Hi, I am trying to get a random monster from my multidimensional "monsters" array. I have array monsters, and inside that I have array "ocean" and inside that are "fish", "shark" etc.
like the below, and I am trying to pick out a random monster from the Ocean array. Any help greatly appreciated. thank you. Derek

here is the array

$monsters = array
(
   'Ocean'=>array
   (
      'octalisk'=>array
      (
         'name'=>'octalisk',
         'hp'=>100,
         'damageLow'=>1,
         'damageHigh'=>15,
         'exp'=>10,
         'ac'=>'HAVE TO LOOK THIS UP',
         'monsterInitiativeModifier'=>'HAVE TO LOOK THIS UP'),
    
      'shark',
      'eel'
   ),
   'Desert'=>array
   (
      'sand_snake'
   ),
   'Forest'=>array
   (
      'frog',
      'lizard',
      'spider'
   )
);

is this right please? well, it didn't work. it only output
"the current monster is " without echoing out the value.

     $currentMonster = $monsters[array_rand($monsters['Ocean'])];
echo "the current monster is ".$currentMonster;

ok time to go to bed

Just to clarify, you are trying to get a random cell from a two dimensional array?

PHP Code:

$x = array_rand($monsters);
$y = array_rand($monsters[$x]);

$randMonster = $monsters[$x][$y]; 


thank you very much! Yes I'm trying to get random monsters from the Ocean array that is part of the Monsters array. Derek

Originally Posted by silverglade

thank you very much! Yes I'm trying to get random monsters from the Ocean array that is part of the Monsters array. Derek

In that case just specify the key:

PHP Code:

$x = 'Ocean'; 
$y = array_rand($monsters[$x]); 

$randMonster = $monsters[$x][$y]; 


Great thank you for that. It outputs the random ocean monsters, but it also echoes out "array" , so it echoes out like this, "eel, shark, Array, eel, Array".
Is there anything I can do to stop that? Any more help GREATLY appreciated, thank you for the code. Derek

here is the actual array.

$monsters = array
(
    'Ocean'=>array
    (
        'octalisk'=>array
        (
            'name'=>'octalisk',
            'hp'=>100,
            'damageLow'=>1,
            'damageHigh'=>15,
            'exp'=>10,
            'ac'=>'HAVE TO LOOK THIS UP',
            'monsterInitiativeModifier'=>'HAVE TO LOOK THIS UP'),
     
        'shark',
        'eel'
    ),
    'Desert'=>array
    (
        'sand_snake'
    ),
    'Forest'=>array
    (
        'frog',
        'lizard',
        'spider'
    )
);

Since the ocean array contains both arrays and strings you can't just echo the value you $randMonster; you need to check the type first:

PHP Code:

$x = 'Ocean';  
$y = array_rand($monsters[$x]);  

$randMonster = $monsters[$x][$y];

if(is_array($randMonster))
     echo $randMonster['name'];
else
     echo $randMonster;