Question. What is SLOT-IDE?

Answer. SLOT-IDE is a Windows application (all Windows version from Vista are supported) that allows you to design and generate the mathematics of a slot game in minutes, even without any knowledge or understanding of slot mathematics. Besides being able to generate reel strips matching the target payout percentage you desire, SLOT-IDE computes theoretical calculations and generates a complete PAR-sheet containing hits, probabilities, RTP contributions etc. With SLOT-IDE you can also run simulations of the slot games you define, at the end of the simulation an excel report is automatically generated containing all statistics information (including volatility, coinciding hits, win distribution, RTP profile etc.)

Q. How long do I need to wait for the reel strips to be generated and for theoretical calculations to complete?

A. The waiting time depends on the features you put in your game and slightly on the capabilities of the PC used to run SLOT-IDE. For an average slot game theoretical calculations are completed in about one second and computation time is game-cycle independent. Generally, theoretical calculations take from one to eight seconds, while reel strips generation takes from one to fifteen seconds.

Q. Can I run simulations of the games I create?

A. For each game you define, SLOT-IDE can run theoretical calculations and simulations. At the end of a simulation SLOT-IDE creates a detailed report containing the standard deviation, hits, a plot of the payout distribution, RTP breakdown charts, analysis of coinciding wins and paylines etc.

Q. What are the underlying technologies SLOT-IDE is based on?

A. SLOT-IDE is entirely based on javascript and related standards and technologies. The core engine that processes scripts from the IDE are also written in javascript and they run in a environment based on NodeJS and google V8 engine.

Q. I see that slot games can be defined through a JSON based configuration syntax. What if I need to represent a feature that cannot be described through the configuration?

A. This is not going to happen frequently. That's because the configuration already covers the major features you find in slot games. Furthermore the configuraton syntax is very flexible as it allows you to embed your own logic by providing javascript functions as property values whereever it makes sense to do so.
For situations where this is not enough, SLOT-IDE allows you to extend any of the base classes that implement the math, so virtually ANY feature can be supported by adding or overriding base classes methods.

Q. What if something goes wrong in the functions or methods I provide? Is there a way to debug code as it runs?

A. Yes. Any time you run a game script you can choose to run it in debug-mode. While in debug you can set breakpoints, inspect variables, step in and out of your functions and methods.

Q. What are the outputs from running game scripts? Where are my scripts saved?

A. When you run theoretical calculations an excel PAR-sheet is automagically generated. At the end of a simulation SLOT-IDE generates an excel report. All game scripts and excel files are saved in the workspace (/workspace directory inside the location where SLOT-IDE is installed) locally on your PC.
Generated PAR sheets and simulation reports are automatically opened by SLOT-IDE after they are created by launching Excel (Microsoft Excel needs to be installed on the machine where SLOT-IDE runs).

Q. If game scripts are saved locally, then what data is sent to the server?

A. SLOT-IDE only talks to the server in order to validate the license at the beginning of a run process (computing theoretical calculation or running simulations), it does this by sending an HTTP request to www.slot-ide.com. No other data is exchanged with the server.

Q. Can I define my own reusable scripts or libraries?

A. Yes. In your workspace you can create javascript files and folders. From your game scripts you can access functions and classes that you defined in other scripts and libraries by following the CommonJS require pattern.