Game option

[JWenham]

Can someone tell me a bit more on what checking the box "Random functions such as lockpicking, traps, use a predetermined seed" means at game creation?

[Kreador Freeaxe]

It means that the "roll" for random things such as random chest contents and pick lock rolls and trap disarm rolls are set when you first enter the map. There are ways to "adjust" this, but they're generally more trouble than they're worth. Basically, though, it prevents save-scamming, wherein you save before attempting to pick a lock or disarm a trap or opening a chest, and if you don't like the result you reload and try again. With the fixed seed you will get the same result every time (though quantity/quality of items in the chest may change, the types of items become fixed).

[JWenham]

I see. Thanks for the reply.

[Mod.]

Isn't it broken though? While playing on hardcore, I can fail a lock pick at 47%, then try again immediately after and successfully pick it. If I save before attempting, that means I can still save a lockpick or two.

EDIT: And speaking of hardcore, the improved item generation quality seems to get me worse quality items. I am still playing 1.03 though, if it is fixed on 1.04.

[xolotl]

Isn't it broken though? While playing on hardcore, I can fail a lock pick at 47%, then try again immediately after and successfully pick it. If I save before attempting, that means I can still save a lockpick or two.

What the option would do is if you saved, and then failed a lockpick, no amount of reloading would let you succeed that first failed lockpick. Certainly your second lockpick attempt might work, but that too would be "fixed" in terms of the load/save behavior.

(Note that because I never actually bother with the save/load trick to try and fudge my way past circumstances like that, I personally don't have any input as to whether it's actually broken or not.)

EDIT: And speaking of hardcore, the improved item generation quality seems to get me worse quality items. I am still playing 1.03 though, if it is fixed on 1.04.

I'd suspect that's probably just a function of human perception of PRNGs. A string of bad luck tends to stand out more than a string of good luck, especially when we're just talking about 10% here. Though again, I've not tried to do any quantitative analysis on that.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

Isn't it broken though? While playing on hardcore, I can fail a lock pick at 47%, then try again immediately after and successfully pick it. If I save before attempting, that means I can still save a lockpick or two.

EDIT: And speaking of hardcore, the improved item generation quality seems to get me worse quality items. I am still playing 1.03 though, if it is fixed on 1.04.

I'm not sure about the item generation stuff, although I seem to find more things I can't identify early on in my hardcore games than in my (far fewer) Normal games. The repair level of those items may be pretty crappy, though.

As for the random seed being broken, I have not experienced anything to imply that it is. If I save before attempting to pick a lock, and it takes me three tries to pick that lock, it will take me three tries every time I reload and do it again. Clearly, I can't see the actual sequence of random numbers generated to know if it is, in fact, identical, but I've seen nothing to suggest that it isn't.

[IJBall]

Isn't it broken though? While playing on hardcore, I can fail a lock pick at 47%, then try again immediately after and successfully pick it. If I save before attempting, that means I can still save a lockpick or two.

As for the random seed being broken, I have not experienced anything to imply that it is. If I save before attempting to pick a lock, and it takes me three tries to pick that lock, it will take me three tries every time I reload and do it again. Clearly, I can't see the actual sequence of random numbers generated to know if it is, in fact, identical, but I've seen nothing to suggest that it isn't.

I've seen 'non-fixed' item generation in things like # of GP in gold loot even in a 'fixed-seed' game.

But, I'm with you - I've never seen *any* variation in how lock-picking attempts have played out on the same lock over multiple reloads, and I've tested it on several occasions in 'fixed-seed' games.