Weighted chance

[mofolad]

I have looked at various other posts about weighted chance but still find this method much easier to understand than other methods I’ve viewed. I just wanted to make sure this is a correct and efficient way to do this. If you have any suggestions please let me know.

local plrChances = {}

game.Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(function(plr)
	local weight = Instance.new("IntValue", plr)
	weight.Name = "Weight"
	weight.Value = 1
end)

function module.determineSpy(plrs)
	local spy
	plrChances = {}

	for i, plr in pairs(plrs) do
		if plr and plr.Character then
			for i = plr.Weight.Value, 0, -1 do
				table.insert(plrChances, plr)
			end
		end
	end
	spy = plrChances[math.random(1, #plrChances)]

	for i, v in pairs(plrs) do
		if v == spy then
			v.Weight.Value = 1
		else
			v.Weight.Value += 1
		end
	end

	return spy
end

[D0RYU (nici)]

keep in mind this should be in #help-and-feedback:code-review
anyways you can probably just combine both of the for loops imo

Summary

local plrChances = {}

game.Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(function(plr)
	local weight = Instance.new("IntValue", plr)
	weight.Name = "Weight"
	weight.Value = 1
end)

function module.determineSpy(plrs)
	local spy
	plrChances = {}

	for _, plr in pairs(plrs) do
		if plr and plr.Character then
			plr.Weight.Value += 1

			for _ = plr.Weight.Value, 0, -1 do
				table.insert(plrChances, plr)
			end
		end
	end

	spy = plrChances[math.random(1, #plrChances)]
	spy.Weight.Value = 1
	return spy
end

basically we can just add the weight in the first for loop, and then set the spy to be weight 1 later.
this makes it more performant too

[mofolad]

yes youre right. although it wouldnt affect the outcome id say this is more suitable as the weight isnt changed before the for loop

function module.determineSpy(plrs)
	local spy
	plrChances = {}

	for i, plr in pairs(plrs) do
		if plr and plr.Character then
			for i = plr.Weight.Value, 0, -1 do
				table.insert(plrChances, plr)
			end
			plr.Weight.Value += 1
		end
	end
	
	spy = plrChances[math.random(1, #plrChances)]
	spy.Weight.Value = 1
	
	return spy
end