The most immediate one is the following: I have an excellent pseudo-random number generator pumping out excellent pseudo-random numbers. But what do I do with those numbers? None of the procedural content generator tutorials actually address those issues. I have a table of name prefixes, roots and suffixes. How do I make those numbers wrangle the word fragments into something meaningful? Likewise I have a long list of trade goods and their origin points, general rarity and the like. What kind of function/algorithm should I use to make "3701454" turn into "Novo Zerebevo"?
I am exploring using the modulo operator ("%") to come up with the data I need. For example, here is how I am determining town size: I have a seed number which is assigned to a town. I take that seed number and apply %15 to it, giving me a range of 0-14. I check this number against a table which looks something like this:
% seed population00 - 04 10005 - 08 25009 - 11 50012 - 13 100014 2500I am sure this method will work for everything else. I just need to get straight in my head how I will turn this:
Novo Dobro Velkyo_ Ljubo Mala_ Kryva_ Stari_ Valentyn Soskar Cebryk Kalyn Blakoj Stepan Dmytr Zvir Lukash Kater Levk Taras Oleksandr Lozuv Vytjaz Percun Pavl Voron Yelzav Zachar Janys Oleks Mychajl Pozn Vojnyc Most Zovtn Borys Strjuk Lukan Natas Zereb Lebed Fedor Scasl ivka ynka anka evo ove ovate ajka name="deer hide" weight="4" volume="2" base_value="5" base_availability="7" availability_dropoff=".2" price_increase=".3" lifespan="100" origin="-18,0" category="clothing" /> name="walnuts" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="timber" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="wood,fuel" /> name="iron" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="metal,material" /> name="wine" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="wool" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="material" /> name="sheep" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="animal" /> name="whale oil" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="fuel" /> name="wolf pelt" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="clothing" /> name="amber" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="luxury" /> name="leopard pelt" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="clothing" /> name="felt" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="clothing" /> name="caviar" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="paper" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="sundries" /> name="horse" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="animal" /> name="potatoes" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="opium" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="luxury" /> name="glass" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="luxury" /> name="silk" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="clothing" /> name="spices" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="copper" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="metal" /> name="tea" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="jade" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="luxury" /> name="camel" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="animal" /> name="dates" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="carpet" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="luxury" /> name="pearls" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="luxury" /> name="tiger pelt" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="clothing" /> name="fish" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="ivory" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="luxury" /> name="olives" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="grapes" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="wheat" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="oats" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="barley" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="goat" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="animal" /> name="pig" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="animal" /> name="cow" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="animal" /> name="cheese" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="butter" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="food" /> name="wootz steel" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="metal,material" /> name="greek fire" weight="" volume="" base_value="" base_availability="" availability_dropoff="" price_increase="" lifespan="" origin="" category="material" /> ...into a meaningful world.
I completely agree with you. Minus the porch, tablet, and pen. [grin]