Hi Phil. I sim most of my moves. To get a result you can depend on, you generally need at least a 1000 simulations. This of course takes some time, so may not be the best use of limited time. Basically, the more plies the better - but as has been pointed out, more plies means more simulations are needed, particularly the closer you are to the start of a game. While there are still 50 tiles or more in the bag, I'm currently simming 5 ply. (3 ply is almost as good, and requires less sims.) Results tend to settle down a bit after 1000+ sims, but to be really sure, 2000 to 3000+ are needed. (Best to set it running and do something else). With less than 50 tiles, you are getting close to the territory where the move plus the five plies could conceivably use up (1+5) x 7 = 42 tiles - so you want to switch to Many plies. The more tiles in the bag, the more sims are needed - but I reckon 3000 sims is sufficient for most cases. The true required number of sims will depend not only on number of plies, and number of tiles left in the bag - it also depends on how blocked the board is. The more open the board, the greater the number of candidate plays, and hence the greater the volatility of the result. Generally by watching the percentage win of the leading plays, you can get an idea of whether they are settling down or not. (Still, there are many times I've left it after 1000 sims, returned after 3000+ and seen a totally different, and clearly best, frontrunner.) Time invested in simming also needs to be weighed up against deficiencies in the calculation - eg the fact that the moves on each ply are not themselves simmed, and that I'm not sure a perfect endgame is played either. Cheers Trevor.
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:29:07 +0000Subject: [quackle] How many plies? I don't sim games as often as I should. I've been experimenting with 4-ply sims, between 500 and 1000 iterations. Wondering, though, if I should use 'many' plies, which takes considerably longer. What is the general combination of plies and iterations which most people use? I find 4 plies generally gives a pretty good indication of the best moves, but often disagree with the results.Phil R _________________________________________________________________ It's simple! Sell your car for just $40 at CarPoint.com.au http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fsecure%2Dau%2Eimrworldwide%2Ecom%2Fcgi%2Dbin%2Fa%2Fci%5F450304%2Fet%5F2%2Fcg%5F801459%2Fpi%5F1004813%2Fai%5F859641&_t=762955845&_r=tig_OCT07&_m=EXT
