Random always picks last element in table?
No matter if I do this:
local biomes = {"Plains","Desert"}
local currBiome = biomes[ math.random( #biomes ) ]
Or this:
local biomes = {"Plains","Desert","Plains"}
local currBiome = biomes[ math.random( #biomes ) ]
Or this:
math.randomseed( os.time() )
local biomes = {"Plains","Desert"}
local currBiome = biomes[ math.random( #biomes ) ]
It will always pick the last element from the table. What am I doing wrong?
1
2 answers
Yikes! You've stumbled on a whopper. Have a look at this question on StackOverflow.
Basically, the ROBLOX version of Lua relies on a cross-platform C implementation of rand(3), which, if you're on OSX, isn't the best generator.
I tested this on OSX and, you're right, the first generated number is the same regardless of the seed! To mitigate this, call math.random() a couple of times before you actually use the output - the rest of the numbers are random, just not the first one.
1
Duckwit is right, but I just wanted to explain this in a little more clarity for people who don't understand. If you want to choose a random terrain based on a value, we first need to set a variable for this. Let's call it TerrainNum. To create a random value of 3 terrains, this is what is needed:
TerrainNum = math.random(1,3) -- This is saying "Pick a random number from 1 to 3" if TerrainNum == 1 then -- Plains -- Insert what you want to happen in here. end if TerrainNum == 2 then -- Desert -- Insert what you want to happen here. end if TerrainNum == 3 then -- Swamp (or something) -- Insert what you want to happen here. end
This will set TerrainNum to a random number between 1 and 3, and depending on which one it is, it will execute a different line of code.