Text Input in game

[Rick]

I am hoping someone can help me an issue I am having. I am building an Instructor lead game, modeled in the same fashion as family feud. I need help on what is the best way to do the text input part. What I want is a text box at the bottom of the screen, the instructor types in the answer that a student gives and presses ENTER. The program will then search an .ini file or some other external file to see if the answer or likeness of the answer is there…For instance if the answer was 3 Com then 3Com and three com will be correct. If the answer is there then the cover over the answer will disappear. The answers have to come from an external file so other instructors can change the file to suite their class.

Thanks,

Rick

[DavidN]

Well, for getting the answers from an external file, I'll have to refer back to my old answer to this - http://www.clickteam.com/epicenter/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=2&Number=22955

You'll need to construct the name of the group or data item to search in by using some sort of value that you can control in your program - for example, using ("Question" + Str$(value("Counter 1")) would give you group names like Question1, Question94, depending on the value of Counter 1.

As for how to check that the answer is close to the answer given in the file, this is a little more difficult. I think the String Parser 2 object should be able to do most of these suggestions:

For a start, I'd suggest removing all spaces and punctuation, and converting all characters to lowercase, before doing the comparison of the two strings. In this way, you allow much greater leeway for the user - for example:

Real answer = "3 Com"
User enters = "3com."

With the alterations performed on both strings, they both come out as "3com" and would be considered equal by the program.

[Rick]

Thanks David, I will give String Parser 2 Object a try

[Rick]

Ok, I got my Question .ini file complete and the counter for it. However, I am not sure how to incorporate String Parser 2 Object with it. Are there any help files or tutorials on how to use String Parser 2?

[Joshtek]

re there any help files or tutorials on how to use String Parser 2?

C:\Program Files\Multimedia Fusion 2\help\String Parser\

[Rick]

First Thank You so mutch for your all help so far.

Ok, I kind of understand how to load the .ini file into String Parser 2. However, I still can’t figure out how to have the input text ( I am using an edit box for Text input) be compared to what is in String Parser and then a action to happen based on the outcome exp. A cover picture to be removed to revile a match or an X to be displayed for no match.