Question

I need to code a rogue-like game as a project, but I have a slight problem. There is a time I need to choose between which object to create using a switch. I want to declare an “empty” object outside of the switch and the switch then fills the object with values. This is kind of what I want to do:

Console.WriteLine("What race would you like to be?")

int answer = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());

Object heroRace; // This is where the problem comes in

switch(answer)
{
    case 1: heroRace = new Orc(); break;
    case 2: heroRace = new Elf(); break;
}

I want heroRace to be outside of the switch scope for re-usage. It would greatly simplify my program if I could create something like that.

Answer 1

You need to cast the object to more concrete type before accessing it’s members

Object o=new Orc();
((Orc)o).methodNameWithinOrc();

But this can lead to casting exception.

For example..

  ((Elf)o).methodNameWithinOrc();

would lead to a casting exception because o is an object of Orc not Elf.

It’s better to check if the object belongs to a particular class before casting using is operator

 if(o is Orc)
((Orc)o).methodNameWithinOrc();

---

Object itself is not useful unless you override the ToString,GetHashCode.. methods

It should be like

 LivingThingBaseClass heroRace;

Orc and Elf should be subclass of LivingThingBaseClass

LivingThingBaseClass can contain methods like move,speak,kill..All or some of these methods would be overridden by Orc and Elf

LivingThingBaseClass can be an abstract class or even an interface depending upon your requirement