Exercise 4.03

The aim of this exercise is to play a game of Battleships using variables and functions to keep track of your score and number of shots taken.

Files Needed

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Instructions

1. Extract and open the Battleships Game.xlsm workbook.  You'll find a worksheet containing a version of the Wise Owl Battleships game.

Clicking the Fire At Target button should check whether the cell at the specified row and column contains a value and take the appropriate action.

2. Create a function called Target_Is_OK which returns a Boolean value.  This function should return True when the user has entered a valid row and column number.  It should return False if any of the following conditions are met:

• Cell L2 or L3 is empty.
• The value in cell L2 or L3 is not a number.
• The value in cell L2 or L3 is not between 1 and 10.

3. In the Fire_At_Target subroutine, check if the result of the Target_Is_OK function is False.  If so, place a message in cell M6 and exit from the subroutine:

You could try changing the font or background colour of cell M6 to make the message stand out.

4. In the Fire_At_Target subroutine declare a Range variable called TargetCell and set it to reference the cell at the specified row and column number.  Make sure that you do this after the code which checks that the target is valid.
5. Create a new subroutine called Colour_Target_Cell with a single parameter which accepts a reference to a Range object.  Add code to this subroutine which checks the value of the Range object passed to it - if the cell is empty, colour the cell in grey, otherwise colour it in red.
6. In the Fire_At_Target subroutine, add a call to the Colour_Target_Cell subroutine and pass the TargetCell variable to it.
7. Create a new subroutine called Set_Result_Cell with a single parameter which accepts a String value.  Add code to this subroutine which sets the value of cell M6 according to the value of the String parameter:

8. In the Fire_At_Target subroutine, add a call to the Set_Result_Cell subroutine and pass the value of the TargetCell variable to it.
9. Create a new function called Target_Score which returns and Integer and has a single parameter which accepts a String.  Set the return value of the function according the value of the String parameter:

10. Declare a module-level variable called GameScore which can hold an Integer value.  In the Fire_At_Target subroutine, add an instruction which sets the value of the GameScore variable to equal itself plus the result of the Target_Score function (you'll need to pass the value of the TargetCell variable to the function in order to do this).  Add another instruction to set the value of cell O6 to be equal to the value of the GameScore variable.
11. In the Start_New_Game subroutine, add an instruction which sets the value of the GameScore variable to 0.  Add another instruction which sets the value of cell O6 to be equal to the value of the GameScore variable.
12. Declare a module-level variable called ShotsRemaining which can hold an Integer value.
13. In the Start_New_Game subroutine, add an instruction which sets the ShotsRemaining variable to 10.  Add another instruction which sets the value of cell L6 to equal the value of the ShotsRemaining variable.
14. At the start of the Fire_At_Target subroutine, check if the value of the ShotsRemaining variable is 0 or less.  If so, display a message in cell M6 which reads "Game Over!" and exit from the subroutine.
15. At the end of the Fire_At_Target subroutine, add an instruction which subtracts 1 from the value of the ShotsRemaining variable.  Add another instruction which sets the value of cell L6 to equal the value of the ShotsRemaining variable.
16. Return to the worksheet and click the Start New Game button.  Try playing a few rounds of the game and check that everything works as expected.
17. Save and close the workbook.

Answer Files

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