ODSTs, Random Numbers, Unit Models and the Battle System!
Random numbers. A simple thing however it is actually very difficult to generate truly random numbers in programming - in fact it is called pseudorandom as it really isn't Random at all.As such when attempting to leave certain elements of a battle to 'chance' it becomes quite difficult especially given the way the battle system works. So to cut a long story short we had difficulty and have now resolved it but to illustrate the troubles we were having I kept a log of the results of a battle with the same units whilst I tested and begun to implement a new method of handling the random issue.
Analysing the results
The image above is a series of 9 tests of ‘x’ amount of units battling each other. As you can see the units are all the same, and are the ODST. As such you would expect the battle to be fair and naturally would be more weighted on the random generation of numbers to determine winners in some aspects as they are all matched (All Level 1, all default weapons). It may seem a bit strange, but if you just look at one line at a time and start at the top you can see the results aren’t very random – the first couple of lines all prove this with mainly 1 team dying and then shortly after the other team dying. This was quite an issue so naturally we worked on overhauling the system. On Test 6 we started tinkering with our new system, and by test 9 you can see the improvements of the results looking a lot less biased and more realistic based on the scenario.
Although it’s clear the results now are much better it’s still worth noting the methodology involved is still not the best way to implement it. Many games use a variety of techniques to do so however we will eventually use a noise based system which will be more efficient. However right now this is all good!
Randomness plays a huge part in many games, and will do so in UNSC Warfare. There are so many ideas we still want to integrate in the web game however we don’t want to get anyone excited for something so far away, but for now, what we are using for RNG is great. If anyone wants more reading you should check out some pseudo random posts on the net or look into RNG in other games!
3D Modelling of Halo Units
In other news our developer is pushing out more and more models to help seed the initial development in Unity, slated to start in Feb/March! Here are some images:
UNSC Building
Dev work and Final Note
In addition a variety of components have been refactored to be more efficient in the current dev site so when we push it up everything should be a lot smoother. Excitement all around! Expect another update soon with more information on how development currently is, and don’t forget to share the update and sign up!
