From: Jeremiah Dodds <jeremiah.dodds@...>
Date: 2011-10-05T15:00:25+09:00
Subject: Re: question about method

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 12:46 AM, Joseph S. <musician_joe777@yahoo.com> wrote:
> FIXED IT! i may be a beginner but i figured it out. should have been
> using classes from the start, silly me.
>

Awesome that you found a solution! The problem with your initial try
wasn't that you weren't using classes though, it was that you weren't
saving the value returned from your function.

def roll_d20
 1 + rand(20)
end


def attack_roll
 if roll_d20 > AC
   print "Attack roll is #{roll_d20} vs. AC #{AC}. Hit!"
 else roll_d20 <= AC
   print "Attack roll is #{roll_d20} vs. AC #{AC}. Miss!"
 end
end

10.times do print attack_roll end

In the code above, each time the string "roll_d20" happens in the body
of attack_roll, it's calling the function and returning a new number
since functions in ruby return the value of their last statement.

So it looked like the output was wrong because what you were printing
was a *new* number instead of the number being compared.

In your new code, you assign the result of the roll to a variable
(which, btw, is done in a bit of an odd way, it's very uncommon to
want a variable from outside a class to be accessed within it directly
like $d20 is, but don't worry you're on the right path), and that
variable is then compared. You   could modify your old code to work
the same way (and I suggest you do, it's always good to apply new
knowledge to old stuff).

Keep reading and coding and learning, and you'll be on top of things in no time!