Simulation: verifying results
by Tachyon on Fri. 09. July 2010, 19:31
Filed under: casting, simulation
Hi folks, sorry for the lack of posts lately. I have two articles in the pipe that address the damage problems some mages save, and tips for beginners and pros on how to improve the damage output, but they're not yet finished.I'm also reading all the Cataclysm information that's flooding the web, but given the change rate of features announced, cancelled or replaced (talent trees revamp being the latest), it's stupid to do any projections yet on what we get on release day, or how we will play our mages.
News from the simulation front
I'm also continuing to develop my new casting simulation in my spare time, and hope to have it finished soon enough for Cataclysm, so I can adapt it to the new stats and spells, and have a tool to compare specs, stats and stuff for upcoming articles.
The basic simulation engine is more or less done, and now I'm verifying the results I get from the simulation runs. As combing through endless lines of combat log output in the hope of finding any discrepancies is a very dull task, I started programming some visual tools which can display the output of the simulation in a more pleasant way.
One visualization is a track lane view (resembles the tracks you see in audio or video editing software, and it's already looking neat! Of course this is only the beginning, I'm planning on adding more information, such as damage numbers, proc and buff uptimes and whateveryoucanthinkofs. Hell, this would also make a great tool to visualize combat logs, what do you think?
Kelvin wrote:
posted on Mon. 12. July 2010, 12:04
Hell yeah, would be very nice.I like this combatlogs idea. Do You think it could be possible to adapt it to incoming damage?
You know, to prove or disprove the kind where someone says Oh noeeees, "I didn´t take that damage" And your healer says"Heyll yeah, You did!" And You lack the ability of proving, because its no debuffthing and the char wouldn´t die, because teh great healer healed him....
Gotxi wrote:
posted on Thu. 15. July 2010, 23:45
I would like it a lot! not only to see the numbers, but also having a timeline to check what was that wipe for because the dispeller had 5 seconds to dispell that debuffVanillaeyce wrote:
posted on Tue. 20. July 2010, 16:09
Well done, sir! I really appreciate your insights as I fine tuning my new fire spec. PS - I assume you cast Combustion in there, too?Abductkill wrote:
posted on Wed. 21. July 2010, 02:38
The simulator appears to be coming along great, and I am highly looking forward to its release date! However, after performing some (minimal) research on the subject of random generators, I have a few questions regarding simulation in general. I will begin with a quote from Wikipedia:A pseudorandom number generator (PRNG)? is an algorithm for generating a sequence of numbers that approximates the properties of random numbers. The sequence is not truly random in that it is completely determined by a relatively small set of initial values, called the PRNG's state.
Source: Wikipedia
Are you certain as to whether or not the Pseudorandom Number Generator (PRNG) by which the server calculates multi-outcome events such as procs, critical hits, base spell damage values etc. can truly be modeled by a simulator? That is, does Blizzard's random number generator behave in a completely random nature, such that it abides by probabilistic law, or does the random number generator behave in a partially, "pseudo random" manner, as it's name suggests? If the latter is true, a simulator could be either marginally or highly inaccurate depending upon the degree of randomness supported by the PRNGs algorithm. I will be conducting some kind of experiment in the near future to determine whether or not Blizzard's Pseudorandom Number Generator is completely random (or very close). However, I would be very pleased if someone could provide an answer to this question prior to its conduction.
Thanks!
Griwald wrote:
posted on Thu. 22. July 2010, 14:15
Hey! I am currently doing a kind of "Raid Simulator" and searching the web I've found your blog, maybe we can help each other (I'm also a Mage), check my blog if you want in order to see what I'm planning to do. Amazing Blog BTW, you will be my reference from now on