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Assigning colors to individual characters in an array

Methodius (4)
My problem seems simple yet has confused me for quite a while. I've seen some help on this site but the closest one that I got to the question was never answered.

Basically I am making a console RPG (isn't every beginner nowadays?) and I am having an incredible amount of trouble assigning specific characters their own color. e.g. monsters being red, cash being green, etc.

Here is my code and I'm praying you all can show me some way to do this so that I don't have to overhaul my code lol.

Thanks in advance and God bless.
~Methodius~

EDIT: I took out Left, Right, and Down controls because of character constraint.

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#include <iostream>
#include <windows.h>


//%%%%%%%%%%%%%% COLOR CALL %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
void setcolor(unsigned short color)
{
    HANDLE hcon = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
    SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon,color);
}
//%%%%%%%%%%%%%% END COLOR CALL %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


using namespace std;

char Map[3][10][20] = { "###################",   // MAP 1
                        "#                 #",
                        "#   * * *  +      #",
                        "#   * *           #",
                        "#   * *    $      #",
                        "#   * *           #",
                        "#   * *     +     #",
                        "#                 #",
                        "#@                :",
                        "################:##",
                        "###################",   // MAP 2
                        "#                 #",
                        "#       ^    !    #",
                        "#   !     ^       #",
                        "#         +       #",
                        "#                 #",
                        "#        &   &    #",
                        "#      !          #",
                        ":                 #",
                        "###################",
                        "################:##",   // MAP 3
                        "#                 #",
                        "#                 #",
                        "#                 #",
                        "#                 #",
                        "#                 #",
                        "#                 #",
                        "#                 #",
                        "#                 #",
                        "###################" };

//%%%%%%%%%%%% GLOBAL VARIABLES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

int Gamespeed = 150;
int Level = 1;
bool stopgame = false;

//%%%%%%%%%%%% HUD VARIABLES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

int HP = 100;
int MaxHP = 100;
int Cash = 0;
int MaxCash = 99;
int InMap = 0;

//%%%%%%%%%%%% VARIABLES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

int main()
{
//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% LEVEL 1 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
    while(stopgame == false)
    {
        system("cls");

        if (HP >= MaxHP)
        {
            HP = MaxHP;
        }

        if (Cash >= MaxCash)
        {
            Cash = MaxCash;
        }

        if (HP <= 0)
        {
            cout << "GAME OVER" << endl;
            Sleep(1000);
            system("cls");
            return 0;
        }

        for (int y = 0; y < 10; y++)
        {
            cout << Map[InMap][y] << endl;
        }

//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% HUD %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
        cout << "HP: " << HP << "/" << MaxHP << endl;
        cout << "Cash: " << Cash << "/" << MaxCash << endl;
//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% HUD %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

        for (int y = 0; y<10; y++)
        {
            for (int x = 0; x<20; x++)
            {

                switch(Map[InMap][y][x])
                {
                    case '#':
                    {
                        Map[InMap][y][x] = 219;
                    }

//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% PLAYER CONTROLS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

                    case '@':
                    {

                //%%%%% UP %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
                        if (GetAsyncKeyState(VK_UP) != 0 )
                        {
                            int y2 = (y-1);

                            switch(Map[InMap][y2][x])
                            {

                                case ' ':
                                {
                                    Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
                                    y -= 1;
                                    Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
                                }break;

                                case ':': //Door
                                {
                                    Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
                                    y = 8;
                                    InMap -= 2;
                                    Map[InMap][y][x] = '@';
                                }break;

                                case '*': //Monster
                                {
                                    HP -= 10;
                                    Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
                                    y -= 1;
                                    Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
                                }break;

                                case '+': //Health Upgrade
                                {
                                    HP += 5;
                                    Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
                                    y -= 1;
                                    Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
                                }break;

                                case '&': //MaxHP Upgrade
                                {
                                    MaxHP += 15;
                                    Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
                                    y -= 1;
                                    Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
                                }break;

                                case '$': //NPC
                                {
                                    setcolor(10); cout << "\nIt's dangerous to go alone!\n\n" << endl ;setcolor(7);
                                    system("pause");
                                }break;

                                case '!': //Cash Upgrade
                                {
                                    Cash += 3;
                                    Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
                                    y -= 1;
                                    Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
                                }break;

                                case '^': //MaxCash Upgrade
                                {
                                    MaxCash += 200;
                                    Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
                                    y -= 1;
                                    Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
                                }break;
                            }
                        }
                

//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% END PLAYER CONTROLS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


                            }
                        }

                    }break;
                }
            }
        }
        Sleep(Gamespeed);
    }
}
Last edited on
Yanson (885)
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#include <iostream>
#include <windows.h>

char print_char(const char inChar);
HANDLE hcon = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
int main()
{
	char arr[] = "Hello World!";

	for (auto element : arr)
		std::cout << print_char(element);


	std::cin.ignore();
	return 0;
}
	
	
char print_char(const char inChar)
{
	switch (inChar)
	{
	case 'H':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_BLUE);//darkblue
		break;
	case 'e':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_GREEN);//darkgreen
		break;
	case 'l':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_RED);//darkred
		break;
	case 'o':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_INTENSITY | FOREGROUND_BLUE);//blue
		break;
	case 'W':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_INTENSITY | FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN);//Yellow
		break;
	case 'r':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_INTENSITY | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE);//cyan
		break;
	case 'd':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_INTENSITY | FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE);//white
		break;
	case '!':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE);//darkgray
		break;
	default:
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE);//darkgray
		break;

	}

	return inChar;
}
Last edited on
giblit (3750)
If you do it that way you may want to have a default case also. Unless every single character has it's own color.

By the way OP you should look into a Graphical library instead of the console for a game. Graphics may seem hard but they are pretty trivial. The hardest part for me is actually drawing the images.

Oh and you should avoid global variables.
Last edited on
Yanson (885)
If you do it that way you may want to have a default case also. Unless every single character has it's own color.

i was just about to edit my post and add a default :)
Methodius (4)
I'm just wondering how to give each character it's own color with the code I've got. I would hate to have to redo all the code that I already have lol.
Yanson (885)
it only requires a few simple changes
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#include <iostream>
#include <windows.h>


//%%%%%%%%%%%%%% COLOR CALL %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
void setcolor(unsigned short color)
{
	HANDLE hcon = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
	SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, color);
}
//%%%%%%%%%%%%%% END COLOR CALL %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


using namespace std;

char print_char(const char inChar);
char Map[3][10][20] = { "###################",   // MAP 1
"#                 #",
"#   * * *  +      #",
"#   * *           #",
"#   * *    $      #",
"#   * *           #",
"#   * *     +     #",
"#                 #",
"#@                :",
"################:##",
"###################",   // MAP 2
"#                 #",
"#       ^    !    #",
"#   !     ^       #",
"#         +       #",
"#                 #",
"#        &   &    #",
"#      !          #",
":                 #",
"###################",
"################:##",   // MAP 3
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"###################" };

//%%%%%%%%%%%% GLOBAL VARIABLES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

int Gamespeed = 150;
int Level = 1;
bool stopgame = false;

//%%%%%%%%%%%% HUD VARIABLES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

int HP = 100;
int MaxHP = 100;
int Cash = 0;
int MaxCash = 99;
int InMap = 0;

//%%%%%%%%%%%% VARIABLES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

int main()
{
	//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% LEVEL 1 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
	while (stopgame == false)
	{
		system("cls");

		if (HP >= MaxHP)
		{
			HP = MaxHP;
		}

		if (Cash >= MaxCash)
		{
			Cash = MaxCash;
		}

		if (HP <= 0)
		{
			cout << "GAME OVER" << endl;
			Sleep(1000);
			system("cls");
			return 0;
		}

		for (int y = 0; y < 10; y++)
		{
			for (int i = 0; i < 20; ++i)
				cout << print_char(Map[InMap][y][i]);
			cout << endl;
		}

		//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% HUD %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
		cout << "HP: " << HP << "/" << MaxHP << endl;
		cout << "Cash: " << Cash << "/" << MaxCash << endl;
		//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% HUD %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

		for (int y = 0; y<10; y++)
		{
			for (int x = 0; x<20; x++)
			{

				switch (Map[InMap][y][x])
				{
				case '#':
				{
							Map[InMap][y][x] = 219;
				}

					//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% PLAYER CONTROLS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

				case '@':
				{

							//%%%%% UP %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
							if (GetAsyncKeyState(VK_UP) != 0)
							{
								int y2 = (y - 1);

								switch (Map[InMap][y2][x])
								{

								case ' ':
								{
											Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
											y -= 1;
											Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
								}break;

								case ':': //Door
								{
											  Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
											  y = 8;
											  InMap -= 2;
											  Map[InMap][y][x] = '@';
								}break;

								case '*': //Monster
								{
											  HP -= 10;
											  Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
											  y -= 1;
											  Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
								}break;

								case '+': //Health Upgrade
								{
											  HP += 5;
											  Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
											  y -= 1;
											  Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
								}break;

								case '&': //MaxHP Upgrade
								{
											  MaxHP += 15;
											  Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
											  y -= 1;
											  Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
								}break;

								case '$': //NPC
								{
											  setcolor(10); cout << "\nIt's dangerous to go alone!\n\n" << endl; setcolor(7);
											  system("pause");
								}break;

								case '!': //Cash Upgrade
								{
											  Cash += 3;
											  Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
											  y -= 1;
											  Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
								}break;

								case '^': //MaxCash Upgrade
								{
											  MaxCash += 200;
											  Map[InMap][y][x] = ' ';
											  y -= 1;
											  Map[InMap][y2][x] = '@';
								}break;
								}
							}


							//%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% END PLAYER CONTROLS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


				}
				}

			}break;
		}
	}

	Sleep(Gamespeed);
}

char print_char(const char inChar)
{
	HANDLE hcon = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
	switch (inChar)
	{
		break;
	case '$':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_INTENSITY | FOREGROUND_GREEN);//darkgreen
		break;
	case '*':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_RED);//darkred
		break;
		break;
	case '#':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_INTENSITY | FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN);//Yellow
		break;
	case '+':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_INTENSITY | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE);//cyan
		break;
	case '@':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_INTENSITY | FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE);//white
		break;
	case '!':
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE);//darkgray
		break;
	default:
		SetConsoleTextAttribute(hcon, FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE);//darkgray
		break;

	}

	return inChar;
}
Last edited on
Methodius (4)
Mr/Mrs. Yanson, you're a life-saver. Thank you so much for your help.

I noticed your changes and I was wondering if you could take one more minute to explain what exactly your changes did.

Namely this line:

cout << print_char(Map[InMap][y][i]);

I understand it is printing something but what is the [i]?

Thank you again so much, you've helped alot.

God bless,
~Methodius~
Yanson (885)
in your code you create a three dimensional array char Map[3][10][20]. When you print the array you only use two dimensions cout << Map[InMap][y] << endl;. This Map[inMap][y] results in a pointer to an array. My print_char() function takes a char as a parameter not a pointer to an array. So i needed to use the third dimension to access the individual characters in the array.

I understand it is printing something but what is the [i]

The i specifies the individual character within the array that is being accessed.


run this code and you will see what i mean. The first cout statement prints an array the second prints a char.
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#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

char Map[3][10][20] = { "###################",   // MAP 1
"#                 #",
"#   * * *  +      #",
"#   * *           #",
"#   * *    $      #",
"#   * *           #",
"#   * *     +     #",
"#                 #",
"#@                :",
"################:##",
"###################",   // MAP 2
"#                 #",
"#       ^    !    #",
"#   !     ^       #",
"#         +       #",
"#                 #",
"#        &   &    #",
"#      !          #",
":                 #",
"###################",
"################:##",   // MAP 3
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"#                 #",
"###################" };

int main()
{
	std::cout << Map[0][0] << std::endl;//this prints an array

	
	std::cout << Map[0][0][0] << std::endl;//this prints a char

	

	std::cout << std::endl;

	std::cin.ignore();
	return 0;
}

Methodius (4)
Okay, that makes sense! Thank you. One more question:

I noticed before I added your code that I didn't have a whole lot of flicker. There was some but a negligible amount. But now I've got a considerable amount of flicker.

Now I know this sparks a huge debate between using "system()" and other things. But I was wondering if you had any other ways of reducing or eliminating the flicker.

Again, thank you so much for your help.

God bless,
~Methodius~
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