Building the Really Really Really Simple RogueLike V0.1 With C#

Want to build a Roguelike game with C# in 5 minutes? The following is a really quick game I built in about 2 hours and shows how easy it is to get a simple game going.

Really Really Really Simple Roguelike V0.1

Want to build a Roguelike game with C# in 5 minutes? The following is a really quick game I built in about 2 hours and shows how easy it is to get a simple game going.

Its a very very very simple game - all you do is pickup a sword before the monster gets to you and you win. Obviously, if the monster gets to you first - well you can work out the ending.

What do you need?

C# on Visual Studio 2005/2008 or 2010. Any version should be fine as long as you can create a console application.

Now we are going to add the following into 1 file in Visual Studio; rather than using multiple files and whilst this is not the best practice for a serious application, we are doing this to keep things really simple, and to display the entire application on a few pages of paper.
Here we go.

1. Start Visual Studio 2010
2. File->New Project
3. Select the Windows->Console Application
4. Name the Project ReallyReallyRealySimpleRogueLike and click OK
5. Right click on References->Add Reference...
6. Click on Assemblies then Framework and select System.Drawing
7. At the top of Program.cs insert the following line using System.Drawing;
8. Replace the program class with the following:
   
   class ReallyReallyReallySimpleRogueLike
       {
           static void Main(string[] args)
           {
               Dungeon dungeon = new Dungeon(Constants.DungeonWidth, Constants.DungeonHeight);
               string displayText = Constants.IntroductionText;

               while (dungeon.IsGameActive)
               {
                   dungeon.DrawToConsole();
                   Console.WriteLine(displayText);
                   Console.Write(Constants.CursorImage);
                   displayText = dungeon.ExecuteCommand(Console.ReadKey());
               }

               Console.WriteLine(ConcludeGame(dungeon));
               Console.ReadLine();
           }

           private static string ConcludeGame(Dungeon dungeon)
           {
               return (dungeon.player.Hits > 0) ? Constants.PlayerWinsText : Constants.MonsterWinsText;
           }
       } 
    

9. Now add the following class:
   
   class Dungeon
       {
           Random r;
           public Player player;
           List monsters;
           List swords;
           List walls;

           public Tile[,] Tiles;
           private int xMax;
           private int yMax;
           public enum Direction
           {
               North,
               South,
               East,
               West
           }

           public bool IsGameActive
           {

               get
               {
                   return (player.Hits > 0 && monsters.Any(m => m.Hits > 0));
               }
           }

           public Dungeon(int xMax, int yMax)
           {
               monsters = new List();
               walls = new List();
               swords = new List();

               this.xMax = xMax;
               this.yMax = yMax;
               Tiles = new Tile[xMax, yMax];
               BuildRandomDungeon();
               SetDungeonTiles();
           }

           public string ExecuteCommand(ConsoleKeyInfo command)
           {
               string commandResult = ProcessCommand(command);
               ProcessMonsters();
               SetDungeonTiles();

               return commandResult;
           }

           private void ProcessMonsters()
           {
               if (monsters != null && monsters.Count > 0)
               {
                   monsters.Where(m => m.Hits >= 0).ToList().ForEach(m =>
                   {
                       MoveMonsterToPlayer(m);
                   });
               }
           }

           private void BuildRandomDungeon()
   {
   r = new Random();
   SetAllDungeonSquaresToTiles();

   for (int i = 0; i < xMax; i++)
   {
   Wall top = new Wall(i, 0);
   walls.Add(top);
   Wall bottom = new Wall(i, yMax - 1);
   walls.Add(bottom);
   }

   for (int i = 0; i < yMax; i++)
   {
   Wall left = new Wall(0, i);
   walls.Add(left);
   Wall right = new Wall(xMax - 1, i);
   walls.Add(right);
   }

   for (int i = 0; i < Constants.NumberOfSwords; i++)
   {
   Sword s = new Sword(GetValidRandomPoint());
   swords.Add(s);
   }

   for (int i = 0; i 0 && monster.X player.X) ? -1 : 1;

   if ((monster.Y > 0 && monster.Y player.Y) ? -1 : 1;

   if (!IsInvalidValidMove(move.X, move.Y))
   {
   monster.X = move.X;
   monster.Y = move.Y;
   }

   if (monster.X == player.X && monster.Y == player.Y)
   ResolveCombat(monster);
   }

           private void ResolveCombat(Monster monster)
           {
               if (player.Inventory.Any())
                   monster.Die();
               else
                   player.Die();
           }
    
           public string ProcessCommand(ConsoleKeyInfo command)
           {
    
               string output = string.Empty;
               switch (command.Key)
               {
                   case ConsoleKey.UpArrow:
                   case ConsoleKey.DownArrow:
                   case ConsoleKey.RightArrow:
                   case ConsoleKey.LeftArrow:
                       output = GetNewLocation(command, new Point(player.X, player.Y));
                       break;
                   case ConsoleKey.F1:
                       output = Constants.NoHelpText;
                       break;
               }
    
               return output;
           }

           private string GetNewLocation(ConsoleKeyInfo command, Point move)
           {
               switch (command.Key)
               {
                   case ConsoleKey.UpArrow:
                       move.Y -= 1;
                       break;
                   case ConsoleKey.DownArrow:
                       move.Y += 1;
                       break;
                   case ConsoleKey.RightArrow:
                       move.X += 1;
                       break;
                   case ConsoleKey.LeftArrow:
                       move.X -= 1;
                       break;
               }

               if (!IsInvalidValidMove(move.X, move.Y))
               {
                   player.X = move.X;
                   player.Y = move.Y;
                   if (Tiles[move.X, move.Y] is Sword && player.Inventory.Count == 0)
                   {
                       Sword sword = (Sword)Tiles[move.X, move.Y];
                       player.Inventory.Add(sword);
                       swords.Remove(sword);
                   }
                   return Constants.OKCommandText;
               }
               else
                   return Constants.InvalidMoveText;
           }

           public bool IsInvalidValidMove(int x, int y)
           {
               return (x == 0 || x == Constants.DungeonWidth - 1 || y == Constants.DungeonHeight - 1 || y == 0);
           }

           public void SetDungeonTiles()
           {
               //Draw the empty dungeon
               SetAllDungeonSquaresToTiles();

               SetAllDungeonObjectsToTiles();
           }

           private void SetAllDungeonObjectsToTiles()
           {
               //Now draw each of the parts of the dungeon
               walls.ForEach(w => Tiles[w.X, w.Y] = w);
               swords.ForEach(s => Tiles[s.X, s.Y] = s);
               monsters.ForEach(m => Tiles[m.X, m.Y] = m);
               Tiles[player.X, player.Y] = player;
           }

           private void SetAllDungeonSquaresToTiles()
           {

               for (int i = 0; i < yMax; i++)
               {
                   for (int j = 0; j < xMax; j++)
                   {
                       Tiles[j, i] = new Tile(i, j);
                   }
               }
           }

           public void DrawToConsole()
           {
               Console.Clear();
               for (int i = 0; i < yMax; i++)
               {
                   for (int j = 0; j < xMax; j++)
                   {
                       Console.ForegroundColor = Tiles[j, i].Color;
                       Console.Write(Tiles[j, i].ImageCharacter);
                   }
                   Console.WriteLine();
               }
           }
       }
    

10. Now underneath, add the following code for the Tile, Wall and Sword classes:
    
    public class Tile
        {
            public string name { get; set; }
            public string ImageCharacter { get; set; }
            public ConsoleColor Color { get; set; }
            public int X { get; set; }
            public int Y { get; set; }

            public Tile() { }

            public Tile(int x, int y)
                : base()
            {
                this.X = x;
                this.Y = y;
                ImageCharacter = Constants.TileImage;
                Color = Constants.TileColor;
            }
        }

        public class Wall : Tile
        {
            public Wall(int x, int y)
                : base(x, y)
            {
                ImageCharacter = Constants.WallImage;
                this.Color = Constants.WallColor;
            }
        }

        public class Sword : Tile
        {
            public Sword(Point p)
            {
                ImageCharacter = Constants.SwordImage;
                this.Color = Constants.SwordColor;
                X = p.X;
                Y = p.Y;
            }
        } 
     

11. Now add the classes you need for the various creatures:
    
    public class Creature : Tile
        {
            public int Hits { get; set; }

            public void Die()
            {
                Hits = 0;
            }
        }

        public class Player : Creature
        {
            public Player(Point p)
            {
                ImageCharacter = Constants.PlayerImage;
                Color = Constants.PlayerColor;
                Inventory = new List();
                X = p.X;
                Y = p.Y;
                Hits = Constants.StartingHitPoints;
            }

            public List Inventory { get; set; }
        }

        public class Monster : Creature
        {
            public Monster(Point p)
            {
                ImageCharacter = Constants.MonsterImage;
                Color = Constants.MonsterColor;
                X = p.X;
                Y = p.Y;
                Hits = Constants.StartingHitPoints;
            }
        }
     

12. Now add the following class for all our constants:
    
        public static class Constants
        {
            public readonly static int DungeonHeight = 20;
            public readonly static int DungeonWidth = 20;
            public readonly static int NumberOfSwords = 5;
            public readonly static int MonsterDamage = 2;
            public readonly static int NumberOfMonsters = 1;
            public readonly static int StartingHitPoints = 10;

            public readonly static string TileImage = ".";
            public readonly static string WallImage = "#";
            public readonly static string PlayerImage = "@";
            public readonly static string SwordImage = "s";
            public readonly static string StepsImage = "S";
            public readonly static string MonsterImage = "M";
            public readonly static string CursorImage = ">";

            public readonly static ConsoleColor MonsterColor = ConsoleColor.Blue;
            public readonly static ConsoleColor PlayerColor = ConsoleColor.Gray;
            public readonly static ConsoleColor WallColor = ConsoleColor.DarkCyan;
            public readonly static ConsoleColor SwordColor = ConsoleColor.Yellow;
            public readonly static ConsoleColor TileColor = ConsoleColor.White;

            public readonly static string InvalidCommandText = "That is not a valid command";
            public readonly static string OKCommandText = "OK";
            public readonly static string InvalidMoveText = "That is not a valid move";
            public readonly static string IntroductionText = "Welcome to the dungeon - grab a sword kill the monster(s) win the game";
            public readonly static string PlayerWinsText = "Player kills monster and wins";
            public readonly static string MonsterWinsText = "Monster kills player and wins";
            public readonly static string NoHelpText = "No help text";
        }
     

13. Compile and Run this and you should see something like:
    
    
    

Next Time.

Next time I will present the first iteration of the program and we'll see some nice improvements.