Conditionals in My Game

What Are Conditionals?

Conditionals are statements that allow a program to make decisions.

They run code only when certain conditions are true or false.

The most common conditional is:

  • if statements
  • else if
  • else

Why Conditionals Are Important in Games

Games constantly make decisions, such as:

  • Did the player collide with an enemy?
  • Is the score below zero?
  • Should the enemy attack?
  • Did the player collect an item?

Without conditionals, the game would not respond to actions.

Example 1: Collision Detection

My game uses conditionals to detect collisions.

if (dist < 40) {
  if (!this.gameEnv.elonHitCooldown) {
    this.gameEnv.gameScorer.deductPoints(10);
  }
}

Explanation

This checks:

  • if the player is close enough to an enemy
  • if cooldown is active or not
  • whether to apply damage

Example 2: Preventing Negative Score

Conditionals keep values valid.

if (this.score < 0) {
  this.score = 0;
}

Explanation

This ensures:

  • score never goes below zero
  • game stays fair and stable

Example 3: Checking Enemy State

Enemies use conditionals to stop actions.

if (this.isKilling) return;

Explanation

This prevents:

  • updates when enemy is inactive
  • unwanted behavior during collisions or death states

Example 4: Finding Goldfish

Conditionals are used inside searches.

if (fish) fish.destroy();

Explanation

This checks:

  • if the object exists
  • then removes it safely
  • prevents errors if object is missing

Example 5: Player Targeting Logic

Conditionals help AI make decisions.

if (dist < minDist) {
  nearest = player;
  minDist = dist;
}

Explanation

This checks:

  • if current player is closer than previous one
  • updates the target accordingly

This is used in enemy AI.

Why Conditionals Help My Game

Conditionals improved my project by:

  • enabling decision-making in gameplay
  • handling collisions and interactions
  • controlling enemy behavior
  • preventing errors and invalid values
  • making the game responsive to player actions

Without conditionals, the game would not be interactive or dynamic.