Random Number Generator?
- Thread starter porneia
- Start date
CurvyLinesEverywhere
Really Experienced
I'm a little unclear: are you asking for a thing the author of a story can use to make a random number appear in the body of a Chapter? Or are you asking for some sort of tool a player can use to roll dice when a CHYOA asks them to?
If it's the latter, there are plugins available for Chrome and Firefox that seem like they'd be almost as convenient as a button baked right into the webpage. The only problem is they don't have very many users, probably because most things online that need RNG have RNG baked right into them. Of the ones I could find, the most popular seems like it might be Beyond the Spire. (Chrome Plugin, Firefox Extension) ~6500 users, ~25 likes or equivalent
ratings.
If it's the latter, there are plugins available for Chrome and Firefox that seem like they'd be almost as convenient as a button baked right into the webpage. The only problem is they don't have very many users, probably because most things online that need RNG have RNG baked right into them. Of the ones I could find, the most popular seems like it might be Beyond the Spire. (Chrome Plugin, Firefox Extension) ~6500 users, ~25 likes or equivalent
ratings.
porneia
Really Experienced
I was referring to the use of random conditions in a story. To make a story have a game element to it. For example, a certain chapter would be available when a random condition was met. (E.g. a 1-2 on a d6 roll allows two chapter options. While a 4-6 means only one chapter would appear.) This could be used to simulate a strip poker game, for example, where a random element is required.
I have asked this a few times over the years and initially there was some discussion that it might happen. gene.sis has been very helpful in this matter (as with all things), however, I believe the coding requirements for the developers might be daunting.
See:
https://forum.chyoa.com/threads/simulating-random-outcomes.3273/#post-74239
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insertnamehere
Really Really Experienced
No, it hasn't been implemented yet. Thank you for the link though, it reminded me about that Strip Trivial Pursuit idea...
Dissonant Soundtrack
Really Really Experienced
From my experience, a lot of people will just save scum or reroll until they get their desired result. You might be better served just linking to an RNG site like Google's and trust the reader to be honest if they wanna.
merkros
CHYOA Guru
Not if it was tied to a hidden variable. You could set up a hypothetical Random Number Generator to generate a conditional variable when you go into the first chapter of a story and make it hidden, then use that hidden variable to dictate what chapters are visible during that player's "Run" through the story. People wouldn't be able to cheese the RNG, because they wouldn't know what outcome they got until they reached the relevant chapter...If they ever realized what was happening at all.
Dissonant Soundtrack
Really Really Experienced
A random, hidden variable which locks out content would, IMO, be even less helpful. Readers would reach a point and be unable to select certain options but have no idea why or how to correct it.
gene.sis
CHYOA Guru
Game Mode authors should always make sure that they offer options for all possible Score sets.
(Though it would be useful to be able to create default values in case something goes wrong.)
Well, it shouldn't be much of a problem.
I guess it's way more of a problem that RL is restricting my free time too much.
CurvyLinesEverywhere
Really Experienced
Couldn't they just reload the page to re-seed the values, then?
Surely the fact that your story has RNG would be the main draw. If a reader doesn't realize the story has RNG, it's indistinguishable from a regular story with perhaps slightly more arbitrary writing.
gene.sis
CHYOA Guru
You need to go back using the "Previous Chapter" link.
Reloading the chapter just loads the same Score values you had before.
If the value has been created earlier, it might not be possible anymore.
(This only refers to stories that make use of Conditional Branches.)
porneia
Really Experienced
Exactly! Thank you!
porneia
Really Experienced
Oh, you shouldn't of said that. Now I'm going to have to fight the urge to ask every few months instead of every few years! How about start a Kick-Starter? I'm a penny-pinching bastard but even I would pitch in a few coins for that! Either way, I greatly appreciate all your labors you're one of the reasons this site is so great.
merkros
CHYOA Guru
Eh, if the intention is to read every single chapter, then that can be done outside of game mode.
I'd imagine that the RNG would become apparent after the second playthrough when they get entirely different chapters in this hypothetical scenario.
porneia
Really Experienced
Personally, I hate when I have to roll a dice for myself. It breaks immersion and I usually cheat and then feel bad about it. I really would love to see a random number generator for two reasons:
1) To create a RPG element where there could be the use of skills. Granted, you can do that without a "dice roll", such as having a "success" chapter only be available if one's skill is high enough. However, having that random element adds so much more to the tension. (One of my fantasies is to create a fully finished Chyoa game.)
2) More important a simple random choice, in story, adds so much more to the sexual tension. Having less ways to cheat makes the impact of the tension that much more greater. For example, to have a strip poker sub-plot that truly has a random effect is vastly more sexy.
1) To create a RPG element where there could be the use of skills. Granted, you can do that without a "dice roll", such as having a "success" chapter only be available if one's skill is high enough. However, having that random element adds so much more to the tension. (One of my fantasies is to create a fully finished Chyoa game.)
2) More important a simple random choice, in story, adds so much more to the sexual tension. Having less ways to cheat makes the impact of the tension that much more greater. For example, to have a strip poker sub-plot that truly has a random effect is vastly more sexy.
CurvyLinesEverywhere
Really Experienced
I think it needs to be said that randomness, by itself, adds very little to a story, even an interactive one. What you want are game systems that allow a player to mitigate the randomness and play around it with intention. RNG is a necessary, but not sufficient component for building those systems. The player needs a fighting chance to be able to imagine the odds, model the outcomes, and when they fail, understand why they failed and how they could play better on their next attempt.
I could imagine some BDSM scenarios where the story taunts the player for their bad luck? But in almost any other scenario, the player needs enough information to think strategically. And at that point, they're dividing their attention between the gameplay mechanics and the story. They're trying to solve a math problem, essentially. If they can't do that, it's more frustrating than rewarding. (Again, outside of BDSM scenarios where reader frustration is the point.)
I would actually love to see this feature implemented. But I think using it well is a lot harder than it looks. I would even go so far as to suggest you playtest your ideas in Twine or ChoiceScript or Ink or something, before you try to make a CHYOA out of it, if the feature were implemented today.
I could imagine some BDSM scenarios where the story taunts the player for their bad luck? But in almost any other scenario, the player needs enough information to think strategically. And at that point, they're dividing their attention between the gameplay mechanics and the story. They're trying to solve a math problem, essentially. If they can't do that, it's more frustrating than rewarding. (Again, outside of BDSM scenarios where reader frustration is the point.)
I would actually love to see this feature implemented. But I think using it well is a lot harder than it looks. I would even go so far as to suggest you playtest your ideas in Twine or ChoiceScript or Ink or something, before you try to make a CHYOA out of it, if the feature were implemented today.
gene.sis
CHYOA Guru
don't worry ^^
I actually implemented something a while ago that included an RNG (and other things you could do in a spreadsheet.)
It works nicely on my local system.
The only problem is that it would cause performance issues with CHYOA's current code.
CurvyLinesEverywhere
Really Experienced
I don't quite understand. Are you saying CHYOA's current code can parse and display spreadsheets?
gene.sis
CHYOA Guru
No...
To test code, you can set up a webserver on your local machine. So you can see if the code works as intended or would fuck up everything.
And I didn't mean what you could do in whole spreadsheets but rather what calculations you can do in a single cell.
It works nicely on my local system as I'm the only user there. On the real server, there are many more requests, so performance can become an issue depending on what you implement.
CurvyLinesEverywhere
Really Experienced
Oh! You're the dev who actually codes the website. So you can do whatever you want on your end. I get it.
*ponders*
So... wait, what if Google could just do the RNG for you?
gene.sis
CHYOA Guru
Friedman has coded the site.
I just added a few features and fixes.
Creating (seemingly random) random numbers is technically not that difficult. It's rather where that option should be shown.So... wait, what if Google could just do the RNG for you?
Also, there are other very important features for game mode like being able to do calculations with more than one variable.
So an RNG would be more useful with other calculation features.