This is a text-only version of the following page on https://raymii.org:
---
Title : CookieNumberPrinter, incremental / idle game style numbers in C++
Author : Remy van Elst
Date : 12-09-2020
URL : https://raymii.org/s/software/CookieNumberPrinter_incremental_game_style_numbers.html
Format : Markdown/HTML
---
To level up my software development skills, I'm programming a command line game
in my spare time. It is a clone of the famous cookieclicker game [by
ortiel][1]. A clone of a game is simple enough to get up and running fairly
quickly, but also extensible enough when needed. How do you store huge score
numbers when they don't fit in a `long long`? How do you write a game loop, how
to use threads to handle user input? Saving a game (how to design a proper save
format)? Also a great way to learn about project organization, software
architecture and to try out design patterns.
As the game is a clone of CookieCliker, which itself is an [incremental
game][2], I had to figure out how to work with large numbers. Since this is not
a university math project, I allowed myself the luxury of using [Boosts
Multiprecision][3]. The library handles the large numbers, including
caluclation and operations with such a number. I did want to print the numbers
in Idle Style, where large numbers are displayed with a suffix, like `1 million`
instead of `1000000` and so on.
This `C++` class can be used to print Boost's `cpp_dec_float` numbers in
incremental style. It's just one header. You can [get the code here][6].
[If you like this class, consider sponsoring me by trying out a Digital Ocean
VPS. With this link you'll get $100 credit for 60 days). (referral link)][99]
Please do keep in mind that this is a hobby project, the code might not be up to
your professional standards. As of now the class in my game has diverged a bit
to also support a few other boost numbers and can directly be used as an output
stream (`std::cout << cookienumber` instead of `std::cout << cookienumber.print()`).
### Idle Style numbers?
If you're wondering what Idle / Incremental game style is, let me show you. A
lot of mobile games show numbers in idle style, here is a picture of one:
![idle miner][5]
Here is a screenshot of my game, where you can see I have `5p` cookies as well
as prices for certain items with suffixes:
![c_ookieclicker][4]
Even though one is a flashy Android game and one is a humble command line
application, you see the idle style printing.
In the future I might show more of the game, or even make the git repository
public. For now it's just me and a few friends.
### Download and building and an example
I assume you have a working C++ compiler setup and have compiled before.
Install boost:
apt install libboost-all-dev
Clone the git repository
git clone https://github.com/RaymiiOrg/cookienumberprinter
Go in the folder and cmake / make
cd cookienumberprinter
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
Run the example:
./cookienumberprinter
Output should be:
CookieNumberPrinter by https://raymii.org, examples.
Should print:
0
1
1.1
100.3
1234
123 thousand
1 million
8 million
12 billion
3 quintillion
897a
11yyy
Here we go!
0
1
1.1
100.3
1234
123 thousand
1 million
8 million
12 billion
3 quintillion
897a
11yyy
Process finished with exit code 0
[1]: https://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incremental_game
[3]: https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_74_0/libs/multiprecision/doc/html/boost_multiprecision/intro.html
[4]: /s/inc/img/105_main.png
[5]: /s/inc/img/idleminer.png
[6]: https://github.com/RaymiiOrg/cookienumberprinter
---
License:
All the text on this website is free as in freedom unless stated otherwise.
This means you can use it in any way you want, you can copy it, change it
the way you like and republish it, as long as you release the (modified)
content under the same license to give others the same freedoms you've got
and place my name and a link to this site with the article as source.
This site uses Google Analytics for statistics and Google Adwords for
advertisements. You are tracked and Google knows everything about you.
Use an adblocker like ublock-origin if you don't want it.
All the code on this website is licensed under the GNU GPL v3 license
unless already licensed under a license which does not allows this form
of licensing or if another license is stated on that page / in that software:
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
Just to be clear, the information on this website is for meant for educational
purposes and you use it at your own risk. I do not take responsibility if you
screw something up. Use common sense, do not 'rm -rf /' as root for example.
If you have any questions then do not hesitate to contact me.
See https://raymii.org/s/static/About.html for details.