Creating a Memory Game in Visual Basic 2010

Question

Hello,

I am a noob to Visual Basic and I am currently learning it at my college. I have a final project to do and I am having some trouble deciding on how to attack it. First off, I have done a lot of research and I cannot find my answer, so I am using this(post) as a last resort. The book my prof is having me use is outdated, its coding on vb6, and we are using vb2010...hence my problem. I am not looking for an answer in code, but more to be pointed in the right direction, or maybe some classes that I do not know about.

I have to create the game of Memory, and my book tells me to use a control array....which is nice and easy to use, however, since I am using VB2010 that option is no longer an option to me. So my main question is, what can I use that is similar to a control array in VB2010? I did some research on an image list, but I don't think that is exactly what I can use considering I need to compare the two value to see if they match or not. 

Can I use an array somehow? I need to be able to randomize the order of the images in the beginning of each game. So my code will look something like this:

Randomize the 16 images

Display all the images for 2-3 seconds

Hide all images

User chooses first image

User chooses second image

if images are equal

hide both images

ask user to choose a new photo

else

hide all photos

ask user to choose a new photo

Answer 1

Randomize the 16 images

Display all the images for 2-3 seconds

Hide all images

User chooses first image

User chooses second image

if images are equal

hide both images

ask user to choose a new photo

else

hide all photos

ask user to choose a new photo

Sounds like a fun project. Here's some help:

1. Use the random class and loop through it 16 times to get the random images.
2. For each random image, assign it to a picturebox or control of your choice.
3. See code:

   For Each pBox As PictureBox In Me.Controls
        pBox.Visible = False
   Next

4. Add an event handler for each picturebox to check which PictureBox was clicked by the user. Get the random image that is stored in that picturebox and assign it to a variable.
5. Check if the image in the second picturebox matches the variable. If it does, then the user must have picked the same "images". If not, then they did not.

Hopefully this will help you as a starting place. If you need more help, feel free to reply back.

Best regards,

- Jordan

---

Jordan St. Godard | Microsoft® Community Contributor 2011

double twoCents = .02;
Console.WriteLine("$" + twoCents.ToString());

Answer 2

Duck,

First of all, if you're studying VB6 - now deprecated - you'll be confused at every turn. Throw that book away!

As Jordan showed, there's a bunch of ways to go about doing anything with VB Net, and following is just one way to get you started (if you want to do it this way). It's not finished - see if you can take this and complete it.

I started by putting sixteen pictureboxes on the form (note that all of them are set to "zoom" in properties):

As for going about getting started:

Option Strict On
Option Explicit On
Public Class Form1
    Public rand As New Random
    Public Structure PictureLocation
        Public ImageFilePath As String
        Public PictureBox1_Name As String
        Public PictureBox2_Name As String
    End Structure
    Private pictureLocationList As New List(Of PictureLocation)
    Private pbNamesList As New List(Of String)
    Private imagePathToUseList As New List(Of String)
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
        Handles MyBase.Load
        btn_Hide.Enabled = False
        Dim imgFolder As String = My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.Desktop & _
        "\106_1120"
        Dim imgPathList As New List(Of String)
        For Each img As String In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(imgFolder, _
                                FileIO.SearchOption.SearchTopLevelOnly, "*.jpg")
            imgPathList.Add(img)
        Next
        ' Choose 8 images at random from the list of image path names
        For i As Integer = 1 To 8
            Dim imgPath As String = imgPathList(rand.Next(0, imgPathList.Count))
            Do While imagePathToUseList.Contains(imgPath)
                imgPath = imgPathList(rand.Next(0, imgPathList.Count))
            Loop
            imagePathToUseList.Add(imgPath)
        Next
        ' Fill the list of picturebox names
        For i As Integer = 1 To 16
            Dim pbName As String = "PictureBox" & i.ToString
            pbNamesList.Add(pbName)
        Next
        ' Construct a random selection of one image and two pictureboxes,
        ' then store that as a New PictureLocation in the list of
        ' PictureLocations (pictureLocationList declared at the top)
        For i As Integer = 1 To 8
            Dim imgPath As String = imagePathToUseList(i - 1)
            Dim p1 As Integer = rand.Next(0, pbNamesList.Count)
            Dim pbFirstName As String = pbNamesList(p1)
            pbNamesList.RemoveAt(p1)
            Dim p2 As Integer = rand.Next(0, pbNamesList.Count)
            Dim pbSecondName As String = pbNamesList(p2)
            pbNamesList.RemoveAt(p2)
            Dim thisLocation As New PictureLocation
            thisLocation.ImageFilePath = imgPath
            thisLocation.PictureBox1_Name = pbFirstName
            thisLocation.PictureBox2_Name = pbSecondName
            pictureLocationList.Add(thisLocation)
        Next
    End Sub
    Private Sub btn_Show_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
        Handles btn_Show.Click
        With btn_Show
            .Enabled = False
            .Refresh()
        End With
        For Each pbl As PictureLocation In pictureLocationList
            For Each ctl As Control In Me.Controls
                If TypeOf ctl Is PictureBox Then
                    Dim pb As PictureBox = DirectCast(ctl, PictureBox)
                    If ctl.Name = pbl.PictureBox1_Name OrElse ctl.Name = _
                        pbl.PictureBox2_Name Then
                        pb.ImageLocation = pbl.ImageFilePath
                        pb.Visible = True
                    End If
                End If
            Next
        Next
        btn_Hide.Enabled = True
    End Sub
    Private Sub btn_Hide_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
        Handles btn_Hide.Click
        With btn_Hide
            .Enabled = False
            .Refresh()
        End With
        For Each ctl As Control In Me.Controls
            If TypeOf ctl Is PictureBox Then
                Dim pb As PictureBox = DirectCast(ctl, PictureBox)
                pb.Visible = False
            End If
        Next
        btn_Show.Enabled = True
    End Sub
End Class

...and finally, what it looks like running:

This is, of course, my interpretation of what you're wanting. If there are sixteen pictureboxes then there should only be eight - as two will appear on the form at one time. I assume the object is to remember where the missing "pair" is?

For what it's worth - I hope it helps. :)

---

Please call me Frank :)

Answer 3

1) I understand the random class, how can I apply that to assign an image to pBox1, pBox2 and so on?

3) Could you elaborate one what this for statment does? Or where I can read up on "In Me.Controls" <--- that is the only part i dont understand.

Answer 4

I wish I could throw that book away....but my prof is determined to have use do assignments out of it(he is a great prof, so I can't complain). I am not sure why, the class is on VB2010. I am using Visual Studio Express 2010.

@Frank, to be honest, this is a bit over my head. I just spent some time trying to understand this codeand i kind of got overwhelmed. I guess I should start by asking where I am stumped. Is there anything like(or as simple) to use like control array(that can be used in vb6) in 2010?

Answer 5

Regarding the controls: Use a TableLayoutPanel with 4 rows and 4 columns. Put a Picturebox with dock=fill in every cell.

---

Armin

Answer 6

1) I understand the random class, how can I apply that to assign an image to pBox1, pBox2 and so on?

3) Could you elaborate one what this for statment does? Or where I can read up on "In Me.Controls" <--- that is the only part i dont understand.

• You would have to use a for loop most likely to assign each image... Frank's code above shows that but is a bit advanced way of doing so.
• In VB.NET, the "Me" keyword refers to the class. Check this out http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/7e58sbke(v=vs.90).aspx

The Me keyword behaves like either an object variable or a structure variable referring to the current instance. Using Me is particularly useful for passing information about the currently executing instance of a class or structure to a procedure in another class, structure, or module. For example, suppose you have the following procedure in a module.

• "For Each pBox As PictureBox in Me.Controls" is declaring pBox as a pictureBox and searching for any pictureBox within the classes controls (Me.Controls).

---

Jordan St. Godard | Microsoft® Community Contributor 2011

double twoCents = .02;
Console.WriteLine("$" + twoCents.ToString());

Answer 7

I have to create the game of Memory, and my book tells me to use a control array....which is nice and easy to use, however, since I am using VB2010 that option is no longer an option to me.

The control array is available in .Net, in several different forms.   One that you can use directly is the Controls collection of the form.  The problem with that control array is that it includes all controls, and they are in no particular order.  The other option is to create one for yourself

  Dim Pictureboxes as List(Of Picturebox) = New List(Of Picturebox)
  PictureBoxes.add(PB1)
  PictureBoxes.Add(PB2)
  ' etc.

Then use it just like you would use any other list of objects.   You can also create a rectangular array using similar code with an array instead of a list, but in your case you are only interested in identfying the pictureboxes using an index - the actual game play will take place in some virtual structure (perhaps a rectangular array) that contains objects that include all the information you need, such as which images are pairs and whch have already been matched.