pbBalancedLevel not working right?

Black Temple Gaurdian · Nov 4, 2016

As far as I was aware, it's supposed to generate an average of your party levels.
Yet when I have a party of a level 5, a level 15, and a level 95 Pokemon, it generates a number of 97.
Likewise, with a party of a level 5 and a level 15, it generates a number of 15.
With just a level 5, it generates a number of 7.

Clearly something is off.

To clarify, I'm using it in the following context:

Code:

Events.onWildPokemonCreate+=proc {|sender,e|
   pokemon=e[0]
   if $game_switches[WILD_POKEMON_SCALE_SWITCH]#Switch
     newlevel=pbBalancedLevel($Trainer.party)#-8+rand(5)   # 8-4 levels lower
     newlevel=1 if newlevel<1
#     newlevel=(PBExperience::MAXLEVEL)-20 if newlevel>(PBExperience::MAXLEVEL)-20
     newlevel=(PBExperience::MAXLEVEL) if newlevel>(PBExperience::MAXLEVEL)
     pokemon.level=newlevel
     pokemon.calcStats
     pokemon.resetMoves
   end
}

Vendily · Nov 5, 2016

Well, this is the code, as of v16.2.

Code:

def pbBalancedLevel(party)
  return 1 if party.length==0
  # Calculate the mean of all levels
  sum=0
  party.each{|p| sum+=p.level }
  return 1 if sum==0
  average=sum.to_f/party.length.to_f
  # Calculate the standard deviation
  varianceTimesN=0
  for i in 0...party.length
    deviation=party[i].level-average
    varianceTimesN+=deviation*deviation
  end
  # Note: This is the "population" standard deviation calculation, since no
  # sample is being taken
  stdev=Math.sqrt(varianceTimesN/party.length)
  mean=0
  weights=[]
  # Skew weights according to standard deviation
  for i in 0...party.length
    weight=party[i].level.to_f/sum.to_f
    if weight<0.5
      weight-=(stdev/PBExperience::MAXLEVEL.to_f)
      weight=0.001 if weight<=0.001
    else
      weight+=(stdev/PBExperience::MAXLEVEL.to_f)
      weight=0.999 if weight>=0.999
    end
    weights.push(weight)
  end
  weightSum=0
  weights.each{|weight| weightSum+=weight }
  # Calculate the weighted mean, assigning each weight to each level's
  # contribution to the sum
  for i in 0...party.length
    mean+=party[i].level*weights[i]
  end
  mean/=weightSum
  # Round to nearest number
  mean=mean.round
  # Adjust level to minimum
  mean=1 if mean<1
  # Add 2 to the mean to challenge the player
  mean+=2
  # Adjust level to maximum
  mean=PBExperience::MAXLEVEL if mean>PBExperience::MAXLEVEL
  return mean
end

Besides calculating the average, it also creates a weighting and standard deviation. This basically causes numbers near the average to be more common and that higher levels are worth more than lower ones.

Me running some numbers through:

Spoiler:

You could create a new function that returns just the average, but I wouldn't do that because with such skewed levels the average would be low.
What if you have a party of a 100 and five 1s? That gives you levels 17 - 18, which is pitifully low.

pbBalancedLevel not working right?

Black Temple Gaurdian

Vendily