Introduction: Welcome to the Quest!

Imagine this: You are an explorer searching for the Lost Artifact of the Ancient Library. Legends say it holds the secrets of Java, but the path is filled with puzzles, traps, and secret doors. Every decision you make is recorded in the Grand Database, shaping your destiny. Will you emerge victorious or vanish into the depths of forgotten code?

This isn’t just another Java tutorial. CodeQuest is an interactive adventure where you’ll build a text-based RPG using Java, JDBC, and Hibernate. Each chapter is a level, each challenge a coding puzzle, and by the end, you’ll have mastered database connectivity and ORM while crafting an exciting game!

Are you ready to embark on the ultimate coding quest? 🏆💻

Level 1: Setting Up the Quest (Project Setup & Database Connection)

Before we begin our adventure, we need our tools:

1️⃣ Java Development Kit (JDK 17+)

2️⃣ MySQL Database (for storing game progress & actions)

3️⃣ Maven (for dependency management)

Step 1: Create a New Java Project

Start by creating a Maven project and add the following dependencies to your pom.xml:

mysql
        mysql-connector-java
        8.0.33
    

    
    
        org.hibernate
        hibernate-core
        6.6.0.Final

Step 2: Create the Database

Fire up MySQL and create a new database called codequest_game:

CREATE DATABASE codequest_game;
USE codequest_game;

Now, we’re ready to build the quest system!

Level 2: Designing the Player & Game World (JDBC Implementation)

Our game needs a way to store player data and actions. We’ll create a players table:

CREATE TABLE players (
    id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
    health INT DEFAULT 100,
    location VARCHAR(100) DEFAULT 'Ancient Library'
);

Step 3: Connecting Java to MySQL (JDBC)

Let’s write a JDBC utility to connect to our database:

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.SQLException;

public class DatabaseConnection {
    private static final String URL = "jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/codequest_game";
    private static final String USER = "root";
    private static final String PASSWORD = "password";

    public static Connection getConnection() throws SQLException {
        return DriverManager.getConnection(URL, USER, PASSWORD);
    }
}

Step 4: Adding a New Player

Now, we create a Player class and allow users to enter their character’s name:

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.PreparedStatement;
import java.sql.SQLException;
import java.util.Scanner;

public class Player {
    private String name;
    private int health;
    private String location;

    public Player(String name) {
        this.name = name;
        this.health = 100;
        this.location = "Ancient Library";
    }

    public void saveToDatabase() {
        String query = "INSERT INTO players (name, health, location) VALUES (?, ?, ?)";

        try (Connection conn = DatabaseConnection.getConnection();
             PreparedStatement stmt = conn.prepareStatement(query)) {

            stmt.setString(1, name);
            stmt.setInt(2, health);
            stmt.setString(3, location);
            stmt.executeUpdate();
            System.out.println("Player added to the game!");
        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
        System.out.print("Enter your player name: ");
        String playerName = scanner.nextLine();

        Player player = new Player(playerName);
        player.saveToDatabase();
    }
}

✅ Run the code, enter a player name, and check your database—your first player is now saved! 🎉

Level 3: Expanding the Game (Hibernate ORM Integration)

JDBC works fine, but managing SQL manually can get messy. Enter Hibernate! 🏰

Step 5: Configuring Hibernate

First, create a file hibernate.cfg.xml inside src/main/resources:

name="hibernate.connection.driver_class">com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver
         name="hibernate.connection.url">jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/codequest_game
         name="hibernate.connection.username">root
         name="hibernate.connection.password">password

         name="hibernate.dialect">org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect
         name="hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto">update
         name="hibernate.show_sql">true

Step 6: Creating the Player Entity 

import jakarta.persistence.*;

@Entity
@Table(name = "players")
public class Player {

    @Id
    @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
    private int id;

    @Column(nullable = false)
    private String name;

    private int health;
    private String location;

    // Constructors
    public Player() {}

    public Player(String name) {
        this.name = name;
        this.health = 100;
        this.location = "Ancient Library";
    }

    // Getters and Setters
}

Step 7: Saving Player Using Hibernate 

import org.hibernate.Session;
import org.hibernate.SessionFactory;
import org.hibernate.cfg.Configuration;

public class PlayerDAO {
    private static SessionFactory factory = new Configuration().configure().buildSessionFactory();

    public static void savePlayer(Player player) {
        Session session = factory.openSession();
        session.beginTransaction();
        session.save(player);
        session.getTransaction().commit();
        session.close();
        System.out.println("Player saved successfully!");
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Player player = new Player("Aria the Explorer");
        savePlayer(player);
    }
}

✅ Run the code—Hibernate will automatically create the players table and save the player without writing SQL! 🎉

Final Challenge: Expanding the Game!

Now that we’ve built the foundation, here are some challenges to level up your skills:

🛡 Add Player Actions: Store movements (e.g., "Move to the Mystic Chamber").

📜 Implement Quests: Create a quests table and track player progress.

⚔ Introduce Combat: Add an enemies table and a battle system.

📊 Leaderboard System: Show the top players based on achievements.

Conclusion: Quest Completed! 🎉

🔥 In this adventure, we:

✅ Set up JDBC for database connectivity.

✅ Used Hibernate ORM to simplify database operations.

✅ Created a dynamic, interactive RPG where players shape their journey.

Want to extend the game? Share your code modifications and ideas in the comments! Let’s build the ultimate Java adventure game together. 🚀

🏆 Do you accept the next challenge? Let’s go! 🎮