Java - Need help to get random question from an array for my text based game

[DumbestPerson224]

Body

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.Random;
public class Main{
    
    // The game variables.
    public static int player1_score = 0;
    public static int player2_score = 0;
    public static String player1_name;
    public static String player2_name;
    public static int times_handled_input_called = 0;
    public static boolean gameover = false;
    public static Scanner scanner;
    public static boolean proper_input = false;
    public static int player_lives = 10;
    public static int enemy_lives = 10;
    public static String player1_guess;
    public static String enemy_guess;
    public static String[] questions = {"What is 5+5?"};
    public static Random random;
    
    /**
     * @description This function compares player 1's score and player two's score to see who won
    **/
    public static void compare_score(){
        if(player1_score > player2_score || player_lives > 0 && enemy_lives == 0){
            handle_output("Player one won!");
        }else if(player2_score > player1_score || enemy_lives > 0 && player_lives == 0){
            handle_output("Player two won!");
        }else{
            handle_output("Tie!");
        }
        play_again();
    }
    
    /**
     * @description This function will increment player one's score 
   **/
    public static void increment_player1_score(){
        if(player2_score <= 10){
            player1_score++;
        }else{
            compare_score();
        }
    }
    
    public static void play_again(){
        handle_output("Do you want to play again?");
        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
        String user_choice = scanner.nextLine().toLowerCase();
        if(user_choice.equals("y")){
            gameover = false;
            player1_score = 0;
            player2_score = 0;
            main(null);
        }else{
            gameover = true;
        }
    }
    /**
     * @description This function will increment player two's score
    **/
    public static void increment_player2_score(){
        if(player2_score <= 10){
            player2_score++;
            decrement_player1_score();
        }else{
            compare_score();
        }
    }
    /**
     * @description This function will decrement player 1's score 
    **/
    public static void decrement_player1_score(){
        if(player1_score > 0 && player_lives > 0){
            player1_score--;
            increment_player2_score();
        }
    }
    
    /**
     * @description This function will decrement player 2's score
    **/ 
    public static void decrement_player2_score(){
        if(player2_score > 0 && enemy_lives > 0){
            player2_score--;
            increment_player1_score();
        }else{
            compare_score();
        }
    }
    
    
    public static void generate_random_question(){
        
    }
    
    public static void start_game(){
        handle_output(player1_name + " Score: " + player1_score);
        handle_output("");
        handle_output(player2_name + "  Score: " + player2_score);
        handle_output("");
        handle_output(player1_name  + " Lives: " + player_lives);
        handle_output("");
        handle_output(player2_name + " Lives: " + enemy_lives);
        
        generate_random_question();
    }
    
    public static void handle_input(){
        times_handled_input_called++;
        scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
        if(times_handled_input_called == 1){
            player1_name = scanner.nextLine();
        }else{
            player2_name = scanner.nextLine();
        }
        
        // Check if the input isn ot empty 
        if(player1_name != "" && player2_name != ""){
            proper_input = true;
        }
    }
    
    /**
     * @description This function handles output
     * @param {Object} output
     * @outputs {Object} output
    **/
    public static void handle_output(Object output){
        System.out.println(output);
    }
    
    
    /**
     * @description This function decrements the player's lives
     * @calls play_again if the player lives is not greater than zero
    **/
    public static void decrement_player_lives(){
        if(player_lives > 0){
            player_lives--;
            increment_enemy_lives();
        }else{
            compare_score();
        }
    }
    
    /**
     * @description This function increments the player's lives if the player's lives are 
     * less than 11
    **/
    public static void increment_player_lives(){
        if(player_lives < 11){
            player_lives++;
            decrement_enemy_lives();
        }
    }
    
    /**
     * @description This function increments the enemy's lives if the enemy's lives are 
     * less than 11
    **/
    public static void increment_enemy_lives(){
        if(enemy_lives < 11){
            enemy_lives++;
            decrement_player_lives();
        }
    }
    
    /**
     * @description This function decrements the enemy's lives if the enemy's lives are greater
     * than 11
    **/
    public static void decrement_enemy_lives(){
        if(enemy_lives > 0){
            enemy_lives--;
            increment_player_lives();
        }else{
            compare_score();
        }
    }
    
    public static void main (String[] args){
        while(gameover == false){
            if(proper_input == false){
                handle_output("Player 1 enter your name: ");
                handle_input();
                handle_output("Player 2 enter your name: ");
                handle_input();
            }
            start_game();
        }
    }
}

Guidelines

• I have read and understood this category's guidelines before making this post.

[dylan-sloan]

Since you're using the java.util.random library, you'll need to first initialize a Random object. Once you've done that, and assuming you are adding your questions to the questions[] array:

You can use the nextInt method to pass in the length of your questions array, so that it returns a random integer between 0 and the length of your array. You can use this as a random index to pull a question, i.e. questions[randomIndex]

I'm linking the docs here as well for you to read over yourself if you need any further information

[DumbestPerson224]

Okay I think I figured out a solution:

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.Random;
public class Main{
      public static Random random; 
      public static String[] questions = {"What is 5+5", "What is 20+40?"};
      public static void main(String[] args){
             random = new Random(); 
             int randomIndex = random.randInt(questions.length);
             System.out.println("Your question is");
             System.out.println(question[randomIndex]);
      }
}

[mecodeatlas]

Hi @DumbestPerson224 👋🏾,It looks like @dylan-sloan's response was the answer to your question here. Can you please mark their response as the answer? When you mark a question as an answer, GitHub will highlight the comment and replies to the comment to help visitors quickly find the answer.

[rehanawan]

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.Random;

public class Main {

    // Game variables
    public static int player1_score = 0;
    public static int player2_score = 0;
    public static String player1_name;
    public static String player2_name;
    public static boolean gameover = false;
    public static boolean proper_input = false;
    public static int player_lives = 10;
    public static int enemy_lives = 10;
    public static String[] questions = {
        "What is 5 + 5?",
        "What is the capital of France?",
        "Who wrote 'Hamlet'?",
        "What is 12 * 8?",
        "What is the square root of 64?"
    };
    public static String[] answers = {"10", "paris", "shakespeare", "96", "8"};
    public static Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
    public static Random random = new Random();

    /**
     * Compares scores and determines the winner.
     */
    public static void compare_score() {
        if (player1_score > player2_score || (player_lives > 0 && enemy_lives == 0)) {
            handle_output(player1_name + " won!");
        } else if (player2_score > player1_score || (enemy_lives > 0 && player_lives == 0)) {
            handle_output(player2_name + " won!");
        } else {
            handle_output("It's a tie!");
        }
        play_again();
    }

    /**
     * Resets the game or exits based on the user's choice.
     */
    public static void play_again() {
        handle_output("Do you want to play again? (y/n)");
        String user_choice = scanner.nextLine().toLowerCase();
        if (user_choice.equals("y")) {
            reset_game();
            main(null);
        } else {
            gameover = true;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Resets game variables.
     */
    public static void reset_game() {
        player1_score = 0;
        player2_score = 0;
        player_lives = 10;
        enemy_lives = 10;
        gameover = false;
        proper_input = false;
    }

    /**
     * Generates a random question and checks the answers.
     */
    public static void generate_random_question() {
        int questionIndex = random.nextInt(questions.length);
        String selectedQuestion = questions[questionIndex];
        String correctAnswer = answers[questionIndex];

        handle_output(selectedQuestion);
        handle_output(player1_name + ", your answer: ");
        String player1_answer = scanner.nextLine().trim().toLowerCase();
        handle_output(player2_name + ", your answer: ");
        String player2_answer = scanner.nextLine().trim().toLowerCase();

        // Evaluate player 1's answer
        if (player1_answer.equals(correctAnswer)) {
            handle_output(player1_name + " got it right!");
            increment_player1_score();
        } else {
            handle_output(player1_name + " got it wrong!");
            decrement_player_lives();
        }

        // Evaluate player 2's answer
        if (player2_answer.equals(correctAnswer)) {
            handle_output(player2_name + " got it right!");
            increment_player2_score();
        } else {
            handle_output(player2_name + " got it wrong!");
            decrement_enemy_lives();
        }
    }

    public static void increment_player1_score() {
        player1_score++;
    }

    public static void increment_player2_score() {
        player2_score++;
    }

    public static void decrement_player_lives() {
        player_lives--;
        if (player_lives <= 0) {
            compare_score();
        }
    }

    public static void decrement_enemy_lives() {
        enemy_lives--;
        if (enemy_lives <= 0) {
            compare_score();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Displays current game status and starts the round.
     */
    public static void start_game() {
        handle_output(player1_name + " Score: " + player1_score + ", Lives: " + player_lives);
        handle_output(player2_name + " Score: " + player2_score + ", Lives: " + enemy_lives);
        generate_random_question();
    }

    /**
     * Handles player input for names.
     */
    public static void handle_input() {
        handle_output("Player 1, enter your name: ");
        player1_name = scanner.nextLine().trim();
        handle_output("Player 2, enter your name: ");
        player2_name = scanner.nextLine().trim();

        if (!player1_name.isEmpty() && !player2_name.isEmpty()) {
            proper_input = true;
        } else {
            handle_output("Names cannot be empty. Please try again.");
            handle_input();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Outputs a message to the console.
     */
    public static void handle_output(Object output) {
        System.out.println(output);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        if (!proper_input) {
            handle_input();
        }
        while (!gameover) {
            start_game();
        }
        handle_output("Thanks for playing!");
    }
}

optimized code for your game. it will ask random questions and continue playing..