C++ Text-RPG Inventory system

Question

I'm building text-rpg inventory system but I'm not really sure how to properly create equipable items. For example, I can equip item which is in player inventory but I cannot identify what kind of item that is(Sword, Shield, Gloves or something else..) because item should be equiped in proper place(Helmet on head, sword in hands and so on). Is there any way to do so?

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <Windows.h>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

void Red()
{
    SetConsoleTextAttribute
    (GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE), FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_INTENSITY);
} //Intensive red console text color.

void Green()
{
    SetConsoleTextAttribute
        (GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE), FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_INTENSITY);
} //Intensive green console text color.

void Normal()
{
    SetConsoleTextAttribute
        (GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE), FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_BLUE);
} //Default console text color.

struct Item{
    string name; //Item name.
    int price; //Item price.
    int purpose; // 0 - Head, 1 - Neck, 2 - Torso, 3 - Hands, 4 - Legs, 5 - Feets.
    int attribute; //Attack, Defense...
};

int main()
{
    //Isn't the smartest way to do so...
    Item Sword{
        "Sword", //This item name is 'Short Sword'.
        87, //Cost 87 gold pieces.
        3, //Use this item with hands. :D.
        10 //+10 attack.
    };

    string input; // input is for player commands.
    vector<string> Equipment = { "<Empty>", "<Empty>", "<Empty>", "<Empty>", "<Empty>","<Empty>" }; //Current equipment.
    vector<string> Inventory = {Sword.name}; //Player Inventory.
    string InventorySlots[] = { "Head", "Neck", "Torso", "Hands", "Legs", "Feets" }; //Player parts where items can be equiped.

    while (true){
        cin >> input;
        if (input == "equipment"){
            for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++){
                Normal();
                cout << InventorySlots[i];
                if (Equipment[i] == "<Empty>")
                    Red();
                cout << " " << Equipment[i] << endl << endl;
            }
            Normal();
        }

        if (input == "equip"){
            cout << "What do you want to equip? ";
            cin >> input;
            for (int i = 0; i < Inventory.size(); i++){
                //Search for item player want to equip and equip it in the right place.
                if (input == Inventory[i]){
                    //Inventory[i] = input;
                    //But how to identify what kind of item it is?
                    cout << "Successfully equiped!" << endl;
                }
            }
        }

        if(input == "inventory"){
            for (int i = 0; i < Inventory.size(); i++){
                cout << "______________________________________________________________" << endl;
                cout << "|  " << Inventory[i] << endl;
                cout << "|  Carried items " << Inventory.size() << " / " << 20 << endl;
                cout << "|_____________________________________________________________" << endl;
            }
        }

    }
    system("PAUSE"); // or 'cin.get()'
    return 0;   
}

Answer 1

There are plenty of possibilities to do that.

Simple approach

First, you have to keep an inventory of items, not of strings:

vector<Item> Inventory = {Sword, Helmet}; //Player Inventory.

Then you have to seacrh using Inventroy[i].name and use inventory[i].purpose to find the right slot:

        for(int i = 0; i < Inventory.size(); i++){
            //Search for item player want to equip and equip it in the right place.
            if(input == Inventory[i].name){
                Equipment[Inventory[i].purpose] = Inventory[i].name; 
                cout << "Successfully equiped!" << endl;
            }
        }

Slight improvements

Note that for the next improvement of your game, you'll experience a similar problem with your equipement: as it is a vector of strings, you won't get a direct access to the item's properties, such as the effect on attack or defense the equipment has.

Therefore you should also make Equipment a vector<Item>:

Item Empty{"<Empty>", 0, 0, 0};
vector<Item> Equipment{6, Empty};  //Current equipment: 6 x Empty.
...

You could also consider making Inventory a map<string, Item> for easy access by name