Beginner code for a text-based battle simulator

Question

I wanted to see if anyone would like to review the existing code I have for a beginner program that simulates a battle. I have learned a heck of a lot while doing it, and I had a few questions regarding some things that I found worked, but I am not sure on the why of them working.

Please do note that this is not finished and I am definitely going to see this program through to the end with a few more features that what I have now. However, at this stage it is functional and I wanted to see if the things I am doing now will lead to a functional program at the end.

The main issues I have had so far come from sticking the dictionaries inside of a list. I had to deal with a lot of errors passing a dictionary function to a list and vice versa.

Here is the code:

    # A combat simulator which allows input for your name, your weapon, randomly chooses your enemy, and simulates a battle based on simple stats such as HP and dmg.
    # a dice roll will modify dmg for things such as ambushes and counter attacks. <- Maybe!
    # TODO: X implement dictionary (?) for stats along with enemy list and weapon list, input validation, don't submit to feature creep!, X verify return variable from
    # local scope, battle sequence, end program
    # 6/5 - Plan to implement: Final scripted battle sequence to simulate one battle, will need to understand how to modify the HP value accordingly...

    import random, time

    enemyOrc = {"Name" : "Orc", "HP" : "90", "Attack" : "18"}
    enemyGK = {"Name" : "Goblin King", "HP" : "182", "Attack" : "16"}
    enemyGR = {"Name" : "Giant Rat", "HP" : "32", "Attack" : "3"}
    enemyWitch = {"Name" : "Witch", "HP" : "68", "Attack" : "32"}
    enemyEM = {"Name" : "Evil Mirror", "HP" : "350", "Attack" : "11"}

    weaponSword = {"Name" : "Sword", "Damage" : "12"}
    weaponAxe = {"Name" : "Axe", "Damage" : "18"}
    weaponQS = {"Name" : "Quarter-Staff", "Damage" : "22"}
    weaponDagger = {"Name" : "Dagger", "Damage" : "8"}
    weaponFists = {"Name" : "Fists", "Damage" : "28"}

    enemyList = [enemyOrc, enemyGK, enemyGR, enemyWitch, enemyEM]
    weaponList = [weaponSword, weaponAxe, weaponQS, weaponDagger, weaponFists]

    def introduction(): # Get player name and randomly select opponent
            print("Greetings combatant!\n" + "Please enter your name:")
            playerName = input()
            enemyChosen = random.choice(enemyList)
            print ("Nice to meet you, " + playerName + ". I hope you are ready for a fight!\n" + "Today you will be facing...")
            time.sleep(2)
            print ("The " + enemyChosen["Name"] + "!")
            time.sleep(2)
            print ("Hope you're ready for a tough one!\n")
            return enemyChosen, playerName

    def weaponSelection(): # Get player equipment
            print ("It's time to choose your weapon: ")
            print("\n" .join(d["Name"] for d in weaponList))
            weaponChosen = input()
            while True:
                    if any(d['Name'] == weaponChosen for d in weaponList):
                            return weaponChosen.lower()
                    else:
                            print("I'm sorry, you can only choose what is available.")
                            weaponChosen = input()



    def weaponReturn(weapon): # to test return variables // probably unnecessary?
            print("Let's see if your " + weapon.lower() + " can defeat your adversary. Good luck!")

    def battleSequence(enemy, player, weapon):
            ambushChance = random.randint(0,1)
            if ambushChance == 0:
                    print("The " + enemy["Name"] + " launched an attack on you from behind!")
                    print (player + " loses 10hp.")
            else:
                    print("You get the first attack. You swing your " + weapon + "!")
                    #time.sleep(1)
                    print(player + " does 5 damage to the " + enemy["Name"] + "!")


    playAgain = 'yes'
    while playAgain == 'yes' or 'y':
            enemyName, characterName = introduction()

            time.sleep(1.5)

            battleWeapon = weaponSelection()

            weaponReturn(battleWeapon)

            battleSequence(enemyName, characterName, battleWeapon)

Answer 1

name your enemies!

Use namedtuple for the enemies/weapons:

Enemy = collections.namedtuple('Enemy', ['name', 'hp', 'attack'])
enemies = [
    Enemy('Orc', 90, 18),
    ...
]

And to access the name, use

enemy.name

Instead of

enemy['Name']

That way, you don't risk constructing an enemy with a 'name' instead of a 'Name'.

mistaken logic

while playAgain == 'yes' or 'y':

Let's think about what this means. Tip: where are the parenthesis.

while (playAgain == 'yes') or 'y':

So, probably not what you mean. What you mean is

while playAgain in ('yes', 'y'):

string formatting

Probably not your biggest concern, but if you ever want to make translation easy, start now by using Python string formatting.

Instead of

print("The " + enemy["Name"] + " launched an attack on you from behind!")

Write

print("The {} launched an attack on you from behind!".format(enemy["Name"]))

Or

print("The {enemy} launched an attack on you from behind!".format(enemy=enemy["Name"]))

It also reads a lot better!!