SMR2 -> Mines

[Freon22]

I have now ran my formula thousands of times. From Azool post “Ideas” I was hoping that there would be more discussion on my formula as away of helping the mass mining problem.

Randomize
hit = (Rnd() * 100) < number_of_mines_in_sector
If hit = true then
calculate how many hit you
else false
show screen
You just missed some mines.
end if
If you don't hit a mine then no turn lost.

So I will continue, after running this code thousands of times this is what I have found.

1. If there is only one to five total mines in a sector, there is very remote chance of hitting a mine. Other then having to reload the page for a new green sector which slow you down, you can walk through a galaxy full of 1 to 5 mine sector and maybe only hit two or three times, if that. Until you get enough mines in a sector to increase the odds of hitting a mine. An alliance can not set small amounts of mines to stop someone from moving through or getting to a location.

2. With this formula and the increase price of mines I don’t think it would be necessary to change the expire time of mines. Because it would cost twice as much to mine the same amount of sectors and you have to get more mines in a sector in order to stop someone from moving through.

3. During Ops an alliance would have to burn extra turns by having to attack each small stack or take the chance that when they pass through that sector again they will not hit a mine. If they leave a few mines because they don’t want to use up turns then each time they enter this sector it will slow them down by having to reload the page for a green sector which will give the defenders a chance of moving in to finish off a weak ship as it is going to the Uno.

4. If you think that this cuts down on hitting small groups of mines by to much then you can away change (Rnd() * 100) to (Rnd() * 50) which will increase the chances of hitting smaller groups of mines.

5. If you wanted to input the players level into the formula so that there is another reason to work to be at higher level in the game then it can be put in by, (Rnd() * (50 + player_level)). I have not tried this formula to see how it works but it is another possibly.

[Prince Valiant]

lets see it

[OmegaRenegade]

And how does this stop galaxy wide mine fields of 50 mines?

[OmegaRenegade]

Travdan, back when you guys had those multiple gals mined up, how many of those stacks had less than 30 mines in them?

[RandyOrsolo]

I don't think increasing the cost of mines will be enough of an incentive against larger minefields, if overall money were reduced along with an increase in mine cost, maybe. I do like the turn changes proposed - whether it's simple or not simple, making lower mine counts not cost as many turns is a great idea.

The truth is, the only way we'll be able to tell if these changes work is by testing them in the game, sadly....theory merchant will get us nowhere.

[OmegaRenegade]

Ok then, how many stacks in Doriath when Virus was around had less than 30?

[Freon22]

I don't think increasing the cost of mines will be enough of an incentive against larger minefields,

The increase cost of mines are just a small part of what I am saying. But to have just 100 mines in one sector would cost 2 million credits and to put 1,000 mines in one sector which is 20 stacks of 50 would cost 20 million credits.

I do like the turn changes proposed - whether it's simple or not simple, making lower mine counts not cost as many turns is a great idea.

Right now if you want to move through a mined sector it cost you 8 turns, if you have newbie turns or not. I think it should not cost you if you don't hit a mine. But the way it is now, if there is one mine chances are you will hit it. I have never missed a mine even when there was only one there. I take that back when under newbie turns that one mine cost me 8 turns to move through that sector.

The truth is, the only way we'll be able to tell if these changes work is by testing them in the game, sadly....theory merchant will get us nowhere.

This is "Game Concepts" Azool said to bring up ideas.

Ok then, how many stacks in Doriath when Virus was around had less than 30?

If there is only 30 mines in a sector there would only be a 30% chance of hitting any of them. And if you did hit them and destoryed 10 of them, then there would only be a 20% chance of hitting any if you wanted a new green sector. It doesn't stop mining but it does allow you to move through mines to get to a Uno or some other port that you wanted to get to. It is slow moving but you can get there.

[MrSpock]

freons idea sounds promising, but why do the turns used only half-hearted? we should try: no turns lost, one turn, two turns and max. three turns lost. it just would makes sence (on a midsized mine field you would use less turns than on a fully mined sector)

i don't necesserily agree with the hitting formula. a little bit "rubbish". smr sectors have some kind of a size if you count the exits towards the space a sector spawns. a one exit sector should have a higher chance of beeing trapped. i think current formula accounts for that. at least i thought it did.
ever throw a dice with 100 sides? 1 in 100 chance is very low, extremly basically would render mines uninportant.

[Freon22]

i don't necesserily agree with the hitting formula. a little bit "rubbish".

No one in the game hates mines, but they do hate getting hit by every single one or two mine in a sector. They don't like it when someone can seal off a area so that most players can't get to a port with few mines. In the game I can take a million credits worth of mines and make it very hard for you to get to a port. The way that you calualate, if you hit a mine has never work. At least not when I have moved into a sector with one mine and 4 exit. My formula does make single mines useless other then to stop you long enough so a hunter can get a attack screen on you. And if an alliance wanted to seal off an area they will be forced to put large amounts of mines in each sector. But you can change it to increase the chances of hitting a mine if you wanted, you could change it to 1 in 50 or 1 in 25. I started it at 1 in 100 because it gave you the best chances of moving through a mine field without hitting any small groups of mines. I am not a coder just giving ideas for you to use when you code. You are right cutting down on the turns that you lose when you enter a sector with few mines would be a big step in the right direction.

So how do you think you should make a formula to decrease the odds of hitting small groups of mines?

I did code a page that runs the code through 40 sectors. I did it fast so don't kill me to bad on it. But it does give you the idea of what I am saying a little better.

http://freon22.brinkster.net/testmine.asp

[Freon22]

I changed some of the coding so now you can pick the multiplier from 100 to 10

http://freon22.brinkster.net/testmine.asp

MrSpock do you think you could show us the code you use when entering a sector with mines? Just looking for a way to keep mines so they can be used the same way but at the sametime cutting down on now these single and small groups of mines are always costing you turns.