The scripts introduced in this article are easy to understand, simple to use and can be mastered quickly.
Simple Dice Roller
Many games and gaming systems require dice. Let's start with the easy part: rolling a six-sided die. Essentially, rolling a six-sided die is simply choosing a random number between 1 and 6. In PHP, this is very simple: echo rand(1,6);.
In many cases, this is basically simple. But when dealing with games of chance, we need some better implementation. PHP provides a better random number generator: mt_rand(). Without delving too deeply into the differences between the two, mt_rand can be thought of as a faster and better random number generator: echo mt_rand(1,6);. It would be even better if you put this random number generator into a function.
Listing 1. Using the mt_rand() random number generator function
function roll () {
return mt_rand(1,6);
}
echo roll();
You can then pass the type of dice you want to roll as a parameter to the function.
Listing 2. Passing the dice type as a parameter
function roll ($sides) {
return mt_rand(1,$sides);
}
echo roll(6); // roll a six-sided die
echo roll(10); // roll a ten-sided die
echo roll(20); // roll a twenty-sided die
From here, we can continue to roll as many dice at once as needed and return an array of results; we can also roll multiple dice of different types at once. But most tasks can be done using this simple script.
Random name generator
If you're running a game, writing a story, or creating a large number of characters all at once, it can sometimes be overwhelming to keep up with the constant stream of new names. Let's take a look at a simple random name generator that can be used to solve this problem. First, let's create two simple arrays—one for first names and one for last names.
Listing 3. Two simple arrays of first name and last name
$male = array(
"William",
"Henry",
"Filbert",
"John",
"Pat",
);
$last = array(
"Smith",
"Jones",
"Winkler",
"Cooper",
"Cline",
);
Then you can select a random element from each array: echo $male[array_rand($male)] . . $last[array_rand($last)];. To extract multiple names at once, just mix the arrays and extract as needed.
Listing 4. Array of mixed names
shuffle($male);
shuffle($last);
for ($i = 0; $i <= 3; $i++) {
echo $male[$i] . . $last[$i];
}
Based on this basic concept, we can create a text file that holds first and last names. If you store a name on each line of a text file, you can easily separate the file contents with newlines to build an array of source code. Listing 5. Creating a text file of names
$male = explode(
, file_get_contents(names.female.txt));
$last = explode(
, file_get_contents(names.last.txt));
Build or find some good name files (some are included in the code archive) and we'll never have to worry about names again.
Scene Generator
Using the same basic principles we used to build the name generator, we can build the scene generator. This generator is useful not only in role-playing games, but also in situations where you need to use a collection of pseudo-random environments (which can be used for role-playing, improvisation, writing, etc.). One of my favorite games, Paranoia, includes a "mission blender" in its GM Pack. The Mission Mixer can be used to combine complete missions while rolling the dice quickly. Let's put together our own scene generator.
Consider the following scenario: You wake up and find yourself lost in the jungle. You know you have to get to New York, but you don’t know why. You can hear dogs barking nearby and the distinct sounds of enemy seekers. You're cold, shaking, and unarmed. Each sentence in the scene introduces a specific aspect of the scene:
“You wake up and find yourself lost in the jungle” — this sentence will establish the setting.
“You know you have to get to New York” — this sentence will describe the goal.
"You can hear the dogs barking" — This sentence will introduce the enemy.
"You are cold, shaking, and unarmed" - this sentence will add complexity.
Just like you created the text files for First Name and Last Name, first create separate text files for Settings, Objectives, Enemies, and Complexity. Sample files are included in the code archive. Once you have these files, the code to generate the scene is basically the same as the code to generate the name.
Listing 6. Generating the scene
$settings = explode("
", file_get_contents(scenario.settings.txt));
$objectives = explode("
", file_get_contents(scenario.objectives.txt));
$antagonists = explode("
", file_get_contents(scenario.antagonists.txt));
$complicati**** = explode("
", file_get_contents(scenario.complicati****.txt));
shuffle($settings);
shuffle($objectives);
shuffle($antagonists);
shuffle($complicati****);
echo $settings[0] . . $objectives[0] . . $antagonists[0] .
. $complicati****[0] . "
";
We can add elements to the scene by adding new text files, and we may wish to add multiple complexities. The more content you add to the basic text file, the more the scene changes over time.
Deck builder and shuffler
If you're going to play poker and you're going to be dealing with card-related scripts, we need to put together a deck builder with the tools in the rig. First, let's build a standard deck of cards. Two arrays need to be constructed - one to hold the sets of cards of the same suit, and another to hold the face of the cards. This gives you great flexibility if you need to add new decks or card types later.
Listing 7. Building a standard deck of playing cards
$suits = array (
"Spades", "Hearts", "Clubs", "Diamonds"
);
$faces = array (
"Two", "Three", "Four", "Five", "Six", "Seven", "Eight",
"Nine", "Ten", "Jack", "Queen", "King", "Ace"
);
Then build a deck of cards array to hold all card values. This can be done simply using a pair of foreach loops.
Listing 8. Constructing an array of cards
$deck = array();
foreach ($suits as $suit) {
foreach ($faces as $face) {
$deck[] = array ("face"=>$face, "suit"=>$suit);
}
}
After constructing an array of playing cards, we can easily shuffle the deck and randomly draw a card.
Listing 9. Shuffle the deck and randomly draw a card
shuffle($deck);
$card = array_shift($deck);
echo $card[face] . of . $card[suit];
Now we have a shortcut to draw multiple decks of cards or build a multideck shoe.
Win Rate Calculator: Dealing
Because the face and suit of each card are tracked individually when building a deck of cards, the deck can be used programmatically to calculate the odds of getting a specific card. First draw five cards from each hand.
Listing 10. Draw five cards from each hand
$hands = array(1 => array(), 2=>array());
for ($i = 0; $i < 5; $i++) {
$hands[1][] = implode(" of ", array_shift($deck));
$hands[2][] = implode(" of ", array_shift($deck));
}
You can then look at the deck to see how many cards are left and what the odds are of drawing a particular card. It's easy to see how many cards you have left. Just count the number of elements contained in the $deck array. To get the chance of drawing a specific card, we need a function that goes through the entire deck and estimates the remaining cards to see if they match. Listing 11. Calculating the probability of drawing a specific card
function calculate_odds($draw, $deck) {
$remaining = count($deck);
$odds = 0;
foreach ($deck as $card) {
if ( ($draw[face] == $card[face] && $draw[suit] ==
$card[suit] ) ||
($draw[face] == && $draw[suit] == $card[suit] ) ||
($draw[face] == $card[face] && $draw[suit] == ) ) {
$odds++;
}
}
return $odds . in $remaining;
}
You can now choose which card to try to draw. To keep it simple, pass in an array that looks like a card. We can look for a specific card.
Listing 12. Find a specified card
$draw = array(face => Ace, suit => Spades);
echo implode(" of ", $draw) . : . calculate_odds($draw, $deck);
Or you can search for cards of a specified face or suit.
Listing 13. Find cards with a specified card face or suit
$draw = array(face => , suit => Spades);
$draw = array(face => Ace, suit => );
Simple poker dealer
Now that we've got a deck builder and some tools to help figure out the odds of drawing a particular card, we can put together a really simple card dealer to deal the cards. For the purposes of this example, we will build a card dealer that draws five cards. The dealer will provide five cards from the entire deck. Use numbers to specify which cards need to be discarded, and the dealer will use the cards from the deck
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