RNG Types Explained [Battle for Wesnoth v1.16.x features]

[Daedalus007]

Default RNG
Pseudo-RNG (Random Number Generation) based upon a randomized seed that changes unit hit/miss outcomes even if you reload a save file.

Predictable RNG
Formerly known as 'Save Random Seed' option from v1.14.x branch, this option always performs the same outcome regardless of reloading a prior save file; all RNG hit/miss is pre-determined and thus 'predictable'.

Biased RNG
In simple terms, attack results will be the most likely outcome based on the hit chances. For example, a 50% chance to hit out of 4 total attacks will always hit 2 out of 4 times.

Developers need feedback on these so if you are playing v1.16.x please let them know if you like/dislike any of the options and WHY so they can improve the game!

Feel free to post here and/or join the official Discord[discord.gg] where you can talk to them directly!

Please be polite in your critique. These are all unpaid volunteers and the project is open-source (so anyone who wants to change stuff can learn how to do it and do it themselves if they desire).

EDIT: Changed phrasing of 'Biased RNG' section based upon recommendation from 'Soliton' via IRC. All other content was written by me (Daedalus007 on Steam). Also updated bits from v1.15.x to v1.16.x for the newest update.

[DeLastOne]

Will ultimately Biased RNG not the one that make sense the most ? I mean at least it respect the chance to hit.

Or does Chance to hit also affect the outcome of the Default RNG ?

[Daedalus007]

Originally posted by DeLastOne:

Will ultimately Biased RNG not the one that make sense the most ? I mean at least it respect the chance to hit.
Or does Chance to hit also affect the outcome of the Default RNG ?

Please go to the official Battle for Wesnoth website[www.wesnoth.org], hop on Discord (link at the bottom of that website), and provide feedback in the appropriate channel as most times the devs lack the time to really read or respond to forum feedback. I am NOT a developer for Battle for Wesnoth, so it is best to talk to the devs with your feedback. Thanks!

If you prefer forums, the link to the official game forums is again on the official website and you can sign up for an account and post there if you want to avoid Discord.

The different RNG types are available for those who like to alter the game to fit their desired playstyle and how much 'randomness' they prefer. The fixed/forced default randomness has always been a sore spot with a large portion of the casual playerbase (and they were told to make/use addons to mitigate this issue) but having it as default allows a more 'download and just play' style, especially on low-powered and low-space devices. Use whichever RNG type you enjoy and feel free to use addons if none of the 3 options above fit your desired needs :)

[Daedalus007]

UPDATE NOV 2021:

This information is still useful as of v1.16.x releases as it uses similar terminology. I'm hoping that bumping this post may be useful, though I may make a pull request to add in some additional help information when selecting the RNG type.

I am quite happy they at least allow for such selection because requiring addons to modify the RNG and having that be the ONLY option made it far less intuitive for those who wanted to just 'play' the game.

[George Droyd MK77]

Originally posted by DeLastOne:

Will ultimately Biased RNG not the one that make sense the most ? I mean at least it respect the chance to hit.

Or does Chance to hit also affect the outcome of the Default RNG ?

im pretty sure that the biased rng model just strictly follows the most likely outcome of multiple rolls so if you have 4 rolls of 50% 2 are guaranteed to hit.

this technology doesnt make much sense to be used in a single attack of a unit because certain magical units like dark adepts have 2 rolls of 70% wich will allways hit twice under these terms at that point you could just change it to 100% really.

In my opinion instead it should be used to make the roll outcomes of all attacks combined in a turn as true to the most likely outcome as possible that way if you would miss an attack with 3 rolls of 60% you could be absolutely sure that your next attack with a dark adept (2 rolls of 70%) gets 2 hits becuase its the more likely outcome and you got the less likely outcome in your previous attack. but if you attack first with the dark adept it could still hit only once or maybe even miss twice.

this would allso allow you to sacrefice the attack of a weaker unit if you got a lot of unlikely hits at the beginning of your turn and you know that now you will get some guaranteed misses.

it would actually make it possible to read and predict the RNG and plan ahead based on it.

[Daedalus007]

Originally posted by Richard:

this technology doesnt make much sense to be used in a single attack of a unit because certain magical units like dark adepts have 2 rolls of 70% wich will allways hit twice under these terms at that point you could just change it to 100% really.

In my opinion instead it should be used to make the roll outcomes of all attacks combined in a turn as true to the most likely outcome as possible that way if you would miss an attack with 3 rolls of 60% you could be absolutely sure that your next attack with a dark adept (2 rolls of 70%) gets 2 hits becuase its the more likely outcome and you got the less likely outcome in your previous attack. but if you attack first with the dark adept it could still hit only once or maybe even miss twice.

this would allso allow you to sacrefice the attack of a weaker unit if you got a lot of unlikely hits at the beginning of your turn and you know that now you will get some guaranteed misses.

it would actually make it possible to read and predict the RNG and plan ahead based on it.

Thanks for the feedback! As mentioned in my prior post, the official BfW Discord is the best place for the devs to see your feedback as I'm not one of the devs myself (a modder at best but haven't released my BfW mods publicly). I'm currently working on a 'pity' system of sorts. It would be based on 'Default' RNG individualized for each unit; every time you miss an attack/spell it would increase the % chance to hit on the next one by 5% or 10%. Once a successful attack/spell hits, it resets the 'pity' back to 0% and only increments during misses. This 'pity counter' would be on a per-unit basis so your 70% to hit mages don't affect your 30% to hit regular attackers. So for the mage example if they missed two times in a row, they'd get a guaranteed hit on the third attempt if I went with the 10% increment.

I'm still in planning/testing parts because this would be quite a drastic change, but I feel that Default + Pity might be a nice option for those who want RNG without being punished for it. The 'Biased' RNG is probably the best implementation so far officially in the game as a default option IMHO.

[No One]

I would like to pass along DD's deck-based stagecoach. In short, rather than using the PRNG directly, it generates a deck of rolls, then shuffles the rolls. Having generated the numbers in advance, it can check for strings of misses and shuffle misses away from each other, without affecting the total number of misses.

In DD it caps the number of weeks you can go without seeing a particular class, which used to be a rare but noticeably frequent problem.

[Beebz]

I played this game for like 50 hours and the false RNG make me uninstal it, just for exemple, i lose a 1vs1 with my ulfserker 4x6 at 60% chance to hit vs a dryad 2x2 with 30% chance to hit....both was full life as start and i missed something like 6 hit in a raw when the dryad got 1 hp. U can retry and retry everytime u want, u will only hit 1 of 3 hit at 70% chance when the ennemy npc hit u 2 or 3 time on 3 with 30% chance....the game is really great but the false RNG completely ♥♥♥♥ it

[Daedalus007]

Originally posted by Beebz:

I played this game for like 50 hours and the false RNG make me uninstal it, just for exemple, i lose a 1vs1 with my ulfserker 4x6 at 60% chance to hit vs a dryad 2x2 with 30% chance to hit....both was full life as start and i missed something like 6 hit in a raw when the dryad got 1 hp. U can retry and retry everytime u want, u will only hit 1 of 3 hit at 70% chance when the ennemy npc hit u 2 or 3 time on 3 with 30% chance....the game is really great but the false RNG completely ♥♥♥♥ it

There are ways to modify the RNG. I'd recommend selecting 'Biased RNG' when beginning a campaign alongside selecting the easiest difficulty. Once you become accustomed to how the game works you can replay it at a higher difficulty later on.

There are also dozens of addons (mods) available to modify or remove the RNG entirely such as making the tile you are on be a % damage reduction instead of % chance to hit/miss.

[steelwork]

how can i change the rng for multiplayer games?

[Darkling]

The devs ignored complaints about the RNG and other things (like the 1 dimensional class structure and trait options) for well over a decade, I don't see why they'd start caring about their actual users now.

If you want something that's actually fun and not RNG: The Game, you're better off making something yourself with Godot or what have you instead of waiting for the Wesnoth devs to fix anything.

[Nsane Trickster]

Biased RNG is the bees knees. It has made a tangible difference in one mission I've played so far.