Splinter

Bot Name

Splinter

Author

Kev.

History

• 1.2: rated 1823, ranked 1st (7 PL).
  • Reduced code size.
  • Tweaked random gun.
  • Chance of using random gun is dependent on distance to target.
  • Sharper distance control.
• 1.1: rated 1830 (dropped to 1818), ranked 1st!!! (2nd PL).
  • Shrunk code size.
  • Much better distance control.
  • StopNGo movement doesn't bounce of walls.
• 1.0: rated 1777, ranked 6 (4 PL).
  • Completely rewritten code, but has the same basic design.
• 0.2: rated 1718, ranked 15.
  • Now switches to RandomMovement when it gets hit too much.
  • Deleted some energy management. (for code size)
  • Removed the RandomTargeting gun's tendancy to shoot more towards where the other robot is heading. (for code size again)
  • The LinearTargeting gun no longer is more likely to be used at close distances. (for code size again)
• 0.1: rated 1712, ranked 16.

Extends

AdvancedRobot.

What's special about it?

It's my first competitive NanoBot.

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

https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/pclark/kc.nano.Splinter_1.2.jar

How competitive is it?

Splinter is currently the number one nano bot by fairly big margin.

How does it move?

Splinter uses StopNGo movement, but switches to RandomMovement if it gets hit a lot in the first couple of rounds. It tries to keep a distance of about 220 from the other robot.

How does it fire?

It switches randomly between LinearTargeting with the other robot's velocity and LinearTargeting with a randomly determined velocity.

How does it dodge bullets?

The StopNGo movement beats simple targeters, the RandomMovement beats PatternMatching guns.

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

It is not a melee bot.

What does it save between rounds and matches?

Splinter saves its movement mode and the total fire power it has been hit with between rounds.

Where did you get the name?

A splinter is tiny and painful.

Can I use your code?

I guess, as long as you don't copy-paste it. The code is under the terms of the RWPCL.

What's next for your robot?

Not much until another robot gets close to dethroning it.

Does it have any WhiteWhales?

Splinter has some trouble with nano PatternMatchers, but its biggest ProblemBot is Mer (-40 PBI) :P.

What other robot(s) is it based on?

The nano linear cannon is used in tons of NanoBots. The movement is sort of a super-shrunk version of Puzzle's. I got the idea of calling onHitWall?(null) for reversing from WeekendObsession, but I don't feel too guilty about it because WeekendObsession uses some of Splinter's ideas.

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Comments, questions, feedback:

Whoa, nice update. https://rumble.fervir.com/rumble/RatingDetailsComparison?game=roborumble&name1=kc.nano.Splinter%201.0&name2=kc.nano.Splinter%200.2 The leftmost column is stunning. =) --David Alves

Thanks! I'm amazed by how big of an improvement it was. A few small changes can go a long way. -- Kev

Congratulations on getting first in the nanorumble although I will still try to take over that spot! -- Kinsen

Awesome, congrats on dethroning a really long-standing champion in the nano rumble. (Looks like November of 2004 that Freddie first took the throne.) -- Voidious

Hooray! Thanks all, this is an awesome result. Making NanoBots is super-addicting. I guess since Splinter's #1, I'm going to need something else to waste my time on :). Good luck with your nano bot Kinsen. -- Kev

Congratulations on this result! Did you translate the lessons learned from the TwinDuel down to nano's? As for wasting your time, you don't have a team or a micro yet, and also codesize restricted melee is open for your (or anyone elses) contribution. (just trying to let you burn your oil on something else, so I can sneak up on you) -- GrubbmGait

Lessons from the TwinDuel did apply to Splinter. The aggressive distancing that played a huge role in Splinter's rating jump is very similar to GeminiTeam's. Right now, I'm starting to make a micro bot (sort of a cross between Splinter and Vyper) that I think is going to be very strong. -- Kev

Yeah, get to work on a MicroBot... The USA could have a clean sweep of the 1v1 thrones by year's end. ;) -- Voidious

I think its going to happen sooner than that :). I've got a working version of my new bot Thorn and it will be fine tuned shortly. It out preforms RaikoMicro in tests, especially against simple targeters because of its StopNGo movement. I'll try to release it tomorrow. Now if only I could get rid of 7 bytes... -- Kev

Yay! I'm so glad you at least got 1 byte out of me, since I got a first place nano bot out if you!! :) The best gun in the rumble actually fit with the best movement, so you had to figure someone was going to do it sometime. (By the way, is codesize measured in bytes or something else?). Happy new year! -- Simonton

Grr. If I could just pick up ONE byte more byte in WeekendObsession S I might stand a chance against the newest Splinter! But I really don't think it's in there. The new StopNGo decider obvioulsy didn't work out. --Simonton

It looks like the better movement mode control and distancing in Splinter is still worth the better gun in WeekendObsession. I've been in situations like that with code size all too often (I've managed to get the current version on Splinter down to 249 bytes exactly). Good luck with your bots; they are showing great promise. -- Kev

Yup. I have one more try (when I get around to releasing 1.5), and then I will give up. Unless some other great idea comes along, of course. Thanks for the good wishes! You made some nice tweaks to Splinter there. He definitely looks out of sight. Now just don't go tweaking Thorn, ok?? :) Just kidding. --Simonton

Too late, I just did :). By the way, what was that "small tweak" you did in WeekendObsession? Although its a little early to tell, but it looks like WeekendObsession had gained about 20 points in the nano rumble with version 1.5! Whatever it was, great job. It might have pushed WeekendObsession out of Splinter's reach. -- Kev

:). Oh, you know, just a little change of a variable. I'm surprised by the results right now. I think it's going to take a dive soon. This change was definitely at the expense of 2nd place in the PremierLeague. But you need to check on Thorn ... it looks like he must be failing on some people's clients?? -- Simonton

Ah, I think it's because Thorn 1.12 uses Rules.getBullletPower?() which some versions of robocode don't have. No matter, I just put in a new version if Thorn that doesn't use Rules.getBullletPower?() with no real change to its strength.

Ah yes, that looks much better :).k --Simonton