Many people may remember playing a game called Pokemon when they were younger. Heck, some of the people reading this post probably still play Pokemon. But there's a lot of things that most people don't know about the game. Of course everyone knows the basic game principles. Catch all the Pokemon, train them to evolution and defeat the gym leaders and evil organization. However, there are so many factors that go into a lot of aspects of the game. For example, one Pokemon named Wurmple will either evolve into one of two other Pokemon, Silcoon or Cascoon. Now most people think that which one it evolves into is based on the gender or nature of the Wurmple. I'm afraid it is a little more complicated than that, my friends. What actually determines the evolution is a set of four ten-digit binary codes that are randomly generated when you encounter them, making it already determined which one it will evolve into as soon as it is encountered.
Another thing that a lot of Pokemon players don't realize is that being able to catch a Pokemon isn't random in any sense at all. In fact, there's actually an equation that can be used to determine the chances of catching a Pokemon. Not only that, but the equation differs from generation to generation. For instance, in the first generation, the formula is Po+P1=probability of capture, where Po=statusAilment(twelve if burned, poisoned or paralyzed, twenty-five if asleep or frozen, zero otherwise) over ballMod+1(255 is Poke Ball, 200 if Great Ball, 150 otherwise) and P1=catchRate+1(depends on Pokemon)divided by ballMod+1 all multiplied by f+1 over 256 where f stands for 255 times max HP over ballFactor all divided by the current HP over 4. Confused yet? I figured as much. Generations 2-5 only get more complicated. So complicated, in fact, I won't even go into how convoluted it actually is.
While everyone who plays it would agree with me that Pokemon is a simple game in principle, the mechanics behind the actual game are quite the contrary.
WC: 340
I had no clue how complicated pokemon is
ReplyDeleteAh, Pokemon math. You have got to love it. How else can we convince people Pokemon is actually educational?
ReplyDelete“See mom? See?! I'm learning MATH here!”
Often people don't realize the amount of work that goes into these games. Coding even a simple game like Tetris is difficult and time consuming, even more so for such a large and extensive game like Pokemon.
One thing I've noticed though: Even with the knowledge that, say, the Pokemon catch rate is set, and nothing the player does can influence it, everyone (even me) still has their own system. A + B + down, Holding B or the down key, or even simply covering up the screen so you can't see the ball. Almost every Pokemon trainer will admit (eventually) to having some sort of good luck system they favor. Math isn't everything I suppose. :)
-BlackFox