Question

I’m generating mazes, I can only pick the first or last column. And I can only choose an even row (if you start the row index at 1). I have the correct logic, except that the maze start position isn’t random. If I generate 50 mazes, that are all 20×20, all starting positions will be the same. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

void Maze::generatePath()
{
    int startingColumn = -1;
    int startingRow = -1;

    srand (time(NULL));

    int side = rand() % 2;
    startingColumn = (width - 1) * side; // will get first or last column

    int row = rand() % height; // 0 -> height - 1

    if(row % 2 == 0) // even, add one, or subtract if last row
    {
        if(row + 1 >= width)
            startingRow = row - 1;
        else
            startingRow = row + 1;
    }
    else
    {
        startingRow = row; // odd, keep it
    }

    grid[startingRow][startingColumn] = ' '; // starting character is blank
}

I call this method every time I generate a new maze. This code is to get the starting position. I haven’t written the rest.

Answer 1

Only call srand once when your program starts. By calling it over and over in the same second, you keep resetting the random number generator to the same state.