Update: I have the basic functionality down, but am stumbling across a problem. When I call applyDamage(); on the player, it works just fine, up until the player dies. Once the player dies (as a result of applyDamage();), he does not respawn, and the screen stops refreshing properly, causing me to need to return to the main menu. I am almost certain this is a direct result of the player being killed via applyDamage();, and was thinking of using kill(); instead of applyDamage(); once the player's health level is lower than the next applyDamage(); increment. This fixes the above issues, but I am wondering if it's the most efficient/reliable method. Is there, instead, a way to fix the screen upon player death (or simply not have it occur at all)?