You can do it with Reflection, but....
This is quite easy to do with Reflection, and you'll probably get a couple answers on here that show you how, but since you are writing a game, I'm guessing you want the best performance possible, and Reflection isn't always going to give you that.
Below is a solution that requires no reflection but still allows you to use the loop structure you want. It just requires a little bit of setup when you create the object, then you can access your properties as if they were in a dictionary.
Solution: Use a dictionary of delegates to map the properties
First we need to write a utility class that represents a property. Since properties can be different types, this is a generic class with a type argument.
class PropertyWrapper<T>
{
private readonly Func<T> _getter;
private readonly Action<T> _setter;
public PropertyWrapper(Func<T> getter, Action<T> setter)
{
_getter = getter;
_setter = setter;
}
public T Value
{
get
{
return _getter();
}
set
{
_setter(value);
}
}
}
The idea behind this class is that you create it to represent any property you want, and call its methods to read and set the property. The class knows how to read and set the property because you tell it how, when you construct it, by passing it a short lambda expression that does the work.
This utility will allow you to put all the properties that represent limbs into a dictionary. Then you can look them up by string, just like your settings. So for example your MechDefinition might look like this:
class MechDef
{
public Limb Head { get; set; }
public Limb LeftArm { get; set; }
public Limb RightArm { get; set; }
public Limb LeftTorso { get; set; }
public Limb RightTorso { get; set; }
public Limb CenterTorso { get; set; }
public Limb RightLeg { get; set; }
public Limb LeftLeg { get; set; }
private readonly Dictionary<string, PropertyWrapper<Limb>> Properties;
public MechDef()
{
Properties = new Dictionary<string, PropertyWrapper<Limb>>
{
{"Head", new PropertyWrapper<Limb>( () => Head, v => Head = v ) },
{"LeftArm", new PropertyWrapper<Limb>( () => LeftArm, v => LeftArm = v ) },
{"RightArm", new PropertyWrapper<Limb>( () => RightArm, v => RightArm = v ) },
{"CenterTorso",new PropertyWrapper<Limb>( () => CenterTorso, v => CenterTorso = v )},
{"RightTorso", new PropertyWrapper<Limb>( () => RightTorso, v => RightTorso = v ) },
{"LeftTorso", new PropertyWrapper<Limb>( () => LeftTorso, v => LeftTorso = v ) },
{"RightLeg", new PropertyWrapper<Limb>( () => RightLeg, v => RightLeg = v ) },
{"LeftLeg", new PropertyWrapper<Limb>( () => LeftLeg, v => LeftLeg = v ) }
};
foreach (var property in Properties.Values) property.Value = new Limb();
}
public Limb this[string name]
{
get
{
return Properties[name].Value;
}
set
{
Properties[name].Value = value;
}
}
}
Yes, there is a bit of setup there, but it's all in one place, and it only executes once, when you instantiate the MechDef. Now you can access all of the limbs by string:
foreach (var pair in settings.LimbRepair)
{
if (pair.Value != false) continue;
var limb = mechDef[pair.Key];
limb.CurrentInternalStructure = Math.Max
(
1.0F,
limb.CurrentInternalStructure * (float)rng.NextDouble()
);
}
Link to DotNetFiddle example
