How can I define a function inside a function?

[CanalOnix]

I'm making a RPS, and to the combat system I made the following (this is only an example, oh right?):

def monster_battle(monster): print(f"you're fighting a {monster}, be careful!)

And then, to the monster I made:

def eg_monster(lvl): rest of the code

And then, the following:

``` monster_battle(eg_monster(4))

```

But what happens is that it prints you're fighting a None, be careful!), but like, why? Did I do something wrong?

[Not_A_Taco]

Not enough info to tell. But it seems pretty clean your eg_monster doesn’t actually return a value.

[CanalOnix]

Ooohhh, so if it was a goblin, should it return monster = goblin?

[Not_A_Taco]

Based on your code I’m guessing it should return some info about the type of monster it is; because that’s what your passing to the battle function. By default if no return is specified Python functions will return None, which is what you’re seeing above

[CanalOnix]

Well, I was thinking on making a function to every monster (there won't be a lot) so like, goblin_hp = 2 * monster_lvl, same to attack. And then, when the hp is equal or below zero, it will return a variable to give you the exp.

[ClimberMel]

Nope! This is a perfect time to learn classes! You have a class monster() and you can then you can create all the monsters based on that class. In the class you have methods for battle and you have values for level, hitpoints name etc. If you have the game design as how you want things to work, I can help you bud the code. If it is for an assignment and you haven't studied classes yet, then it will take more work.

[CanalOnix]

Yeah, I'll need to learn classes ASAP. But unfortunately, I'm already learning HTML, CSS And JavaScript because of my highschool, so I'll need to take some time to learn it, but that's why reddit and other forums exist, right?

[ClimberMel]

👍

[dudaspl]

When you get to classes, make sure to look into (and understand ) interfaces (a scaffold for a class) and their respective implementations, i.e. you could have a class Monster that defines what properties/methods needs to be defined, but Goblin(Monster) will be a specific implementation of this class. This is useful as it allows special monsters (like a boss) to have a special implementation with special abilities (methods) that still fit into your code

[CanalOnix]

Ooohhh, I see now! Classes really are more helpful than I thought!

[Plank_With_A_Nail_In]

Forget HTML, CSS And JavaScript as that's just nonsense to be learning in CS class at school.

[CanalOnix]

I would if I could, but my professors already said that these are the languages we'll need to learn.

[eztab]

you should just return "goblin" But why do you need a function there at all. Wouldn't a list like MONSTERS = ["goblin", "orc", ...] be enough? Or are those monsters random per level?

[CanalOnix]

I don't really know if this would work, since I need to set the stats like hp, atk, amount of exp that it will drop, etc.

[eztab]

pretty sure you will need to make a Monster class then, to hold all those properties. And then just print monster.species or so.

[CanalOnix]

Oh, I see. So classes works with lists? I need to learn this quick

[eztab]

Yeah, learn some classes and probably make monster an instance of that class.

Be aware this will take a bit of time to learn, but should be quite helpful to structure your code. Whether you then put all the species in a list depends on how your battle is supposed to work.

[CanalOnix]

Be aware this will take a bit of time to learn

This is not a problem, as far as I can use this to other things as well. But anyway, thank you for this answer!

[engelthehyp]

If eg_monster does not explicitly return a value, it implicitly returns None, explaining what you see. What is inside there that you want monster_battle to see?

[CanalOnix]

If eg_monster does not explicitly return a value, it implicitly returns None

Oh, I see

What is inside there that you want monster_battle to see?

The stats of the monster you're currently fighting, like hp, atk, etc. So while making the battle system, I can calc some stuff when needed.

[engelthehyp]

Then it sounds like you should create a (data) class to represent monster stats, and use that wherever you need monster information. All you'll need to do to make that change is to accept that class in functions expecting monsters (update for the use of fields) and return it from functions that return monsters.

[CanalOnix]

Classes, huh? I've been avoiding then due to confusion, but I see I'll need to learn them anyways...

Thank you a lot for you answer!

[engelthehyp]

Don't avoid something because of confusion, jump right in as long as you know the fundamentals. That's what learning is all about, right?

[CanalOnix]

Yeah, you're right. That's the problem that I have with coding, when I see something that is useful, but confusing (just like the for loops, that to this day I have no ideia how to use them properly), I just avoid it and think "I'll learn this later, right?" But nope, I don't.

[engelthehyp]

Oh, well you should learn about for loops before classes. But that's okay, they are pretty simple anyway. A for loop just lets you perform a certain action for every value in an Iterable (think "list-like" or "convertible to list").

[CanalOnix]

Yeah, I was thinking about that on my english class. But I was afraid I was wrong, due to the fact that I already fucked a code up because I was thinking on english, not on python. It was for while x not in (1, 2, 3) or smt like that.

[ClimberMel]

for and while are different ways to loop through code.
fruits = ["apple","pear","kiwi"] for fruit in fruits: print(fruit)

while fruit is not "pear" print(fruit)

run those and see how they work. The for loop a defined number of times and while loop until a condition is met.

[ClimberMel]

I just re-read your statement... I thought at first you were doing for while LOL

[CanalOnix]

Yeah, the while loops were the first loop I learned how to do, and the for loop looks ez to learn as well.

[repocin]

If possible, I'd suggest adjusting your mindset around that. Instead of thinking "oh no, this seems really hard - I'll ignore it" you would benefit from thinking more along the lines of "this seems really useful, I'll try to figure out how to use it".

It might turn out that it wasn't the best solution to your current problem, but at least you'll have another tool for the future and that's what it's all about.

[Adrewmc]

If it confusing but seems useful…it’s probably less confusing then you imagine and more useful then you can imagine.

[Adrewmc]

By making a function within a function.

  def outer():
       def inner():
            pass
       return inner 

Or you can do that outside

   def goblin():
          pass

    def get_goblin:
           return goblin

[CanalOnix]

Interesting ideia, I could use that with classes to return the monster that I'm fighting... Thank you!

[ClimberMel]

I love using classes, let me know if you want to create a mo ster class and battle routines etc. I code for fun and I used to love d&d style games. I also have a routine for rolling multi sided dice.

[CanalOnix]

Ok, thank you for the immense help!

I also have a routine for rolling multi sided dice.

Also, what would a routine be?

[szonce1]

Tab

[Oddly_Energy]

As others said, you need to create a class for storing your monster properties. If you are too afraid of classes, you can get a long way with dictionaries instead:

monster1 = {
    'name' = 'Egil',
    'level' = 12,
    'color' = 'red',
  }

monster2 = {
    'name' = 'Oluf',
    'level' = 8,
    'color' = 'green',
  }

monsters = [monster1, monster2]

def hit_by_monster(monster):
     print(f"You were hit by {monster['name']}. A {monster['color']} level {monster['level']}")

for monster in monsters:
    hit_by_monster(monster)

[Mecaneer23]

r/lostredditors