[VB.net]Random events

[Cush]

Hey.

Im working on a small turn-based game with VB.net, but im having a bit of trouble. Basically I want to make it so there's a chance that one of quite a few random events happen when the player starts their next turn (And some events have a higher chance than others)

I'm wondering if there's a way to set this up without making a very large mess of arrays and variables. Kind of struggling to learn much new in VB, seems to be the same thing that happened with C++...I learned the basics, and how to do quite a bit of simple stuff, then everything past that is just confusing and I cant seem to find anywhere that explains it in a way I understand.

*EDIT*

Ack, sorry

[Apoc]

The easiest way to do it, would be via reflection, and a good usage of OOP.

Create a base 'GameEvent' class that has all the important info you need.

Eg;
ChanceToExecute (double/float/w.e)
Priority (whatever datatype you want here)
CanExecute (bool, to see if the event is allowed [good for checking for certain conditions])
Execute()

Pretty much; a randomized FSM implementation.

Excuse the C# code (just run it through a converter or something)

After loading all your 'GameEvent's, you can use something similar to this:

    public abstract class GameEvent
    {
        public abstract float ChanceToExecute { get; }
        public abstract int Priority { get; }
        public abstract bool CanExecute { get; }
        public abstract void Execute();
    }

    public class GameEventEngine
    {
        List<GameEvent> _events = new List<GameEvent>();
        Random _rand = new Random();
        public GameEvent GetNextEvent()
        {
            double randPct = _rand.NextDouble();
            int randPriority = _rand.Next(0, 101);
            foreach (GameEvent e in _events)
            {
                
                if (e.Priority > randPriority && e.ChanceToExecute > randPct && e.CanExecute)
                {
                    return e;
                }
            }

            // If percent based event grabbing fails, just randomize selection until we get something we can execute.
            GameEvent ev = _events[_rand.Next(0, _events.Count)];
            while (!ev.CanExecute)
                ev = _events[_rand.Next(0, _events.Count)];
            return ev;
        }

Obviously, none of the code to load/prioritize things properly is there. (I have a thread about it in the C# section [it's for an FSM engine])

Just derive new events from the GameEvent class, and there ya go.

[ReidE96]

Public MustInherit Class GameEvent
    Public MustOverride ReadOnly Property ChanceToExecute() As Single
    Public MustOverride ReadOnly Property Priority() As Integer
    Public MustOverride ReadOnly Property CanExecute() As Boolean
    Public MustOverride Sub Execute()
End Class

Public Class GameEventEngine
    Private _events As New List(Of GameEvent)()
    Private _rand As New Random()
    Public Function GetNextEvent() As GameEvent
        Dim randPct As Double = _rand.NextDouble()
        Dim randPriority As Integer = _rand.[Next](0, 101)
        For Each e As GameEvent In _events
            
            If e.Priority > randPriority AndAlso e.ChanceToExecute > randPct AndAlso e.CanExecute Then
                Return e
            End If
        Next
        
        ' If percent based event grabbing fails, just randomize selection until we get something we can execute.
        Dim ev As GameEvent = _events(_rand.[Next](0, _events.Count))
        While Not ev.CanExecute
            ev = _events(_rand.[Next](0, _events.Count))
        End While
        Return ev
    End Function
End Class

Automagic translation.

[Cush]

Wow, that just shows me how little I have actually progressed in VB.net :P I dont really understand most of it. Im stuck as to how to learn and understand how to create code like that, too.

Ill have a mess about with it and see what I can come up with anyway, thanks.