}
}
}
/* Place the player at the top-left corner and the goal at the bottom-right corner */
grid[1][1] = 'P';
grid[rows - 2][cols - 2] = 'G';
}
/* Function to display the game grid with borders */
void displayGame(char **grid, int rows, int cols, int prevPlayerRow, int prevPlayerCol) {
int i, j; /* Declare loop control variables */
for (i = 0; i < rows; i++) {
for (j = 0; j < cols; j++) {
/* Move the cursor to the current cell */
move(i, j);
/* Print the content of the grid */
printw("%c", grid[i][j]);
}
}
mvprintw(rows, 0, "Press 'w' to move up");
mvprintw(rows + 1, 0, "Press 'a' to move left");
mvprintw(rows + 2, 0, "Press 's' to move down");
mvprintw(rows + 3, 0, "Press 'd' to move right");
refresh(); /* Refresh the screen using ncurses */
}
void movePlayer(char **grid, int rows, int cols, int move, int *win, int *prevPlayerRow, int *prevPlayerCol) {
int i, j, playerRow, playerCol; /* Declare loop control variables */
/* Find the current position of the player */
for (i = 0; i < rows; i++) {
for (j = 0; j < cols; j++) {
if (grid[i][j] == 'P') {
playerRow = i;
playerCol = j;
}
}
}
/* Clear the player's previous position */
grid[*prevPlayerRow][*prevPlayerCol] = ' ';
/* Move the player based on the user's input */
switch (move) {
case 'w':
if (playerRow > 1) {
playerRow--;
}
break;
case 'a':
if (playerCol > 1) {
playerCol--;
}
break;
case 's':
if (playerRow < rows - 2) {
playerRow++;
}
break;
case 'd':
if (playerCol < cols - 2) {
playerCol++;
}
break;
default:
/* Invalid move */
break;
}
/* Set the player's new position */
grid[playerRow][playerCol] = 'P';
/* Update the previous player position */
*prevPlayerRow = playerRow;
*prevPlayerCol = playerCol;
/* Check if the player reached the goal */
if (playerRow == rows - 2 && playerCol == cols - 2) {
*win = 1; /* Set win flag to 1 */
}
}
/* Main function, entry point of the program */
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
/* Check the number of command-line arguments */
if (argc != 3) {
printf("Usage: %s <map_row> <map_col>\n", argv[0]);
return 1;
}
/* Parse command-line arguments */
int mapRows = atoi(argv[1]);
int mapCols = atoi(argv[2]);
/* Check for valid map size */
if (mapRows < 3 || mapRows % 2 == 0 || mapCols < 5) {
printf("Invalid map size. Please ensure <map_row> is an odd number >= 3 and <map_col> is >= 5.\n");
return 1;
}
/* Dynamically allocate memory for the 2D char array */
char **gameGrid = (char **)malloc(mapRows * sizeof(char *));
int i; /* Declare loop control variable */
for (i = 0; i < mapRows; i++) {
gameGrid[i] = (char *)malloc(mapCols * sizeof(char));
}
/* Initialize the game grid with "*" and place the player and goal inside borders */
initializeGame(gameGrid, mapRows, mapCols);
initscr(); /* Initialize ncurses */
timeout(0); /* Set non-blocking input */
char move;
int win = 0; /* Win flag */
int prevPlayerRow = 1; /* Initialize with player's initial row */
int prevPlayerCol = 1; /* Initialize with player's initial column */
do {
/* Display the updated game grid with borders */
displayGame(gameGrid, mapRows, mapCols, prevPlayerRow, prevPlayerCol);
/* Get user input for player movement */
move = getch(); /* Get the key without waiting for 'Enter' */
/* Move the player based on user input */
movePlayer(gameGrid, mapRows, mapCols, move, &win, &prevPlayerRow, &prevPlayerCol);
/* Check if the player has won */
if (win) {
clear(); /* Clear the screen */
printw("Congratulations! You have cleared the level.\n");
printw("Press any key to exit.\n");
refresh(); /* Refresh the screen to display the message */
getch(); /* Wait for a key press before ending the program */
}
} while (move != 'q' && !win); /* Loop until the user enters 'q' or wins */
endwin(); /* End ncurses */
/* Free the dynamically allocated memory */
for (i = 0; i < mapRows; i++) {
free(gameGrid[i]);
}
free(gameGrid);
return 0; /* Properly reach the end of the main function */
}
What I have tried:
I've reviewed the movePlayer function to ensure that the road cells are not modified during player
I attempted to separate the logic for road cells and player movement but still face the disappearing roads issue.
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