Question

I have to make a function that returns the spells a character has.

So I have 3 parameters: a level (an int from 1-50), an enum representing a character class (only 8 classes) and an enum representing a race (3-4 races).

This function has to return an array with spell IDs. The higher the level, the more spells a character has.

What I did so far is hard-coded everything, but when I have to modify something it is a mess. I don’t know what kind of data-structure best suits my needs without recurring to horrible ifs that are hard to change/mantain.

Also, the language is C# and I am using Xna/.NET 4.0

Update

public static int[] ListOfSpells(int level, CharacterClass chClass, CharacterRace chRace)
{
    switch (chClass)
    {
        case CharacterClass.Mage:
            return new int[] { 1, 2, 3 };
        case CharacterClass.Knight:
            return new int[] { 2, 5, 6 };
        case CharacterClass.Paladin:
            return new int[] { 3, 5, 6, 2 };
        default:
            return new int[] { };
    }
}
 
// classes
 
public enum CharacterClass : short
{
    Mage = 0x00,
    Warlock,
    Priest,
 
    Monk,
    Knight,
    Assassin,
 
    Paladin,
    Hunter,
    Warrior
}
 
// races
 
public enum CharacterRace : short
{
    Human = 0x00,
    Elf
}

Answer 1

A database if definitly what you need. You can maybe make it works with IEnumerable/Array now, but database will gave you the flexibility that you want for the future of your game.