[Gardon]

And what ABOUT my input class? How else would you handle updates? Just keep setting values in engine and passing thema long to whoever needs it? i might as well handle input in engine.cpp then.

Jason

[zenogais]

You structure your project by breaking code up into logical units. You don't cram stuff together that has no business being together (i.e. they are not related in any way other than that one relies on the other for something).

As for the input class, I'd use the observer pattern if I was really interested in separating events from the code that reacts to them. The code you have now is fine, but it's inflexible and there is a better way. That being said it's probably just fine for a small RPG, however for a much larger, more complex RPG it would start becoming more of a hindrance.

All of these questions you are asking you have to figure out for yourself. You have to figure how you like to structure your code and then structure it that way, it's a personal decision and not one someone else can make for you. Spend some time reading C++ articles and brushing, 95% of the questions you have can be solved by research (e.g. Google).

[RuneLancer]

You could handle input by having an input module which polls the keyboard for keys held down. Other modules in your code could query the input module to see which keys are currently being held and react accordingly.

Various input libraries already do this for you, btw. Dunno what SDL has to offer, but I believe it should be able to fill this purpose out nicely.
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Endless Saga
An OpenGL RPG in the making. Now with new hosting!

[LeoDraco]

(Just to toot my own horn, I offered some advice on this subject in your other thread, with links even.)

The past couple of days, as a side effect of your other thread, I have been reading some of the answers offered at both the C++ FAQ Lite and on Bjarne Stroustrupe's homepage; they seem to have a good deal of useful information, so you might consider perusing them, should the language be hindering you. I'm also given to understand that Stroustrupe's book is the definitive guide to C++ --- which makes sense: he did, after all, create the language --- however I have yet to give it a read.

If you should gain anything from the first of those links --- the FAQ lite --- it should be: "There are no hard and fast absolutes;" applying that to program design, you should realize that a number of tradeoffs occur over the course of developing anything, and the utilization of a given construct --- be it something language supported, such as an enumeration and switches, to something far more abstract, such as design patterns utilizing crazy amounts of OO code --- is never without its consequences. (That said, certain approaches have consequences more dire than do their alternatives.)

I once had it explained to me that any method numbering more than 100 lines was illwrought, and should probably be refactored; that magic number varies per person, and even per hour --- for instance, some people might be wary of methods the length of which is greater than their text-editor window's height; others might think that methods more than a dozen lines should be rethought, while others still might be perfectly happy with dumping massive amounts of code into arbitrarily tossed together methods. Intrinsically, as long as your source makes sense to you, and you are happy with its run-time and memory footprint, nobody really cares how it is done, unless they themselves have to start maintaining it.

Another thing to gain from that FAQ: "good" program design should start at as abstract a level as possible; consider only the interfaces by which your classes will interact, which is to say, consider their behavior, not their data. The latter quatum is important, but designing to data generally causes greater headaches than does designing to behavior.

And certainly: do your own research! Folks around here are amiable enough to talk about things at abstract levels, and certainly will give guiding help for things more concrete. However, you shall not always have others around to hold your hand when things become difficult; mentors are great, but you sould hardly rely solely upon them.
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"...LeoDraco is a pompus git..." -- Mandrake

[RuneLancer]

Meh... just gonna post before heading off to bed.

[tunginobi]

[Gardon]

I like neat and organized, so hundreds of lines IN ONE FILE is a lot, yes

Jason