Thread: ArrayList problem

Hi, this code compiles, but it doesn't play right at all.
The following is what I try to do with this simple command prompt game:

• Have 2 cats hide in a random location, both stored in the ArrayList<String> called kittyLocation indicated in the 6 possible strings in the string[] possibilities
• Have the user input a guess
• Check the guess to see if it matches one of the possible hiding places
• If it does, take away the location it was in from the ArrayList
• When both locations are found, the game ends.

The following is what happens
No matter what, it returns that no cat was found, and it increases the int KittehsFound by 1 regardless of if the guess matched or not.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Heres the code:

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.io.*;
 
class GameHelper {
  public String getUserInput(String prompt) {
     String inputLine = null;
     System.out.print(prompt + "  ");
     try {
       BufferedReader is = new BufferedReader(
	 new InputStreamReader(System.in));
       inputLine = is.readLine();
       if (inputLine.length() == 0 )  return null; 
     } catch (IOException e) {
       System.out.println("IOException: " + e);
     }
     return inputLine.toLowerCase();
  }
}
 
class LostCats {
	private ArrayList<String> kittyLocation;
	int KittehsFound=0;
	public void setLocation(ArrayList<String> loc) {
		kittyLocation=loc;
	}
	public String checkGuess(String userInput) {
		String k="Neither of them are there. :(";
		int index=kittyLocation.indexOf(userInput);
		if (index>=0) {
		        KittehsFound++;
			k="You found one! :D";
			kittyLocation.remove(index);
			if (kittyLocation.isEmpty()) {
				k="You found them both!! :DD";
			}
		}
		System.out.println(k);
		System.out.println("You have found "+KittehsFound+" of them.");
		return k;
	}
}
public class FindTheCats {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		GameHelper g=new GameHelper();
		System.out.println("HuskehGarrett and KaffehKitteh are missing!");
		LostCats l1=new LostCats();
		try {
			Thread.sleep(1500);
		}
		catch (InterruptedException ie) {
		}
		System.out.println("Can you find them?");
		System.out.println("-----------------------------------------------------------------");
		ArrayList<String> location=new ArrayList<String>();
		String[] possibilities={"Attic","Bedroom","Refrigerator","Basement","Yard","Pantry"};
		int x=0;
		int y=0;
		boolean GameGoing=true;
		int Guesses=0;
		x=(int)(Math.random()*possibilities.length);
		y=(int)(Math.random()*possibilities.length);
		while(x==y) {
			y=(int)(Math.random()*possibilities.length);
		}
		location.add(possibilities[x]);
		location.add(possibilities[y]);
		l1.setLocation(location);
		String[] q=new String[possibilities.length];
		String guess=null;
		String result=null;
		while(GameGoing==true) {
			System.out.println();
			for(int i=0;i<possibilities.length;i++) {
				q[i]=possibilities[i];
				if (i<possibilities.length-1) {
					System.out.print(q[i]+", ");
				} else {
					System.out.print(q[i]);
				}
			}	
			guess=g.getUserInput("?");
			result=l1.checkGuess(guess);
			if (result.equals("You found them both!! :DD")) {
				GameGoing=false;
			}
		}
	}
}

And regarding creating a game involving finding a kitten and a husky, it's for my girlfriend.

This is not a problem with your ArrayList, but rather with your logic. The ArrayList kittyLocation is being populated with your locations exactly as you have typed them out. The entries in kittyLocation contain upper and lower case characters. So, if Attic and Bedroom are the two locations in kittyLocation and a user types in attic, it will compare to false since attic is not equal to Attic.
Just take out the toLowerCase() function on your user input and if the user types in the location exactly as it is displayed your program will work fine.