How to use Array in Ruby?

Question

I am a newbie in Ruby. I am trying to write a simple interactive game in ruby but am stuck. Need help to proceed. Below is the concept:

money         = [100, 200, 300, 400]
beneficiaries = ["John", "Sam", "Mary"]
cost1         = [50, 25, 30, 75, 18]
cost2         = [120, 150, 200, 250]
gift1         = [" crayon ", " Pencil ", " Biro "]
gift2         = [" bag ", " shoe ", " Radio "]
cashowned     = [50]
a             = money.sample
b             = cost1.sample
c             = cost2.sample
d             = gift1.sample
e             = gift2.sample
f             = cashowned
puts " Hi, what is your name? "
puts
name = gets.chomp
puts
puts " #{name} is a nice name."
puts
puts "#{name} you have #{f} in your bank account."
puts
puts "Roll the dice and let's see how much you just earned."
puts
gets.chomp.to_i
dice1 = a
puts "#{name} you just earned: #{dice1}"
puts
gets.chomp.to_i
Cashowned = dice1 + f
puts "Your account balance is now : #{cashowned}"
puts
gets.chomp.to_i

I am stuck here. I want to repeat/loop the sequence so that I can give out gift at a cost and deduct from cash owned. But cash owned is not updating. A simpler way to go about this will be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Here is a simple game I've made. It's not perfect as I've rushed it, but it works and shows you what type of code I think you are asking for. Pay attention to the while loop and if statements within the while loops.

#set your variables

b = 200 #initial balance
br = -500 #account limit
dice = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

puts "State name?"
n = gets.chomp
puts ""
puts "Greetings #{n}"
puts ""
puts "============================"
puts "Your initial balance is #{b}"
puts "============================"
puts ""
puts "If it reaches or exceeds #{br}"
puts "you'll be declared bankrupt!"
puts ""


while b > br do

#rolling the positive di   
   puts "Roll good di? (y/n)"
   puts ""
        a = gets.chomp.downcase

        if a == "y"
            pd = dice.sample*100
            b += pd 
            puts ""
            puts "****you scored #{pd}****"
            puts "============================"
            puts" new balance: #{b}"
            puts "============================"
            puts ""
        else
            puts "============================"            
            puts "your balance remains at #{b}"
            puts "============================"            
            puts ""
        end


#rolling the negative di  
   puts "Roll evil di? (y/n)"
   puts ""
   ans = gets.chomp.downcase

        if ans == "y"
            nd = dice.sample*-100
            b += nd
            puts ""
            puts "****you scored ****#{nd}****"
            puts "============================"
            puts "new balance: #{b}" 
            puts "============================"
            puts ""
        else
            puts "============================"            
            puts "your balance remains at #{b}"
            puts "============================"            
            puts ""
        end


#option to repeat
   puts ""
   puts "Continue playing (y/n)?"
   puts ""
   ans = gets.chomp.downcase
   puts ""

        if ans == "n" 
            puts ""
            puts "============================"            
            puts "final balance is #{b}"
            puts "============================"            
            puts ""        
            exit

        else
            b
        end

end

puts "You have now reached/exceeded your limit"
puts "of #{br}, so your account has been frozen"
puts ""

Run this code and have a look and modify it to suit your needs.

Answer 2

If you want to update/access value in an array, you need to use index operator

cashowned[0] = dice1 + f[0]

Answer 3

Ruby is a case sensitive language.

Fist you declared your variable as:

cashowned = [50]

and later you are trying to update using another variable name:

Cashowned = dice1 + f

note that "cashowned" and "Cashowned" are different variables

UPDATE:

Line 7, you have:

cashowned = [50] 

my question is, why not use only:

cashowned = 50

?

As you are doing will cause the error: Array can't be coerced into Fixnum (TypeError)

You are trying to sum a Fixnum with an Array.

See the code:

money = [100, 200, 300, 400]
beneficiaries = ["John", "Sam", "Mary"]
cost1 = [50, 25, 30, 75, 18]
cost2 = [120, 150, 200, 250]
gift1 = ["crayon", "Pencil", "Biro"]
gift2 = ["bag", "shoe", "Radio"]
cashowned = 50
a = money.sample
b = cost1.sample
c = cost2.sample
d = gift1.sample
e = gift2.sample
f = cashowned
puts "Hi, what is your name?"
name = gets.chomp
puts "#{name} is a nice name."
puts "#{name} you have #{f} in your bank account."
puts "Roll the dice and let's see how much you just earned."
gets.chomp.to_i
dice1 = a
puts "#{name} you just earned: #{dice1}"
gets.chomp.to_i
cashowned = dice1 + f
puts "Your account balance is now : #{cashowned}"
gets.chomp.to_i

And See the test result: