VDice - Dice Rolling for Proboards v5

[simashi]

Is there a way to get the dice roller to handle numerous different sized dices at the same time?
Like 1d4+1d6-5 for instance? In your language that's: N₁dS₁+N₂dS₂+F₁
I could roll 1d9+1-5 for the above role but then I can't see the faces of the individual dices which is an issue.

Furthermore would it be possible to used more advanced syntaxes such as:
(1d6+2)*((1d100-20)/1d20+30)? In your language: (N₁dS₁+F₁)*((N₂dS₂-F₂)/N₃dS₃+F₃)

Edit: What about simple but longer syntaxes such as: N₁dS₁+F₁-F₂...+F_n ?

[Mother Starlight]

1d9+1-5 (or 1d9-4) has a different statistical distribution of outcomes than 1d4+1d6-5, so it's not an exact substitute.

You could roll the components separately, like 1d4 and 1d6 as two different rolls, and add them up yourself. But that's not as convenient.

[simashi]

I'm not sure why 1d9-4 is different from 1d4+1d6-5 but I would rather not start a math debate about it. (See edit)
It's possible to add the sum yourself but that's extremely inconvenient and not what I want as you would have to check all the time that you calculate correctly and you are bound to make mistakes and it will rapidly get harder at anything larger than 2 dices with 6 sides.

Edit: I just realized the pdf (probability density function) is different as you pointed out.
The chance of getting 10 eyes on the set of two dices would be: 1/4*1/6=1/24?4%
Getting 3 on the set of two dices can be done in two ways namely 1+2 or 2+1.
The chance would thus be: (1/4*1/6)*2=1/24=(1/24)*2=2/24?8%.

On a 9 sided dice getting any eye number is always 1/9 assuming a perfect random generator is used.

[Virgil Sovereign]

simashi: What you're looking at is highly advanced behaviour and would almost certainly require the "rendering functions" feature of VDice Advanced.

If you want your advanced roll to be previewable, the feature is unfortunately too much of a time commitment for me to tackle right now.

If you don't require previewable rolls and you don't mind the usual placeholder for an advanced roll in the editor, I can provide you with a custom rendering function that will give you an idea of how to get a roll that would render into something that looked like e.g.,



The hitch is that you'd have to modify the rendering function to produce the specific "equation(s)" you require, using the example as a reference.

If the number of dice equations you require is small (say, five or less), I could provide you with the code necessary to render these specific equations. You would just have to give me the roll syntax you wanted for each and an example of how you'd want the rolls to look. Otherwise, getting VDice to lay out dice into arbitrary equations is too big a request for me to handle right now. You'd need to write those rendering function(s) on your own.

[simashi]

Thanks for the quick reply Virgil Sovereign!
I'm wanting to make a play by post site so it's paramount that the rolls are previewable so that people can finish their post in the first go and don't have to go back and edit their posts all the time and cause confusion by sending notifications to people about their posts being completed when they might have just started but they needed to do a roll of some kind.

It would probably also get annoying after a while I could imagine. That said I can see a few cases where that wouldn't be a problem like calculating how you did on a test might be a complex roll or your starting money etc.
As I haven't created the rules yet it's not really a problem, it's just good to know my limitations and design the rules around said limitations.
The complex syntax: (N₁dS₁+F₁)*((N₂dS₂-F₂)/N₃dS₃+F₃), is unsurprisingly hard to do code wise but let's say I'm okay with not previewing it because I will only use it for special occasions. Will my users then still be able to change the values of the ranges and constants used in the complex equation?

Furthermore, in regards to the simple but longer format. Would it be possible to make the format N₁dS₁+F₁+F₂ previewable as it's rather simple in comparison and looks a lot like the VDice format?

[Virgil Sovereign]

simashi: What I can do is add a "parser" extension to VDice Advanced that will allow you to capture roll syntaxes and convert them to numeric values as you so desire using Javascript extensions, similar to rendering functions.

For example, for the syntax you suggest, you would append a function such as

function( roller, range, pre_range ) {
// we only want to handle rolls flagged with 'simashi:'
if( !/^simashi:/.test( pre_range ) )
return null;

// check if the range has valid syntax
if( !/^(?:[\(\)\+\-\*\/]|\b[1-9]\d*d[1-9]\d*\b|\b\d+\b)+$/i.test( range ) )
return null;

// compute and substitute values for dice rolls
var eval_range = range.replace( /\b[1-9]\d*d[1-9]\d*\b/gi, roller.evaluate );
var roll;

// compute the roll
try {
roll = ~~eval( eval_range );
} catch( _ ) {
// invalid syntax
return null;
}

// return the result
return { value: roll, tooltip: 'Value: ' + eval_range + ' = ' + roll };
}

to the VDA Javascript component.

The function would accept a post-alias, post-preprocessing range syntax (range), a post-alias, pre-preprocessing range syntax (pre_range), and a roller object with various methods for stable pseudorandom number generation. It would return null if the syntax is illegal/unrecognized, or an object with properties value (numeric outcome of the roll) and tooltip (optional text to show when hovering over previewable rolls) if the syntax is recognized.

The function in the example above would handle ranges such as (N₁dS₁+F₁)*((N₂dS₂-F₂)/N₃dS₃+F₃) and N₁dS₁+F₁-F₂...+F_n.

In the former case, a roll range such as simashi:(3d10+5)*((2d20-2)/1d10+1) might evaluate to 171 and show the previewable tooltip "Value: (14+5)*((26-2)/3+1) = 171".

In the latter case, a roll range such as simashi:5d5+20-10+6+3 might evaluate to 32 and show the previewable tooltip: "Value: 13+20-10+6+3 = 32".

You could additionally use the alias feature of VDA to customize the range syntax as much as desired. For example, you could set up the alias rule

hit\((\d+),(\d+),(\d+)\)   -to-   simashi:($1d10+5)*(($2d20-2)/1d10+$3*5)

and then your members could specify hit(3,5,5) as the range for a roll rather than having to type in simashi:(3d10+5)*((5d20-2)/1d10+5*5).

If you wanted to be able to handle more complicated syntax, you could do so though a combination of parser extensions and aliases in VDA. I'm leery about adding any such functionality to VDA since it will bloat the plugin.

[sithlyone]

Hello, I am in need of some assistance in setting up this plugin. To begin I am a noobie and I searched the first couple pages of this thread and realized I am in WAY over my head in trying to understand most of what is being said, let alone trying to figure it out to the point of implementing it.

So I hope that someone can assist me. Please remember that I only know how to cut and paste bbc code and I have a basic understanding of what the codes do. So when explaining can you please be specific. I know this will be a pain but I will be most appreciative!

Like others, I am attempting to make a PBP game for me and my friends. The dice being used will mostly be phrases like "Advantage" or "Success" and not numbers. However we will need a few numbered dice D20, D6, D8 to name a few. Now there are 6 "unique, non numbered" dice. 2 has 12 sides; 2 has 8 sides and 2 has 6 sides. The individual dice all have there own specific name and that is how they are reffered to in the game, not D6 or D8. More like I'll roll 2 Advantage dice or defending dice.

I need to know how to create all 6 of these unique dice, label each side of each dice and how to make them available for use in the forum.

I'm sure I am just not seeing the easy solution but thank you for any help you can offer.

[Virgil Sovereign]

sithlyone: If you fill out six tables such as the following (one table per die), I can quickly configure the VDice Advanced plugin for you:

Die 1 (12-sided)

Die Name (e.g. advantage):
Outcome 1 Text:
Outcome 2 Text:
Outcome 3 Text:
Outcome 4 Text:
Outcome 5 Text:
Outcome 6 Text:
Outcome 7 Text:
Outcome 8 Text:
Outcome 9 Text:
Outcome 10 Text:
Outcome 11 Text:
Outcome 12 Text:


Indicate if you want certain outcomes to have special formatting, colour, etc.  You can also specify the relative likelihood of each outcome occurring if you wish, or have duplicate outcomes.

[sithlyone]

Thank you Virgil sovereign, here it goes. One edit, I was told there was only 6 dice but after further checking there are 7 dice, I will list them below.

Die 1 (8-sided) - Green colored dice

Die Name (ABILITY):
Outcome 1 Text: DOUBLE SUCCESS
Outcome 2 Text: SUCCESS
Outcome 3 Text: BLANK
Outcome 4 Text: ADVANTAGE
Outcome 5 Text: SUCCESS
Outcome 6 Text: DOUBLE ADVANTAGE
Outcome 7 Text: ADVANTAGE
Outcome 8 Text: ADVANTAGE & SUCCESS

Die 2 (12-sided) - Yellow colored dice

Die Name (PROFICIENT):
Outcome 1 Text: SUCCESS & ADVANTAGE
Outcome 2 Text: BLANK
Outcome 3 Text: DOUBLE ADVANTAGE
Outcome 4 Text: DOUBLE SUCCESS
Outcome 5 Text: SUCCESS
Outcome 6 Text: SUCCESS & ADVANTAGE
Outcome 7 Text: SUCCESS
Outcome 8 Text: SUCCESS & ADVANTAGE
Outcome 9 Text: DOUBLE SUCCESS
Outcome 10 Text: DOUBLE ADVANTAGE
Outcome 11 Text: TRIUMPH 
Outcome 12 Text: ADVANTAGE

Die 3 (6-sided) - Blue colored dice

Die Name (BOOST):
Outcome 1 Text: ADVANTAGE
Outcome 2 Text: BLANK
Outcome 3 Text: ADVANTAGE & SUCCESS
Outcome 4 Text: BLANK
Outcome 5 Text: DOUBLE ADVANTAGE
Outcome 6 Text: SUCCESS

Die 4 (8-sided) - Purple colored dice

Die Name (DIFFICULT):
Outcome 1 Text: FAILURE
Outcome 2 Text: THREAT
Outcome 3 Text: BLANK
Outcome 4 Text: THREAT
Outcome 5 Text: DOUBLE FAILURE
Outcome 6 Text: THREAT
Outcome 7 Text: DOUBLE THREAT
Outcome 8 Text: THREAT

Die 5 (6-sided) - Black colored dice

Die Name (SETBACK):
Outcome 1 Text: THREAT
Outcome 2 Text: BLANK
Outcome 3 Text: FAILURE
Outcome 4 Text: BLANK
Outcome 5 Text: FAILURE
Outcome 6 Text: THREAT 

Die 6 (12-sided) - Red colored dice

Die Name (CHALLENGE):
Outcome 1 Text: THREAT
Outcome 2 Text: FAILURE & THREAT
Outcome 3 Text: DOUBLE THREAT
Outcome 4 Text: DOUBLE FAILURE
Outcome 5 Text: DESPAIR
Outcome 6 Text: FAILURE
Outcome 7 Text: THREAT
Outcome 8 Text: BLANK
Outcome 9 Text: DOUBLE FAILURE
Outcome 10 Text: DOUBLE THREAT
Outcome 11 Text: FAILURE & THREAT
Outcome 12 Text: FAILURE

Die 7 (12-sided) - White colored dice

Die Name (FORCE):
Outcome 1 Text: DARK SIDE
Outcome 2 Text: LIGHT SIDE
Outcome 3 Text: DARK SIDE
Outcome 4 Text: LIGHT SIDE
Outcome 5 Text: DARK SIDE
Outcome 6 Text: DOUBLE LIGHT SIDE
Outcome 7 Text: DARK SIDE
Outcome 8 Text: DOUBLE LIGHT SIDE
Outcome 9 Text: DARK SIDE
Outcome 10 Text: DOUBLE LIGHT SIDE
Outcome 11 Text: DARK SIDE
Outcome 12 Text: DOUBLE DARK SIDE

I can also use:
D100
D20
D8
D6
D3

Thank you so much for the assist, it means a lot!

[sithlyone]

Nov 6, 2015 1:01:01 GMT -8 Virgil Sovereign said:

sithlyone: If you fill out six tables such as the following (one table per die), I can quickly configure the VDice Advanced plugin for you:

Die 1 (12-sided)

Die Name (e.g. advantage):
Outcome 1 Text:
Outcome 2 Text:
Outcome 3 Text:
Outcome 4 Text:
Outcome 5 Text:
Outcome 6 Text:
Outcome 7 Text:
Outcome 8 Text:
Outcome 9 Text:
Outcome 10 Text:
Outcome 11 Text:
Outcome 12 Text:


Indicate if you want certain outcomes to have special formatting, colour, etc.  You can also specify the relative likelihood of each outcome occurring if you wish, or have duplicate outcomes.




Did I do it the way you need? 

[Virgil Sovereign]

sithlyone: Yes, these are all the details I need. Give me a few details and I'll put together the plugin for you.

[sithlyone]

Nov 8, 2015 9:38:55 GMT -8 Virgil Sovereign said:

sithlyone : Yes, these are all the details I need. Give me a few details and I'll put together the plugin for you.

What other details do you need? 

[cybersavant]

I too am confused about vDice coding and i've tried searching for examples, etc. [though it's been a while since i did so]

currently when i click on dice in my boards it opens the dice, which defaults to [1-6], how do i code it for:
a) to allow + or - after the die type?
b) change the default to d20?
c) allow for open ended rolling for RoleMaster, d100 where if you roll 96-00, you roll again and add the results ; or if you roll 1-5 then roll again and add in the negative direction [but the range isn't always 5%, depends on class and advantages/ disadvantages, etc]

for now we've been modifying the roll to 1-20 and then manually adding the results

for my M&M 3ed game we roll 3 d20 and take the middle result, or the result that ties on 2 or 3 dice
i.e. drop the lowest and highest rolls, taking the middle

i've installed both vDice and vDice advanced

thanks for any pointers or coding i can cut & paste

[Virgil Sovereign]

Nov 16, 2015 19:43:17 GMT -8 sithlyone said:

Nov 8, 2015 9:38:55 GMT -8 Virgil Sovereign said:

sithlyone : Yes, these are all the details I need. Give me a few details and I'll put together the plugin for you.

What other details do you need? 

Sorry. I meant "Give me a few days and I'll put together the plugin for you."

I'll get it done tomorrow.

[Virgil Sovereign]

sithlyone : As promised, I've put together a special version of VDice Advanced implementing the specification in your post from Nov 6, 2015.

Installation steps:

• download the plugin here: VDA - Star Wars Die Pack.pbp (13.16 KB)
  
• if you don't already have VDice or VDice Standard Die Edition installed, install them. Make sure that "Dynamic Range" is enabled, under the "Range" tab.
  
• remove any existing versions of VDice Advanced installed on your board
• install the downloaded plugin on your board
  

The plugin shouldn't require any additional configuration.

It defines six new rolls: ability, proficient, boost, difficult, setback, challenge, force.

To roll one of these dice, enter its name into the "range" box when inserting a die, or else simply type the tag into the editor manually, e.g., [roll=ability] or [roll range="ability"].

The dice are rendered using CSS. The plugin is editable, hence feel free to customize the styles by editing the style sheet in the plugin "Build" interface.

A preview of what they should look like is:



Let me know if you have any problems. Otherwise, may the force be with you.