Question

I am making a RPG game in C++ and DirectX.

I store all the data for the game in .txt files and read/write it using `ifstream/ofstream. this has worked well for me so far when talking about creature stats and I have a hack together for creature names but this is becoming a problem.

I can store strings in the txt file and read them but I am having trouble using them. for single words I have a hack but now I am up to the story line where characters are talking to each other it is a real problem.

I asked on gamedevelopment.stackexchange how to put text on screen and was told to use D3Dtext but that only accepts C-style strings and I can only read C++ strings from the text file. This is such a big problem now that I am willing to go back and re-factor what need sit as no progress can be made until this is sorted.

So now I have a bunch of questions and I dont know which to ask first:

1. I want a way to draw the letters like graphics. I was told this is what D3Dtext does but I want to implement it my self if I can I just need info on how if someone knows?

2. If I am to use D3Dtext like so called experts advise I have to use C-style strings. so how can I convert C-style strings to C++ strings? I have a method now but that requires the new and delete operator for every string and I can see the being a big problem as it grows in complexity?

3. Is there a way to read C-style strings? Maybe a replacement for ifstream. I would like to keep the txt files as I really dont want to use xml but I could change the file format if it was a viable solution?

4. Premature optimisation I know but I plan to use the same function for every piece of text in the game so what would be a good way of doing this in terms of speed (why I dont want new/delete for every string)?

I am happy to provide any information that would be needed to help me, just ask.

Answer 1

You can convert freely between C-style strings and C++’s std::string. Just use my_cpp_string.c_str() to get the C-string representation of a C++ string, and std::string my_cpp_string(my_c_string) to initialize a new std::string from a C-style string.