EndingGame

People who watch their robots in action against other comparable robots notice little places where they could have done to win a round they lost. The first kind of EndingGame would therefore be making a comeback. Of course, the second kind of EndingGame is preventing a comeback when you're ahead.

Making a Comeback

I've seen a lot of robots that stop firing when they have low energy (they may allow themselves to become disabled, and then they're pretty much sure to lose) and just dodge around. Since most top bots don't hit each other very much, it works enough of the time to be good. Of course, it seems like the dodging bot still ends up losing most of these rounds, so maybe they should just keep shooting and get a few more bullet damage points. They can move further away, though (don't have to worry about missing if you're not firing), and sometimes it works. Maybe even often enought to make it worth it. It's certainly satisfying to watch that occasional comeback.

Preventing a Comeback

I have to admit, that satisfaction doesn't come when I'm watching Cigaret come back against one of my bots. It's particularly humiliating if I was ahead 40 to 2 before I wasted all my energy unable to hit that thing. Keep in mind that an opponent with 1/8 of your energy (or even 1/5) is really unlikely to ever come back unless you let him. If they keep shooting full-power bullets, they'll be disable before long, and if they start shooting low-power bullets, they can hit you all they want as long as YOU HIT THEM, TOO, with a higher-powered bullet. It's probably a good strategy to advance on an enemy who is near dead, just to make sure they don't pull a fast one on you.

As long as you shoot just hard enough to finish off your opponent you don't really need to worry about a comeback. You shoot fast bullets en masse and need only hit with one to end the game. Sometimes it might be prolonged by a stray hit from your opponent, but seldom to the point where you actually lose the round. -- PEZ

Strong evaders still drive me nuts on occasion. And it depends on the magnitude of the comeback, too. It's quite possible for your opponent to come back from a 15-3 deficit, and it shouldn't be. And speaking of shooting hard enough to finish off your opponent, I've observed over the last few days how many people (notably CigaretBH, but some other top bots, too) give their opponents a second chance at life. That seems strange to me. -- Kawigi

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Related stuff

What Kawigi says about watching your bot in action is very important. I'm one of those doing it. I've spent hours upon hours just watching Marshmallow fight. I do it like so:

• Set up a RoboLeague division with short matches (maybe 5 rounds), my bot as "focused opponent" and a selection of enemy bots.
• Start it.
• Select "Show Robocode" from the Options menu.
• Click open my bots debug window.
• Using pen and paper I scribble down all ideas I get from watching the action.

Besides being really geeky, this is very fun and very good for your bots development. =) -- PEZ

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Just writing something down... Throughout the battle you should keep data on hit percentages for both you and your opponent at different distances and overall. When the end of the battle comes about (energy hits a certain point), make an analysis of the situation on the basis of bullet power to survival. Basically ask the question What is the highest power bullets I can fire and be able to win? If you will die even if you stop firing, then fire as much as possible. This will allow you to both reduce the amount of bullet damage he can get on you and allow you to get more information about the opponents movement (if using statistical targeting. In some cases, suicide may be the best option. This decision can also factor in the score - CalculatingScore.

Also, this also poses the concept of match opening and end game. I have toyed with the idea of firing tons of various powered bullets at different distances at the enemy for the beginning of the match to get a solid profile, and then use my regular energy management once a solid profile is established. -- Jokester

Any suggestions on how to do better when both robots are firing .1's because my robots always die against worse but still good robots when they enter into that situation. -- Kinsen

Well, 0.1f power bullets are fast and weak, so the best option may be to make a "kamakazie"(sp?) style ram attack using 3.0f powered bullets. The current version of UnderDark3 (2.4.34) does this when it reaches 0.1f health. The only differnece is that UnderDark3 extends robot, and thus doesn't shoot while making the run at the enemy. --UnderDark