C#•14mo ago

❔ How can I make a Console app with cool text that when displayed slowly writes whatever

I'm trying to make a little story console app and I want to make the wording so that when you want to continue you hit enter then it displays the letter one by one in quick succession as if to type fast.

33 Replies

Hazel 🌊💃•14mo ago

You could do a simple while with Console.ReadKey and move through a string one character at a time:

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

How would I do that?

Hazel 🌊💃•14mo ago

How experienced are you with C# so far?

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

Only been using it less than a month here and there I know all the basics but not much

Hazel 🌊💃•14mo ago

So how would you start tackling this given what I've already stated and your current experience?

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

I'm not sure, I might try to set a timer and display a certain one of the letters correlating to the timer? But I'm probably not smart enough for that

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

First off, I jsut want to mention that users typically hate slow text 😛 but I will get you an example one moment

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

ok, I'm not gonna make it realy slow, just not instant

Hazel 🌊💃•14mo ago

Oh, so they're not holding down enter here They're just pressing it once and it starts printing it out ?

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

Yes

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

public static void WriteWithRandomDelays(
    string @string,
    TimeSpan? minDelay = null,
    TimeSpan? maxDelay = null,
    Action<TimeSpan>? delay = null)
{
    if (@string is null)
    {
        throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(@string));
    }

    delay ??= Thread.Sleep;
    minDelay ??= TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(50);
    maxDelay ??= minDelay + TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(350);

    if (minDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds <= 0)
    {
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(minDelay), minDelay, $"{nameof(minDelay)}.{nameof(minDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds)} <= 0");
    }
    if (minDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds > int.MaxValue)
    {
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(minDelay), minDelay, $"{nameof(minDelay)}.{nameof(minDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds)} > {nameof(Int32)}.{nameof(int.MaxValue)}");
    }
    if (maxDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds > int.MaxValue)
    {
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(maxDelay), maxDelay, $"{nameof(maxDelay)}.{nameof(maxDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds)} > {nameof(Int32)}.{nameof(int.MaxValue)}");
    }
    if (maxDelay < minDelay)
    {
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(maxDelay), maxDelay, $"{nameof(maxDelay)} < {nameof(minDelay)}");
    }

    int randomMax = Math.Max((int)(maxDelay.Value - minDelay.Value).TotalMilliseconds, 1);
    foreach (char c in @string)
    {
        TimeSpan delayTimeSpan = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(Random.Shared.Next(randomMax)) + minDelay.Value;
        delay(delayTimeSpan);
        Console.Write(c);
    }
}

public static void WriteWithRandomDelays(
    string @string,
    TimeSpan? minDelay = null,
    TimeSpan? maxDelay = null,
    Action<TimeSpan>? delay = null)
{
    if (@string is null)
    {
        throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(@string));
    }

    delay ??= Thread.Sleep;
    minDelay ??= TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(50);
    maxDelay ??= minDelay + TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(350);

    if (minDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds <= 0)
    {
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(minDelay), minDelay, $"{nameof(minDelay)}.{nameof(minDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds)} <= 0");
    }
    if (minDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds > int.MaxValue)
    {
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(minDelay), minDelay, $"{nameof(minDelay)}.{nameof(minDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds)} > {nameof(Int32)}.{nameof(int.MaxValue)}");
    }
    if (maxDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds > int.MaxValue)
    {
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(maxDelay), maxDelay, $"{nameof(maxDelay)}.{nameof(maxDelay.Value.TotalMilliseconds)} > {nameof(Int32)}.{nameof(int.MaxValue)}");
    }
    if (maxDelay < minDelay)
    {
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(maxDelay), maxDelay, $"{nameof(maxDelay)} < {nameof(minDelay)}");
    }

    int randomMax = Math.Max((int)(maxDelay.Value - minDelay.Value).TotalMilliseconds, 1);
    foreach (char c in @string)
    {
        TimeSpan delayTimeSpan = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(Random.Shared.Next(randomMax)) + minDelay.Value;
        delay(delayTimeSpan);
        Console.Write(c);
    }
}

I realize this may be look a little complicated but I can strip it down for you that is a helper method that will print the output with small random delays

Hazel 🌊💃•14mo ago

O_O way above what I was going to do lol Impressive 😄

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

you could call it like

ConsoleHelpers.WriteWithRandomDelays("Hello World! Hello World! Hello World! Hello World!");
Console.WriteLine();
Console.Write("Press Enter To Continue...");
Console.ReadLine();

ConsoleHelpers.WriteWithRandomDelays("Hello World! Hello World! Hello World! Hello World!");
Console.WriteLine();
Console.Write("Press Enter To Continue...");
Console.ReadLine();

and it would slowly print "Hello World! Hello World! Hello World! Hello World!"

Hazel 🌊💃•14mo ago

private static void PrintWithDelay(string input, TimeSpan delay)
{
    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(input))
        return;

    foreach (char character in input)
    {
        Thread.Sleep(delay);
        Console.Write(character);
    }
}

...
PrintWithDelay("This is an example", TimeSpan.FromMillisconds(50));

private static void PrintWithDelay(string input, TimeSpan delay)
{
    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(input))
        return;

    foreach (char character in input)
    {
        Thread.Sleep(delay);
        Console.Write(character);
    }
}

...
PrintWithDelay("This is an example", TimeSpan.FromMillisconds(50));

I like ZP's version better because it's probably much closer to what you truly want visually, but perhaps this simplified snippet will help you better understand what their snippet is doing.

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

here is a simplified version of the same method:

public static void WriteWithRandomDelays(string @string)
{
    if (@string is null)
    {
        throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(@string));
    }

    TimeSpan minDelay = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(50);
    TimeSpan maxDelay = minDelay + TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(350);
    int randomMax = Math.Max((int)(maxDelay - minDelay).TotalMilliseconds, 1);
    foreach (char c in @string)
    {
        TimeSpan delayTimeSpan = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(Random.Shared.Next(randomMax)) + minDelay;
        Thread.Sleep(delayTimeSpan);
        Console.Write(c);
    }
}

public static void WriteWithRandomDelays(string @string)
{
    if (@string is null)
    {
        throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(@string));
    }

    TimeSpan minDelay = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(50);
    TimeSpan maxDelay = minDelay + TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(350);
    int randomMax = Math.Max((int)(maxDelay - minDelay).TotalMilliseconds, 1);
    foreach (char c in @string)
    {
        TimeSpan delayTimeSpan = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(Random.Shared.Next(randomMax)) + minDelay;
        Thread.Sleep(delayTimeSpan);
        Console.Write(c);
    }
}

just without the extra optional parameters and withotu the extra parameters you don't need the extra exception handling adding a little bit of randomness to it goes a long ways imo

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

Ok, I’m had to step away from my computer but I will try it out when I get back thanks So will I have to do this individually for each new line I write?

Hazel 🌊💃•14mo ago

No; you call it for each line I may have misunderstood your question tacolost

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

No worries I explained it bad, just a simple text adventure game. A bunch of if statement for multiple options of paths in the game, simple do this or do that, then based on the option I want it to write out the story quickly, a speed just fast enough so you can’t catch up while reading, instead instantly displaying it the second you hit enter to continue the story

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

so you need help with menuing? if you can share your current code that would help

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

Currently I cannot but I can in a couple hour, we can continue then if you’d prefer

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

using System;

while (true)
{
    Console.Clear();
    Console.WriteLine("""
        My Game :)

        Menu

        1: Option A
        2: Option B
        3: Exit
        """);
    Console.CursorVisible = false;
    switch (Console.ReadKey(true).Key)
    {
        case ConsoleKey.D1 or ConsoleKey.NumPad1: OptionA(); break;
        case ConsoleKey.D2 or ConsoleKey.NumPad2: OptionB(); break;
        case ConsoleKey.D3: return;
    }
}

void OptionA()
{
    while (true)
    {
        Console.Clear();
        Console.WriteLine("""
            My Game :)

            You chose Option A.

            1: return to main menu
            """);
        Console.CursorVisible = false;
        switch (Console.ReadKey(true).Key)
        {
            case ConsoleKey.D1 or ConsoleKey.NumPad1: return;
        }
    }
}

void OptionB()
{
    while (true)
    {
        Console.Clear();
        Console.WriteLine("""
            My Game :)

            You chose Option B.

            1: return to main menu
            """);
        Console.CursorVisible = false;
        switch (Console.ReadKey(true).Key)
        {
            case ConsoleKey.D1 or ConsoleKey.NumPad1: return;
        }
    }
}

using System;

while (true)
{
    Console.Clear();
    Console.WriteLine("""
        My Game :)

        Menu

        1: Option A
        2: Option B
        3: Exit
        """);
    Console.CursorVisible = false;
    switch (Console.ReadKey(true).Key)
    {
        case ConsoleKey.D1 or ConsoleKey.NumPad1: OptionA(); break;
        case ConsoleKey.D2 or ConsoleKey.NumPad2: OptionB(); break;
        case ConsoleKey.D3: return;
    }
}

void OptionA()
{
    while (true)
    {
        Console.Clear();
        Console.WriteLine("""
            My Game :)

            You chose Option A.

            1: return to main menu
            """);
        Console.CursorVisible = false;
        switch (Console.ReadKey(true).Key)
        {
            case ConsoleKey.D1 or ConsoleKey.NumPad1: return;
        }
    }
}

void OptionB()
{
    while (true)
    {
        Console.Clear();
        Console.WriteLine("""
            My Game :)

            You chose Option B.

            1: return to main menu
            """);
        Console.CursorVisible = false;
        switch (Console.ReadKey(true).Key)
        {
            case ConsoleKey.D1 or ConsoleKey.NumPad1: return;
        }
    }
}

there is another example if that helps at all. based on your last comment you sounded like you were struggling switching between views there are multiple ways to do it in the code above it will start at the main menu. the user has to press either 1, 2, or 3 and when they do it will transition to another "view" based on what they pick

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

Mines way more basic, it like “console.writeline”story” String optionOne = console.read key If optionOne == (one of the option) { (More Story then another if option and on and on) } Else if (other option) { More story on and on }

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

that's okay, but you will likely need some loops. you don't want your game to break the second the user provides invalid input and spliting your code up into methods can help keep it clean

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

How do I split it up to methods and make loops? Sorry if I’m asking for too much, you don’t need to help with the whole game

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

this (reply) example alreay splits things up into methods and includes loops for exmaple, if you are on the main menu and you press "4", the game will not crash it won't do anything it will loop until the user provides valid input

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

the user must press either 1, 2, or 3 the loop is the

while (true)
{
...
}

while (true)
{
...
}

while (true) is an "infinite loop" so it will go on forever. In general you don't want to code infinite loops if possible, but for console games like this, it is fine return; exits the current method

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

Alright

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

so even though there is a while (true), when the user presses 3 while in the main menu, the return will break out of the current method and end your code Side Note: If you are interested in making console games there are lots of examples on GitHub. If you would like a link to some just ask.

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

Sure, would Definitly like some reference

ZacharyPatten•14mo ago

https://github.com/dotnet/dotnet-console-games here are some examples. and you can play most of them in your browser so you don't even have to download and compile them. but they are all open source so you can see how they are coded

Noah HereOP•14mo ago

Awesome thanks a lot!

Accord•14mo ago

Was this issue resolved? If so, run /close - otherwise I will mark this as stale and this post will be archived until there is new activity.

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❔ How can I make a Console app with cool text that when displayed slowly writes whatever