Hi! I wanted to know how math.random works. I know that you can supply 2 integers and the random will choose any number in between them, but I wanted to know, is there any way to make it return a float? Right now, all math.random’s I’ve used always returned an integer, but I need it to return a float. So basically, for the first scenario, I want math.random to return a float in between 0 and 1 and for the second, I want it to return an integer between 1 and 10. Is there any way to achieve this? Thank you!
I forgot to add, I have tried supplying the two variables as floats, for example: math.random(0.0, 1.0), but it still comes out as either 0 or 1 but nothing in between
I know this might be hacky, but you could do math.random(0, 100)/100
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Thank you! This seems like it should work but I wanted to know whether there was a built in function for this as I’m sure there must be some way to get a random float. Thanks!
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Random.new():NextNumber()
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I’m sorry, I didn’t understand what you wrote. Is there a way to make this return a float in between 0 and 1? If so, could you tell me how? Thanks!
Random.new() makes a new Random object with a random seed and NextNumber() generates a random float from the Random object with the Random object’s seed. (The float is between 0 and 1 by the way)
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Thank you! One last thing, is it possible for me to see an example? I didn’t really understand what a “seed” was. If I wrote something like this:
local rand = Random:NextNumber(0,1)
print(rand)
then will it print a float in between 0 and 1? Thanks!
Hey AAD232007!
You should check out Random.new(). It works similarly and provides a float!
local random = Random.new(os.time())
local minimumnumber = 0
local maximumnumber = 1
--
local float = random:NextNumber(minimumnumber,maximumnumber)
print(float)
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Thank you for your reply! I’m very sorry, but I have one final question. Why did you have to declare the variable “random” as
Random.new(os.time()) ?
I understand the bit where you create the float variable, I just have no clue what the “random” variable is used for. Thanks!
Hey AAD232007!
The parameter for Random.new() is a pseudo-seed number that it uses to generate the numbers. I use os.time() because it will never be the same!
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You could just use math.random() without no arguments to make a random float between 0 and 1
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Thanks! So basically, this is just used to create the float? Otherwise, it doesn’t matter what it is? Thank you!
Hey AAD232007!
Yep, that is used to generate the float!
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You must first create a Random Object. It accepts a number as a parameter, which will be used as a seed. If no seed is provided, it comes up with a random one. Here is an example of what you are trying to achieve.
local Random = Random.new() — you can put something here as a parameter like suggested by above posts, but it really is unnecessary. If you want, you could put os.clock() as a parameter.
local randomFloat = Random:NextNumber(0,1)
print(randomFloat)
Using Random.new is better than math.random because unlike math.random, it provides pseudo-random numbers. This means it is essentially more random.
If you want to generate a random interference, use the following:
local Random = Random.new()
local randomInt = Random:NextInterger(0,100)
print(randomInt)
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Thank you! This will be useful for now, but I wanted to use this for the future as well, and I might not always want to make a random number in between just 0 and 1. Thanks!
Thank you for the quick reply! After reading yours, @arccitecc , and @heII_ish 's replies, I finally understand how to use Random:NextNumber(). Thank you for your help!