Hangman

limit = {10,true,8}
help = {'start - starts the game of hangman and prompts with enter a word.','exit - exit the program.','changewordlimit - allows you to change the limit of the word input. usage: "changewordlimit [integer value]"','changespace - change whether you can use spaces or not. usage: "changespace [boolean value]"','changelives - change the amount of lives you start with. usage: "changelives [integer value]"'}

function newWord()
   print('Enter the new word between 1 and ' .. limit[1] .. ' characters below or type "exit" to exit the game:')
   prefix('newWord> ')
   local word = io.read()

   if not limit[2] then
      for i=1,#word do
         if word:sub(i,i) == " " then
            return false
         end
      end
   end

   if #word <= limit[1] then

      return word:lower()
   else

      return false
   end
end

function prefix(prefix)
   io.write(prefix)
end

function wordSplit(string)
   local out = {}

   for word in string:gmatch("%S+") do
      table.insert(out, word)
   end

   return out
end

print('Welcome to my hangman program. Type in a command you want to run or type "help" for options')

while true do
   prefix('> ')
   local input = wordSplit(io.read())

   if input[1] == 'help' then
      for i=1,#help do

         print(help[i].. '\n')
      end
   elseif input[1] == 'exit' then

      print('Exiting the program')
      break
   elseif input[1] == 'changewordlimit' then
      if tonumber(input[2]) then

         limit[1] = input[2]
         print('New word limit set to ' .. limit[1] .. '.')
      else

         print('Enter the new limit below or leave blank to not set:')
         prefix('changeWordLimit> ')
         newLimit = io.read()

         if tonumber(newLimit) then

            limit[1] = newLimit
            print('New word limit set to ' .. limit[1] .. '.')
         else
            print('Word limit not changed.')
         end
      end
   elseif input[1] == 'changespace' then

      if input[2] == 'true' then

         limit[2] = true
         print('Enabled spaces in words')
      elseif input[2] == 'false' then

         limit[2] = false
         print('Disabled spaces in words')
      else

         print('Enter true to enable spaces or false to disable them or leave blank to not change.')
         prefix('changeSpace> ')
         space = io.read()

         if space == 'true' then

            limit[2] = true
            print('Enabled spaces in words')
         elseif space == 'false' then

            limit[2] = false
            print('Disabled spaces in words')
         else

            print('Spaces unchanged.')
         end
      end
   elseif input[1] == 'changelives' then
      if tonumber(input[2]) then

         limit[3] = input[2]
         print('New max lives set to ' .. limit[3] .. '.')
      else

         print('Enter the new lives max below or leave blank to not set:')
         prefix('changeLives> ')
         newLimit = io.read()

         if tonumber(newLimit) then

            limit[3] = newLimit
            print('New lives max set to ' .. limit[3] .. '.')
         else
            print('Lives max not changed.')
         end
      end

   elseif input[1] == 'start' then
      while true do

         word = newWord()

         if word == 'exit' then

            print('Exiting the game')
            break
         elseif word then

            lives = limit[3]
            guess = false
            chars = {}
            rightGuess = true
            win = false

            for i=1,#word do
               if word:sub(i,i) == ' ' then

                  table.insert(chars, {' ',true})
               else

                  table.insert(chars,{word:sub(i,i),false})
               end
            end

            while lives > 1 do

               os.execute('cls')
               win = true
               rightGuess = false

               for i=1,#chars do
                  if guess == false then

                     rightGuess = true
                  elseif chars[i][1] == guess and not chars[i][2] then

                     rightGuess = true
                     chars[i][2] = true
                  end
               end

               if not rightGuess then

                  lives = lives-1
               end

               for i=1,#chars do
                  if not chars[i][2] then

                     win = false
                  end
               end

               if guess == word then

                  win = true
               end

               if win then break end

               print('Guess a letter in the word below or guess the entire word, you have ' .. lives .. ' lives left.')

               for i=1,#chars do
                  if chars[i][1] == ' ' then

                     io.write('  ')
                  elseif chars[i][2] then

                     io.write(' ' .. chars[i][1])
                  else

                     io.write(' _')
                  end
               end

               print('\n')
               prefix('guess> ')
               guess = string.lower(io.read())
            end

            os.execute('cls')

            if win then

               print('Congratulations you guessed it! The word was "' .. word .. '"\n')
            else

               print('Game over. The word was "' .. word .. '".\n')
            end
         else

            os.execute('cls')
            print('The word was bigger than ' .. limit[1] .. ' characters.\n')
         end
      end
   else

      print('Unknown command. Type "help" for options.')
   end
end