I'm new to C++ programming, and I've discovered the need for a random number generator. What would be the best way to go about this? In this case, I won't need a number more than 30 or so

Sorry, I'm using VC++ 6, with out bothering with creating windows at this point.

You would need to use the modulus operator for random numbers in C++. So you would do something like: rand() % 30; That would give you a random number from 0 to 30. Hope this helps. - Rolos

Small correction to last post rand() % 30 will give numbers between 0 and 29

Jason: Thanks for catching that, you are absolutely right. Rogue Star: What you would do to accomodate for this is to just add a one to the expression as such: int someVariable; someVariable = ((rand() % 50) + 1); You may also want to do some exception handling if you want to implement 0's that are returned from the function call into your program. But it is dependant on your implementation and I won't go into it. I hope that I have answered your question and good luck with your project/assignment. - Rolos

Thanks for the help, gang. Dearly appreciated. That should be enough for me to proceed. Currently working on a text adventure for a sort of "final project" as I work my way through to the end of the book. Anybody want to have a look after it's done, I'll make it available for testing

Before use the rand() function, you need this function: // in DOS or Unix void randomize(void) { srand((unsigned)time(NULL)); } // in Unix void randomize(void) { FILE *fl = fopen('/dev/random', 'rb'); unsigned short i; if (fl == NULL) return; fread(&i, 2, 1, fl); srand(i); // fclose(fl) // do not need! }