Issue 43 September 16, 1996
______________________________________________________________________________
Core Warrior is a weekly newsletter promoting the game of corewar. Emphasis
is placed on the most active hills--currently the '94 draft hill and the
beginner hill. Coverage will follow where ever the action is. If you have
no clue what I'm talking about then check out these five-star internet locals
for more information:
FAQs are available by anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu as
pub/usenet/news.answers/games/corewar-faq.Z
FTP site is: ftp.csua.berkeley.edu /pub/corewar
Web pages are at: (Please note new Stormking's address)
http://www.koth.org/ ;Stormking
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~pizza/koth ;Pizza
http://pauillac.inria.fr/~doligez/corewar/ ;Planar
Newbies should check the stormking page for the FAQ, language specification,
guides, and tutorials. Post questions to rec.games.corewar. All new players
are infinitely welcome!
If ftp.csua.berkeley.edu is unreachable, you can download pMARS at:
Terry's web page--http://www.infi.net/~wtnewton/corewar/
Planar ftp site--ftp://ftp.inria.fr/INRIA/Projects/para/doligez/cw/pmars
Fechter ftp site--ftp://members.aol.com/ofechner/corewar
A collection of Bezzi's hints in the first issues is available at:
ftp://ftp.volftp.vol.it/pub/pc/msdos/games/solutions/bbhints.zip
______________________________________________________________________________
Greetings.
There has been a lot of discussion recently in r.g.c about new opcodes and
new standards. Here is what Scott Manley wrote:
>My main point was that we really need a group of people who are willing to
>promote Corewar, principally by proposing, testing and approving rule changes
>and thereby maintainig a consistent set of standards.
>
>The most important function of such a group would be to ensure there was a
>framework within which these changes can be evaluated. Take the example of
>Pspace, this was a neat idea which was implemented by the programmers of the
>simulators and therefore has become accepted as part of the standard. But does
>anyone actually know whether PSpace is part of the '94 standard? It's not even
>in the FAQ (actually this might have changed, forgive me if I'm wrong) yet the
>main hills ('94 draft and Beginner) both support it. If a simulator appears
>and claims to be '94 compatable does it have to implement Pspace.
>
>If a governing body was set up it's main task would be to maintain the
>standards, old and new (and make sure that they are available). Anybody
>interested in testing new ideas could work with this commitee, a working group
>of interested people could be set up, but it would be entirely voluntary if
>nobody has time to program experimaental extensions we couldn't expect members
>to drop their work and go around hacking source code just because there's been
>a new proposal. Again it's a case of management if all proposals are
>maintained on record then there is always the possibilty of returning to an
>idea when time permits. Also of course any tests which have been carried out
>in the past will also be maintained on record.
>
>So what we really need at the moment is a lot of discussion of the idea, is
>there a real need for such management. I certainly think so.
>
>And of course if such a group was to be set up it would need volunteers, a
>constitution and most importantly the general approval of the corewar
>community.
I also think such a group is needed. However, who is going to create it? I
am willing to collect a list of names of those who are interested in being
a part of the core of this group. It would also be good if you could give
me some details in what areas you would like to contribute, eg. writing code,
writing documentation, writing newsletters/articles, developing standards,
promoting the game, vote taking, management of tasks, etc. And if you can
write code, which languages can you code in? The more details there are, the
easier it will be to allocate tasks.
One of the problems with creating groups like this is that nothing will ever
get done unless someone takes the initiative. A list of volunteers is a good
start. I will post this list (assuming I get any volunteers) in a week or so
or include it in the next CW.
--Anton Marsden
______________________________________________________________________________
Current Status of the Internet Pizza Server ICWS '94 Draft Hill:
Hill Specs:
coresize: 8000
max. processes: 8000
duration: after 80,000 cycles, a tie is declared.
max. entry length: 100
minimum distance: 100
rounds fought: 200
instruction set: ICWS '94 Draft
The current ICWS '94 Draft hill:
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
1 39.2/ 21.7/ 39.1 unrequited love kafka 156.6 30
2 32.1/ 11.6/ 56.3 Return Of The Jedimp John K W 152.7 98
3 43.3/ 37.5/ 19.2 Probe Anton Marsden 149.1 110
4 44.1/ 39.4/ 16.5 Goldfinch P.Kline 148.8 51
5 45.8/ 45.3/ 8.9 Q^2 Miro Anders Ivner 146.3 160
6 36.6/ 27.5/ 35.9 Simple v0.4b Ian Oversby 145.7 61
7 38.7/ 33.9/ 27.4 Flimsy v0.5a Ian Oversby 143.6 4
8 31.9/ 20.4/ 47.7 Rosebud Beppe 143.3 783
9 40.4/ 39.0/ 20.6 mrb-test m r bremer 141.8 16
10 42.4/ 43.3/ 14.3 Blur 2 Anton Marsden 141.6 109
11 39.8/ 38.6/ 21.6 Instant Wolf 3.4 Edgar 141.0 8
12 35.6/ 30.5/ 33.9 September Beppe 140.7 12
13 25.9/ 12.2/ 61.8 ompega Steven Morrell 139.7 225
14 34.9/ 30.3/ 34.8 Jack in the box II Beppe Bezzi 139.4 467
15 34.8/ 30.3/ 35.0 Falcon v0.3 Ian Oversby 139.3 15
16 38.6/ 39.2/ 22.2 T.N.T. pro Maurizio Vittuari 138.0 828
17 41.2/ 44.6/ 14.2 myVamp5.4 Paulsson 137.9 158
18 37.7/ 38.6/ 23.7 Yogi Bear P.Kline 136.8 314
19 40.3/ 45.0/ 14.8 Earthquake v0.2 Bjoern & Ian 135.6 67
20 39.7/ 44.0/ 16.3 Violent Micro v0.4d basehead 135.4 3
21 37.8/ 40.9/ 21.3 Test Anton Marsden 134.6 20
22 38.2/ 43.4/ 18.4 BackFromVacation Edgar 133.0 2
23 26.0/ 19.8/ 54.2 Armory II John K W 132.3 249
24 37.6/ 44.1/ 18.2 Twister Beppe Bezzi 131.2 564
25 4.0/ 0.0/ 0.0 Atom Smasher 2 Anton Marsden 12.0 1
Top 25 Averages:
36.3/ 32.8/ 27.1 135.8 174
Weekly age: 9 ( 9 last issue, 26 the month before )
New warriors: 5 Turnover/age rate 56% (will be higher with 'test' option)
Average age: 174 ( 180 last issue, 186 the week before )
Average score: 136 ( 142 last issue, 137 the week before )
The top 25 warriors are represented by several authors :-) Sorry, I don't
have the patience to fill in the details this week.
Q^2 scans are still dominating the most of the top positions on the hill.
______________________________________________________________________________
94 - What's New
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
6 39.3/ 37.7/ 22.9 Instant Wolf 3.4 Edgar 140.9 1
4 37.3/ 33.5/ 29.2 Flimsy v0.5a Ian Oversby 141.2 1
22 37.2/ 45.8/ 16.9 Violent Micro v0.4d basehead 128.7 1
17 38.5/ 43.1/ 18.3 BackFromVacation Edgar 133.9 1
1 39.6/ 24.2/ 36.2 Atom Smasher 2 Anton Marsden 155.0 1
Edgar is back from vacation! Atom Smasher 2 made a brief appearance but was
killed for some reason :-) Just out of interest, it was just an imp/stone
with a Q^2 scan. These Q^2 scans seem effective enough to upset pspace logic
sometimes.
______________________________________________________________________________
94 - What's No More
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
26 2.0/ 1.6/ 0.5 Pulp v0.2 Ian Oversby 6.3 197
26 33.8/ 43.4/ 22.8 Paper, Scissors and Stone David van Dam 124.2 231
26 1.6/ 2.2/ 0.2 Flimsy v0.5 Ian Oversby 5.1 2
26 1.8/ 1.8/ 0.4 Flimsy v0.5a Ian Oversby 5.7 2
26 27.1/ 26.6/ 46.3 Ties, Ties, Ties! (+3) Ross Morgan-Linial 127.5 8
26 36.8/ 47.8/ 15.3 Harmony P.Kline 125.9 74
26 36.9/ 51.2/ 11.9 Mist P.Kline 122.6 50
Lots of killed warriors this week. van Dam's only surviving warrior slips off
the hill.
______________________________________________________________________________
94 - What's Old
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
16 38.6/ 39.2/ 22.2 T.N.T. pro Maurizio Vittuari 138.0 828
8 31.9/ 20.4/ 47.7 Rosebud Beppe 143.3 783
24 37.6/ 44.1/ 18.2 Twister Beppe Bezzi 131.2 564
14 34.9/ 30.3/ 34.8 Jack in the box II Beppe Bezzi 139.4 467
18 37.7/ 38.6/ 23.7 Yogi Bear P.Kline 136.8 314
It'll be a long ride to the top because of the 'test' option. Maybe a new HOF
should be started.
______________________________________________________________________________
HALL OF FAME
* means the warrior is still active.
Pos Name Author Age Strategy
1 Thermite II Robert Macrae 2262 Qscan -> bomber
2 Impfinity v4g1 Planar 1993 Stone/ imp
3 Jack in the box Beppe Bezzi 1620 P-warrior
4 Tornado 3.0 Beppe Bezzi 1567 Bomber
5 Torch t18 P.Kline 1539 Bomber
6 Chameleon Myer R Bremer 1437 P-warrior
7 Frontwards v2 Steven Morrell 1420 One shot scanner
8 Evol Cap 6.6 John Wilkinson 1299 Imp / stone
9 quiz Schitzo 1262 Scanner/ bomber
10 T.N.T. Maurizio Vittuari 1204 Bomber
11 Grilled Octopus v0.5 David Boeren 1154 P-warrior
12 Hazy Shade II John Wilkinson 1102 P-warrior
13 Stepping Stone Kurt Franke 1049 Qscan -> Vampire
14 Iron Gate 1.5 Wayne Sheppard 926 CMP scanner
15 Agony II Stefan Strack 912 CMP scanner
16 Barrage Anton Marsden 876 Qscan -> replicator
17 Blue Funk Steven Morrell 869 Stone/ imp
18 Flurry Anton Marsden 835 Qscan -> pwarrior
19 T.N.T. pro Maurizio Vittuari 828 * Bomber
20 Thermite 1.0 Robert Macrae 802 Qscan -> bomber
21 Rosebud Beppe Bezzi 783 * Stone/ imp
22 Blue Funk 3 Steven Morrell 766 Stone/ imp
23 Night Train Karl Lewin 755 Replicator
24 Mirage 1.5 Anton Marsden 736 Scanner/ bomber
25 Blizzard Anton Marsden 713 Qscan -> replicator
No new entries, no positional changes.
______________________________________________________________________________
Current Status of the Internet Pizza Server Beginner's Hill:
Hill Specs:
coresize: 8000
max. processes: 8000
duration: after 80,000 cycles, a tie is declared.
max. entry length: 100
minimum distance: 100
maximum age: At age 100, warriors are retired.
rounds fought: 200
instruction set: ICWS '94 Draft
The current Beginner hill:
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
1 46.9/ 32.3/ 20.8 Ick v1.5 Justin Kao 161.4 70
2 46.8/ 36.5/ 16.7 Violent Micro v0.4d basehead 157.1 12
3 42.8/ 30.3/ 26.8 Versatility 1.6 Ross 155.3 10
4 46.5/ 38.0/ 15.4 Tsunami v0.3 Ian Oversby 155.1 41
5 45.0/ 37.8/ 17.2 Heretic 1.0 Philip Kendall 152.1 23
6 35.0/ 22.2/ 42.8 Gravel 7 Justin Kao 147.8 18
7 35.6/ 25.1/ 39.3 Microsoft v1.0 Justin Kao 146.2 80
8 35.5/ 25.4/ 39.1 Papyrus 6 Justin Kao 145.5 29
9 41.9/ 38.9/ 19.2 Velveeta Shift-G shar 144.9 37
10 41.3/ 38.4/ 20.3 BloodSucker 1.0 Philip Kendall 144.1 22
11 38.0/ 33.3/ 28.7 Black v0.1 Justin Kao 142.6 13
12 37.8/ 33.7/ 28.5 Inferno 2.1 Philip Kendall 141.9 4
13 39.6/ 39.2/ 21.2 Vampirism 1.4 Philip Kendall 140.0 16
14 37.1/ 35.5/ 27.4 (-: :-) Ross 138.7 47
15 30.8/ 23.3/ 45.9 Ties, Ties, Ties! (+3) Ross 138.3 60
16 41.1/ 45.9/ 13.1 T-1 w/decoy Ross 136.2 51
17 39.7/ 48.3/ 11.9 Syzygy 1.1 Philip Kendall 131.2 21
18 33.1/ 37.7/ 29.2 TIE Fighter Ross 128.5 46
19 38.0/ 48.2/ 13.8 T-1 Ross 127.7 59
20 34.5/ 41.7/ 23.9 Together 0.4 Ilmari Karonen 127.3 1
21 19.6/ 15.8/ 64.5 Nematode v1.4e Jonathan Stott 123.4 88
22 30.1/ 42.2/ 27.7 Together 0.3 Ilmari Karonen 118.0 48
23 26.7/ 39.6/ 33.7 Dwarf3012c Rainer Unsinn 113.8 2
24 28.5/ 44.4/ 27.1 Neverending Brutality 2.0 Franz 112.6 5
25 29.8/ 47.1/ 23.1 Neverending Brutality Franz 112.4 7
Top 25 Averages:
36.9/ 36.0/ 27.1 137.7 32
PSpacers seem to be dominating. Nice to see some keen players throwing
everything but the kitchen sink at this hill :-)
______________________________________________________________________________
The Hint
Quick Scanners
by Anton Marsden
This hint is for the more "developed" players. If you would like to find out
more about the best qscanners around, check out some of the older issues of
CW (37 and 40 in particular).
QScans are great if you want to use them as a front-end for a paper/bomber
but they are not as effective when coupled with scanners, the reason being
that the scanner will detect the qscan code and attempt to neutralise it.
It's not so bad if your scanner just drops one or two bombs on the scanned
position but usually you want to drop a carpet of bombs. There are several
ways this could be dealt with: either modify the scanner or modify the
qscanner. Modifying the qscanner is probably the best option.
If you have a mod-4/8 scanner with small distance between scanned locations,
eg. SEQ pos,pos+12 you can align the qscan such that it is invisible to your
scanner:
SEQ 100,200
JMP fnd
SEQ 300,400
JMP *-2 ; scanned
SEQ 500,600
JMP fnd
SEQ 700,800
JMP *-2 ; scanned
...
For a mod-5/10 scanner, try using a combination of SNE/SEQ and SEQ in your
qscan. In some cases it won't be necessary to hide the qscan from the scanner
completely, but the more that's hidden the better.
This is just an idea - I haven't tried it yet. It will be more difficult to
implement than the above code suggests... but good luck :-)
______________________________________________________________________________
Questions? Concerns? Comments? Complaints? Mail them to people who care.
authors: Beppe Bezzi <bezzi@nemo.it> or Myer Bremer <bremermr@ecn.purdue.edu>
or Anton Marsden <amarsden@comp.vuw.ac.nz>
|
