UPDATE: This program is well, bad. There are so many glitches, bugs and errors. I don't recommend getting a lot of inspiration or ideas from this repo. I started on another text RPG with saving, better programming, a GUI, possible multiplayer and a much better file structure, though currently work on it is slow because I have not had the motivation. I am not great at stories. I have a setting I want, a small town in the mountains with a paper mill based on where my grandfather grew up, but I do not know how to tell the story or how it will go. This project was mainly written by a friend of mine. I wrote the basic lines and he made them far better while giving me suggestions. Version two would be far bigger, and I feel he would not want to write all that (I don't blame him!). So for now, take this repo as an example of my past capabilities.

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SilentKey

My first python program (kinda)

For a while now I have been trying to learn programming, but never really got around to it. I always ended up trying and then giving up shortly later. It was only when the programming unit in school came around that I decided to take it seriously. For my unit project, I decided that I wanted to do something that would help me learn about more advanced methods such as object-oriented programming (and also markdown!). I started programming on the site we had been using to make it easier to hand in, but codehs decided to start crashing at the large number of lines. That's why I moved over to repl.it*. This also gave me a nice way for other people to run the program when testing it.

I figured I would do something that I had been interested in for a while: A text based game. Half way through making it I was tapping on my desk and accidentally tapped "SK" in morse code, which means "Silent Key". It is used when a morse radio operator passes away, to signal that their key will be "silent" (no longer transmitting). Before this the only name I had for the game was terrible, so I figured I would use SilentKey instead.

*Yes I used repl.it, it was the most convenient for the computer I use at school. It is not what should be used, and it adds a crap ton of random crap files which are a bit annoying.

How to run the program:

With IDE:

Copy at minumum the four main files: main.py, item_setup.py, text.py, and options.py into a python IDE set to python version 3 and run the main.py file. The program uses two inbuilt packages: textwrap and time

File organisation:

The program is split into multiple different files which serve different purposes:

• main.py does the bulk of the work, including user input and commands
• item_setup.py sets up all the items in the game, which all get assigned to a class depending on what they are
• text.py holds all text for the program. This takes up a lot of space so I put it in a seperate file.
• options.py holds some basic options such as a screen size variable and a debug mode

How it works:

The program asks the user for a command and then cycles through, checking if it matches with anything. If it finds a match, it runs the code for that command. If not, it prints out an error. Some actions have functions, and others don't. That's because some things need to be run elsewhere and it just made more sense to make a function.

Functions:

Basic functions:

Function:	Description:
update_objs()	Updates objects and sets up the objects_currentloc list
updatemap()	Updates the map locations because variables only get defined once
locstr()	Returns the current coordinates in string form, used in other functions
lightlevel()	Returns light level of the current location
game_end(cause)	Ends the game and prints message depending on cause
trigger(cause)	Used to trigger things when player is at a cartain location
helptxt()	Prints out the commands
printinv()	Prints inventory contents
quit()	Quits the game
look()	Prints surrounding objects
examine(item)	Gives closer look at item
move(item)	Moves item (This did not really get used and is too vague. More trouble than good!)
play(arg)	Plays an instrument (the piano!)
pull(item)	Pulls on object
navigation(direction)	Accepts the nsew commands and moves player
take(item)	Adds item to players inventory and removes it from environment
put(item, location)	Adds item to container (DOES NOT CHECK IF CONTAINER IS OPEN! BUG)
activate(action, item)	Turns on an item (like a light!)
openclose(item, action)	Opens or closes container
read(item)	Opens the read dialogue for literature
end()	Prints the end of the game (credits?)

Functions in classes:

Next section!

Classes:

Object | Base level class with three functions:

• desc() | Returns the current description of the item. Used for look command
• exam() | Returns the current examine description of the item. Used for examine command
• special_function(action) | Runs special code depending on item (I do not like how I did this!)

Default Variables:

• has_moved = False
• in_container = None
• been_pulled = False

Arguments:

• description
• moved description
• examine description
• examine description moved
• move
• take
• pull
• can move
• can take
• can pull
• name

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Container | Object that can hold other items inside. Has one unique function:

• contains(examine = False) | Prints out contents of container

Arguments:

• description
• moved description
• examine description
• examine description moved
• move
• take
• pull
• can move
• can take
• can pull
• name
• contents
• open
• can_open
• see_contents

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Literature | Item that can be read. Has one unique function:

• exam() | Same as standard object, but also returns the state of the item if it's a book (closed or open)

Arguments:

• description
• moved description
• examine description
• examine description moved
• move
• take
• pull
• can move
• can take
• can pull
• name
• type
• pg_num
• current_pg
• open
• can_open
• pages

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Piano | Class for the piano:

• played(status = None) | Piano logic that controls piano/bookshelf actions

Arguments:

• description
• moved description
• examine description
• examine description moved
• move
• take
• pull
• can move
• can take
• can pull
• name

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Light | Object that can emmit light. No unique functions.

Arguments:

• description
• moved description
• examine description
• examine description moved
• move
• take
• pull
• can move
• can take
• can pull
• name
• current status
• on level
• has moved
• in container
• been played

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Location | Used when defining new locations

Arguments:

• self
• m_north
• m_south
• m_east
• m_west
• l_north
• l_south
• l_east
• l_west
• t_north
• t_south
• t_east
• t_west
• light
• look
• title
• print_look = False

Arguments that start with:

• m - Boolean, tells program if you can move in direction from the location
• l - The location to move to depending on the direction
• t - Text to print when moving

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Commands:

Command(s)	Description
help	Print help menu
quit	Quit game
north, n	Go north
south, s	Go south
east, e	Go east
west, w	Go west
inventory, i	Print inventory contents
take [item]	Take item (put it in inventory)
put [item] [in/on] [item]	Put item on/in table/container
look, l	Look around
examine [item]	Examine item
move [item]	Move item
pull [item]	Pull item
turn [on/off] [item]	Turn on or off item
open [item]	Open item
close [item]	Close item
read [item]	Read piece of literature

Next time:

I do plan on doing this again some time, and when I do there are lots of things I would change. I would plan things out better and organise things nicer. I would also make EVERYTHING an object in a class, so for example, you could examine the river or the log. I could even make rooms and the player a sub class of the container class. I would also add different endings and paths, rather than restricting the player to one trail. I may add in food, hunger and health along with fighting.