PokéDex-like Enemy list problem

Hey, I'm creating an enemy list thing in my game, something similar to concept of PokéDex in Pokémon, where is listed more info about enemies contacted, I call it Enemy Encyclopedia.

I have problem with the code at the moment, where it adds a new entry to the encyclopedia's list, but it keeps adding new entries even they are already known.

Functionality goes pretty much so that, when enemy is destroyed, it calls the function (ContactCheck(GameObject enemy)) to check if this enemy already exists in this list, if not, then add it to the list. (later on, it would output the enemy info in to a game menu)

Here's the code so far:

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. [System.Serializable]
3. public class EncyclopediaEntry
4. {
5.     public string enemyName;
6.     public GameObject enemyEntry;
7.     public bool isContacted;
8. }
9.  
10. public class EnemyEncyclopediaManager : MonoBehaviour
11. {
12.     List<EncyclopediaEntry> fullEncyclopedia = new List<EncyclopediaEntry>(); // comparing this with the player's run's list if new contacted enemies found
13.     public List<EncyclopediaEntry> encyclopediaEnemy = new List<EncyclopediaEntry>();
14.  
15.     public void ContactCheck(GameObject enemy) // should check if entry exists, and adds it to the list if same entry isn't found in the list
16.     {
17.         EncyclopediaEntry entry = new EncyclopediaEntry();
18.         entry.enemyEntry = enemy;
19.         entry.enemyName = enemy.GetComponent<EnemyManager>().enemyName;
20.         entry.isContacted = false;
21.  
22.         if(encyclopediaEnemy.Count ==0)
23.         {
24.             encyclopediaEnemy.Add(entry);
25.             entry.isContacted = true;
26.             Debug.Log (entry.enemyName + " discovered!");
27.         }else
28.         {
29.             for (int i = 0; i < encyclopediaEnemy.Count; i++)
30.             {
31.                 if (entry.enemyName == encyclopediaEnemy[i].enemyName)
32.                 {
33.                     Debug.Log ("Enemy found already!");
34.                     return;
35.                 }else
36.                 {  
37.                     if(entry.isContacted ==false)
38.                     {
39.                         encyclopediaEnemy.Add(entry);
40.                         entry.isContacted = true;
41.                         Debug.Log (entry.enemyName + " discovered!");
42.                     }else
43.                     {
44.                         Debug.Log ("Enemy found already!");
45.                         return;
46.                     }
47.  
48.                 }
49.             }              
50.  
51.         }
52.  
53.         FUllListCheck (entry);
54.     }
55.  
56.     public void FUllListCheck(EncyclopediaEntry entry)
57.     {
58.         for (int i = 0; i < fullEncyclopedia.Count; i++)
59.         {
60.             if(fullEncyclopedia.Contains (entry) && entry.isContacted == true)
61.             {
62.                 if(fullEncyclopedia[i].isContacted != true)
63.                 {
64.                     fullEncyclopedia[i].isContacted = true;
65.                 }else
66.                 {
67.                     return;
68.                 }
69.  
70.             }else
71.             {
72.                 return;
73.             }
74.         }
75.     }
76. }

I cannot seem to find a good solution to overcome this problem. If you have any suggestions how should I approach this problem I'd be grateful

 

I would try using a Dictionary instead of a list. This will allow you to find an enemy by name without needing a for loop. You can set up a dictionary as follows:

Code (CSharp):

1. Dictionary <string, EncyclopediaEntry> enemyDictionary = new Dictionary<string, EncyclopediaEntry>();

To add an entry to your dictionary, you'll need to write a for loop to populate it:

Code (CSharp):

1. for(int i = 0; i < fullEncyclopedia.Count, i++){
2.     enemyDictionary.add(fullEncyclopedia[i].enemyName, fullEncyclopedia[i]);
3. }

So, once your list is set up, you can easily check to see if an enemy has been encountered and update it:

Code (CSharp):

1. if(enemyDictionary[entry.name].isContacted == false){
2.     //Enemy has not been found
3.     enemyDictionary[entry.name].isContacted = true;
4. }
5. else{
6.     //Enemy has been found
7. }

To find a list of all enemies you have encountered, you need to include Linq in your project:

Code (CSharp):

1. using System.Linq;

Once done, you should be able to search your dictionary and get a Dictionary of all enemies that have been encountered like this:

Code (CSharp):

1. Dictionary<string, EncyclopediaEntry> allContactedEnemies = enemyDictionary.Where(x => x.isContacted == true);