Random Numbers
2009-05-26 17:50:12.146696+00 by
Dan Lyke
4 comments
Games By Email Dice-O-Matic Mark II.
Currently, GamesByEmail.com uses some 80,000+ dice rolls for play in games like Backgammon, Gambit (a RISK clone), W.W.II (an Axis & Allies clone) and others. To generate the dice rolls, I have used Math.random, Random.org and other sources, but have always received numerous complaints that the dice are not random enough. Some players have put more effort into statistical analysis of the rolls than they put into their doctoral dissertation.
So, of course, he built an automated die-rolling machine to solve the problem. The video is well worth watching.
Via crasch. 100% awesome, especially since I'm playing with motion control this morning.
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comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment Re: made: 2009-05-26 20:43:19.20202+00 by:
TheSHAD0W
There are always patterns coming up in random number sets, even ones that use real dice. I recommend you ignore the complaints.
#Comment Re: made: 2009-05-27 05:50:45.040224+00 by:
Linus Akesson
Surely, this will not generate a uniform distribution. Different faces will present a slightly different problem for the image parser, and the probability of failing to read the correct value will depend on the value. But it's a neat contraption anyway!
#Comment Re: made: 2009-05-27 15:58:34.761159+00 by:
other_todd
Everyone knows it's better to just use lava lamps anyway.
#Comment Re: made: 2009-05-28 01:12:49.520624+00 by:
TheSHAD0W
Uniform distribution != random. You see weird patterns in purely random data all the time. You can skew things to try and create a more uniform distribution but you're actually decreasing the randomness of the data.