[RedSlash]

Nice DevX! Based on your analysis, I conclude the bug is right here:

[DeveloperX]

yeah I came to that conclusion as well.

If Captain wants me to restructure his code for him, that is one that that he will not have to worry about anymore.
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Principal Software Architect
Rambling Indie Games, LLC

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[Captain Vimes]

Wow. You guys know your stuff. I totally missed that. Thanks a lot. I'm going to fix that right now and see what happens.

DevX, feel free to restructure/rewrite as you feel necessary. I was planning to make the source code for all my games entirely available so that people can edit as they see fit anyway. The only thing I ask is that you tell me exactly what you do and why - not because I'm protective of the code or anything (I could care less, really) but I'd like to learn what I'm doing wrong and how to do it better. Thanks.
_________________
"Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness."
- Terry Pratchett

[Captain Vimes]

Okay, I fixed the AddSprite() function. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the problem, since the program is still crashing whenever I run it. Any other ideas, besides valderman's? And, on the subject of valderman's suggestion, how do I go about making sure that pEngine is actually a valid pointer?
_________________
"Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness."
- Terry Pratchett

[valderman]

[DeveloperX]

[Captain Vimes]

Thanks, DevX and Val. But before I go into the code and replace the pointers with references, I'd like to know why you think they're better. I mean, I've heard several people say that, but they never really explained why.
_________________
"Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness."
- Terry Pratchett

[DeveloperX]

I'm still refactoring the code; but so far so good.
Should not be much longer. Maybe an hour or two.
I am actually personally against using references.

People use references because you cannot unset a reference.
Once you set the reference, its that. nothing else.
You cannot set a reference of type a to type b, or you will get compiler errors.

But don't you worry none. The new code will be quite easy to understand, use, and maintain. :) And of course, you've got me to answer any questions regarding the code.

And, I am keeping a VERY detailed log of what I do, so you will have quite the read when I'm done.

..ok, back to refactoring. :D
_________________
Principal Software Architect
Rambling Indie Games, LLC

See my professional portfolio

[valderman]

[DeveloperX]

Okay man. I'm finished. And, your code runs perfectly now.

No crashes, nothing. :)

I only ask for one thing in return.
Drop my name "Richard Marks" in your game credits somewhere. Either in the README or in your credits screen in game. that's the only thing I ask in return.

Here is your new working code: Download Here

There is a file called SConstruct in the archive as well; which is what I use to build the project. I know you use Dev-C++, so you don't need to bother with that file at all.

Goodluck to you; and let me know if you need anything.
_________________
Principal Software Architect
Rambling Indie Games, LLC

See my professional portfolio

[RedSlash]

In general, references are safer to use. But there is a difference between references and pointers.. so don't go ahead and replace all your pointers just yet.
References are aliases to other objects, and unlike pointers, they do not necessarily occupy memory space (as determined by the compiler). That is why you cannot simply change the reference to another object.
References are most useful when passed as a parameter or returned (in the case of overloaded operator). When choosing whether to pass by pointer or reference, it is usually better to pass by reference because it is cleaner and you don't have to check for NULL pointer and still get the efficiency as passing by pointer. Futhermore, you can pass temporaries to const references.
Another reason why you should use references is that C++ operator overloading depends heavily on use of references. You can save yourself alot of trouble in the future if you intend to use C++ designed features.

Pointers have a different role in that they point to objects. You will still need to use pointers if you allocate objects off the heap and if you need to point to different objects including NULL. Hope that helps.

[Captain Vimes]

Well, I'm pretty sure that I will need to point to NULL at some point, and I still don't really get why anyone would use references - I'll go look it up in my free time - so I think I'll just stick with pointers for now. Thanks though.

And DevX, thanks a lot. I didn't even know that it was possible to forward-declare a class or structure. That makes things a lot easier.
I was planning to make a SpriteManager class myself, once I had gotten the basic engine working, but yours is a lot better and simpler than anything I could have done. Thanks. And the Hammer class is a lot more readable now. I didn't know that people didn't use the old notation any more.
I only have a few questions (this is extremely easy to read; thanks again):

- In the Sprite::Draw() function, why does it pass NULL as the source rectangle?
- Why have all the SDL_Rect variables become SDL_Rect*s?
- I thought SDL couldn't handle x and y values below 0, but the Sprite constructor sets them to -1 unless another value is given. Why doesn't this cause a crash?

I've learned a lot just by reading the logs and comments you left. I've probably learned as much in the last half-hour as I did when I started using SDL :D

THANK YOU!
_________________
"Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness."
- Terry Pratchett

[DeveloperX]

[Captain Vimes]

[DeveloperX]