So, I will know in the future, I am playing privateers in...

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205 days, 19 hours, 52 minutes ago
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dva
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So, I will know in the future, I am playing privateers in game and towed a super star destroyer to the enemy planet. I knew it had a merlin on it and left with 50 fighters on board. During the fight it launched the fighters but stopped, leaving 29 fighters on the ship and using only beam weapons, eventually losing to the merlin having lasers. What would cause this????
205 days, 19 hours, 33 minutes ago
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talespin
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From FAQ:

Why does my light carrier not launch fighters in a battle?
This is a direct by-product of the PRNG (Pseudo-Random Number Generator) used in Planets.nu, combined with the fighter launch code. That PRNG is actually a set of three tables, all 119 elements long (7x17). Tables were used instead of an algorithm, as that was the only way to be sure that the combat was replayed properly in all possible client architectures. This PRNG is exactly the same as was used in VGAP3.

The fighter launch code pulls a number from the 1-20 PRNG. If that number is less than or equal to the number of bays, and there is are less than 19 fighters from this starship currently in flight, a fighter is launched.

Because of the structure of the PRNG (three 7x17 element tables), and because some of the rows/columns have many low values, it is possible that some fighter bays won't launch during battle. It is also possible, but less likely, that no fighters will be launched.

There are other, similar, problems with beams and torpedoes, but the overall impact is usually much less.

This problem impacts the Evil Empire much more than other races. It is believed that the reason for this is the large number of Evil Empire starships with a small number of fighter bays.

Many people consider this to be a bug, and there is a different type of RNG available for Custom Private games.
205 days, 19 hours, 28 minutes ago
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talespin
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They are testing a different "Expanded RNG", which is in the Design options of hosting game.

"Combat RNG ( combatrng parameter) — This feature allows either the Classic RNG (Random Number Generator) or an Expanded RNG to be used in Combat. This value defaults to the Classic RNG."
205 days, 19 hours, 24 minutes ago
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dva
RE: So, I will know in the future, I am playing privateers in...Write Reply
Unsure what all this means, It started battle normally launching fighters (21) but just stopped
leaving the ship with 29 fighters sitting while beams away at each other.
205 days, 19 hours, 0 minutes ago
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whisperer
RE: So, I will know in the future, I am playing privateers in...Write Reply
@Dva,

As @Talespin mentioned, that's almost certainly the result of the design/selection of the numbers in the random number table used by the combat engine. It's been there since VGAP came out.

There have been many threads on this subject.
205 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes ago
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talespin
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@DVA You are certainly not alone in your frustration of this Planets quirk.

My understanding - which is certainly not perfect or overly technical - is that it's like drawing straws. I have 10 straws in my hand: some red, some blue. When I draw a red straw, I launch a fighter. If I draw a blue straw, I do not launch a fighter. There is a possibility that I keep drawing blue, so it's possible to get stuck drawing blue several times in a row. It's more complicated than that, but I think that's the general idea.

This happens with bays, beams, and launchers, but it's more obvious when a fighter doesn't launch. With beams and launchers, you usually see the weapon stall or "lock up" in the VCR for a few seconds, but they don't usually get stuck for as along as the fighter bays.

The Combat RNG uses a table of numbers. If your ship has 6 bays, you launch a fighter when the numbers 1-6 are drawn. If your ships has 3 bays, you only launch a fighter when the numbers 1-3 are drawn. The more bays you have, the faster you launch your fighters.

From what I remember, the Classic RNG had tables that had an arrangement of numbers that could easily cause ships with 3 bays or less to get stuck repeating a "no launch". The Expanded RNG has a more even spread of numbers to avoid this happening, but I think the Admins are still testing it out. I'm not certain on the exact technical specifications of it all.

Personally, I like that occasionally a beam, torp, or fighter does not launch. I think it adds character, a human element, to the game. Of course, getting stuck launching nothing is very frustrating. I'm hoping the Expanded RNG has the best of both worlds.