What is a good random number generator for a game?

Question

What is a good random number generator to use for a game in C++?

My considerations are:

1. Lots of random numbers are needed, so speed is good.
2. P

Answer 1

Based on the random number generator by Ian C. Bullard:

// utils.hpp
namespace utils {
    void srand(unsigned int seed);
    void srand();
    unsigned int rand();
}

// utils.cpp
#include "utils.hpp"
#include 

namespace {
    static unsigned int s_rand_high = 1;
    static unsigned int s_rand_low = 1 ^ 0x49616E42;
}

void utils::srand(unsigned int seed)
{
    s_rand_high = seed;
    s_rand_low = seed ^ 0x49616E42;
}

void utils::srand()
{
    utils::srand(static_cast(time(0)));
}

unsigned int utils::rand()
{
    static const int shift = sizeof(int) / 2;
    s_rand_high = (s_rand_high >> shift) + (s_rand_high << shift);
    s_rand_high += s_rand_low;
    s_rand_low += s_rand_high;
    return s_rand_high;
}

Why?

• very, very fast
• higher entropy than most standard rand() implementations
• easy to understand