Reach

This is the 2nd bot I've written. The first one was called Snail?.

Reach currently chooses the closest other bot as it's target. It orbits it's target bot, with random lateral movement. It fires at it's target bot with an array of VirtualGuns.

Current Version

Version 3, released 3 July 2007.

Download this version

• http://www.robocoderepository.com/BotDetail.jsp?id=3325

For older versions, see the Reach/VersionHistory page.

Author

Tim Foden

Extends

AdvancedRobot

What's special about it?

Apart from the fact that it's my 2nd robot... Nothing really. :)

How competitive is it?

Slightly better than average. See the Reach/VersionHistory page for more details.

How does it move?

Orbits closest other bot, with very simple random side-to-side movement.

Example of the randomness:

	// movement.
	if( getDistanceRemaining() == 0 )
	{
		int	range = 301;
		double distToMove = Utils.rand(range) - range / 2;
		setAhead( distToMove );
	}

I have plans to improve on this later, but first I'm still working on improving the targetting.

How does it fire?

Has a VG gun implementation, with:

• HeadOnTargetting -- shoots at last known scanned position,
• LinearTargetting -- with 2 fixed factors: 0.5 & 1.0,
• CircularTargetting,
• Circular Velocity-pattern -- with 1000 tick history -- searches for longest match with sufficent match accuracy,
• GuessFactorTargetting -- with 4 fixed factors: 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0.

So in total I have 9 different guns. The gun hit statistics are segmented by distance into 8 bins by dividing by 150.

How does it dodge bullets?

By luck. :)

How does it use the radar?

It implements Bayens idea (see Radar) of scanning towards (in fact -- 22.5 degrees past) the oldest scanned bot. This optimises the scan when in corners, and when down to only 1 opponent bot.

How does the melee strategy differ from one-on-one strategy?

No difference at this time.

How does it select a target to attack/avoid in melee?

Always chooses closest other bot.

What does it save between rounds and matches?

Between rounds: Keeps virtual gun statistics.

Between matches: Nothing.

Where did you get the name?

What's in name? :)

But seriously, there was no particular reason to pick it... it just came to me.

What's next for your robot?

Improving the targetting until I've hit a plateau, and then start working on the movement.

Does it have any WhiteWhales?

At this point in time, Reach hasn't been run in any public rumbles (although it has been added now -- so I hope to get some results soon), or against any significant spread of opponents here at home. I've run a few 1v1 matches for this page though, so at the moment all I can say is...

Maybe DoctorBob.

... After having run for a couple of days in the RoboRumble, I'd now say: Yes it does have some white whales. Largest of which is jaw.Mouse? 0.11 (-30% -- ouch!)

What other robot(s) is it based on?

None.

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Comments, questions, feedback:

Whoa, dude, please use the preview button (I thought for a moment there was a huge discussion here :P). Atleast most of them were minor edits. --Chase-san

• Ah, sorry about that... I'll endeavor to make changes with fewer saves between them in future. -- Tim Foden

Well, as for me, I'd rather you edit all you want than you not contribute to the community =) They don't call it a "wiki" for nothin'! -- Voidious

• Good point. --Chase-san