How to make an a basic attack in my text based game

Question

hey guys! i really need some genuine help on how to create an attack for my monsters and player. the attack should be basic: if the room contains a monster, then the monster attacks when the player goes inside the room. then the player can type a command to attack the monster. the attack should just deduct the hp of the monster. so the player can keep attacking till the monster is "dead"(this is where i remove the monster).
anyway i tried alot in creating the attack but i failed all the time, messing my code even more. please!!!!! help!!!
my monster class:
public class Monster
private int hp, stage;
private String name;
public Monster(String name, int stage)
this.name = name;
this.stage = stage;
if(stage == 1) {
hp = 1;
else if(stage == 2) {
hp = 2;
else if(stage == 3) {
hp = 2;
else if(stage == 4) {
hp = 3;
else if(stage == 5) {
hp = 4;
else if(stage == 6) {
hp = 6;
public int monsterStage()
return stage;
public String getName()
return name;
this is where i created the monsters in my main game class:
private Monster skeleton, sphinx, zombie, vampire, werewolf, undeadking;
setting the monster to a room:
skeleton = new Monster("skeleton1", 1);
skeleton = new Monster("skeleton2", 1);
sphinx = new Monster("sphinx1", 2);
sphinx = new Monster("sphinx2", 2);
sphinx = new Monster("sphinx3", 2);
zombie = new Monster("zombie", 3);
vampire = new Monster("vampire1", 4);
vampire = new Monster("vampire2", 4);
werewolf = new Monster("werewolf", 5);
undeadking = new Monster("undeadking", 6);
//setting the monster to a place
bridge.addMonster("skeleton1", skeleton);
castleDoor.addMonster("sphinx1", sphinx);
castleChest.addMonster("zombie", zombie);
dungeonDoor.addMonster("sphinx2", sphinx);
castleStair.addMonster("werewolf", werewolf);
dungeonBridge.addMonster("vampire2", vampire);
dungeonBook.addMonster("sphinx3", sphinx);
dungeonChest.addMonster("skeleton2", skeleton);
throneCenter.addMonster("undeadking", undeadking);
ps.: please help me! each room has one monster only and they are stored in hashmaps

Answer 1

Here is a start of a basic text based game--it doesn't level or regen characters nor give healing or have new weapons...
package ForumJunk;
import java.util.Random;
import java.util.Scanner;
public class ForumJunk{
  private final int widthX;
  private final int heightY;
  private int myX;
  private int myY;
  private int myLevel;
  private int baseHP;
  private int myHP;
  private int myTreasure;
  private String[] myWeapon = {"fist", "open hand", "dagger", "short sword", "long sword", "b-sword", "2H sword"};
  private int[] myWeaponMaxDamage = {2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 12, 16};
  private int monsterFillFactor = 40;
  private int[][] monsterLevel = {{1, 1, 1}, {2, 2, 2}, {3, 3, 3}};
  private String[][] monsterName = {{"Skeleton", "Orac", "Kobald"}, {"Zombi", "Wolf", "Giant Rat"}, {"Bandit", "Mummy", "Ghost"}};
  private int[] monsterMaxDamage = {2, 4, 6};
  private myRoom[][] room;
  private Random rand;
  public ForumJunk(){
    widthX  = 100;
    heightY = 100;
    myLevel = 1;
    rand = new Random();
    baseHP   = 16;
    myHP     = baseHP;
    for(int i=0; i<myLevel; i++) myHP = myHP + rand.nextInt(4) + 4;
    room = new myRoom[widthX][heightY];
    for(int i=0; i<widthX; i++)for(int j=0; j<heightY; j++)room[i][j]=new myRoom();
    myX = rand.nextInt(widthX);
    myY = rand.nextInt(heightY);
    myTreasure = 0;
    fillMonster();
  public void doAttack(){
    if(!(room[myX][myY].monster != null)){
      System.out.println("Oh, it must have been my shadow; there's no monsters here \n");
      return; //no monster
    if(rand.nextBoolean()){
     doHumanAttack();
     if(room[myX][myY].monster.hp > 0) doMonsterAttack();
    }else{
      doMonsterAttack();
      doHumanAttack();
  public void doHumanAttack(){
    int weaponIndex = 0;
    if(myLevel<myWeaponMaxDamage.length) weaponIndex = myLevel;else weaponIndex = myWeaponMaxDamage.length-1;
    System.out.println("Attacking with " + myWeapon[weaponIndex] + " ...");
    int damage = myLevel * rand.nextInt(myWeaponMaxDamage[myLevel]);
    room[myX][myY].monster.hp -= damage;
    if(damage>0) System.out.println("Hit for " + damage + " damage\n");
    else System.out.println("I missed!\n");
    if(room[myX][myY].monster.hp <= 0) System.out.println("The " + room[myX][myY].monster.name  + " is dead.");
  public void doMonsterAttack(){
    System.out.println("The " + room[myX][myY].monster.name  + " is attacking...");
    int damage = rand.nextInt(monsterMaxDamage[room[myX][myY].monster.level-1]);
    myHP -= damage;
    if(damage>0) System.out.println("I've been hit for " + damage + " damage\n");
    else System.out.println("It missed me!\n");
    if(myHP<=0){
      System.out.println("Oh no, I'm dead!!!!!");
      System.exit(0);
  public void doStatus(){
    System.out.println();
    System.out.println("  Status:");
    System.out.println("    Room: " + myX + ":" + myY);
    System.out.println("      HP: " + myHP);
    System.out.println("Treasure: " + myTreasure + " gp");
    System.out.println("   Level: " + myLevel);
    System.out.println();
  public void doTreasure(){
    if(!(room[myX][myY].monster != null)){
      System.out.println("What--do you expect it just to be laying around in every room? \n");
      return; //no monster
    if(room[myX][myY].monster.hp>0){
      System.out.println("If there is any treasure that " + room[myX][myY].monster.name + " is guarding it.\n");
      return; //no monster
    myTreasure += room[myX][myY].monster.treasure;
    System.out.println("I found " + room[myX][myY].monster.treasure + " gp\n");
    room[myX][myY].monster = null;
  public void fillMonster(){
    int fill = (widthX * heightY * monsterFillFactor) / 100;
    int x = 0;
    int y = 0;
    boolean gen = false;
    for(int i=0; i<fill; i++){
      gen = true;
      while(gen){
        x = rand.nextInt(widthX);
        y = rand.nextInt(heightY);
        if(!(room[x][y].monster != null)){
          room[x][y].monster = new Monster(rand.nextInt(3)+1);
          gen = false;
  class Monster{
    int level = 0;
    int hp   = 0;
    int treasure = 0;
    String name = "";
    Monster(int level){
      this.level = level;
      hp = 1;
      for(int i = 0; i<level; i++) {
        hp += rand.nextInt(6);
        treasure += rand.nextInt(100);
      name = monsterName[level-1][rand.nextInt(3)];
  class myRoom{
    Monster monster = null;
    //what ever else you want to put in here
  public static void main(String[] args){
    String myIN = "";
    Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
    ForumJunk fj = new ForumJunk();
    System.out.print("I am in room: " + fj.myX + ", " + fj.myY + " I have " + fj.myHP + " hit points and " + fj.myTreasure + " treasure ");
    if(fj.room[fj.myX][fj.myY].monster!=null){
      System.out.println("There is a  " + fj.room[fj.myX][fj.myY].monster.name + " here!");
    System.out.println("\n");
    while(!(myIN=scan.next()).equals("exit")){
      if(myIN.equals("north")){
        fj.myY -=1;
        if(fj.myY<0) fj.myY=fj.heightY-1;
      }else if(myIN.equals("south")){
        fj.myY +=1;
        if(fj.myY==fj.heightY) fj.myY=0;
      }else if(myIN.equals("west")){
        fj.myX -=1;
        if(fj.myX<0) fj.myX=fj.widthX-1;
      }else if(myIN.equals("east")){
        fj.myX +=1;
        if(fj.myX==fj.widthX) fj.myX=0;
      }else if(myIN.equals("attack")){
        fj.doAttack();
      }else if(myIN.equals("weapon")){
        System.out.println("I'll be using my " + fj.myWeapon[fj.myLevel] + " to attack\n");
      }else if(myIN.equals("treasure")){
        fj.doTreasure();
      }else if(myIN.equals("status")){
        fj.doStatus();
    System.out.print("I am in room: " + fj.myX + ", " + fj.myY + " I have " + fj.myHP + " hit points and " + fj.myTreasure + " treasure ");
    if(fj.room[fj.myX][fj.myY].monster!=null){
      System.out.print("There is a ");
      if(fj.room[fj.myX][fj.myY].monster.hp<=0) System.out.print("dead ");
      System.out.println(fj.room[fj.myX][fj.myY].monster.name + " here!");
    System.out.println("\n");
  System.out.println("Bye!");
}