The mystery behind "random"...

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kanjifreak

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Hello:

What do you think about this?

I am almost certain that the "random" factor in the game is never truly random. It is governed by certain criteria which results incredibly annoying, to say the least.

For example, I have completed collecting all the cars in the game. I cycled my UCD 3240 times approximately. I never, ever saw a Pennzoil Zexel car there. All the others appeared in some sort of pattern, once you have them, they appear more often, once you get closer to having them all, every 10 or 15 cycles you'll get an unowned car, and then every 30 cycles, etc.

Also, I bought, won, got traded, etc., 1061 cars in total, and never, ever got a chrome paint (which I got from a cool guy instead).

In the end, my point is, the game is programmed in such a fashion that nobody will ever be able to have everything by himself/herself. They force you to trade a bit.

Isn't that just annoying?

What if somebody doesn't want to go online, or doesn't want to socialize?

PD annoys me in new ways as time goes by...

What do you guys think?
 
It's impossible to create a computer program that is completely random since there is always some type of formula used to determine the randomness. If PD messed up a calculation (which wouldnt suprise me) then its entirely possible that a few cars might not even show up. My dad is a computer engineer, lemme see if I can find a link that explains that better...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-random_number_generator
 
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kanjifreak
In the end, my point is, the game is programmed in such a fashion that nobody will ever be able to have everything by himself/herself.
Click to expand...
Based on just your experience?
Sorry but nothing you said convinces me to believe you.
 
Wasn't there someone who was keeping track of the cars generated by the UCD based on the # of in-game days that had passed? Whatever happened to it? I think he was suggesting there was some kind of a recurring pattern in that cars appear in a certain sequence.
 
kanjifreak
Hello:

What do you think about this?

I am almost certain that the "random" factor in the game is never truly random. It is governed by certain criteria which results incredibly annoying, to say the least.

For example, I have completed collecting all the cars in the game. I cycled my UCD 3240 times approximately. I never, ever saw a Pennzoil Zexel car there. All the others appeared in some sort of pattern, once you have them, they appear more often, once you get closer to having them all, every 10 or 15 cycles you'll get an unowned car, and then every 30 cycles, etc.

Also, I bought, won, got traded, etc., 1061 cars in total, and never, ever got a chrome paint (which I got from a cool guy instead).

In the end, my point is, the game is programmed in such a fashion that nobody will ever be able to have everything by himself/herself. They force you to trade a bit.

Isn't that just annoying?

What if somebody doesn't want to go online, or doesn't want to socialize?

PD annoys me in new ways as time goes by...

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

If you wanted it to be more random, then it wouldn't be 'random' would it? Think about it.
You are now enforcing a rule onto something that has no rules. It may, or may not, select cars randomly. It may choose to do one, then the other, at different intervals, for as long, or often, the game wants. This is how it works. For example, if you flip a coin, why doesn't it always land 50/50?

Anyway, the UCD is not random it is a pre-determined line-up of cars that does not repeat (from what we've discovered). However, one's UCD may match up to someone elses 100 days ago. Every game starts of at a different point in the UCD pattern.
 
r2nyGT5
If you wanted it to be more random, then it wouldn't be 'random' would it? Think about it.
You are now enforcing a rule onto something that has no rules. It may, or may not, select cars randomly. It may choose to do one, then the other, at different intervals, for as long, or often, the game wants.

Anyway, the UCD is not random it is a pre-determined line-up of cars that does not repeat (from what we've discovered). However, one's UCD may match up to someone elses 100 days ago. Every game starts of at a different point in the UCD pattern.
Click to expand...

I totally understand, but how can that explain the fact that after more than 3000 cycles I never saw a Pennzoil Zexel? I did repeat my pattern. Also, some cars started to show up duplicated in the line up (and that was the only difference in the repeated pattern), because according to the mysterious pattern, no given car should be there at that moment, or something, I guess...

Thanks Sandy106, I'm reading the article ASAP.
 
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tezster
Wasn't there someone who was keeping track of the cars generated by the UCD based on the # of in-game days that had passed? Whatever happened to it? I think he was suggesting there was some kind of a recurring pattern in that cars appear in a certain sequence.
Click to expand...

There is and it works. My game day 917 matched up with ID 996 on that excel spreadsheet. Now I know every car that's coming my way.
 
nyyellowtaxi
There is and it works. My game day 917 matched up with ID 996 on that excel spreadsheet. Now I know every car that's coming my way.
Click to expand...

Any chance you could let us know where that is? Something like that would be pretty valuable.

One thing I find strange about the UCD is that I can go days and days and days without seeing a particular car, then it'll pop up, and then in the very next rotation it'll be there again. Once I had the same car in my UCD three times! I'm pretty sure it happens every other time I look in my UCD now.
 
I could believe it. And I think you hit the nail on the head without even knowing. Polyphony Digital, Sony, Gran Turismo, etc. have alot to gain by channeling the gamers into the online world. The world is changing and the information age and blah blah...
 
There have been days/times when there were 3 Rufs in the UCD at the same time. It's not totally uncommon for two instances of the same vehicle to appear. If that has happened to other players, then it would seem to be random. I think I understand the idea of a predetermined (yet) non-repeating list. However, that pattern was either generated randomly (i.e., using a random-character/car generator) or based on a non-repeating pattern (like pi), etc. Well, that's assuming that --since it is non-repeating-- the permutation of combinations is extremely large. So, it's possible that a player might never see a particular car for a long time. Then, one day, there'll be 2 or 3 of them. Of course, if the player happens to play one more game (and use one more game day), he might miss it completely. I don't know. Has anyone asked PD directly the type of algorithm they are using?
 
nyyellowtaxi
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=134403

Search for a specific car and look for the 6 cars pattern that matches UCD day. Not all the days are available. So if you matched the pattern and have the info of those missing days, please contribute.
Click to expand...

Just checked the spreadsheet - my current UCD sequence doesn't match any on that list :(

I wonder how long the cycle goes on for i.e. if it continues indefinitely, or if it begins repeating at some point.
 

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