[paulannesley]

TL;DR: rand() loops through a fixed set of values, but unpredictable user input leads to unpredictable sequence of rand() calls (e.g. an animation calling it before or after a sound-effect selector), providing an unpredictable output from rand().

[ethbro]

This is the most interesting part to me, and the irony of the random output.

The "random number generator" isn't actually the table, but rather the table <-> the amount of times the function is actually called (aka player input as a source of randomness).

If the game were coded in such a way that there are more deterministic random calls (enemy seeding at beginning of a level, etc) then it would feel less random. If it were coded in a way that there are more non-deterministic random calls (enemy spawning based on table index when a player enters a room) then it would feel more random.

The table is deterministic, but the exact value returned for any given event X is the product of how many random() calling events happened before event X.

Or, in the ideal engineering way: achieve the minimal randomness required for player belief, and use the saved computational overhead on my interesting things (e.g. graphics).