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.

Versions

• 1, released 28 June 2007.
• 2, released 29 June 2007 -- fix for running under 1.1.3 (Rules doesn't exist! doh!)

Author

Tim Foden

Extends

AdvancedRobot

What's special about it?

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

Great, I want to try it. Where can I download it?

Version 1

• http://www.robocoderepository.com/BotDetail.jsp?id=3315
• http://www.7sun.com/robocode/robots/tcf.Reach_1.jar

Version 2

• http://www.robocoderepository.com/BotDetail.jsp?id=3317
• http://www.7sun.com/robocode/robots/tcf.Reach_2.jar

How competitive is it?

Medium, I guess. Not the best, not the worst. :)

I'll post some results against various bots in singles (800x600) here, so you have an idea...

Reach 1			Opponent
Score	Damage	1sts	Name	Score	Damage	1sts	Date
31293	19904	159	Che 1.2	50478	25962	341	28-Jun-2007 17:18:29
47165	28036	258	Yngwie 1.11	42350	24807	243	28-Jun-2007 16:32:50
43045	25952	233	BeoWulf? 2.8	47388	27692	268	28-Jun-2007 16:14:53
46240	28787	234	TheArtOfWar 1.2	42084	23072	266	28-Jun-2007 15:18:57
39202	21158	255	Warlord 0.73	39750	22110	245	28-Jun-2007 15:49:06
41928	27560	192	DoctorBob 1.42	51260	28665	308	28-Jun-2007 15:33:18
59194	37647	278	Nicator? 2.4	53325	35848	222	28-Jun-2007 15:59:24

For more detailed versions of the results used to make the above summary, see the Reach/DetailedResults page.

OK, now that Reach 2 has been in both the RoboRumble and MeleeRumble? for a couple of days, I have a better idea of how strong it is:

30 Jun '07	Position	Rating
RoboRumble	176 / 539	1682
MeleeRumble?	75 / 217	1581

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 = 401;
		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