# Dice Roll Program in C

I've made a dice game that rolls three die, calculates the sum of their results, and asks the user whether he/she thinks the next roll's total will be higher, the same, or lower than the current roll. It works but I want to know if there is a better/more efficient way to do this. I just started C programming a couple days ago.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>

int main()
{
int i;
int runTime;
int die1;
int die2;
int die3;
int temp;
int total;
char guess;
int count = 0;
srand(time(NULL));

printf("How many times do you want to play?\n");
scanf(" %d", &runTime);
printf("");

die1 = ( (rand() % 6) + 1);
die2 = ( (rand() % 6) + 1);
die3 = ( (rand() % 6) + 1);
total = (die1 + die2 + die3);

if(runTime != 0){

printf("Die 1: %d\n", die1);
printf("Die 2: %d\n", die2);
printf("Die 3: %d\n", die3);
printf("-------------------\n");
printf("Total: %d\n\n", total);
temp = total;

printf("Do you think the next total will be higher, the same, or lower than the previous total? (h, s, l) \n\n");
scanf(" %c", &guess);

for(i = 0; i < runTime - 1; i++){
die1 = ( (rand() % 6) + 1);
die2 = ( (rand() % 6) + 1);
die3 = ( (rand() % 6) + 1);
total = (die1 + die2 + die3);

printf("Die 1: %d\n", die1);
printf("Die 2: %d\n", die2);
printf("Die 3: %d\n", die3);
printf("-------------------");
printf("Total: %d\n", total);

if( (total > temp) && (guess == 'h') ){
printf("You guessed correctly!\n");
count++;
}else if( (total == temp) && (guess == 's') ){
printf("You guessed correctly!\n");
count++;
}else if( (total < temp) && (guess == 'l') ){
printf("You guessed correctly!\n");
count++;
}else{
printf("You guessed incorrectly :(\n");
}
temp = total;
printf("Do you think the next total will be higher, the same, or lower than the previous total? (h, s, l) \n");
scanf(" %c", &guess);

}
printf("You got a total of %d guesses correct!", count);
}else{
printf("Goodbye.");
}
return 0;
}

• "started C programming a couple days ago." --> Very nice initial post. – chux Oct 11 '16 at 2:43

I wouldn't recommend C or C++ as a starter language. Try to reimplement the game in Python or Java or some other high level language.

• You can use a loop instead of repeating yourself with die 1 die 2 and die 3.
• Use a function for rolling and reporting.
• The main loop can be a for loop that scanf()s the number of guesses and counts down.
• A switch statement on the guess token could come in handy.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>

#define N_DICE 3

/* Conveniently return the sum. */
int roll_dice(int *dice)
{
int i, sum;
for (i = sum = 0; i < N_DICE; i++)
{
dice[i] = rand()%6 + 1;
sum += dice[i];
}
return sum;
}

void print_dice(int *dice, int sum)
{
int i;
printf("\n\n");
for (i = 0; i < N_DICE; i++)
printf("Die %d: %d\n", i + 1, dice[i]);
printf("-------------------\nTotal: %d\n\n", sum);
}

int main()
{
int runs, dice[N_DICE], sum, old_sum, correct, correct_guesses;
char guess;

srand(time(NULL));
correct_guesses = 0;
sum = roll_dice(dice);

printf("How many times do you want to play? ");
for (scanf("%d", &runs); runs; runs--)
{
print_dice(dice, sum);
old_sum = sum;
sum = roll_dice(dice);

printf(
"Do you think the next total will be higher, "
"the same, or lower than the previous total? "
"(h, s, l)\n"
);
scanf(" %c", &guess);
switch (guess)
{
case 'h': correct = sum > old_sum; break;
case 's': correct = sum == old_sum; break;
case 'l': correct = sum < old_sum; break;
default: correct = 0; printf("Not h, s or l.\n");
}
if (correct)
{
printf("You guessed correctly!\n");
correct_guesses++;
}
else
printf("You guessed incorrectly!\n");
}
printf("You got a total of %d guesses correct!\n", correct_guesses);
}

• Joseph didn't say that C is his first language, just that he's new to it. If it is his first language, then that's a pretty good start! – Toby Speight Oct 11 '16 at 10:03
• I didn't assume C is his first language, only that it's a bit too early. The things I pointed out are pretty language-independent and by his question it looks like he's quite new to programming. And is doesn't contain C-stuff like memory management or similar low level things, which I would expect of a more experienced programmer but who is new to C. – Oskar Skog Oct 11 '16 at 11:50
• Great suggestions. I've taken a beginner Java course at my University but learning C on my own. Functions are new to me so that's why I didn't use them here. I see now how they could make this program much shorter. – Joseph Tillman Oct 11 '16 at 15:03

Sooner or later you will have trouble with user input using scanf().

scanf() and friends return the number of successfully scanned fields or EOF on certain end-of-file or error conditions.

Recommend to start the habit of checking input results.

// scanf(" %d", &runTime);
//         v--- space not needed - leading white-spaces consumed with most specifiers
if (scanf("%d", &runTime) != 1) Handle_Failure();

// scanf(" %c", &guess);
//         v--- space useful, without it, leading white-spaces not consumed for %c %n %[]
if (scanf(" %c", &guess) != 1) Handle_Failure();


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