How can I dynamically retrieve the variable used to initialize an instance?

I'm trying to implement a speed-based turn system for a roguelike. I've set up a Mob class using metamethods, so that assigning the following to a variable will spawn a mob into the map at certain grid coordinates:

function Mob:spawn(x,y,m)
    local mob = {}
    setmetatable(mob, Mob)
    mob.x = x
    mob.y = y
    mob.is_monster = m
    return mob
end

Once that's done, I call the following:

function Mob:roll_call()
    who_is_here[self.y][self.x] = self.is_monster
    self.turn_counter = self.turn_counter * math.random(0.9, 1.1)
    table.insert(allTurnCounters, self.turn_counter)
end

This puts the mob's self.turn_counter into a table. Meanwhile, in another module, I've defined these two functions, the heart of the problem:

function turn.decrement_counters(dt) -- runs in Dungeon.update(dt) and subtracts from allTurnCounters
    for i = 1,#allMobsSpawned do
            if allTurnCounters[i] <= 0 then
                    allTurnCounters[i] = 0
                    turn_active = true
                    whose_turn = i
                    return
            elseif allTurnCounters[i] > 0 then
                    allTurnCounters[i] = allTurnCounters[i] - (10 * dt)
            end
    end
end

function turn.whose_is_it() -- called when an entry in allTurnCounters goes zero
    if whose_turn == 1 then -- spots 1 and 2 in the spawn list are only ever for players
            player1.my_turn = true -- turns on player 1's keys
    elseif whose_turn == 2 then
            player2.my_turn = true -- turns on player 2's keys
    elseif whose_turn >= 3 then -- above 3 we're in monster territory

    end
end

I've decided that the first two instances of Mob to be initialized will always be players 1 and 2, assigned to the variables player1 and player2, respectively. And, as it is, it works fine for passing control back and forth between players! But obviously, that's not enough for a fully-featured game. I need monsters, too.

The allTurnCounters table gets new entries, in order, from every mob that spawns (a class which includes both the players and the monsters, so they can share stats). Here's my question: How can I get Lua to dynamically retrieve the name of the table associated with a given turn_counter/value within that table, and use it to take turn priority, even in the event that I don't know what's been procedurally spawned ahead of time or what place it will occupy in the spawn order?

I have 3 ideas, none of which I'm solid on how to implement. One method would be something like sending the entire instance table to another table, rather than just their turn_counters, and then somehow grabbing a pair of values (the table itself and my_turn within the table), updating my_turn's value directly.

Another method might be to use the environment _G... somehow. I'm still poring over Chapter 14 of PiL trying to adapt it to my purposes, but value = _G[varname] seems to be a powerful bit of code I might be able to use for this. Not sure how, just yet.

My last idea was to maybe write some kind of string-sensing find-replace that can grab some other value in each mob's table and then pop it on the front of my_turn. Like, assigning some value with a known pattern for each mob type, that I can use in a string.find and then a string.gsub, to like... manually make the code line read as intended. Seems inelegant, though.

I had good luck with asking my previous Lua/Love2D question here, so I figured let's toss it out there while I'm thinking!

Solution

Here is my suggestion for how you should implement this:

Instead of allTurnCounters[i], give mobs a turn_counter property and use allMobsSpawned[i].turn_counter. Then, delete allTurnCounters.
Instead of storing the mob number in whose_turn, store the mob itself. (Note: when I say "the mob itself", it's short for "a reference to the mob itself")

So instead of
```
whose_turn = i
```
you would have:
```
whose_turn = allMobsSpawned[i]
```
Now whose_turn holds the mob whose turn it is. You can easily check whose_turn == player1, whose_turn == player2, etc. As a bonus, it doesn't rely on the players being the first mobs any more.

You can access the mob's properties through whose_turn - if whose_turn == player1 is true for example then whose_turn.x accesses the same field as player1.x