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[Aqizzar]

You really need to read this. It's an incredibly popular article that many many game devs read at some point in their career. I know I read it! There's nothing fundamentally different between a console/grid-based game than with any other type of non-discreet positioning system. (The "console" nature just affects where you render things, i.e. at the closest position that can be displayed.)

The console rendering is only half the issue, taking user input is the other half.  Without a console, how do you read keypresses?  That's the kind of "lern 2 code" stuff that no tutorial ever seems to actually cover and I'm too proud to bother asking.

What about my post? D:

I'll have to decipher the language first, but I'll give it a look.  Looks like almost exactly what I did, and I'm pretty sure most of my issues are from quick implementation.  The "SDL_Event" in DoInput looks the most important, since it's not a console function.

I still have no clue why everyone considers this "gamestate" concept to be so important.  No no, don't try to explain it to me, I didn't get it the first time and I'd rather just make shit up myself.

[Kyzrati]

If input is the only area where you're having the trouble then, yes, SDL_Event is definitely where you need to focus your effort. Input is provided to the program via an event queue, so each loop you just check that queue and react to whatever input it contains.

To expand upon what you see in that link:

Code: [Select]

while( game_is_running ) {
        check_input_queue(); // has the game react to any user input
                             // more specifically, changes the game state based on input
        update_game(); // update physics/logic/AI
        display_game(); // draw stuff to console
}

[Aqizzar]

If input is the only area where you're having the trouble then, yes, SDL_Event is definitely where you need to focus your effort. Input is provided to the program via an event queue, so each loop you just check that queue and react to whatever input it contains.

Let me get back to you on that when I find the C# language to do so.  Apparently it involves invoking another C++ oriented third-party library with spotty documentation, incomplete user-submitted tutorials, and a support forum that hasn't been touched in years.

Maybe it's time I gave XNA the benefit of the doubt.  I never managed to swallow enough of my pride to actually plow through the instructions, because when it comes to teaching coding there is a giant gulf of difference between telling and showing that very few people who have the knowledge to do so ever seem to grasp.

[Skyrunner]

I thought SDL was a C library...

As for gamestate, it's just a quick and clean way to handle menus, for me. It's so logical :v

I never used gamestates for what they are supposedly used for yet

Edit: as for input w/o a console, the GUI window itself registers keypresses and puts them in an event queue which is read whenever you please.

[Aqizzar]

As for gamestate, it's just a quick and clean way to handle menus, for me. It's so logical :v

I never used gamestates for what they are supposedly used for yet

I kinda thought that's all it's supposed to mean.  I mean, I've got a couple global strings to control what functions are called, which I guess is exactly what you're supposed to do?

[Skyrunner]

That also is a state machine, assuming you look at the string, do whatever, then decide which string to change it to. Good for simple AI, too.

I use a state stack machine, which literally stacks states on other states. It's pretty logical, All input goes to the state on the top of the stack, and it can pop itself (so input goes to the state under it) or push another state onto the stack.

[MaximumZero]

What about my post? D:

It's some sort of Elvish. I can't read it.

[Kyzrati]

Serious suggestion: Use GameMaker. Spelunky was made with it. It can work fine for serious games, assuming you decide that your goal is to make a game. If you want to continue dabbling in pure programming then sure, why not try XNA. There seem to be tutorials out there that meet your needs.