WallBots

These bots hug the outside walls of the arena in order to avoid the massive carnage that insues in the center of the arena. They also have the advantage of only needing half of the usual radar scan arc so they can pick up targets faster than a normal bot. Unfortunately, because they live right on the edge of the arena, they can't dodge in as many directions as a bot in the center so they tend to get pounded when other bots close in on them or when more advanced aim routines get a lock on them. Still, many good NanoBots class robots use this as a movement strategy and other more advanced bots use this as a sub strategy. -- JohnDoe

It's possible to move along the walls and be a hard target. Look at SandboxDT for an example. Maybe not a clean cut WallBot, but it often stays very close to the walls. -- PEZ

This is used by the SampleBot Walls.

Has anyone tried using wall collisions to make enemy bots think a bullet was fired, thus dodging false bullets? I believe this could be useful when the damage is between .1 and 3, of course. -- RobocoderDan

I do not think it has been done purposefully. One drawback is that you take damage hitting the wall if you extend AdvancedRobot. A second drawback is that a wall collision stops your bot's movement at that spot. The biggest drawback is that many bots with statistical targeting segment on your motion with regards to the field boundaries looking to see if your motion will carry you out of the field. To these bots this behavior would have the practical effect of putting your bot in a very disadvantageous position, with only half of it's escape area to get away from, and an enemy that probably knows before your bot does where it is likely to be when the bullet gets there. This is not a good thing, umless of course you are the shooter 8^) -- jim

Good point. I'll do it at a distance to increase the chances of dodging those bullets. -- RobocoderDan

If you extend Robot and don't l take damage you do not even achieve the desired effect. =) -- PEZ

NanoSatanMelee does something like this by defining a function which checks the sum of a point's distances from the nearest vertical and horizontal wall against a pre-defined limit. It then passes random points to the function until it gets a legal one. This has the effect of restricting it's area to an isoceles triangle in each corner. By modifying the function mathematically any shape you want can be achieved, but I've obviously had limited practical luck with it. -- Kuuran