Body:
I’m trying to implement logic for checking diagonal matches in a 3×5 2D string vector that looks like this:

[0,0][0,1][0,2][0,3][0,4]
[1,0][1,1][1,2][1,3][1,4]
[2,0][2,1][2,2][2,3][2,4]

Based on this matrix, the diagonals from top-left to bottom-right are:

[0,0], [1,1], [2,2]
[0,1], [1,2], [2,3]
[0,2], [1,3], [2,4]

I’m struggling to create the diagonal matching logic for my slot machine game. If there is a diagonal match, I want to add it to the total payout and then print the total payout. Once I get the forward direction, I think it will be easier to implement the reverse direction.

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

// Function to print a 2D vector (for debugging purposes)
void print2D_Vector(const vector<vector<string>>& vec) {
    for (const auto& row : vec) {
        for (const auto& elem : row) {
            cout << elem << " ";
        }
        cout << endl;
    }
}

int main() {
    vector<vector<string>> reels = {
        {"cherry", "bell", "7", "bell", "diamond"},
        {"diamond", "cherry", "7", "bell", "$"},
        {"7", "diamond", "cherry", "$", "bell"}
    };

    print2D_Vector(reels);
    int total_Payout = 0;

    // Check for diagonal matches (top-left to bottom-right)
    for (int col = 0; col <= 2; ++col) {
        if (reels[0][col] == reels[1][col + 1] && reels[1][col + 1] == reels[2][col + 2]) {
            string match = reels[0][col];
            if (match == "cherry") {
                total_Payout += 5;
            } else if (match == "bell") {
                total_Payout += 10;
            }
        }
    }

    // Check for reverse diagonal matches (bottom-left to top-right)
    for (int col = 0; col <= 2; ++col) {
        if (reels[2][col] == reels[1][col + 1] && reels[1][col + 1] == reels[0][col + 2]) {
            string match = reels[2][col];
            if (match == "cherry") {
                total_Payout += 5;
            } else if (match == "bell") {
                total_Payout += 10;
            }
        }
    }

    cout << "Your payout is " + to_string(total_Payout) << endl;

    return 0;
}