Carpet Fishing

Expandable Carpet fishing game according to Dilbert's rules

Background

If you are a reader of the Dilbert comic by Scott Adams, you might remember this game:

This program is an implementation of this game with extension capabilities. It not only includes the standard carpet fishing but also a data collection cover. If you don't want your PHB (Pointy Haired Boss) to know that you are playing a game, you can use this cover. It prints out different messages but the gaming principle is the same.

Usage

Standard Arguments

There are a few arguments you can set:

Argument	Description
-h	Prints the help message. Combined with a game mode, it might look different.
-n	Enables notifications. By default it uses `Console.Beep()` but it can be overridden by each `GameData` implementations.
-t[m]	Sets the time to wait between results in minutes. Example: "-t5". This value can also be set in-game.
-g[x,y]	Sets the grid size. Example: "-g5,5". This value can also be set in-game.

Game Mode Arguments

By default there are only two game modes. You can add more by implementing your own GameData class. See "Expanding" for more information.

Argument	Description
-f	Standard Carpet Fishing game mode. This is also the default if no parameter is given.
-d	Data Collection Tool game mode. It looks like a tool that is collection some ominous data. Use it to hide that you are playing a game.

Expanding

You can also easily add your own texts to create a different version. Simply create your own class that inherits from the GameData class and add it to the AvailableGameTypes array at the start of the Main method.

This is how the class properties related to the printed text:

Started without any arguments:

########################
## Welcome to {Title} ##
########################

{GetGrid} (x,y):
{awaiting user input here}

{GetTime} (in minutes):
{awaiting user input here}

{Start}
{Time}: 5m  -  {Grid}: X:5 Y:5

{Progress}

{GetResultString(x, y)}

The GetGrid and GetTime will be overwritten by Start once they are typed in. And Progress will be overwritten by the GetResultString(x, y). After a result is printed out, it starts again with Progress.

If you set the "-h" argument alone it will print out the standard help with a list of available game modes, where each game mode is presented like this:

-{Tag}  {Description}

If you set the "-h" argument together with a game mode argument, the help can change a bit.

The title will be Help for {Title} instead of Help for Carpet Fishing.
The available game types will not be listed.
If not null, the Help property will be shown.
If OmitHowTo is set to true, the How To messages will not be shown.

Additionally you can override these two methods:

Method	Description
Init	Will be called before the game begins. It gets all provides arguments passed so you can define your own game configurations.
Notification	Will be called after each result if the "-n" argument is given. By default it calls `Console.Beep()`.

What's the Point

Well, to be honest there is none really. This was written just for fun and nothing else. However, you could use it as a reminder for taking a break once in a while with the added fun of potentially catching a fish.

Your Input

If you have found a bug or a problem, please report them here. If you have written an extension, consider a pull request and it might get included here. Just make sure it is in the GameType folder and it's not inappropriate.

JBildstein / CarpetFishing