Dear god thank you for not writing this in javascript.
Simulation speed is of primary concern here (though javascript isn't too shabby)! I actually have a C++ version too, but I thought Java might be more accessible to more people...
Show HN: HearthSim, an AI and game simulator for Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft
21–30 of 80 posts
Re: Show HN: HearthSim, an AI and game simulator for Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft
#22HearthSim is a generic Hearthstone game simulator and AI, designed to run large numbers of simulated AI vs AI games in order to test and understand the values of various game mechanics and cards. Then I read an article about The Coin on OP's blog: http://buddypanda.com/?p=65 and I don't think that the simulator is that useful. Maybe I'm too dumb to understand this, but my intuitive idea is that a card like The Coin g…
> How come then, that the simulator says that the player actually wins more games without The Coin? This isn't what the results say. The win rate for the player who goes first ("Player 0") rose from 41% to 61% when the player who goes second ("Player 1") was not given The Coin. This is summarized in the text: > The Coin basically makes what used to be a first player advantage into a first player disadvantage. Not bad…
And don't forget the further upside of going second, you get an extra card in your starting hand. I really do feel like going second is far superior to going first right now.
Re: Show HN: HearthSim, an AI and game simulator for Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft
#23I'm a bit against the code style: https://github.com/oyachai/HearthSim/blob/master/src/com/hea... So the card that does the damage has to do the removal check for the minions? Talk about duplication of code. Wouldn't something like this be better: engine.dealDamage(1).to(Category.EnemyMinions);
I did this same thing in Clojure a while back as a way to introduce myself to the language. As you can see in the card definitions from that [1], I arrived at something close to your proposed idiom. All spells and battlecries are functions of the game state that usually end up being described as the composition of basic actions in hearthstone, e.g. (target [:type]) (damage-target n).
1. https://github.com/Mischanix/soot/blob/master/src/soot/cards...
Re: Show HN: HearthSim, an AI and game simulator for Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft
#24Dear god thank you for not writing this in javascript.
Simulation speed is of primary concern here (though javascript isn't too shabby)! I actually have a C++ version too, but I thought Java might be more accessible to more people...
I completely understand the need for speed, which is why I'm happy you picked something like Java. It's just with the popularity of Javascript on HN, I was worried that it would be yet another JS project.
Re: Show HN: HearthSim, an AI and game simulator for Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft
#25HearthSim is a generic Hearthstone game simulator and AI, designed to run large numbers of simulated AI vs AI games in order to test and understand the values of various game mechanics and cards. Then I read an article about The Coin on OP's blog: http://buddypanda.com/?p=65 and I don't think that the simulator is that useful. Maybe I'm too dumb to understand this, but my intuitive idea is that a card like The Coin g…
> Maybe I'm too dumb to understand this, but my intuitive idea is that a card like The Coin gives you various advantages and no disadvantages, since it is an extra card that comes for free and gives you more flexibility. The Coin does indeed give you advantages with no downside. However, the reason why you get the coin has to do with the mechanics of Hearthstone. In the case where The Coin didn't exist, you would be…
IMO the Coin is a tricky thing. While you can argue that it balances the two player, the second player has the additional choice of when to use the Coin.
The first player has the advantage of going first. That is a given advantage, with no choice involved. It is harder to "waste" that advantage. The Coin, on the other hand, is much more linked to choice (when to use) and therefore, easily wasted. It is also an additional "thing" for the second player to think about when playing, while the first player doesn't have this burden.
Re: Show HN: HearthSim, an AI and game simulator for Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft
#26I'm a bit against the code style: https://github.com/oyachai/HearthSim/blob/master/src/com/hea... So the card that does the damage has to do the removal check for the minions? Talk about duplication of code. Wouldn't something like this be better: engine.dealDamage(1).to(Category.EnemyMinions);
Or better yet, write the entire thing in a logic programming DSL.
DSL as in write your own language? That sounds complex.
Re: Show HN: HearthSim, an AI and game simulator for Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft
#27Dear god thank you for not writing this in javascript.
I'm working on a version in JavaScript. I will send it to you when it's done.
Re: Show HN: HearthSim, an AI and game simulator for Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft
#28HearthSim is a generic Hearthstone game simulator and AI, designed to run large numbers of simulated AI vs AI games in order to test and understand the values of various game mechanics and cards. Then I read an article about The Coin on OP's blog: http://buddypanda.com/?p=65 and I don't think that the simulator is that useful. Maybe I'm too dumb to understand this, but my intuitive idea is that a card like The Coin g…
> How come then, that the simulator says that the player actually wins more games without The Coin? This isn't what the results say. The win rate for the player who goes first ("Player 0") rose from 41% to 61% when the player who goes second ("Player 1") was not given The Coin. This is summarized in the text: > The Coin basically makes what used to be a first player advantage into a first player disadvantage. Not bad…
As far as I'm aware, official stats from Blizzard is that the player going first is wins a higher % of the time than going second, despite the coin. I'll try and find the source.
User dtech already found the source for me (: -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8020232
Re: Show HN: HearthSim, an AI and game simulator for Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft
#29In order to balance the game I am working on, I am planning to use a somewhat similar automated system (although its good to note, you can get a very interesting statistical analysis by ignoring the AI and just playing random cards/skills/whatever you are testing against each other). This of course works best if you are selecting two discrete subsets of one superset and playing with card variance (random decks, control decks with only one different card between them, etc).
Off topic: I've played Heathstone enough to appreciate it. It is a good game (I'd give it maybe 4.5 stars), but not perfect; my critiques:
- Chance of winning is based largely on luck - the same deck drawn two different ways can be almost a guaranteed win/fail, even if it is balanced.
- Card starvation is way too common of a problem. Could not count how many times I ended up exhausting the deck, even with plenty of cards to counter it. When you only have one card to play at a time, the game becomes rather dull.
- Classing leads to a certain lack of permutation and surprise - most decks have a few basic strategies.
- Cards outside of the class decks tend to be fairly generic feeling for the most part. Many cards feel a bit mundane compared to other CCGs.
- Free to play model hurts the game a bit - I don't mind paying money, but many aspects of the game feel too grindy (in order to get you to pay money).
Re: Show HN: HearthSim, an AI and game simulator for Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft
#30In order to balance the game I am working on, I am planning to use a somewhat similar automated system (although its good to note, you can get a very interesting statistical analysis by ignoring the AI and just playing random cards/skills/whatever you are testing against each other). This of course works best if you are selecting two discrete subsets of one superset and playing with card variance (random decks, contr…
FYI - the way your comment is formatted caused text to be hidden in a horizontal scroll bar which wasn't visible on Chrome on OS X - took me a good minute to figure out what was going on.