Returning bool parameters and creating a reference to Health in CanAttack

[Tryndamere]

So real quick I’ve got a few questions. Bools are still catching me and I’m a little confused.

1. Why do we put in the parameter of CombatTarget combatTarget to the bool, is there a reason for that rather than just getting the CombatTarget component inside of CanAttack or something?

2. When we just type “return” followed by targetToTest != null && !targetToTest.isDead() is that basically just saying “return true if both statements are true”? Would it be okay to type out something like “if(targetToTest !=null && !targetToTest.isDead()) return true;”? Is that basically the same thing?

3. What is the reason to create a reference to Health in CanAttack vs using the Health reference (target) at the top of the class? I tried that and my player just attacked automatically as soon as he was in range of a target, but I couldn’t parse through the logic. Would I be able to—like in the Health script—add a bool called canAttack at the top of the class and set up “CanAttack” the same way?

Could someone help? Thank you so much! Loving this course.

[Brian_Trotter]

@Tryndamere

Why do we put in the parameter of CombatTarget combatTarget to the bool, is there a reason for that rather than just getting the CombatTarget component inside of CanAttack or something?

Exactly that. We need a reference to the thing we’re considering attacking.

@Tryndamere

When we just type “return” followed by targetToTest != null && !targetToTest.isDead() is that basically just saying “return true if both statements are true”? Would it be okay to type out something like “if(targetToTest !=null && !targetToTest.isDead()) return true;”? Is that basically the same thing?

That’s exactly correct, except that you’d need to have a return false after that.

return targetToTest!=null && !targetToTest.IsDead(); //one line and done.

vs

if(targetToTest!=null && !targetToTest.IsDead()) return true;
return false;

@Tryndamere

What is the reason to create a reference to Health in CanAttack vs using the Health reference (target) at the top of the class? I tried that and my player just attacked automatically as soon as he was in range of a target, but I couldn’t parse through the logic. Would I be able to—like in the Health script—add a bool called canAttack at the top of the class and set up “CanAttack” the same way?

The target at the top of the class is the target we’re currently attacking. We also want to be able to test externally if we can attack a different target. For example, I might be in the process of bashing Rick with my Sword of Negating Silliness when I see Sam approaching. With CanAttack decoupled from the target at the top of the class (Rick), I can check to see if I can attack Sam.