Is this... refactoring?

I think it is, but in a nice way. At least it doesn't feel that bad, and it's more like re-arranging the source code. The first step was actions as procedures, but it's also possible to create classes with an outlook at the basic data. For example today I programmed a look command to an external class Look. It takes in Level and Avatar (aka player) data and then determines different ways to look at things. The source code was largely previously both in Level and Avatar classes which increased their size and distributed functionality in lots of small member functions.

In comparison the Look class is focused and has only one public "entry point" function. This prevents confusion when you pass the data into class almost as if it was a procedure. From maintain perspective it's also easier, because when you need to fix something in looking you know where to find everything. Only low level routines are in Level and Player classes to return some atomic piece of data.

I don't know, maybe it took a good while to realize that actions should be detached from classes like Level to keep them simple, in cases where actions need two or more (large) classes in them. And also, that procedural style can be better in some situations which, undoubtebly, has been a troublesome concept for me to accept, since I have been such a fan and connoisseur of object-oriented programming.

Actions in action

Now that I have programmed some actions as procedures it becomes clear how nice it is. And, since they largely maintain object-oriented paradigm it doesn't even break the code that way. It's almost like calling a library function from a class. It's great how actions like kicking or digging can be reduced to one linear function which is much easier to manage than when the code is spread in classes. It's such a simple concept, but it works.

This brings back an old argument that C is "better" than C++. In this case I would say it sure seems like it, but obviously it's not the whole story. Managing data and resources in classes is certainly better than C's procedural style.

The actions.cpp has 6 functions at the moment and it's 367 lines of code. I'm planning to keep everything in one file, because it seems quite fitting when they are only functions. The final size can be anything, but I doubt it will be an impossible amount of lines. The number of lines in this project is moderate, because the excellent quality of the code.