Class Issue

[gnolladvisor]

I'm fairly new to C++, so to learn a bit through practice, I decided to make a simple little RPG-like turn based battle system. This isn't the exact code, but its bloated enough as is and this conveys the problem I'm having.

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

// player classes

class monk_fighter {
	
	public:

	int health;
	int mana;

	int strength;
	int agility;
	int intelligence;

	int weaponDamage;


	monk_fighter(int a, int b);

	void attack(int &a) {
		int damage;

		damage = strength + weaponDamage ;
		a = a - damage ;

	};


	void defend();

	void ability() {
	health = health + 10;
	}

};


// Enemy Classes
//


class Enemy
{
public:
    int health;
    int weaponDamage;

	int strength;
	int agility;
	int intelligence;

	int ExperienceWorth;

    void Enemy::attack(int &a) {
		int damage;
		cout << "The enemy strikes!" << endl;
		damage = strength; + weaponDamage ;
		a = a - damage ;

	}



};

class SkeletonEnemy : public Enemy
{
public:
   
	SkeletonEnemy(int a, int b);

};


// constructors

monk_fighter::monk_fighter(int a, int b) {   //stats all placeholders for now
	
	health = a;
	mana = b;

	strength = 5;
	agility = 5;
	intelligence = 5;

	}

SkeletonEnemy::SkeletonEnemy(int a, int b) {   
	
	health = a;

	strength = b;
	agility = 5;
	intelligence = 5;

	}

bool P1Turn = 1;
	bool P2Turn = 0;

	bool GameActive = 1;
	int queryAnswer;


monk_fighter Player1(10, 10);

//
//
//   some mechanism for choosing a random enemy class
//

int main(void)
{

	bool P1Turn = 1;
	bool P2Turn = 0;

	bool GameActive = 1;
	int queryAnswer;


while(GameActive == true){

	while(P1Turn == true){

		if(Player1.health <= 0){
			GameActive = false;
			P1Turn = false;
			P2Turn = false;
			break;
		}

		cout << "What action does the monk take?" << endl << "1: Attack" << endl << "2. Defend" << endl << "3. Use ability" << endl << endl;

		cin >> queryAnswer;

		switch(queryAnswer){
		case 1:
			Player1.attack(Enemy.health);

			P1Turn = false;
			P2Turn = true;

			break;
		case 2:
			//placeholder
			P1Turn = false;
			P2Turn = true;

			break;
		case 3:
			Player1.ability();

			P1Turn = false;
			P2Turn = true;

			break;
			}
		}

	while(P2Turn == true){

		if(Enemy.health <= 0){
			GameActive = false;
			P1Turn = false;
			P2Turn = false;
			break;
		}


		cin >> queryAnswer;

		switch(queryAnswer){
		case 1:
			Enemy.attack(Player1.health);

			P2Turn = false;
			P1Turn = true;

			break;
		case 2:
			//placeholder

			P1Turn = true;
			P2Turn = false;

			break;
		case 3:
			Enemy.ability();

			P1Turn = true;
			P2Turn = false;

			break;
			}
		}
	
}


	return 0;
}

I want to have be able to randomly choose a subtype of the Enemy class, which I can do, but my problem is that I have no idea how to reference it once I do in the actual main loop. I can't do "Player1.attack(Enemy.health);" (I had it set up this way while testing the rest of the program, using a constructed Enemy1 or however its properly said) since it wants an actual instance of the class.

How do I get around this?

[Wisely Done]

Instead of void attack(int &a) where you are passing an integer, you need to pass a class instance. Like this : void attack(Enemy &).

Then, when attacking, you can use something like this: Player1.attack(enemy object);.

At line 142, you are trying to attack the Enemy class, instead of attacking an instance of that class. You need to create an instance of Enemy class:
Enemy bandit.


Therefore you can say:
Player1.attack(bandit);.