Re: Random number question?

From: Robert Vienneau (rvien_at_see.sig.com)
Date: 06/21/04 

Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 02:53:21 -0400

In article <cb5umk$por$1@chessie.cirr.com>, Paul Allen Panks
<panks@sdf.lonestar.org> wrote:

> How does HLA's random number generator differ from traditional BASIC's
> version? I've long based much of my adventure gaming on random numbers,
> especially during player/monster fighting. Does seeding a number truly
> make it random, or only quasi-random?

I don't know what "truly" random means. Typically, a good random
number generator should pass a number of statistical tests, such
as a Chi square test. Eyeballing 10 numbers isn't convincing one
way or another.

You could always write your own random number generator. For example,
you could implement Park and Miller's Minimum Standard
(Communications of the ACM, 1988).

You might consider discarding the first, say, 100 numbers after
setting the seed. 

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