Name: Simon
Status: student
Grade: n/a
Country: Sweden
Date: May 2, 2011
Question:
If you have ever been playing Minecraft 1.5_01, you know
about "seeds" or numbers for the world generation algorithm. What I
want to know is how it works and/or how many worlds that it can create.
Replies:
I do not know about the game. But here is the "problem".
To generate a "random" number, one starts with a "seed" number of arbitrary
length. Then that is then fed into a complex series of computations. A
different "seed" gives a completely different result of the different series
of computations. The different "seed" and a different algorithm (which may
change from one cycle to the next) gives a certain result, which may again
be re-cycled into another algorithm. To a given degree of "accuracy" the
final result may be "random". "Randomness" depends upon the choice of
"seed", the algorithm, and the number of cycles. I don't know that it has
been proven mathematically that a certain procedure the guarantees a
"random" number (that is a totally different mathematical problem). That, at
the present of the mathematical "art" has not been proven, but that is not
my area of expertise.
NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.
