Issue 51 25 November, 1996
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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
Beppe Bezzi web page - http://www.aspide.it/freeweb/Bezzi
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Greetings.
In case you haven't heard, the pizza hills are down till Wednesday or so.
Thos has promised to bring everything back online as soon as possible.
--M R Bremer
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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 30.8/ 12.6/ 56.6 Return Of The Jedimp John K W 148.9 135
2 35.5/ 24.3/ 40.2 unrequited love kafka 146.7 233
3 42.7/ 39.6/ 17.7 The Machine Anton Marsden 145.9 41
4 30.6/ 16.4/ 52.9 Trident^2 John K W 144.9 65
5 34.6/ 25.2/ 40.2 Gigolo Core Warrior staff 144.1 189
6 40.6/ 40.5/ 18.9 Silver Talon 1.2 Edgar 140.8 22
7 39.8/ 38.8/ 21.4 Damage Incorporated Anton Marsden 140.8 176
8 40.5/ 40.8/ 18.7 Probe Anton Marsden 140.2 313
9 43.1/ 46.7/ 10.2 Memories Beppe 139.5 49
10 40.3/ 42.3/ 17.4 Control Steven Morrell 138.4 1
11 36.0/ 34.1/ 29.9 Tiberius 3.1 Franz 137.9 52
12 40.7/ 44.3/ 15.1 Blur 2 Anton Marsden 137.1 312
13 42.0/ 48.0/ 10.0 Q^2 Miro Anders Ivner 135.9 363
14 28.4/ 22.3/ 49.3 Impish v0.2 Ian Oversby 134.5 174
15 37.8/ 41.3/ 20.9 Instant Wolf 3.4 Edgar 134.2 196
16 37.8/ 42.9/ 19.3 vamp 0.2b bjoern guenzel 132.8 12
17 33.1/ 34.4/ 32.5 Nine Seven Six M R bremer 131.9 25
18 28.7/ 25.9/ 45.4 Rosebud Beppe 131.5 986
19 38.4/ 45.8/ 15.8 AK-47 Franz 131.1 27
20 38.8/ 46.6/ 14.6 Mostly Harmless v1.1 Justin Kao 131.0 10
21 32.5/ 34.9/ 32.5 Falcon v0.3 Ian Oversby 130.1 218
22 33.8/ 38.3/ 27.9 CC Paper 2 Franz 129.3 24
23 37.7/ 46.5/ 15.8 Goothmonger v1.4 Ian Sutton 128.8 4
24 29.9/ 31.0/ 39.1 delay 0.02b 50 bjoern guenzel 128.8 16
25 33.7/ 38.7/ 27.6 Scanitator 2.4 Christian Schmidt 128.7 6
Weekly age: 11 this week ( 5 last issue, 15 the week before )
New warriors: 4 Turnover/age rate 36%
Average age: 145 ( 146 last issue, 152 the week before )
Average score: 137 ( 143 last issue, 138 the week before )
The top 25 warriors are represented by 14 independent authors: Marsden with
4; Franz with 3; JKW, Bezzi, Oversby, and Guenzel with 2. Welcome to Ian
Sutton with Goothmonger v1.4.
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94 - What's New ( or this week: the uplook )
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
18 32.3/ 32.2/ 35.5 spTest P.Kline 132.4 1
25 25.0/ 31.8/ 43.3 delay 0.03b 50/16 bjoern guenzel 118.2 1
12 39.1/ 42.3/ 18.5 Flicker Ian Oversby 136.0 1
22 39.1/ 46.5/ 14.4 Mostly Harmless v1.1 Justin Kao 131.6 1
25 37.8/ 47.1/ 15.1 Goothmonger v1.2 Ian Sutton 128.6 1
23 37.4/ 47.1/ 15.5 Goothmonger v1.3 Ian Sutton 127.6 1
25 37.8/ 48.8/ 13.4 Golden Gate v4 Franz 126.8 1
11 36.9/ 37.1/ 26.0 Scanitator 2.4 Christian Schmidt 136.6 1
25 31.3/ 55.0/ 13.7 ciTest-17 P.Kline 107.6 1
25 32.7/ 54.9/ 12.4 ciTest-17 P.Kline 110.5 1
25 26.5/ 59.9/ 13.6 Mist P.Kline 93.1 1
25 17.2/ 62.5/ 20.3 Mist P.Kline 72.0 1
25 0.9/ 54.6/ 44.5 nTest P.Kline 47.2 1
25 13.5/ 45.0/ 41.5 Leaping Flame Ilmari Karonen 82.1 1
25 27.6/ 60.9/ 11.6 mTest P.Kline 94.2 1
24 33.4/ 45.1/ 21.4 mTest P.Kline 121.8 1
25 33.1/ 54.6/ 12.3 Hologram Philip Kendall 111.7 1
25 37.6/ 47.0/ 15.4 Goothmonger v1.4 Ian Sutton 128.1 1
7 39.2/ 36.9/ 24.0 Test Anton Marsden 141.4 1
25 19.6/ 15.4/ 65.0 U-lat II Zul Nadzri 123.8 1
25 36.3/ 48.2/ 15.5 Flicker Ian Oversby 124.5 1
25 36.2/ 50.2/ 13.6 Flicker Ian Oversby 122.2 1
25 34.9/ 44.1/ 21.0 Test Ian Sutton 125.7 1
25 36.6/ 52.5/ 10.9 tnTest P.Kline 120.7 1
25 36.2/ 50.2/ 13.6 Flicker Ian Oversby 122.2 1
22 32.8/ 36.7/ 30.4 No Vice Ian Oversby 128.9 1
10 37.1/ 37.0/ 25.9 Test Anton Marsden 137.2 1
10 40.3/ 42.3/ 17.4 Control Steven Morrell 138.4 1
These four are the new warriors on the hill at this point in time. Schmidt
and Morrel entering close to single digit rankings. Scanitator marries a
Q^2 scan to pspace logic. Interesting.
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
22 39.1/ 46.5/ 14.4 Mostly Harmless v1.1 Justin Kao 131.6 1
11 36.9/ 37.1/ 26.0 Scanitator 2.4 Christian Schmidt 136.6 1
25 37.6/ 47.0/ 15.4 Goothmonger v1.4 Ian Sutton 128.1 1
10 40.3/ 42.3/ 17.4 Control Steven Morrell 138.4 1
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94 - What's No More ( or this week: the outlook )
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
26 36.8/ 45.8/ 17.4 Dr. Gate Q Franz 127.8 8
26 1.0/ 0.7/ 2.3 delay 0.02b 50 bjoern guenzel 5.3 6
26 36.2/ 45.8/ 18.0 Goldfinch P.Kline 126.6 244
26 36.6/ 46.0/ 17.4 Dr. Gate Q Franz 127.2 9
26 38.0/ 48.3/ 13.6 Flamberge 13.4 Matt Lewinski 127.7 6
26 2.0/ 2.0/ 0.0 Goothmonger v1.2 Ian Sutton 6.1 2
26 36.9/ 47.5/ 15.6 Goothmonger v1.3 Ian Sutton 126.3 2
26 2.0/ 1.6/ 0.4 Scanitator 2.1 Christian Schmidt 6.4 8
26 1.5/ 2.0/ 0.5 Flicker Ian Oversby 5.0 7
26 1.5/ 2.0/ 0.5 Flicker Ian Oversby 5.0 7
26 1.8/ 1.4/ 0.8 Flicker Ian Oversby 6.3 7
26 2.2/ 0.0/ 1.8 Flicker Ian Oversby 8.5 7
26 2.4/ 0.0/ 1.6 Flicker Ian Oversby 8.9 7
26 1.9/ 0.5/ 1.6 Flicker Ian Oversby 7.3 7
26 1.9/ 1.9/ 0.2 Flicker Ian Oversby 5.9 7
26 1.6/ 2.1/ 0.4 Flicker Ian Oversby 5.0 7
26 2.8/ 1.0/ 0.2 Flicker Ian Oversby 8.6 7
26 33.7/ 54.1/ 12.2 Hologram Philip Kendall 113.2 2
26 36.1/ 47.8/ 16.1 Goothmonger v1.4 Ian Sutton 124.3 2
26 36.4/ 50.2/ 13.4 Golden Gate v4 Franz 122.6 5
26 17.5/ 17.0/ 65.5 U-lat II Zul Nadzri 118.1 2
26 17.4/ 17.2/ 65.4 U-lat II Zul Nadzri 117.7 2
26 16.7/ 15.6/ 67.6 U-lat II Zul Nadzri 117.8 2
26 17.5/ 17.3/ 65.2 U-lat II Zul Nadzri 117.6 2
26 17.4/ 17.2/ 65.4 U-lat II Zul Nadzri 117.7 2
26 16.8/ 17.0/ 66.2 U-lat II Zul Nadzri 116.7 2
26 32.4/ 37.4/ 30.2 No Vice Ian Oversby 127.4 2
26 32.3/ 38.2/ 29.4 No Vice Ian Oversby 126.4 2
The bottom four warriors from last week's issue all were pushed off the hill.
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
26 36.2/ 45.8/ 18.0 Goldfinch P.Kline 126.6 244
26 36.6/ 46.0/ 17.4 Dr. Gate Q Franz 127.2 9
26 38.0/ 48.3/ 13.6 Flamberge 13.4 Matt Lewinski 127.7 6
26 2.0/ 1.6/ 0.4 Scanitator 2.1 Christian Schmidt 6.4 8
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94 - What's Old
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
14 32.3/ 24.0/ 43.7 Rosebud Beppe 140.7 986
18 42.6/ 47.6/ 9.8 Q^2 Miro Anders Ivner 137.7 363
7 42.2/ 39.7/ 18.1 Probe Anton Marsden 144.7 313
9 42.9/ 41.8/ 15.3 Blur 2 Anton Marsden 144.1 312
1 40.0/ 21.7/ 38.2 unrequited love kafka 158.4 233
19 35.3/ 33.3/ 31.3 Falcon v0.3 Ian Oversby 137.3 218
The hill becomes even younger with the loss of Kline's Goldfinch.
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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 Rosebud Beppe Bezzi 986 * Stone/ imp
15 Iron Gate 1.5 Wayne Sheppard 926 CMP scanner
16 T.N.T. pro Maurizio Vittuari 925 Bomber
17 Agony II Stefan Strack 912 CMP scanner
18 Barrage Anton Marsden 876 Qscan -> replicator
19 Blue Funk Steven Morrell 869 Stone/ imp
20 Flurry Anton Marsden 835 Qscan -> pwarrior
21 Thermite 1.0 Robert Macrae 802 Qscan -> bomber
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 changes. Rosebud continues its slow, deliberate climb.
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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
# %W / %L / %T Name Author Score Age
I was unable to collect data for the beginner's hill due to the shutdown at
pizza.
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The Hint
by M R Bremer
I've been working very sporadically on some warriors in between time spent on
my compiler project, interviews, and office visits. Here are some little
hints that may or may not help you.
I'm using this bombing code in my warrior Nine Seven Six. The bomber throws
spl and dat instructions around in core until the spl lands on the djn
instruction. A d-clear follows. Normally in a bomber, I could use the spl
operands as my increment. However, I wanted a perfect d-clear gate so the
b-operand was unavailable to me. Instead of creating a bogus dat instruction
containing the necessary data, I simply used my djn line as my increment. I
got the idea from an old warrior by Paul Kline called Scimitar. Kline used
the bomb itself, dat <4, STEP*2, as the increment in his bomber.
first spl #STEP, >gate-loop
mov.i }-2200, *loop+STEP*2
mov.i first, @-1
add.f 1, -2
loop djn.f -3, <STEP*2
mov wipe, >gate
last djn.f -1, >gate
Booting away warriors was also giving me a minor problem. Booting is very
easy to do if all the code is going to be placed sequentially in core. You
can do it in linear time with just one boot pointer. However, once you start
setting up pointers or gates for your warriors, or you need to jump to the
middle of your code, additional pointers are needed. Additional pointers
take additional code and additional time to delete them.
I wanted to set up a d-clear with the gate two core locations above the
split. Instead of using two pointers or extra instructions, I split to my
code before the total boot is finished. And then I decrement the boot
pointer in my split. Due to the nature of the splitting process, mov.i will
execute before the instruction at ptr+2234. Therefore, all my code is placed
before the warrior is started.
mov.i {gate, {ptr
djn.b -1, #4
ptr spl 2234, {ptr
mov.i gate, {ptr
Similar to silk replicators, you can use this technique to place even more
code. In the extreme case, a warrior can split to an empty core location
while the boot builds the warrior right under the new process. Of course
none of the executing instructions could depend on instructions that have not
been booted into place yet.
Even more time and space can be saved by having the pointers bombed very
early in the bombing run instead of adding div or mov instructions to
explicitly destroy them.
______________________________________________________________________________
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@etherspace.gen.nz>
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