Now this is a sample! We let you play games and give you source code.
What more could you possibly want. What...what was that from the back?
You want a description of how it works. You guys are never satisfied.
Okay, here's a quick run down of the highlights:
The first step is we need a way to store the information from page to page (without the player
being able to see it!). So we decided to use Session variables.
Unfortunately, they're not the fastest thing around, so we read them into variables at the
beginning of the page and write them back out at the end. Everywhere in between we use standard
page-scoped variables.
Next, we're actually using some functions in this sample. We've got some tight loops to do and
wanted a little more abstraction than usual since the code is longer and a little less clear
than our average sample page.
The functions are declared at the top of the page. I know this is a little bit of a touchy
subject with some asp scripters. Many like functions at the bottom, others say they should
be put in include files for reuse. Well I've always said, you don't use a function till after
you've defined it, so at the top they go. (The include file point is a good one, but for a
sample, ASP 101's framework wouldn't let you see the code if I did that, so naturally we don't.)
The game logic goes something like this:
1. If you don't pass the page a letter, it assumes you want a new game.
2. A new game gets a random word from the file, resets the variables, and generates an empty guess.
3. When the player chooses a letter, it's checked against the secret word and the appropriate changes are made to the players guess word.
4. If the letter is not in the secret word, we add one to the deadness variable.
5. We check to see if the players dead yet.
6. If they're not, then we check their guess word against the secret word.
7. If they match, the player wins.
8. If they make it to this step, let them guess another letter and go back to step 3.
Besides the functions there are basically 6 logical sections to the code in the page:
1. Declare and retrieve the variables from the Session Object and QueryString.
2. Based on if a letter is given, either set up a new game or check for the guessed letter.
3. Display the gallows based on death level.
4. Display the current guess word.
5. Check to see if dead or if the word is right, and output proper message.
6. Place important variable back into the Session Object.
As always, if you want a better idea of what's going on, check out the code!
Update: Someone suggested we should provide a link to a zip of all the images.
So here it is. To download a 25kb zip file containing the images click here.
