From: rschuler@iastate.edu (Rodney A Schuler) Subject: Re: Beginners Hill Message-ID: Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1993 05:23:03 GMT In <1993Feb27.030042.23549@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu> sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu (Scott W. Adkins) writes: >In article rschuler@iastate.edu (Rodney A Schuler) writes: >> >>[I suggest (2*wins+ties-age) scoring] >[Scott thinks this scoring method would result in a very volatile hill] I think that a rapid turnover in a beginners hill would desirable. It would allow new authors a better chance to get programs on the hill. >>[I suggest banning specific authors] >[Scott disagrees, suggests age limit & one warrior/author] I had not thought of a one warrior/author limit. That would probably be very beneficial. Booting a warriors over a certain age could some strange effects. Depending upon how it is implemented this could lead to the first warrior (no matter how effective) submitted after a death due to old age getting onto the hill. The reason I suggested subtracting the age of the warrior was to have older warriors gradually fade away, rather than suddenly disappearing. Perhaps (2*wins+ties-(age/3))? >>[I suggest some anti-sandbagging measures] >I somehow have an uneasy feeling about this. I am more under the impression >that a beginner's hill should automatically release the code to any of the >contestants that are trying to get on the hill... This would allow each I was saying that beginners hill results should never be posted to the *net*. The beginner hill author would gain no `fame' from successes on the B-hill. Returning all opponents redcode via Email would be an excellent idea for a B-hill. This would give the challenger ready access to modern, successful warriors. Also, it would discourage the more advanced authors, who probably do not want their secrets divulged (ie cmp scanner reflections) >person to learn about how the other warriors tick, as well as discourage >those who think their code is valuable from playing on the hill to begin >with... (they should play on the real hill at that point). The beginner's >hill is one for learning, not stagnation... sandbagging is a problem for >all hills and tournaments and archives and ... >>4. Keep the rules the same as for KOTH, to make the transition easier. >Exactly... this means no #1 above... Changes would mean the following: > 1) age > 100 knocks a warrior off > (should there be a penalty for resubmission of same warrior?) > 2) maximum of 1 warrior per author on the hill at one time > 3) source for each warrior currently on the hill should be automatically > given to the person trying to get on the hill I would like to see some comment from somebody that has control over computing resources sufficient to run a beginners hill. I hope that somebody gets a good beginners hill going. I know that I am not alone in trying very hard for a long time to get a warrior on the hill. My best showing so far (excluding a flashpaper ripoff that I killed) was #19, then #20 then booted at the ripe old age of 3. Rodney Schuler Nuclear Engineering Remember: One, JUST ONE thermonuclear device Iowa State University can ruin your whole day! rschuler@iastate.edu From: sah@castle.ed.ac.uk (Juggler) Subject: On Imp-Stones Message-ID: <32433@castle.ed.ac.uk> Date: 1 Mar 93 12:41:39 GMT The problem with Imp-Stones is that they combine two strategies, namely a fast bomber, and a crawling imp. It's relatively easy to write programs that beat imps or bombers, but more difficult to design one that beats both. For example, jmp 0,<-20 would beat any imp, but a bomber with core clear (such as the one in imprimis 4) beats it every time. Large interval CMP-scanners get fooled by the trail left by the imps, and spend time bombing them instead of the active parts of the imp-stone warriors. As a consequence, one of the most popular solutions to date has been small interval cmp-scanners, such as medusa's v2, which spot the difference between untouched core before the head of an imp, and coloured core left in it's wake. Even so, the difficulty in bombing the right part of the imp (at best a one in three chance) gives the bombing part of the imp-stoner plenty of time to hit the scanner. As a result, even good scanners only have a narrow edge over the imp-stones. Other techniques have been tried. Using a bomber with a gate relies on the bomber being substantially better than the stone component of the imp-stone if victory is to be assured. I don't know if anyone has managed that yet. I certainly haven't :-(. The least well explored area is perhaps that of papers. To date, two notable paper based imp-killing routines have done well on the hill. One, gamma paper, subverts the imp by replacing mov 0,2667 with the self propagating mov @-2667,2667 at the imp's head, rendering the imp vulnerable to more conventional attack. Gamma paper's major disadvantage is in it's replication - inevitably, copies of it are overrun by the imp, which reduces the number of aggressive processes gamma paper has running. This problem is removed in paratroops, in which a fixed number of bombers are distributed around the core, on the (correct) assumption that at least one of them will destroy the stone part of the imp-stone warrior before it hits them. In the tests I've run, it has proved to be the most consistently successful against imp-stones, but, as a specialised predator, suffers against other warriors. I've been working on a few variations on the above ideas, but none has had any success.... so far! Cheers, Si. -- S.A.Hovell,Dept. Electrical Engineering,University of Edinburgh,U.K. (+31) 650-5655 (Juggler@ed.ac.uk) ----- ----- From: parrinel@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Chris Parrinello) Subject: core clear Message-ID: Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1993 16:55:45 GMT I've written a scanner bomber that does fairly well on the hill (around 85 points). I'm looking for ways to improve upon it to increase its score (the step constants are already optimized). I've been playing with the idea of bombing with spl 0/jmp -1 and I have been getting a large amount of ties when I run it this way. I've noticed that the strategies of other programs talk about core clears and I think I know what they are talking about but I have a few questions on the implementation. When should a program begin a core clear? Should a scanner scan the whole core before bombing or after a specified number of bombs? Also what is the best way to clear core? I've thought about searching for the spl 0s I've left behind then replacing those with dat #0. Comments? I've just started playing this game and now I'm really hooked thanks to KotH. Any help would be appreciated! Chris From: kwhyte@barkai.uchicago.edu (Kevin Whyte) Subject: Re: Beginners Hill Message-ID: <1993Mar1.200447.12562@midway.uchicago.edu> Date: 1 Mar 93 20:04:47 GMT In article rschuler@iastate.edu (Rodney A Schuler) writes: >In <1993Feb27.030042.23549@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu> sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu (Scott W. Adkins) writes: > >>In article rschuler@iastate.edu (Rodney A Schuler) writes: >>> >>>[I suggest (2*wins+ties-age) scoring] > >>[Scott thinks this scoring method would result in a very volatile hill] > >I think that a rapid turnover in a beginners hill would desirable. It >would allow new authors a better chance to get programs on the hill. > I would suggest an age limit (as did Scott). How about automatically submitting warriors on the B-hill to the "real" hill once they are old enough? >>>[I suggest banning specific authors] > >>[Scott disagrees, suggests age limit & one warrior/author] > >I had not thought of a one warrior/author limit. That would probably be >very beneficial. Booting a warriors over a certain age could some strange >effects. Depending upon how it is implemented this could lead to the first >warrior (no matter how effective) submitted after a death due to old age >getting onto the hill. > Again, I agree with Scott. Banning specific people seems a pain. If you really want to do it, how aboutr banning anyone who had (total) more than 3 warriors on the regular hill ... I vastly prefer an objective measure of experience here. >The reason I suggested subtracting the age of the warrior was to have older >warriors gradually fade away, rather than suddenly disappearing. Perhaps >(2*wins+ties-(age/3))? > >>>[I suggest some anti-sandbagging measures] > >>I somehow have an uneasy feeling about this. I am more under the impression >>that a beginner's hill should automatically release the code to any of the >>contestants that are trying to get on the hill... This would allow each > >I was saying that beginners hill results should never be posted to the >*net*. The beginner hill author would gain no `fame' from successes on the >B-hill. > >Returning all opponents redcode via Email would be an excellent idea for a >B-hill. This would give the challenger ready access to modern, successful >warriors. Also, it would discourage the more advanced authors, who >probably do not want their secrets divulged (ie cmp scanner reflections) > >>person to learn about how the other warriors tick, as well as discourage >>those who think their code is valuable from playing on the hill to begin >>with... (they should play on the real hill at that point). The beginner's >>hill is one for learning, not stagnation... sandbagging is a problem for >>all hills and tournaments and archives and ... > I don't really think sandbagging will be a problem ... everyone will know it's a weaker hill. If we take my suggestion above and submit old beginner hill warriors to the regular hill as soon as they get too old, we'll have constant reminders of how much weaker. I definitely support distributing the code to warriors on the beginner hill. I would like to see this as an option for the regular hill as well. >Rodney Schuler >Nuclear Engineering Remember: One, JUST ONE thermonuclear device >Iowa State University can ruin your whole day! >rschuler@iastate.edu We are faced with the very real possibility that "digital" and "manual" will be used as antonyms. From: gt7804b@prism.gatech.EDU (Wayne Edward Sheppard) Subject: Coreclears Message-ID: <87261@hydra.gatech.EDU> Date: 1 Mar 93 20:37:48 GMT There are many ways to implement a coreclear into your program. Almost all fill the entire core with DAT after they are done bombing or scanning. Another way would be to change the bomb to a DAT statement, then you could bomb all of the spots that you bombed before using the same bombing routine. But it is important to design it as part of your program. You say that you are bombing with spl 0/jmp -1. Well one way to do this is like this: add #19,1 ;This is the main bombing routine mov jbomb,100 ;Yours may look different. mov sbomb,<-1 ; djn -3,#100 ;After some number of bombs, stop sbomb spl 0 ;Reuse your bombing statements mov 2,<-1 ;This will put a DAT #0 on every statement jbomb jmp -1 ;Reuse your bombing statements dat #0 Usually you will want to bomb as much as possible before you switch to a coreclear. If you have a pattern bomber, then have it bomb until it is just about to bomb yourself before you go to a coreclear. But always test out different constants. Here is an example program from days gone by: ;redcode ;name Pale Shears3 ;kill Pale Shears ;author Matt Hastings ;strategy Pale Shears w/ Mintardjo's Anti-IMP code mov jb,3+156 mov sb,<-1 add #156,-2 djn -3,#1599 sb spl 0,<0 mov 2,<-4 jb jmp -1,-1 dat <-92,<-2 -- Wayne Edward Sheppard Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt7804b Internet: gt7804b@prism.gatech.edu From: wilbert@husc10.harvard.edu (Deborah Wilbert) Subject: FAQ available? Message-ID: Date: 2 Mar 93 02:23:41 GMT Is there a FAQ available for this newsgroup? -Joey @ wilbert@husc10.harvard.edu From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu Subject: Days Gone By Message-ID: <1993Mar2.091901.1@acad.drake.edu> Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1993 15:19:01 GMT In article <> gt7804b@prism.gatech.EDU (Wayne Edward Sheppard) writes: > > Here is an example program from days gone by: > > ;redcode > ;name Pale Shears3 > ;kill Pale Shears > ;author Matt Hastings > ;strategy Pale Shears w/ Mintardjo's Anti-IMP code ** That silence you hear is Matt examining his gray hairs in the mirror. ** From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu Subject: Core-Clear/Gate Message-ID: <1993Mar3.155134.1@acad.drake.edu> Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1993 21:51:34 GMT Here is a core-clear/gate that has some interesting attributes: g1spl spl 0,<-9 mov g1bomb,<-9 mov g1bomb,<-10 g1bomb dat <-10,<-10 It is faster than the spl/mov/dat routine used by most programs. (50% bombs versus 33%). It can survive a dat bomb on the third line and still operate successfully. It survives most single decrements without losing its ability to gate. It is resistant to an Emerald-style attack (mov Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1993 06:49:12 GMT Here a veteran of the hill for your redcode collection: Sucker 5, a no-frills (but highly resilient) vampire. It's predecessor, Sucker 4, had almost reached age 1000 when the imps invaded. Sucker 5 adds imp-protection by ending the core clear in the following gate: SPL 0,<-9 JMP 7,<-10 .. .. DAT <-17,#0 This gate was also independently discovered by Matt Hastings (Sauron) and W.Mintardjo (Twilight Pits). Cheers, Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu) -------8<----------8<----------8<------- ;redcode ;name Sucker 5 ;kill prototype ;author Stefan Strack ;strategy Self-splitting, pattern-bombing vampire ;strategy 2: with confusion ;strategy 3: much denser, mod-2 bomb-pattern; no spacer ;strategy 3.1: avoids prematurely dropping into clear-mode ;strategy 4: spacer/bootstrap; changed bomb increment; tracer-proof ;strategy 5: imp-defense ;strategy Submitted: @date@ AWAY equ 4000 ;mirrors boot template mark equ start+39 decloc equ start-9 ;------ bootstrap main bombing loop and slave pit without spacers boot mov bomb,clear+37+AWAY mov loop+2,@ptr1 mov loop+1, Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1993 07:08:12 GMT Spitfire 3 is a moderately successful CMP scanner that bombs with what Paul Kline calls "incendiary bombs": SPL 0,7 MOV -1,<-1 JMP -2,<2667 The rest of the code and scan constants are from Charon v8.0. I didn't keep this one around, because there's already too many CMP scanners on the hill. Cheers, Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu) -------8<---------8<----------8<------- ;redcode ;name Spitfire 3 ;kill Spitfire ;author Stefan Strack ;strategy Charon v8.x-based CMP scanner that stuns with an incendiary bomb ;strategy Submitted: @date@ STEP equ 28 ;scan constants: DIST equ 14 ;small, so can be reused in core clear FIRST equ DJNOFF+794 ;optimal offset to DJN train DJNOFF equ decr-DIST CLEN equ 7 spit mov -1,<-1 ;second line of bomb attack add switch,@compptr ;switch A- and B-fields mov jump,@comp ;bomb with: spl 0,7 mov spit, I have uploaded to soda.berkeley.edu (128.32.149.19) all the posts I have collected since I began reading this newsgroup last April, as well as several other articles that I found interesting at the time. This collection is certainly not comprehensive, but it is a good start. (The large gaps are due to my habit of taking breaks while school is not in session. :-) Please look through it. If you have saved anything from this group that is still not currently available on soda, we're pleading with you to 'fess up. Either mail it to Scott Adkins (sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu), who is trying to put together a comprehensive collection of redcode sent over the net, or -- better yet -- post it (again) for everyone to see. Also, if you have some interesting code that you never quite got around to posting, now would be an excellent time! And, while we're on the subject, is ANYONE out there willing to take over the task of storing everything posted to this newsgroup for future reference? I fear I am inadequate for the task. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brant D. Thomsen Practice random acts of bdthomse%peruvian@cs.utah.edu kindness and senseless beauty. (University of Utah) From: d91andiv@IDA.LiU.SE (Anders Ivner) Subject: Imp of the hill... Message-ID: Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1993 17:28:17 GMT 1 44/ 22/ 34 Imprimis 6 P.Kline 166 198 2 43/ 23/ 34 Sphinx v2.8 W. Mintardjo 164 508 3 42/ 21/ 37 It nandor sieben 164 820 4 41/ 21/ 38 +0 Stormbringer Dan Nabutovsky 161 940 5 42/ 23/ 35 Night Wayne Sheppard 160 549 Need I say more? Anders Ivner From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu Subject: Re: Imp of the hill... Message-ID: <1993Mar5.165959.1@acad.drake.edu> Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1993 22:59:59 GMT In article , d91andiv@IDA.LiU.SE (Anders Ivner) writes: > 1 44/ 22/ 34 Imprimis 6 P.Kline 166 198 > 2 43/ 23/ 34 Sphinx v2.8 W. Mintardjo 164 508 > 3 42/ 21/ 37 It nandor sieben 164 820 > 4 41/ 21/ 38 +0 Stormbringer Dan Nabutovsky 161 940 > 5 42/ 23/ 35 Night Wayne Sheppard 160 549 > > Need I say more? > > Anders Ivner Course, down at the bottom of the hill are a couple of small bombers, which are easy pickings for the imps. Anyway, Dan's no-tinker policy looks to bear fruit real soon with +0 Stormbringer being the first warrior to go over 1000 challenges. And Eclipse, which is tough on imps, was put up with a bug and got knocked off. To encourage tougher anti-imp programs, here is Imprimis 6. It would be helpful for all the above authors to publish, so we can see what we're up against. Otherwise people will continue to be discouraged - it's hard to beat what you can't see. ;redcode quiet ;name Imprimis 6 ;kill Imprimis ;author P.Kline ;strategy stone like ExtraExtra ;strategy one 3-point spiral like Impression - binary launch ;strategy one 7-point spiral like Nimbus - jmp/add launch ;strategy anti-vampire code -> reverse coreclear ;strategy clears startup code after it should have completed ;strategy startup-clear -> forward coreclear for redundancy d equ 2667 d2 equ 1143 impp1 equ 1000+97+139 impp2 equ 2033+97+153+65 dat #2 dat #0 add #2,ptrcl clear spl @-3,<3864 movcl mov switch, Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1993 23:25:48 GMT Okay, I've got Eclipse II working about as well as it is going to. I wrote it specifically to kill imp programs, here is how it does: w/ l/ t Night * 60/29/11 Sphinx 57/29/14 Chimera * 52/22/26 +0 Stormbringer 47/38/15 It 43/48/9 Imprimis 6 * 40/37/23 The asterisked programs are the ones I have source for. It is interesting that versions of Eclipse that used a slower startup (copying stuff around) was more successful against SOME imps than this version (but worse against most other programs). I think that is because it takes a while to launch imps. Here is a description of Eclipse II: Phase 1. B-scan -> Ringkiller (like old Eclipse). step equ 3094 hold equ scan-250 ptr equ scan-120 minone equ next-3500 start sub #1,minone next add #step,@ptrptr scan jmz next,@ptr ptrptr cmp minone,@ptr slt #170,@ptrptr jmn next,next save mov @ptr,hold slt #20,@save mov #5,@save attack mov bomb1,@ptr add @save,@ptrptr scanptr jmn attack,@ptr . . . go to Phase 2 ('bomb1' is a dat-bomb, to get wins against scanners, but a spl-bomb is more effective against imps.) Phase 2. To be explained sometime later. :-) Phase 3. Launch three coreclear/gates, spaced 2667 apart. Spacing is critical! Since most stones are using mod-4, mod-5, or mod-8 increments; you want to stagger your bombers on odd-even numbers. That way the stone can't wipe them all out without also doing a complete core-clear. The 2667 spacing also allows simultaneous attack on all the heads of a three-point imp, or failing that, simultaneous gating (or failing THAT, they can be transformed into a ring themselves). I fiddled with several launch routines, including a Gemini-like one that left bombers in its wake, but here's the current one: g1a spl 1,g1bomb+1 g1b jmp g1c,g1bomb+1 . . some other stuff . dat #0 g1dec dat #0 dat #0 g1c spl 1 g1copy mov Date: 8 Mar 93 00:40:20 GMT Here is Sphinx v2.8 This is another spiral/stone program which manages to beat other spiral/stone programs. The way it differs from Imprimis 6 in terminating spiral is that Imprimis 6 used 2667 increment (shorter code) while Sphinx v2.8 uses its core-clear to gate imps (bigger chance but longer code). Some outlines of how this program works: 1. Bootstrap the stone. Very useful against PLASMA like programs 2. Set up spiral Using binary routine to set up spiral. At the same time, it launches into stone. This is the most vulnerable point. 3. Bombing A self-splitting bomber at ~67% of c. Using modulo 4 pattern bomber, this hopefully cripples most programs before core-clear. Its stone is not a high-tech one. Also, in practice, 6+7 lines are used for both bombing and core-clearing. 4. Return to the lair When DJN timer expired, it attempts to go into multi-pass core clearing with the trick of using JMP instruction as both returning code and bomb increment. Also, the JMP is also used to switch from pattern bombing to core-clearing. The core-clear is located at the start-up code and is not bootstrapped. 5. Core-clear A challenge for this program: how to implement a full core-clear while at the same time it blocks enemy's incoming spirals? So far is to use a forward and multi-pass core-clear. Forward: - Speed up core-clear. This tries to wipe opponent's functional bomber as as fast as possible. - Get most of cycles for modifying memory. Instead of spiralling. This delays the advance of its own spiral and thus preventing the clash between anti-imp and imp. - Gating the incoming imp. Because most of the cycles are used to decrement one spot, this should help stopping any advance of the opponent's spiral. Multi-pass: - To cover any spot it missed with forward core-clear, an 'SLT' instruction is used to check the core-clear and reset it before the core-clear reaches its own code. The result is a pseudo core-clear. Unless the checker gets bombed, the core-clear practically would cover 95% of the area - This also helps reducing the incoming opponent's spiral bits by bits. Gating: - The forward core-clear already acts as it - If for some reasons the checking code doesn't work quite right, the self- bombing that leaves SPL 0, <-3 and DAT <-4, <-5 would keep functioning as the gate without interfering its own spiral. This is possible. Because most of the cycles are now used for gating and only a fraction of it is used for spiraling. Ok, that's all for Sphinx. Enjoy Mintardjo W. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ;redcode quiet ;name Sphinx v2.8 ;author W. Mintardjo ;strategy Stone/Spiral program with multi-pass core clear ;strategy Optimizing the constants. See how this one does IMP0 EQU IMP IMP1 EQU IMP+2667 IMP2 EQU IMP+2667+2667 Init EQU Wait+2584 launch MOV Stone+4, Init-0 MOV Stone+3, Init-1 MOV Stone+2, Init-2 MOV Stone+1, Init-3 MOV Stone+0, Init-4 MOV Stomp+0, Init-5 SPL Init-5, <7115 SPL Init-5, <6304 SPL Init-5, <5303 SPL Init-5, <5902 SPL Init-5, <4061 SPL 16, <3708 SPL 8, <1935 SPL 4, <1814 SPL 2, <2011 JMP IMP0, <7370 JMP IMP1, <6013 SPL 2, <5812 JMP IMP2, <4811 JMP IMP0+1, <3910 SPL 4, <7517 SPL 2, <4916 JMP IMP1+1, <2215 JMP IMP2+1, <7214 SPL 2, <7013 JMP IMP0+2, <6712 JMP IMP1+2, <6511 SPL 8, <6110 SPL 4, <5617 SPL 2, <5216 JMP IMP2+2, <3511 JMP IMP0+3, <1910 SPL 2, <2417 JMP IMP1+3, <3316 JMP IMP2+3, <4603 SPL 4, <3602 SPL 2, <4161 JMP IMP0+4, <3104 JMP IMP1+4, <2903 SPL 2, <2172 JMP IMP2+4, <1517 JMP IMP0+5, <1011 Stone MOV <4+2584+2584, -2584-2584 SUB 3, -1 DJN -2, #886 MOV 1, -2 JMP -2584, 2584 DAT #0 DAT #0 DAT #0 DAT #-2200 DAT #0 DAT #0 DAT <-4, <-5 Stomp SPL 0, <-3 MOV -2, <-4 JMP -1, <-5 Wait SLT #-3195, @Stomp+1 MOV #-6, @Stomp+1 JMP -2, <-8 IMP MOV 0, 2667 From: "Mayer Goldberg" Subject: redcode manual? Message-ID: <1993Mar8.034236.20205@news.cs.indiana.edu> Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1993 03:42:21 -0500 Hello, I would very much like to get into the game. The only ref I have is Dawdney's 2 articles which were republished in the armchair universe. Could anyone point out to me an up-to-date manual for redcode? How are instructions coded? What ARE the current instructions supported? Etc. Thanks, Mayer mayer@cs.indiana.edu From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack) Subject: Core War Frequently Asked Questions (rec.games.corewar FAQ) Date: 8 Mar 1993 15:18:03 -0500 Message-ID: Archive-name: games/corewar-faq Last-modified: 1993/03/03 Version: 2.0.2 These are the Frequently Asked Questions (and answers) from the USENET newsgroup rec.games.corewar. This FAQ list is also available by anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu as pub/usenet/news.answers/games/corewar-faq.Z. TABLE OF CONTENTS Line ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. What is Core War? 67 2. Is it Core War or Core Wars? 80 3. Where can I find more information about Core War? 88 4. Core War has changed since Dewdney's articles. Where do I get 106 a copy of the current instruction set? 5. What is the ICWS? 120 6. What is TCWN? 130 7. How do I join? 138 8. Are back issues of TCWNs available? 158 9. What is the EBS? 165 10. Where are the Core War archives? 181 11. Where can I find a Core War system for . . . ? 198 12. I do not have ftp. How do I get all of this great stuff? 215 13. I do not have access to Usenet. How do I post and receive news? 222 14. When is the next tournament? 233 15. What is KOTH? How do I enter? 242 16. Is it DAT 0, 0 or DAT #0, #0? How do I compare to core? 344 17. How does SLT (Skip if Less Than) work? 356 18. What does (expression or term of your choice) mean? 368 19. Other questions? 494 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 1: What is Core War? A 1: Core War is a game played by two or more programs (and vicariously by their authors) written in an assembly language called Redcode and run in a virtual computer called MARS (for Memory Array Redcode Simulator). The object of the game is to cause all of the opposing programs to terminate, leaving your program in sole posession of the machine. There are Core War systems available for most computer platforms. Redcode has been standardized by the ICWS, and is therefore transportable between all standard Core War systems. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 2: Is it "Core War" or "Core Wars"? A 2: Both terms are used. Early references were to Core War. Later references seem to use Core Wars. I prefer "Core War" to refer to the game in general, "core wars" to refer to more than one specific battle. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 3: Where can I find more information about Core War? A 3: Core War was first described in the "Core War Guidelines" of March, 1984 by D. G. Jones and A. K. Dewdney of the Department of Computer Science at The University of Western Ontario (Canada). Dewdney wrote several "Computer Recreations" articles in "Scientific American" which discussed Core War, starting with the May 1984 article. Those articles are contained in an anthology: Author: Dewdney, A. K. Title: The Armchair Universe: An Exploration of Computer Worlds Published: New York: W. H. Freeman (c) 1988 ISBN: 0-7167-1939-8 Library of Congress Call Number: QA76.6 .D517 1988 The Redcode language has changed somewhat since; see Q 4. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 4: Core War has changed since Dewdney's articles. Where do I get a copy of the current instruction set? A 4: A draft of the official standard (ICWS'88) is available by anonymous FTP from the Core War archives (soda.berkeley.edu) as pub/corewar/documents/standards/redcode-icws-88.Z This document is formatted awkwardly and contains ambiguous statements. For a more approachable intro to Redcode, take a look at pub/corewar/documents/tutorial.1.Z tutorial.2.Z (See also Q10) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 5: What is the ICWS? A 5: About one year after Core War first appeared in Sci-Am, the "International Core War Society" (ICWS) was established. Since that time, the ICWS has been responsible for the creation and maintenance of Core War standards and the running of Core War tournaments. There have been six annual tournaments and two standards (ICWS'86 and ICWS'88). --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 6: What is TCWN? A 6: Since March of 1987, "The Core War Newsletter" (TCWN) has been the official newsletter of the ICWS. It is published quarterly and recent issues are also available as Encapsulated PostScript on soda.berkeley.edu (see Q9). --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 7: How do I join? A 7: For more information about joining the ICWS (which includes a subscription to TCWN), contact: A 7: For more information about joining the ICWS (which includes a subscription to TCWN), or to contribute an article, review, cartoon, letter, joke, rumor, etc. to TCWN, please contact: Jon Newman 13824 NE 87th Street Redmond, WA 98052-1959 email: jonn@microsoft.com (Note: Microsoft has NO affiliation with Core War. Jon Newman just happens to work there, and we want to keep it that way!) Current annual dues are $15.00 in US currency. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 8: Are back issues of TCWN available? A 8: Recent issues can be found on soda.berkeley.edu (see Q10). Older issues (up to Winter 1991) are also available (see the next TCWN for details). --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 9: What is the EBS? A 9: The Electronic Branch Section (EBS) of the ICWS is a group of Core War enthusiasts with access to electronic mail. There are no fees associated with being a member of the EBS, and members do reap some of the benefits of full ICWS membership without the expense. For instance, the ten best warriors submitted to the EBS tournament are entered into the annual ICWS tournament. All EBS business is conducted in the rec.games.corewar newsgroup. The current goal of the EBS is to be at the forefront of Core War by writing and implementing new standards and test suites in preparation for the tenth anniversary of Core War in May of 1994. Its immediate business will be to set up a Charter and establish its officers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A10: Where is the Core War archive? Q10: Many documents such as the guidelines and the ICWS standards along with previous tournament Redcode entries and complete Core War systems are available via anonymous ftp from soda.berkeley.edu (128.32.149.19) in the /pub/corewar directories. Also, most of past rec.games.corewar postings (including Redcode source listings) are archived there. Jon Blow (blojo@soda.berkeley.edu) is the archive administrator. Much of what is available on soda is also available on the German archive at iraun1.ira.uka.de (129.13.10.90) in the /pub/X11/corewars directory. This FAQ is automatically archived by news.answers. See the header for the current archive name and news.answers for how to get it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q11: Where can I find a Core War system for . . . ? A11: Core War systems are available via anonymous ftp from soda.berkeley.edu in the pub/corewar/systems directory. Currently, there are Unix X-Window, IBM PC-compatible (sorry, no systems specifically designed for MS-Windows yet), Macintosh, and Amiga Core War systems available there. CAUTION! There are many, many Core War systems available which are NOT ICWS'88 (or even ICWS'86) compatible available at various archive sites other than soda.berkeley.edu. Generally, the older the program - the less likely it will be ICWS compatible. Reviews of Core War systems would be greatly appreciated in the newsgroup and in the newsletter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q12: I do not have ftp. How do I get all of this great stuff? A12: There is an ftp email server at ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. Send email with a subject and body text of "help" (without the quotes) for more information on its usage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q13: I do not have access to Usenet. How do I post and receive news? A13: A rec.games.corewar-specific server is in the works. Contact Jonathan Roy (faf@halcyon.com), Vice President of the Free Access Foundation, for more information. If you somehow receive rec.games.corewar but just can't post, you can email your post to rec-games-corewar@cs.utexas.edu and it will be automatically posted for you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q14: When is the next tournament? A14: The ICWS holds an annual tournament. Traditionally, the deadline for entering is the 15th of December. The EBS usually holds a preliminary tournament around the 15th of November and sends the top finishers on to the ICWS tournament. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q15: What is KOTH? How do I enter? A15: King Of The Hill (KOTH) is an ongoing Core War tournament available to anyone with email provided by William Shubert (wms@iwarp.intel.com). You enter by submitting via email a Redcode program with special comment lines. You will receive a reply indicating how well your program did against the current top twenty programs "on the hill". If your program finished in the top twenty, it will remain on the hill until such time as it finishes twenty-first against another challenger, at which time it "falls off" the hill. Entry rules for King of the Hill Corewar: 1) Write a corewar program. KotH is fully ICWS '88 compatible, EXCEPT that a comma (",") is required between two arguments. 2) Put the line ";redcode" at the top of your program. This MUST be the first line. Anything before it will be lost. If you wish to receive mail on every new entrant, use ";redcode verbose". Otherwise you will only receive mail if a challenger makes it onto the hill. Use ";redcode quiet" if you wish to receive mail only when you get shoved off the hill. (Also, see 5 below). Additionally, adding ";name " and ";author " will be helpful in the performance reports. Do NOT have a line beginning with ";address" in your code; this will confuse the mail daemon and you won't get mail back. In addition, it would be nice if you have lines beginning with ";strategy" that describe the algorithm you use. 3) Mail this file to "wms@iwarp.intel.com". 4) Within a few minutes you should get mail back telling you whether your program assembled correctly or not. If it did assemble correctly, sit back and wait; if not, make the change required and re-submit. 5) In an hour or so you should get more mail telling you how your program performed against the current top 20 programs. If no news arrives in an hour, don't worry; entries are put in a queue and run through the tournament one at a time. A backlog may develop. Be patient. If your program makes it onto the hill, you will get mail every time a new program makes it onto the hill. If this is too much mail, you can use ";redcode quiet" when you first mail in your program; then you will only get mail when you make it on the top 20 list or when you are knocked off. Using ";redcode verbose" will give you even more mail; here you get mail every time a new challenger arrives, even if they don't make it onto the top 20 list. Often programmers want to try out slight variations in their programs. If you already have a program named "foo V1.0" on the hill, adding the line ";kill foo" to a new program will automatically bump foo 1.0 off the hill. Just ";kill" will remove all of your programs when you submit the new one. MORE ON KOTH COREWAR IMPLEMENTATION Core size: 8 000 instructions Max processes: 8 000 per program Duration: After 80 000 cycles per program, a tie is declared. Max entry length: 100 instructions Programs are guaranteed a 100 instruction block (inclusive of their warrior's instructions) without overlapping their opponent. SAMPLE ENTRY: ;redcode ;name Dwarf ;author A. K. Dewdney ;strategy Throw DAT bombs around memory, hitting every 4th memory cell. ;strategy This program was presented in the first Corewar article. bomb DAT #0 dwarf ADD #4, bomb MOV bomb, @bomb JMP dwarf END dwarf ; Programs start at the first line unless ; an "END start" pseudo-op appears to indicate ; the first logical instruction. Also, nothing ; after the END instruction will be assembled. Rule variants for "eXperimental" corewar: The same as above but use ";redcode-x" to start your program. Your program will be entered into a second tournament with slightly different rules. The rules are: - All addressing modes are allowed with all instructions. - There is an additional addressing mode, called "postincrement". To use it try an instruction like "mov >5,6". - The maximum write distance is 250 instructions. That is, every time your program tries to modify memory, the address is checked; if it is more than 250 instructions from the process doing the modify, then memory is left unchanged, but the instruction continues as normal. - A tie is not declared until 150,000 cycles per program have elapsed. KotH runs on any Unix system with an X windows interface. The source code to KotH is available by email from William Shubert. Write to him at (wms@iwarp.intel.com) for a copy or get it by anonymous FTP from soda.berkeley.edu in the pub/corewar/systems directory. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q16: Is it DAT 0, 0 or DAT #0, #0? How do I compare to core? A16: Core is initialized to DAT 0, 0. This is an "illegal" instruction under ICWS'88 rules and strictly compliant assemblers (such as KotH) will not let you write a DAT 0, 0 instruction - only DAT #0, #0. So this begs the question, how to compare something to see if it is empty core. The answer is, most likely the instruction before your first instruction and the instruction after your last instruction are both DAT 0, 0. You can use them, or any other likely unmodified instructions, for comparison. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q17: How does SLT (Skip if Less Than) work? A17: SLT gives some people trouble because of the way modular arithmetic works. It is important to note that all negative numbers are converted to positive numbers before a battles begins. Example: (-1) becomes (M - 1) where M is the memory size. Once you realize that all numbers are treated as positive, it is clear what is meant by "less than". It should also be clear that no number is less than zero. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q18: What does (expression or term of your choice) mean? A18: Here is a selected glossary of terms. If you have a definition and/or term you wish to see here, please send it to me. (References to an X-like program mean that the term X is derived from the specific program X and has become a generic term). Bootstrapping - Strategy of copying the active portion of the program away from the initial location, leaving a decoy behind and making the relocated program as small as possible. B-Scanners - Scanners which only recognize non-zero B-fields. example add #10,scan scan jmz example,10 C - Measure of speed, equal to one location per cycle. Speed of light. CMP-Scanner - A Scanner which uses a CMP instruction to look for opponents. example add step,scan scan cmp 10,30 jmp attack jmp example step dat #20,#20 Color - Property of bombs making them visible to scanners, causing them to attack useless locations, thus slowing them down. example dat #100 Core-Clear - code that sequentially overwrites core with DAT instructions; usually the last part of a program. Decoys - Bogus or unused instructions meant to slow down Scanners. Typically, DATs with non-zero B-fields. DJN-Stream (also DJN-Train) - Using a DJN command to rapidly decrement core locations. example . . . . . . djn example,<4000 Dwarf - the prototypical small bomber. Imp - Program which only uses the MOV instruction. example MOV 0, 1 or example MOV 0, 2 MOV 0, 2 Imp-Gate - A location in core which is bombed or decremented continuously so that an Imp can not pass. Also used to describe the program-code which maintains the gate. example ... ... SPL 0, Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1993 19:11:25 GMT Hello I've been away from the net and corewars for almost a year now. Can someone fill me in? Is King-of-the-Hill still around? Did they ever pass that new standard they were talking about? Thanks Jim P.S. You might remember me as jjj101@psuvm.psu.edu Date: Wednesday, 10 Mar 1993 13:36:07 MST From: Message-ID: <93069.133607ASMQK@ASUACAD.BITNET> Subject: Re: _Push Off_ 'It' is nothing fancy. A bomber and imp spirals nothing else. Not a very original warrior I know but I've no time for working on a new one. Nandor. From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu Subject: _Push Off_ Message-ID: <1993Mar10.102219.1@acad.drake.edu> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1993 16:22:19 GMT _PUSH OFF_ A midweek review of Corewar March 10, 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. The Standings: # %W/ %L/ %T Name Author Score Age 1 48/ 42/ 10 Medusa's v5 Mintardjo & Strack 154 547 2 36/ 20/ 43 Sphinx v2.8 W. Mintardjo 152 599 3 35/ 20/ 44 Imprimis 6 P.Kline 150 1 4 46/ 43/ 11 Charon v8.1 Cisek,Strack,Kline 149 492 5 46/ 45/ 8 Agony 4.0 Stefan Strack 148 74 6 32/ 18/ 49 +0 Stormbringer Dan Nabutovsky 146 1031 7 31/ 17/ 52 It nandor sieben 146 911 8 32/ 19/ 49 Chimera v3.5 W. Mintardjo 145 212 9 44/ 43/ 13 Iron Gate Wayne Sheppard 145 557 10 42/ 43/ 15 Sucker 5 Stefan Strack 142 895 11 42/ 43/ 16 Grimm's Vampyre c w blue 140 13 12 30/ 21/ 49 Night Wayne Sheppard 138 640 13 42/ 47/ 10 Juggernaut v1.0 Anders Ivner 137 2 14 36/ 38/ 26 Stoned Again c w blue 133 8 15 36/ 41/ 22 Leprechaun 1b Anders Ivner 132 513 16 36/ 42/ 21 Herem II Anders Ivner 131 375 17 32/ 34/ 35 sub-type-b+r c w blue 129 7 18 34/ 63/ 3 No Ties Allowed Wayne Sheppard 106 21 19 12/ 30/ 58 Imp W. Mintardjo 95 11 20 11/ 53/ 36 P W. Mintardjo 68 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. The Basics: -Core War Archives are available via anonymous FTP at soda.berkeley.edu in pub/corewar... -FAQ for this newsgroup is available via anonymous FTP at rtfm.mit.edu as pub/usenet/news.answers/games/corewar-faq.z ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. The Scoop: Corewar frenzy hit a new high this week as Dan Nabutovsky's +0 Stormbringer became the first warrior to survive 1000 challenges. In recent weeks, contenders worked furiously to break the imp-stone lock on KotH, hoping to spoil Dan's fun and crack the secret to 'imp-vincibility'. As onlookers waited with bated breath, imps began to take a beating. +0 Stormbringer was actually seen momentarily to fall below 15th place as challengers pounded away. At times no imp could be found above 8th place and scanners resumed their former ascendency. But all for naught, as the high rate of challenges only carried +0 Stormbringer over 1000 that much faster. Kudos Dan! Other challengers nearing the 1000 mark: It - 911 Sucker 5 - 895 (An oft-heard question: 'What is It'?) Stefan Strack's warrior, Vanity, made a short appearance at the top of the Hill. Strategy: reflections at all the cmp-distances that Stefan was aware of (and he's in a position to know some of them :-). Vanity was withdrawn by Strack after enjoying top-ranking for a few days. A little too much like in-breeding, eh Stefan? Chris Blue attempted to overwhelm Koth with variety this week, submitting sub-type-s, sub-type-b+r, sub-type-r+s+v, . . ., - learn anything you'd like to share, Chris? Wayne Sheppard's no-nonymous 'Test' program was seen all over the hill (as high as third and as low as twentieth). Will we be seeing 'Steel Gate' soon? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. The Uplook: 2 47/ 44/ 9 Agony 4.0 Stefan Strack 151 1 9 44/ 47/ 9 Agony 4.0/M Stefan Strack 141 1 1 46/ 42/ 12 Arioch - Knight of Swords c w blue 151 11 5 44/ 36/ 21 Beholder's Eye v1.3 W. Mintardjo 152 38 4 44/ 42/ 14 sub-type-s c w blue 145 1 9 43/ 42/ 15 Grimm's Vampyre c w blue 145 1 3 44/ 39/ 17 Test Wayne Sheppard 148 1 8 46/ 45/ 9 Juggernaut v1.0 Anders Ivner 146 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. The Outlook: 20 22/ 39/ 39 Wormy1.0 Kirk R. Gorden 105 5 19 20/ 41/ 39 sub-type-s c w blue 99 1 20 19/ 56/ 25 Test Wayne Sheppard 82 1 20 30/ 53/ 17 sub-type-b+r c w blue 106 1 19 25/ 35/ 41 sub-type-r+s+v c w blue 115 1 20 25/ 61/ 14 nothing natural Chris Parrinello 89 1 20 20/ 47/ 33 Test Wayne S 94 1 21 23/ 53/ 23 Mad Mardigan P. Kline 93 2 19 14/ 40/ 46 sub-type-b+r c w blue 89 1 19 29/ 52/ 18 sub-type-cmp c w blue 107 1 17 31/ 31/ 39 sub-type-r+s+v c w blue 131 1 18 24/ 26/ 50 Test warrior c w blue 122 1 16 26/ 25/ 49 Impression 5 Dan Nabutovsky 127 1 (was Dan getting nervous? :-) 19 33/ 57/ 9 Witchtrap Simon Hovell 109 1 18 19/ 43/ 38 sub-type-s-73+decoys c w blue 96 1 19 6/ 2/ 2 sub-type-ps c w blue 19 4 20 5/ 3/ 1 sub-type-v c w blue 18 5 21 5/ 2/ 2 sub-type-cmp c w blue 17 6 20 6/ 70/ 24 Serveert 1.0 Joshua Houk 43 1 21 8/ 62/ 30 Serveert 1.1 Joshua Houk 53 0 21 9/ 64/ 27 Serveert 1.3 Joshua Houk 55 0 19 18/ 67/ 14 Imp Hunter1.0 Kirk Gorden 69 1 21 12/ 69/ 19 SupaDwarf 0.2 Andrew Scott 55 0 21 32/ 50/ 18 Witchbait Simon Hovell 113 0 21 11/ 82/ 7 machine Chris Parrinello 41 0 21 25/ 69/ 6 CMP-Trapper Chris Parrinello 80 0 21 25/ 70/ 5 CMP-Trapper Chris Parrinello 80 0 21 0/ 77/ 23 Full Frequency 1.0 Joshua Houk 24 0 16 38/ 42/ 20 Beholder's Eye v1.5 W. Mintardjo 133 1 19 18/ 31/ 51 Imp W. Mintardjo 105 2 20 11/ 55/ 35 P W. Mintardjo 66 1 18 31/ 58/ 11 Juggernaut v1.1 Anders Ivner 103 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. The Hint: For new participants, if your warrior wins < 10% you might consider that there is a syntax difference between KotH and the emulator you are using. Try sharing your code with someone else and see what happens when they run it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. The End: Paul Kline pk6811s@acad.drake.edu From: Jon Blow Subject: soda.berkeley.edu ftp site Date: 10 Mar 1993 20:11:55 GMT Message-ID: Due to some hardware problems (one or more of the drives is spewing on itself), the ftp site soda.berkeley.edu is currently down. It will hopefully not be down long, but I'm not holding my breath-- it could be hosed for a week and a half, or even a little longer. Sorry about this; I'll keep people posted. -J. From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack) Subject: Re: _Push Off_ Message-ID: Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1993 20:16:42 GMT In article <1993Mar10.102219.1@acad.drake.edu> Paul Kline writes: > _PUSH OFF_ > A midweek review of Corewar Bravo! Hope you can make this a regular feature. -Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu) From: starr-daniel@yale.edu (Daniel Starr) Subject: Imp-killers? Date: 11 Mar 1993 16:55:39 -0500 Message-ID: <1nocgrINN3jq@MINERVA.CIS.YALE.EDU> Okay, I see the spirals descending... any new techniques been discovered? That is: I know of two methods to kill imprings, 1) bomb/scan at interval k*2667 (e.g. latest Charon) 2) coreclear at interval k*2667 (e.g. Eclipse, I think... have to check) Has anyone found a different way? In particular, has anyone found a way that doesn't require one to know the ring size? (If I put up an unusual ring, would that be immune?) -- This is NOT a .sig virus do NOT copy me into your .sig file This is NOT * Daniel Starr * Ta twn thewn erga * * dstarr@minerva.cis.yale.edu * Hoi psukhwn twn anthrwpwn logoi. * a .sig virus do NOT copy me into your .sig file This is NOT a .sig virus From: wangsawm@prism.CS.ORST.EDU (W. Mintardjo) Subject: Re: Imp-killers? Message-ID: <1nqr63INN9hd@flop.ENGR.ORST.EDU> Date: 12 Mar 93 20:18:11 GMT starr-daniel@yale.edu (Daniel Starr) in his article writes: >Okay, I see the spirals descending... any new techniques been discovered? >That is: I know of two methods to kill imprings, >1) bomb/scan at interval k*2667 (e.g. latest Charon) >2) coreclear at interval k*2667 (e.g. Eclipse, I think... have to check) > >Has anyone found a different way? In particular, has anyone found a way >that doesn't require one to know the ring size? (If I put up an >unusual ring, would that be immune?) > How's about this one? (still depend on the ring size) A 9-point imp ring can ruin 3-point imp spiral provided it runs faster than the spiral does. Mintardjo W. From: jburke@abacus.bates.edu (James Burke) Subject: Beginer Looking For Tutorial. Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1993 03:54:35 GMT Message-ID: <1993Mar13.035435.25460@orlith.bates.edu> Hello to all you CoreWarriores out there...I was just wondering if there waas a tutorial file for a beginer...Or if one of you would be willing to make one..I would very much appericate any/all help I get...Either post it here or send it email or what ever you like..I just am kinda looking for help in all the places I can find...Thanx _______________________________________________________________________ jburke@abacus.bates.edu From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu Subject: Re: Imp-killers?y Message-ID: <1993Mar13.102300.1@acad.drake.edu> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1993 16:23:00 GMT One successful strategy runs something like this: 1. Stun some part of the imp-opponent spl/jmp bombs pit-trapper spl-zero bombs 2. Core-Clear to kill any non-imp components (stones) 3. Gate incoming imps Paratroops substitutes a search and kill phase for the stun phase, taking advantage of the fact that most imp startups are very large and easy to find. Eclipse searches specifically for imps, and can kill an imp of any size in its first phase, then releases small bombers to deal with the stone. Juggernaut is also successful against imps. And all the Paper stuff ties imps, thereby reducing their overall scores. Paul Kline pk6811s@acad.drake.edu From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu Subject: EngineNumber9 Message-ID: <1993Mar15.164036.1@acad.drake.edu> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 22:40:36 GMT Here is EngineNumber9, just to show there is still some unexplored territory in paper. There are two slightly different replicators, each using a different bomb. Unlike most paper, which splits _all_ its processes to start a new copy, these only split _one_ process. The rest stay put so all 16 processes in a copy execute together, then the 16 in the next copy, etc. Very different to watch on screen. ;redcode ;name EngineNumber9 ;kill EngineNumber9 ;author Kline ;strategy pure paper start mov Date: 15 Mar 93 23:36:27 GMT In article <1993Mar13.035435.25460@orlith.bates.edu> jburke@abacus.bates.edu (James Burke) writes: > >Hello to all you CoreWarriores out there...I was just wondering if there >waas a tutorial file for a beginer...Or if one of you would be willing to >make one..I would very much appericate any/all help I get...Either post it >here or send it email or what ever you like..I just am kinda looking for >help in all the places I can find...Thanx > >_______________________________________________________________________ > >jburke@abacus.bates.edu > Ditto. tjw@gas.uug.arizona.edu From: cazier@ufrima.imag.fr (CAZIER jean-baptiste) Subject: help Message-ID: Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 14:09:20 GMT I knew Corewar game for some years but i could not access international serversNow rules have changed and i 'm unabled to make a correct prm on the Hill Is there anybody to send me the new rules,codes and source. Thanks. . -- Jean-Baptiste CAZIER APPLIED MATHEMATICS in GRENOBLE Jean-Baptiste.CAZIER@ufrima.imag.fr From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu Subject: _Push Off_ Message-ID: <1993Mar17.081745.1@acad.drake.edu> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1993 14:17:45 GMT _PUSH OFF_ A midweek review of Corewar March 17, 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. The Standings: # %W/ %L/ %T Name Author Score Age 1 38/ 24/ 38 It nandor sieben 153 1013 2 46/ 42/ 12 Paratroops v2.1 W. Mintardjo 150 64 3 38/ 28/ 34 Imprimis 6 P.Kline 149 103 4 37/ 26/ 37 +0 Stormbringer Dan Nabutovsky 147 1133 5 42/ 37/ 21 Grimm's Vampyre c w blue 147 37 6 45/ 45/ 11 Medusa's v6 Mintardjo & Strack 145 58 7 36/ 27/ 37 Sphinx v2.8 W. Mintardjo 145 701 8 36/ 28/ 36 Night Wayne Sheppard 145 742 9 43/ 45/ 11 Iron Gate Wayne Sheppard 142 659 10 41/ 40/ 20 Stoned Again c w blue 142 39 11 42/ 43/ 14 Sucker 5 Stefan Strack 141 997 12 42/ 43/ 14 Twilight Pits 7.5 W. Mintardjo 141 15 13 42/ 42/ 16 Herem II Anders Ivner 141 477 14 41/ 43/ 15 sub-type-ps c w blue 140 14 15 43/ 46/ 11 Charon v8.1 Cisek,Strack,Kline 139 594 16 43/ 49/ 8 Agony 4.1 Stefan Strack 137 67 17 38/ 42/ 19 Leprechaun 1b Anders Ivner 134 615 18 42/ 50/ 8 Juggernaut v1.3 Anders Ivner 134 45 19 38/ 48/ 14 Emerald 3 P.Kline 128 1 20 36/ 47/ 17 Eclipse II P.Kline 125 2 21 34/ 48/ 18 DumbLuck j.layland 120 52 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. The Basics: -Core War Archives are available via anonymous FTP at soda.berkeley.edu in pub/corewar... -FAQ for this newsgroup is available via anonymous FTP at rtfm.mit.edu as pub/usenet/news.answers/games/corewar-faq.z ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. The Scoop: Whoa!! What a week we have had. Did I say the anti-imp crowd had shot their wad? Check out this bottom nine: 12 33/ 28/ 38 Sphinx v2.8 W. Mintardjo 138 645 13 40/ 42/ 18 Leprechaun 1b Anders Ivner 137 559 14 31/ 28/ 41 Chimera v3.5 W. Mintardjo 135 258 15 31/ 28/ 42 It nandor sieben 134 957 16 31/ 32/ 37 Imprimis 6 P.Kline 131 47 17 30/ 30/ 40 +0 Stormbringer Dan Nabutovsky 131 1077 18 40/ 50/ 10 Eclipse II P.Kline 130 1 19 33/ 37/ 30 Construction Paper c w blue 129 29 20 30/ 32/ 38 Night Wayne Sheppard 127 686 Wayne's fingernails suffered a severe stretching this week, but once again no imps were knocked off. They are tough! W. Mintardjo proved just how hard it is to knock off imps when he submitted: 21 2/ 98/ 0 Remove TMs61 and Chimera W. Mintardjo 7 0 which failed to remove EITHER program. Boy, when you can't even remove your own imp! :-) Congratulations to Nandor Sieben and (by the time you read this) Stefan Strack, whose It and Sucker 5 warriors, respectively, passed 1000 challenges. We all remember that Sucker 4 nearly made it to 1000, but was knocked off by a flurry of imp-stone fighters last Fall. After last week's comments, I received this: This bites. My original [name deleted] program was submitted just before Sucker 5. Then a mistake in a ;kill line took it off. I resubbmitted the same program. To which I can only respond, :-) Redundant strategy line of the week: ;strategy 4.1: tweaked constants Just can't get enough of that constant tweaking can we? Ominous submission of the week: Program "Get Info. on the hill" (length 0) by "Unknown" (contact address "fraserc@dcs.gla.ac.uk"): 21 2/ 98/ 0 Get Info. on the hill Unknown 7 0 We KNOW who you are, CF. Another CoreWar addiction was recorded: A challenger has arrived on the hill! Vital statistics: Program "manifold1" (length 8) by "Sasha Wait" (contact address "g2sasha@cdf.toronto.edu"): ;strategy v1.0 15/03/93 -- ignore pressing exams & problem sets Did we actually see a zero-length program submitted? And did it actually win 02% of its battles? Wayne Sheppard bid goodbye for a while as he moves to a new school. May you be reconnected soon! He challenged us to knock his programs off the Hill while he is gone. Since April 1 is coming up, maybe we could get WMS to prepare an appropriate report for him when he gets back: 20 21/ 59/ 20 Just Testing Novice Player 121 1 21 20/ 59/ 21 Night Wayne Sheppard 120 742 Followed by: 20 21/ 59/ 20 Just Testing2 Novice Player 121 1 21 20/ 59/ 21 Iron Gate Wayne Sheppard 120 659 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. The Outlook: 1 49/ 43/ 8 Juggernaut v1.3 Anders Ivner 154 1 6 46/ 47/ 7 prototype Stefan Strack 144 1 1 52/ 39/ 9 Paratroops v2.1 W. Mintardjo 164 3 2 47/ 42/ 11 Test Wayne Sheppard 152 1 5 46/ 46/ 9 TMs61 W. Mintardjo 145 1 9 44/ 47/ 9 TMsv5 W. Mintardjo 140 1 1 47/ 42/ 10 Medusa's v6 Mintardjo & Strack 152 10 8 41/ 38/ 21 sub-type-v2 c w blue 145 1 2 42/ 38/ 20 Grimm's Vampyre c w blue 147 1 5 41/ 38/ 21 sub-type-v2 c w blue 144 1 7 46/ 46/ 9 Medusa's v7 Mintardjo & Strack 146 1 10 37/ 29/ 34 Construction Paper c w blue 144 1 6 44/ 41/ 15 Twilight Pits 7.5 W. Mintardjo 146 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. The Quick Look: 21 2/ 55/ 43 LOOSER - based on MICE (j ???-Cedric D. Adjih 48 0 21 0/ 90/ 10 Looser II - the non-reven Cedric D. Adjih (new 11 0 21 1/ 62/ 38 Full Frequency 1.2 Joshua Houk 40 0 21 3/ 58/ 39 Bad Pfenning v1.0 Joshua Houk 49 0 21 6/ 66/ 29 Bad Pfenning v2.0 Joshua Houk 46 0 21 8/ 55/ 37 Bad Pfenning v3.0 Joshua Houk 62 0 21 6/ 91/ 3 sorrow Chris Parrinello 21 0 21 31/ 56/ 13 Quasit c w blue 106 0 21 17/ 78/ 5 stack attack Chris Parrinello 57 0 21 16/ 22/ 62 bunnies Steven Morrell 111 0 21 14/ 76/ 9 CMP-Trapper Chris Parrinello 52 0 21 6/ 73/ 21 Imp Hunter2.0 Kirk Gorden 40 0 21 18/ 66/ 16 Iron Carpet Wayne Sheppard 71 0 21 9/ 46/ 46 SupaDwarf 0.3 Andrew Scott 72 0 21 21/ 69/ 10 PLASMA Wayne Sheppard 73 0 21 24/ 71/ 5 CMP-Trapper Chris Parrinello 77 0 21 4/ 93/ 3 The Emperors New Clothes J. Horwich 16 0 21 38/ 48/ 15 DumbLuck j.layland 128 0 21 22/ 57/ 21 sub-type-g c w blue 88 0 21 3/ 85/ 12 Victriola Joshua Houk 21 0 21 24/ 50/ 26 Redips Alex MacAulay 99 0 21 7/ 70/ 23 Polly Magnus Sandberg 45 0 21 15/ 53/ 32 r j.layland 77 0 21 7/ 93/ 1 sorrow Chris Parrinello 21 0 21 0/ 69/ 31 Self-splitting IMP W. Mintardjo 32 0 21 31/ 40/ 29 sub-type-b+r c w blue 123 0 21 2/ 98/ 0 Unknown Unknown 7 0 21 7/ 58/ 35 sub-type-s-98 c w blue 55 0 21 6/ 80/ 15 B Mice Rodney Schuler 31 0 21 31/ 45/ 24 Harm c w blue 117 0 21 19/ 71/ 10 Gala V1.0 Chris Parrinello 68 0 21 33/ 51/ 17 Test Wayne Sheppard 115 0 21 23/ 65/ 12 multi dwarf nandor sieben 80 0 21 30/ 67/ 3 CMP-Trapper Chris Parrinello 93 0 21 29/ 47/ 24 multi dwarf nandor sieben 112 0 21 29/ 45/ 26 multi dwarf 2 nandor sieben 112 0 21 0/ 86/ 14 Groff Ziad Ismail 14 0 21 6/ 93/ 1 Krupp Fredrik 20 0 21 7/ 85/ 8 Little Warrior Cedric D. Adjih 29 0 21 2/ 98/ 0 Unknown Unknown 7 0 21 19/ 70/ 11 dwarf Fredrik 69 0 21 9/ 46/ 45 Gala V1.0 Chris Parrinello 72 0 21 28/ 64/ 8 p1 j.layland 92 0 21 27/ 73/ 1 Lander c w blue 80 0 21 31/ 49/ 21 stone2e Sasha Wait 112 0 20 27/ 71/ 2 BeeBee Wayne Sheppard 82 1 20 27/ 69/ 3 Plasma/variations Wayne Sheppard 85 1 20 30/ 54/ 16 Gala V1.0 Chris Parrinello 106 1 21 7/ 71/ 22 ScanVamp Cedric D. Adjih 43 0 21 1/ 72/ 27 Polly-II Unknown 31 0 21 2/ 98/ 0 Pip Fredrik 7 0 21 3/ 94/ 4 Florp 1 Fredrik 12 0 21 0/ 93/ 7 Emeretta Magnus 7 0 21 1/ 53/ 47 mer Fredrik 49 0 21 0/ 45/ 55 Kossa-Larma Ziad 55 0 21 0/ 46/ 54 Kossa-Larma Ziad 54 0 21 0/ 47/ 52 Kossa-Larma2 Ziad 53 0 21 1/ 48/ 51 vc j.layland 54 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. The Hint: Even if you are using an optimal pattern number, try another one. I found that 2365 (mod-5) was ineffective against Night, but 3094 (mod-2) works great. I don't think the mod-x part is important here, but somehow 2365, if it doesn't scan Night right away, continues scanning just ahead of the imps, and takes much longer to find him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. The End: Paul Kline pk6811s@acad.drake.edu From: jburke@abacus.bates.edu (James Burke) Subject: beginner needs help!! Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1993 02:02:24 GMT Message-ID: <1993Mar20.020224.23169@orlith.bates.edu> Hello, I a beginner here (as you can probally see) and I working on a prog. that dosen't seem to want to run...Can I have some help...Thanx for any help.... here is the program------> ;redcode ;name Try Number Five ;Author James Burke ;Stragety Yet another try for a backwards running imp. ; point dat 8 num dat 17 plc dat -15 start add #1, point add #1, plc mov @point, @plc cmp num, point jmp start jmp -14 dat 8 dat 17 dat -15 add #1, -3 add #1, -2 mov @-5, @-3 cmp -5, -6 jmp -4 jmp -14 end start do any of you more experienced players/designers see why it dosent what to make more than about 3 copies?? Thanx again A fresh beginner jburke@abacus.bates.edu James B. Burke From: d92-foh@dront.nada.kth.se (Fredrik hrstrm) Subject: Troubles with SLT Message-ID: <1993Mar20.123953.5586@kth.se> Date: 20 Mar 93 12:39:53 GMT How does SLT work exactly? The values are first normalized, and then? If I have SLT #-20, dest ; will this be transformed to SLT #7980, dest ... ; if so, at compile time or run time? ... dest DAT #0, #2 // Fredrik From: kv07@IASTATE.EDU (Warren Vonroeschlaub) Subject: Re: beginner needs help!! Message-ID: <1993Mar20.134016@IASTATE.EDU> Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1993 19:40:16 GMT In article <1993Mar20.020224.23169@orlith.bates.edu>, jburke@abacus.bates.edu (James Burke) writes: > Hello, I a beginner here (as you can probally see) and I working on a > prog. that dosen't seem to want to run...Can I have some help...Thanx for > any help.... > > here is the program------> > > ;redcode > ;name Try Number Five > ;Author James Burke > ;Stragety Yet another try for a backwards running imp. > ; > point dat 8 > num dat 17 > plc dat -15 > start add #1, point > add #1, plc > mov @point, @plc > cmp num, point > jmp start > jmp -14 > dat 8 > dat 17 > dat -15 > add #1, -3 > add #1, -2 > mov @-5, @-3 > cmp -5, -6 > jmp -4 > jmp -14 > end start > > do any of you more experienced players/designers see why it dosent what to > make more than about 3 copies?? Thanx again > A fresh beginner Well, I'd have to run it to give a definate answer, but the probable reason is simple. I find it suprising it makes three copies. Consider the mov command. Th first time it is run, it gets mov @point,@plc with point & plc holding 9 and -14 respectively. point+9 is the "dat 8", plc-14 is where it puts that. When plc=-2, the move command is moving point+23 (probably a dat 0,0) to plc-2, which is the location point. So point becomes 0. The next step puts point (a dat 0,0) onto plc-1, which is num. The next mov puts point+1 (num, a dat 0,0) to plc, so plc is a dat 0,0. Now the cmp will go through, since num: dat 0,0 is equal to plc: dat 0,0. So the program jumps to the copy. Now it goes to copy the program, but it copies the modified code: the one with dat 0,0 in plc and num. This time the program should copy garbage to itself, and kill the process. Carefully stepping through the processes should show exactly what is getting copied where. The simplest solution would be to change num to a dat -3, but even that won't fix all the problems (you still have to reset the data between copies.) | __L__ -|- ___ Warren Kurt vonRoeschlaub | | o | kv07@iastate.edu |/ `---' Iowa State University /| ___ Math Department | |___| 400 Carver Hall | |___| Ames, IA 50011 J _____ Subject: Moonstone 1 Message-ID: <1993Mar23.112513.11474@wisipc.weizmann.ac.il> From: fedimit@wisipc.weizmann.ac.il (Dan Nabutovsky) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1993 11:25:13 GMT This is my stone Moonstone 1, currently 4-th place at the Koth hill. ;redcode ;name Moonstone 1 ;author Dan Nabutovsky ;strategy bomb, then coreclear, then JMP 0,<-15 MOV 7, <-7 incr: MOV 7, <-7 start: SPL 0 loop: MOV <75, -74 ADD incr, loop DJN loop, <4400 JMN -1, 303 JMP 0, <-15 END start From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack) Subject: Core War Frequently Asked Questions (rec.games.corewar FAQ) Date: 24 Mar 1993 00:00:15 -0500 Message-ID: Archive-name: games/corewar-faq Last-modified: 1993/03/18 Version: 2.0.3 These are the Frequently Asked Questions (and answers) from the USENET newsgroup rec.games.corewar. This FAQ list is also available by anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu as pub/usenet/news.answers/games/corewar-faq.Z. TABLE OF CONTENTS Line ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. What is Core War? 67 2. Is it Core War or Core Wars? 80 3. Where can I find more information about Core War? 88 4. Core War has changed since Dewdney's articles. Where do I get 106 a copy of the current instruction set? 5. What is the ICWS? 120 6. What is TCWN? 130 7. How do I join? 138 8. Are back issues of TCWNs available? 158 9. What is the EBS? 165 10. Where are the Core War archives? 181 11. Where can I find a Core War system for . . . ? 198 12. I do not have ftp. How do I get all of this great stuff? 215 13. I do not have access to Usenet. How do I post and receive news? 222 14. When is the next tournament? 233 15. What is KOTH? How do I enter? 242 16. Is it DAT 0, 0 or DAT #0, #0? How do I compare to core? 344 17. How does SLT (Skip if Less Than) work? 356 18. What does (expression or term of your choice) mean? 368 19. Other questions? 496 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 1: What is Core War? A 1: Core War is a game played by two or more programs (and vicariously by their authors) written in an assembly language called Redcode and run in a virtual computer called MARS (for Memory Array Redcode Simulator). The object of the game is to cause all of the opposing programs to terminate, leaving your program in sole posession of the machine. There are Core War systems available for most computer platforms. Redcode has been standardized by the ICWS, and is therefore transportable between all standard Core War systems. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 2: Is it "Core War" or "Core Wars"? A 2: Both terms are used. Early references were to Core War. Later references seem to use Core Wars. I prefer "Core War" to refer to the game in general, "core wars" to refer to more than one specific battle. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 3: Where can I find more information about Core War? A 3: Core War was first described in the "Core War Guidelines" of March, 1984 by D. G. Jones and A. K. Dewdney of the Department of Computer Science at The University of Western Ontario (Canada). Dewdney wrote several "Computer Recreations" articles in "Scientific American" which discussed Core War, starting with the May 1984 article. Those articles are contained in an anthology: Author: Dewdney, A. K. Title: The Armchair Universe: An Exploration of Computer Worlds Published: New York: W. H. Freeman (c) 1988 ISBN: 0-7167-1939-8 Library of Congress Call Number: QA76.6 .D517 1988 The Redcode language has changed somewhat since; see Q 4. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 4: Core War has changed since Dewdney's articles. Where do I get a copy of the current instruction set? A 4: A draft of the official standard (ICWS'88) is available by anonymous FTP from the Core War archives (soda.berkeley.edu) as pub/corewar/documents/standards/redcode-icws-88.Z This document is formatted awkwardly and contains ambiguous statements. For a more approachable intro to Redcode, take a look at pub/corewar/documents/tutorial.1.Z tutorial.2.Z (See also Q10) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 5: What is the ICWS? A 5: About one year after Core War first appeared in Sci-Am, the "International Core War Society" (ICWS) was established. Since that time, the ICWS has been responsible for the creation and maintenance of Core War standards and the running of Core War tournaments. There have been six annual tournaments and two standards (ICWS'86 and ICWS'88). --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 6: What is TCWN? A 6: Since March of 1987, "The Core War Newsletter" (TCWN) has been the official newsletter of the ICWS. It is published quarterly and recent issues are also available as Encapsulated PostScript on soda.berkeley.edu (see Q9). --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 7: How do I join? A 7: For more information about joining the ICWS (which includes a subscription to TCWN), contact: A 7: For more information about joining the ICWS (which includes a subscription to TCWN), or to contribute an article, review, cartoon, letter, joke, rumor, etc. to TCWN, please contact: Jon Newman 13824 NE 87th Street Redmond, WA 98052-1959 email: jonn@microsoft.com (Note: Microsoft has NO affiliation with Core War. Jon Newman just happens to work there, and we want to keep it that way!) Current annual dues are $15.00 in US currency. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 8: Are back issues of TCWN available? A 8: Recent issues can be found on soda.berkeley.edu (see Q10). Older issues (up to Winter 1991) are also available (see the next TCWN for details). --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q 9: What is the EBS? A 9: The Electronic Branch Section (EBS) of the ICWS is a group of Core War enthusiasts with access to electronic mail. There are no fees associated with being a member of the EBS, and members do reap some of the benefits of full ICWS membership without the expense. For instance, the ten best warriors submitted to the EBS tournament are entered into the annual ICWS tournament. All EBS business is conducted in the rec.games.corewar newsgroup. The current goal of the EBS is to be at the forefront of Core War by writing and implementing new standards and test suites in preparation for the tenth anniversary of Core War in May of 1994. Its immediate business will be to set up a Charter and establish its officers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A10: Where is the Core War archive? Q10: Many documents such as the guidelines and the ICWS standards along with previous tournament Redcode entries and complete Core War systems are available via anonymous ftp from soda.berkeley.edu (128.32.149.19) in the /pub/corewar directories. Also, most of past rec.games.corewar postings (including Redcode source listings) are archived there. Jon Blow (blojo@soda.berkeley.edu) is the archive administrator. Much of what is available on soda is also available on the German archive at iraun1.ira.uka.de (129.13.10.90) in the /pub/X11/corewars directory. This FAQ is automatically archived by news.answers. See the header for the current archive name and news.answers for how to get it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q11: Where can I find a Core War system for . . . ? A11: Core War systems are available via anonymous ftp from soda.berkeley.edu in the pub/corewar/systems directory. Currently, there are Unix X-Window, IBM PC-compatible (sorry, no systems specifically designed for MS-Windows yet), Macintosh, and Amiga Core War systems available there. CAUTION! There are many, many Core War systems available which are NOT ICWS'88 (or even ICWS'86) compatible available at various archive sites other than soda.berkeley.edu. Generally, the older the program - the less likely it will be ICWS compatible. Reviews of Core War systems would be greatly appreciated in the newsgroup and in the newsletter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q12: I do not have ftp. How do I get all of this great stuff? A12: There is an ftp email server at ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. Send email with a subject and body text of "help" (without the quotes) for more information on its usage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q13: I do not have access to Usenet. How do I post and receive news? A13: A rec.games.corewar-specific server is in the works. Contact Jonathan Roy (faf@halcyon.com), Vice President of the Free Access Foundation, for more information. If you somehow receive rec.games.corewar but just can't post, you can email your post to rec-games-corewar@cs.utexas.edu and it will be automatically posted for you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q14: When is the next tournament? A14: The ICWS holds an annual tournament. Traditionally, the deadline for entering is the 15th of December. The EBS usually holds a preliminary tournament around the 15th of November and sends the top finishers on to the ICWS tournament. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q15: What is KOTH? How do I enter? A15: King Of The Hill (KOTH) is an ongoing Core War tournament available to anyone with email provided by William Shubert (wms@iwarp.intel.com). You enter by submitting via email a Redcode program with special comment lines. You will receive a reply indicating how well your program did against the current top twenty programs "on the hill". If your program finished in the top twenty, it will remain on the hill until such time as it finishes twenty-first against another challenger, at which time it "falls off" the hill. Entry rules for King of the Hill Corewar: 1) Write a corewar program. KotH is fully ICWS '88 compatible, EXCEPT that a comma (",") is required between two arguments. 2) Put the line ";redcode" at the top of your program. This MUST be the first line. Anything before it will be lost. If you wish to receive mail on every new entrant, use ";redcode verbose". Otherwise you will only receive mail if a challenger makes it onto the hill. Use ";redcode quiet" if you wish to receive mail only when you get shoved off the hill. (Also, see 5 below). Additionally, adding ";name " and ";author " will be helpful in the performance reports. Do NOT have a line beginning with ";address" in your code; this will confuse the mail daemon and you won't get mail back. In addition, it would be nice if you have lines beginning with ";strategy" that describe the algorithm you use. 3) Mail this file to "wms@iwarp.intel.com". 4) Within a few minutes you should get mail back telling you whether your program assembled correctly or not. If it did assemble correctly, sit back and wait; if not, make the change required and re-submit. 5) In an hour or so you should get more mail telling you how your program performed against the current top 20 programs. If no news arrives in an hour, don't worry; entries are put in a queue and run through the tournament one at a time. A backlog may develop. Be patient. If your program makes it onto the hill, you will get mail every time a new program makes it onto the hill. If this is too much mail, you can use ";redcode quiet" when you first mail in your program; then you will only get mail when you make it on the top 20 list or when you are knocked off. Using ";redcode verbose" will give you even more mail; here you get mail every time a new challenger arrives, even if they don't make it onto the top 20 list. Often programmers want to try out slight variations in their programs. If you already have a program named "foo V1.0" on the hill, adding the line ";kill foo" to a new program will automatically bump foo 1.0 off the hill. Just ";kill" will remove all of your programs when you submit the new one. MORE ON KOTH COREWAR IMPLEMENTATION Core size: 8 000 instructions Max processes: 8 000 per program Duration: After 80 000 cycles per program, a tie is declared. Max entry length: 100 instructions Programs are guaranteed a 100 instruction block (inclusive of their warrior's instructions) without overlapping their opponent. SAMPLE ENTRY: ;redcode ;name Dwarf ;author A. K. Dewdney ;strategy Throw DAT bombs around memory, hitting every 4th memory cell. ;strategy This program was presented in the first Corewar article. bomb DAT #0 dwarf ADD #4, bomb MOV bomb, @bomb JMP dwarf END dwarf ; Programs start at the first line unless ; an "END start" pseudo-op appears to indicate ; the first logical instruction. Also, nothing ; after the END instruction will be assembled. Rule variants for "eXperimental" corewar: The same as above but use ";redcode-x" to start your program. Your program will be entered into a second tournament with slightly different rules. The rules are: - All addressing modes are allowed with all instructions. - There is an additional addressing mode, called "postincrement". To use it try an instruction like "mov >5,6". - The maximum write distance is 250 instructions. That is, every time your program tries to modify memory, the address is checked; if it is more than 250 instructions from the process doing the modify, then memory is left unchanged, but the instruction continues as normal. - A tie is not declared until 150,000 cycles per program have elapsed. KotH runs on any Unix system with an X windows interface. The source code to KotH is available by email from William Shubert. Write to him at (wms@iwarp.intel.com) for a copy or get it by anonymous FTP from soda.berkeley.edu in the pub/corewar/systems directory. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q16: Is it DAT 0, 0 or DAT #0, #0? How do I compare to core? A16: Core is initialized to DAT 0, 0. This is an "illegal" instruction under ICWS'88 rules and strictly compliant assemblers (such as KotH) will not let you write a DAT 0, 0 instruction - only DAT #0, #0. So this begs the question, how to compare something to see if it is empty core. The answer is, most likely the instruction before your first instruction and the instruction after your last instruction are both DAT 0, 0. You can use them, or any other likely unmodified instructions, for comparison. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q17: How does SLT (Skip if Less Than) work? A17: SLT gives some people trouble because of the way modular arithmetic works. It is important to note that all negative numbers are converted to positive numbers before a battles begins. Example: (-1) becomes (M - 1) where M is the memory size. Once you realize that all numbers are treated as positive, it is clear what is meant by "less than". It should also be clear that no number is less than zero. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q18: What does (expression or term of your choice) mean? A18: Here is a selected glossary of terms. If you have a definition and/or term you wish to see here, please send it to me. (References to an X-like program mean that the term X is derived from the specific program X and has become a generic term). Bootstrapping - Strategy of copying the active portion of the program away from the initial location, leaving a decoy behind and making the relocated program as small as possible. B-Scanners - Scanners which only recognize non-zero B-fields. example add #10,scan scan jmz example,10 C - Measure of speed, equal to one location per cycle. Speed of light. CMP-Scanner - A Scanner which uses a CMP instruction to look for opponents. example add step,scan scan cmp 10,30 jmp attack jmp example step dat #20,#20 Color - Property of bombs making them visible to scanners, causing them to attack useless locations, thus slowing them down. example dat #100 Core-Clear - code that sequentially overwrites core with DAT instructions; usually the last part of a program. Decoys - Bogus or unused instructions meant to slow down Scanners. Typically, DATs with non-zero B-fields. DJN-Stream (also DJN-Train) - Using a DJN command to rapidly decrement core locations. example . . . . . . djn example,<4000 Dwarf - the prototypical small bomber. Imp - Program which only uses the MOV instruction. example MOV 0, 1 or example MOV 0, 2 MOV 0, 2 Imp-Gate - A location in core which is bombed or decremented continuously so that an Imp can not pass. Also used to describe the program-code which maintains the gate. example ... ... SPL 0, I'm a newcomer to Corewar, and having looked at several programs that have appeared here and on soda, I've come to the conclusion that a lot of people out there can give a lot of advice (probably most of it conflicting) on general Warrior design issues. I would _love_ to hear anything anyone had to say about any aspect of Warrior design that they felt that they were qualified to talk about. Just to throw a more focused question out there in addition to asking for any general advice, how do people recommend determining clever constants? For instance, I just watched Moonstone (by Dan Nabutovsky, posted here a little while back) gently slow down a coreclear, falling just short of itself at the 80,000 cycle mark. Dan, if you're listening, how in hell did you determine the constants required for that sort of precision? Thanks in advance! Jeremy Brown From: prechelt@ira.uka.de (Lutz Prechelt) Subject: Announcement: International KNOBELN contest Date: 24 Mar 1993 15:47:33 GMT Message-ID: <1opvqlINNbto@irau40.ira.uka.de> =============================================== First announcement of the 1st international KNOBELN --- Game-Strategy Programming Contest =============================================== This is an announcement for the KNOBELN-contest, taking place via e-mail on Saturday, May 8th, 1993 and on Sunday, May 16th, 1993. The contest is run at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, by Lutz Prechelt. Arbitrary teams can participate in the contest. PLEASE REDISTRIBUTE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AS WIDELY AS YOU LIKE. ----------------- Type of Contest: ----------------- To participate, you must program in C a strategy for a simple game and send it to me by email. The game is quite interesting since there clearly is no canonical best strategy (the success of a strategy depends on the behavior of all other participants). -------------- Rules of Game: -------------- 1. Both players (at the same time) chose an integer number in the interval a..b. This selection of two numbers is called a "throw". The players can watch each throw as it is made (i.e. they can know all numbers they and their opponent have thrown up to the current throw) Assumption: Player P choses p1 and player Q choses q1. 2. If p1 equals q1, nobody wins a point. 3. The player with the higher number wins, unless the number is more than twice as high as that of his opponent. Let's assume that p1 > q1, then P wins if 2*q1 >= p1 and Q wins if 2*q1 < p1. 4. A player who wins a throw with some number N gets floor(log2(N)) points in this throw. The other player gets 0 points in this throw. Example: if P wins, he/she gets floor(log2(p1)) points e.g. if p1 = 6800, player P gets 12 points. 5. A game consists of L throws. 6. Both players must throw series of non-decreasing throws. These series must (for each player individually) have a length of AT LEAST k throws. Example: If P1 throws (p1, p2, p3, .....) then p1 <= p2 <= p3 <= ... <= p(k) is required. After that, p(k) > p(k+1) is allowed. If p(k) > p(k+1) then p(k+1) <= p(k+2) <= ... <= p(k+k) is required. else there exists some smallest number j, with j > k for which p(j) > p(j+1) and then p(j+1) <= p(j+2) <= ... <= p(j+k) is required. and so on through the whole game. If for instance k = 3 then the sequence 1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 2 is allowed, while 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 1 is not ^ too early In this turnament the parameters are: a = 1, b = 12288, k = 8, L = 1000 -------------------- Rules of Tournament: -------------------- The tournament is performed in successive rounds with randomly mixed groups of 7 to 12 participants. Within each group, every strategy plays one game against every other strategy in that group. Those half of the participants (rounded up), that have won most points in their group (no matter how many their opponents got), proceed to the next round, which is played with newly mixed groups. The winners of the last round are the winners of the tournament; the results of previous rounds are discarded. Any strategy is allowed to fail once per round. Failing means doing anything that is disallowed according to the rules of the game. The game in question is immediately stopped, its intermediate results are discarded and it is rescheduled after all the other games currently scheduled for that group. If the strategy who failed had already failed before in the same round, the game is not rescheduled but the strategy is disqualified from the contest. All its remaining games in that round will not be carried out and all its previous games in that round will not be counted. This tournament is performed twice to find the winners of the contest: After the first tournament is performed, there is an eight day pause, during which the contestants can revise and change their strategy based on the game protocols of their games in the first contest (see below). Then the second tournament with identical rules and the same (or a reduced) set of participants is carried out. Those teams with the highest total rank in both tournaments will be announced as winners of the contest. See section 'requirements for programs' for additional rules. ---------------------------- Characteristics of the Game: ---------------------------- The method of counting within a game and the method of selecting the winners of a group have an interesting impact on the goal of a strategy: It must actually try to arrange a cooperation with its 'opponent', because otherwise none of the two will usually be able to win many points. It is NOT important to have more points than the opponent in any single game. Instead it is important to have more points than the other strategies on the average. The problem of programming a strategy could thus be formulated as How do I (quickly) arrange a cooperation with a machine partner, if there is no predefined protocol to do so and the only communication channel is mutual exchange of integers, one at a time ? It is clear, that there exists no optimal strategy: It is impossible to guarantee that a strategy A is able to arrange a cooperation with a strategy B, even if both are perfectly willing to cooperate in principle. This is true because both strategies have to 'guess' what might be suitable protocols to communicate. The two strategies of a game should together form a self-organizing system that organizes for cooperation. I think this makes the contest very interesting. By the way: This game is probably interesting to play with human players, too. ------------------------------ How to Announce Participation: ------------------------------ If you want to participate in the contest, send email of the following form: --- To: prechelt@ira.uka.de Subject: registration for KNOBELN email-address: ourname@machine.domain.alfdkj mail-preference: LAP,LGP,DGP,GRR team-name: the_heavy_lords_of_knobeln Organization: University of Northeast Sacrodata team-members: Joe Cool, 45, professional systems programmer, 20-year-experienced programmer Jane More, 20, graduate student of computer science, hackeress fluent in 34 programming languages Mona Morn, 35, Professor of CS, hobby game strategy programmer Bill Neat, 24, undergraduate student of psychology, advanced beginner (will be my first C program!) --- Please use this format exactly as shown. - "email-address" gives the email address that uniquely identifies the team, it should be an internet domain style address. - "mail-preference" is a comma-separated list of some of the following declarators: LAP send list of all participants (full registration format) LGP send list of my groups' participants (team names only) DGP send detailed game protocol for each of my games (every throw) GRP send game result (points) for each of my games GRG send group result (all games of all participants) GRR send group result (ranking) - "team-name" can be any string that is a valid C identifier of at most 50 characters and should be a funny name for the team. - "Organization" should be the name of the institution the team is at or something else sensible, if no such thing exists. - "team-members" should contain a two-line informal description of each member of the team, giving his/her name, age in years, occupation, programming background, in this order. Team size should be anywhere between 1 and 20. Personnel should not be shared among teams. When I receive your registration, I will send an answer either (a) that your registration is not accepted, (e.g. because there are already too many participants registered), or (b) that your registration is accepted and your authentification string is . I may also tell you that I have slightly modified your team name, if it conflicts with an already registered one. Notes: - If you are unable to send email to me or if I am unable to send email to you, you can not participate in the contest. Please use only Internet domain style email addresses. - Notification of acceptance or rejection will usually be sent within 72 hours. I reserve the right to limit participation of multiple teams from the same organization. - You must keep the authentification string carefully. It will be used to check, whether a strategy that swears to come from your team really does (see below "Sending Programs"). ----------------- Sending Programs: ----------------- To send in the first version or a new version of your program, send me email of the following form: ---- To: prechelt@ira.uka.de Subject: please compile /* <> team_name authentification_string */ /* your source code goes here */ ---- <> has to be given exactly as shown. The same is true for the "Subject:". For insert the name of your team as given in the registration. For insert the string that I sent you with the registration acknowledge. Your program will be compiled automatically a few minutes after your email arrives and you will be sent a report about the results of the compilation. A successfully compiled program is automatically stored to be used in the contest. The latest version is used always. --------------------------- Requirements for programs: --------------------------- 1. Pure C (Ansi or KR), i.e., no library routines called, except int init_random () int log2 (int number) int next_random (int low, int high) int make_throw (int my_throw) int count_points (int throw1, int throw2, int *points1, int *points2); (You will receive a detailed description of these functions upon registration) 2. Must be compilable with GNU C compiler (gcc). 3. Must be in a single file, no #includes 4. Must have at most 10000 lexical elements (after preprocessing) Lexical elements are: identifier, keyword, number, string denoter, char denoter, special character NO lexical elements (i.e. not counted) are: blank, Tab, newline, comment 5. The size of the process that runs the program must not grow beyond 1024 kB on a SUN 4/25 running SUN OS 4.1. The value used to test this is the one shown by 'ps -u' in the column labeled 'SZ' (SIZE). 6. Must finish every game of 1000 throws in less than 60 seconds of cpu time on a SUN 4/25 (which has about 20 SPECmarks). ------------------------------ Recommendations for programs: ------------------------------ 1. Should not use floating point operations. (Or you do it on your own risk) 2. Should be infinite loop (i.e. need not terminate after 1000 throws) ----------------------- Technical Environment: ----------------------- In order to write and hand-test a strategy, you need the definitions of the library procedures mentioned above, called 'knobellib.c'. The source code for these functions is only 130 lines and will be sent to you via email with the notification of acceptance of your registration. Link your strategy with this module, but do not include the source code of the module into your strategy or else it will be rejected. If you want to run complete games between two strategies in the same kind of environment that will be used in the actual contest, you need the source code of the 'knobeln' program. You will need an ANSI-C compiler and a UNIX machine in order to compile and run it. There are two ways to get this source code (about 22 kB): 1. To get 'knobeln.c' by anonymous ftp (prefered method), fetch it from Sanfrancisco.ira.uka.de [129.13.13.110]: /pub/knobeln.c 2. To get 'knobeln.c' by mailserver, send email of the following form: --- To: prechelt@ira.uka.de Subject: SEND knobeln.c --- -------------------- The Actual Contest: -------------------- The actual tournaments will be run at the dates given below. At some time before, every team has to send its strategy as described above. It will be compiled and linked automatically, and you will receive a report about the success of this procedure or any problems that occur. This automatic compilation feature is disabled during the tournaments. During the contest, all participants will receive information about what happens, if they have announced a corresponding mail-preference upon registration: After every game, a detailed throw protocol or a short game result file (giving only the points at the end) is sent to both participants (if requested by their mail-preference, see in 'Registration' above); after every round the group summary is sent to all members of that group (if requested by their mail-preference). ------------- Legal Issues: ------------- By applying for registrations all members of a team assert that they understand and agree with the following points: 1. All participants of the last round of one of the tournaments will send a verbal description of how their strategy works (length 100 to 500 words) after the contest. 2. The team members allow the organizer of the contest to publish all or part of the information contained in the strategy program and in the strategy description. Such publication will mention the contest context and will give credit to the team by mentioning the team name or the team's organization or the names of one or several team members. ---------------- Important Dates: ---------------- 93/03/28 beginning of registration 93/03/31 beginning of registration acknowledge 93/03/31 beginning of compilation service 93/05/07 registration deadline 93/05/08 first tournament of contest 93/05/16 second tournament of contest 93/05/20 Results posted to Usenet: rec.games.misc, misc.misc Relevant time of day is noon, Universal Time (UT, GMT), for all dates. Good luck and have fun ! Lutz -- Lutz Prechelt (email: prechelt@ira.uka.de) | Whenever you Institut fuer Programmstrukturen und Datenorganisation | complicate things, Universitaet Karlsruhe; D-7500 Karlsruhe 1; Germany | they get (Voice: ++49/721/608-4068, FAX: ++49/721/694092) | less simple. From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack) Subject: Re: Strategy Tips Message-ID: Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1993 17:32:55 GMT In article <1op1sdINN8j7@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU> jhbrown@athena.mit.edu (Jeremy H Brown) writes: >Just to throw a more focused question out there in addition to asking >for any general advice, how do people recommend determining clever >constants? > Good question. I am sure everyone here has their own special tools for determining ideal constants; here's what I do: Step 1: Determine bomb/scan increments for optimum spread. Nandor Sieben started us off by introducing his s(a) algorithm; later Andy Pierce came up with fibonacci constants. These two measures of spread give similar results, but fail to account for the length of the target program. I just use a small C-program that simulates scanning for a target of size N (or range of sizes) and reports the average number of scan/bomb cycles until the target is hit. While this is compute-intensive, it allows me to chose constants optimized for a certain size opponent (i.e. stone). Step 2: Determine optimum offset to code. Once optimal increments have been determined, the offset of scan/bomb constants to the code may need to be adjusted. In Dan's Moonstone, "mov 7,<-7" has to land at he right place at the right time to initiate coreclear. Another example is adjusting the offset of the DJN-train in CMP-scanners, such that the program doesn't waste time bombing its own decoy. For this purpose, I use a second program that, given scan/bomb increment (and scan interval for CMP-scan), will determine for every core location how many cycle it takes to scan/bomb that location and spits out a map. I'd like to hear of other approaches. Cheers, Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu) From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu Subject: _Push Off_ Message-ID: <1993Mar24.122740.1@acad.drake.edu> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1993 18:27:40 GMT _PUSH OFF_ A midweek review of Corewar March 24, 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. The Standings: # %W/ %L/ %T Name Author Score Age 1 50/ 39/ 11 Agony 5.0 Stefan Strack 161 4 2 49/ 40/ 10 Medusa's v7 Mintardjo & Strack 158 123 3 39/ 20/ 42 It nandor sieben 157 1140 4 48/ 40/ 13 Iron Gate Wayne Sheppard 155 786 5 46/ 39/ 15 Eclipse II P.Kline 154 100 6 38/ 25/ 37 Imprimis 6 P.Kline 151 230 7 43/ 38/ 19 Grimm's Vampyre c w blue 148 38 8 35/ 23/ 42 +0 Stormbringer Dan Nabutovsky 147 1260 9 42/ 38/ 20 New Shears W. Mintardjo 146 22 10 35/ 25/ 40 Sphinx v2.8 W. Mintardjo 146 828 11 35/ 24/ 41 Night Wayne Sheppard 146 869 12 43/ 42/ 15 Sucker 5 Stefan Strack 145 1124 13 35/ 28/ 37 Pippin V 1.1 Arno Fuhlendorf 142 11 14 43/ 44/ 13 Paratroops v2.1 W. Mintardjo 142 191 15 42/ 44/ 15 sub-type-cmp c w blue 140 2 16 40/ 41/ 18 Moonstone 1 Dan Nabutovsky 140 54 17 40/ 40/ 20 Leprechaun 1b Anders Ivner 139 742 18 39/ 43/ 18 Herem II Anders Ivner 136 604 19 39/ 44/ 17 sub-type-ps c w blue 134 37 20 6/ 40/ 54 v5 j.layland 73 1 21 11/ 84/ 5 hungry hippo Greg Stark 37 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. The Basics: -Core War Archives are available via anonymous FTP at soda.berkeley.edu in pub/corewar... -FAQ for this newsgroup is available via anonymous FTP at rtfm.mit.edu as pub/usenet/news.answers/games/corewar-faq.z ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. The Scoop: The great mixing bowl we call 'King of the Hill' was whipped furiously this week, and one long-time competitor was slopped out (hey, you try coming up with the metaphors!): 21 38/ 51/ 11 Charon v8.1 Cisek,Strack,Kline 124 629 Charon has had a long and successful run, was killed by imps, then reprogrammed back to the top, but has been on the skids the last couple of weeks. It is a prime example of teamwork, as Stefan and I took a turn at beefing up JC's original concept. We would add a fourth author, but there aren't any more consonants in CiSeK! :-) What's next for Charon? Maybe a decoy (ignore those groans from SS). Maybe a gate? Or maybe just a new constant. Maybe someone could figure out how to eliminate the jmp instruction I added to get the extended scan time. I waited a few days and resubmitted Charon, but it only lasted seven challenges, so the current version is dead dead dead. Charon's demise is due in part to the hard work on the part of many to create a successful stone fighter. Stones are always hard on scanners and there have been quite a few tried on the Hill recently. Then along comes Dan Nabutovsky to show how it's done. His 'Moonstone' program (source just published - everyone send him a thank-you) is riding high on the Hill, and looks like it has staying power. Moonstone is not as small as earlier bombers, and also differs in its amazingly small bomb-step size, and simplified gate. It has a very interesting, compact, phase-switching mechanism which is worth studying. (Uh-Oh, latest standings show Moonstone dropping, anyone going to 'fess up and tell us why?) '+0 Stormbringer', current endurance champ, took a near-fall along with former high-riding 'Sphinx v2.8' and sometime leader 'Night', but, once again the imps out-tough the challengers. (Too late to name it Methuselah now, DN) 14 42/ 47/ 11 Glass House j.layland 136 17 15 32/ 29/ 39 Night Wayne Sheppard 135 806 16 39/ 44/ 18 Herem II Anders Ivner 134 541 17 39/ 44/ 17 Grimm's Vampyre c w blue 134 8 18 31/ 29/ 39 Sphinx v2.8 W. Mintardjo 133 765 19 30/ 29/ 41 +0 Stormbringer Dan Nabutovsky 131 1197 20 28/ 34/ 38 Pippin V 1.1 Arno Fuhlendorf 123 23 Speaking of rankings, here's an interesting Top Ten, proving that both old and new programs are enjoying their successes (longevity on the right): 1 47/ 44/ 9 Medusa's v7 Mintardjo & Strack 150 82 2 47/ 45/ 8 prototype Stefan Strack 149 1 3 44/ 40/ 16 Moonstone 1 Dan Nabutovsky 148 13 4 39/ 29/ 32 Imprimis 6 P.Kline 148 189 5 46/ 46/ 8 Agony 4.1 Stefan Strack 146 153 6 36/ 27/ 37 It nandor sieben 146 1099 7 45/ 44/ 11 Iron Gate Wayne Sheppard 146 745 8 43/ 42/ 14 Sucker 5 Stefan Strack 144 1083 9 44/ 47/ 9 Paratroops v2.1 W. Mintardjo 142 150 10 35/ 28/ 37 +0 Stormbringer Dan Nabutovsky 142 1219 Best pun of the week (non-native English-speakers please bear with): A challenger has arrived on the hill! Vital statistics: Program "Consumption" (length 100) by "Arno Fuhlendorf" (contact address "fuhlendo@rho.uleth.ca"): ;strategy consumption be done about all these imps S. Strack is proving that the NAME is everything in CoreWars. His 'prototype' program consistently scores higher than the same code put up as 'Agony'. Just part of the fun, right Stefan? (Uh-Oh again, latest standings put Agony 5.0 solidly on the top!) A. Pierce put in an appearance this week. Giving 'Twill' a try, Andy? Got to make it imp-proof :-) U. Koistinen! Do not give up so easy! Program "Impkiller 0.2" (length 8) by "Urban Koistinen" (contact address "md85-epi@nada.kth.se"): ;strategy 1. Bomb with spl -1 ;strategy 2. Bomb with dat ;strategy 3. coreclear ;strategy 4. kill self Hey, Albert Ma, leave the removing to the competition! Program "testimp" (length 45) by "Albert Ma (stone by P.Kline)" (contact address "ama@Athena.MIT.EDU"): ;strategy just testing the viability of imps on hill ;strategy imp launch is my own (reverse engineered) ;strategy stone is from Imprimis 6 ;strategy if this actually makes it on the hill ;strategy I will remove it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. The Outlook: 2 48/ 44/ 8 Medusa's v7 Mintardjo & Strack 152 1 3 44/ 38/ 17 sub-type-v2 c w blue 150 1 7 41/ 38/ 21 Grimm's Vampyre c w blue 143 1 8 43/ 40/ 17 sub-type-ps c w blue 146 1 3 47/ 44/ 9 Medusa's v6 Mintardjo & Strack 150 1 4 47/ 42/ 12 Eclipse II P.Kline 151 1 5 46/ 45/ 9 Juggernaut v1.3 Anders Ivner 146 1 5 45/ 45/ 10 Agony 4.2 Stefan Strack 146 1 7 43/ 41/ 16 Moonstone 1 Dan Nabutovsky 146 1 1 47/ 43/ 10 prototype Stefan Strack 152 1 10 36/ 29/ 34 Pippin V 1.1 Arno Fuhlendorf 143 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. The Quick Look: 21 0/ 72/ 27 Split loyalties Janne Lindblad 28 0 21 37/ 62/ 1 bs1 j.layland 112 0 21 14/ 76/ 10 Janne Trivial 2 J.Lindblad 52 0 21 30/ 52/ 18 SkullBong Chris Parrinello 107 0 21 11/ 37/ 52 Test W. Mintardjo 86 0 21 22/ 67/ 11 Kossa-Larma3 Ziad 76 0 19 35/ 45/ 20 vc j.layland 126 1 21 36/ 53/ 11 BS test j.layland 120 0 21 4/ 93/ 3 DL test j.layland 16 0 21 11/ 40/ 49 Test W. Mintardjo 81 0 20 8/ 52/ 40 Gala V1.0 Chris Parrinello 64 1 21 1/ 47/ 53 r test j.layland 54 0 20 33/ 55/ 13 rock j.layland 110 1 21 15/ 53/ 33 Spitfire Alex MacAulay 76 0 20 35/ 42/ 23 Consumption V2.0 Arno Fuhlendorf 127 1 18 32/ 33/ 35 Pippin Arno Fuhlendorf 131 1 21 23/ 74/ 3 SkullBong Chris Parrinello 72 0 21 2/ 25/ 73 test Andy Pierce 78 0 21 10/ 83/ 7 Emeretta Magnus 36 0 21 33/ 54/ 14 Bampire Unknown 112 0 21 10/ 38/ 52 Test W. Mintardjo 81 0 21 5/ 52/ 43 Heap-imp James Jesensky 58 0 21 19/ 78/ 3 Radioactivity Fredrik Oehrstroem 60 0 21 4/ 60/ 35 Signal-gun 1.1 James Jesensky 49 0 21 9/ 68/ 23 Acid 3.0 James Jesensky 51 0 21 22/ 33/ 45 Gala V2.3 Chris Parrinello 110 0 21 6/ 63/ 32 2 James Jesensky 48 0 21 10/ 76/ 14 Ham 1.0 James Jesensky 43 0 21 13/ 84/ 3 Critters 2.0 James Jesensky 42 0 20 36/ 46/ 18 DumbLuck j.layland 125 1 21 19/ 66/ 15 vc j.layland 73 0 13 41/ 45/ 14 sub-type-v2 c w blue 138 1 10 42/ 40/ 18 New Shears W. Mintardjo 143 1 21 4/ 72/ 24 Emeretta Magnus 36 0 20 31/ 65/ 4 ice Ziad 96 1 21 18/ 78/ 3 wice Ziad 59 0 17 34/ 31/ 35 Pippin V 1.1 Arno Fuhlendorf 136 1 21 8/ 68/ 23 Polly Magnus Sandberg 48 0 21 15/ 49/ 36 test j.layland 80 0 20 39/ 58/ 3 Glass House 1.1 j.layland 120 1 21 30/ 57/ 13 toy j.layland 102 0 16 40/ 48/ 12 Glass House j.layland 132 1 21 9/ 49/ 42 Gala V2.3 Chris Parrinello 69 0 21 20/ 72/ 8 v j.layland 69 0 21 2/ 98/ 0 simple E.Leblanc 7 0 21 13/ 48/ 39 Gala V3.0 Chris Parrinello 78 0 19 38/ 46/ 16 sub-type-cmp c w blue 129 1 21 12/ 86/ 1 Killer Fredrik 38 0 21 5/ 62/ 33 Husvagn Ziad 47 0 21 33/ 60/ 8 ice2 Ziad 106 0 21 1/ 83/ 16 Husvagn2 Ziad 19 0 21 5/ 52/ 44 Fall Ziad 58 0 20 24/ 58/ 18 Quasit c w blue 90 1 20 34/ 60/ 6 Test Wayne Sheppard 107 1 21 31/ 61/ 9 sub-type-v4 c w blue 101 0 20 33/ 49/ 18 sub-type-v3 c w blue 118 1 21 0/ 71/ 29 Imp 1.1 Urban Koistinen 29 0 21 5/ 53/ 41 Grue c w blue 57 0 21 21/ 74/ 4 Impkiller 0.5 Urban Koistinen 68 0 21 18/ 42/ 40 sub-type-aix c w blue 94 0 21 35/ 46/ 19 Dragon Spear c w blue 123 0 21 22/ 61/ 17 sub-type-c c w blue 84 0 20 30/ 36/ 35 Construction Paper c w blue 124 1 19 40/ 51/ 9 sub-type-s c w blue 128 1 17 41/ 45/ 15 sub-type-n c w blue 137 1 19 34/ 49/ 17 sub-type-cmp c w blue 118 1 20 31/ 36/ 33 testimp Albert Ma (stone by 127 1 21 0/ 55/ 44 Simple Impule J. Burke 45 0 21 35/ 49/ 16 sub-type-cmp c w blue 121 0 21 23/ 60/ 17 sub-type-aix c w blue 87 0 21 25/ 39/ 37 testimp2 Albert Ma 111 0 21 31/ 56/ 13 testc Stefan Strack 106 0 21 32/ 59/ 9 ice2 Ziad 105 0 21 25/ 68/ 7 Killer Fredrik Oehrstroem 81 0 21 11/ 49/ 40 Gala V3.0 Chris Parrinello 72 0 21 25/ 69/ 6 Killer Fredrik Oehrstroem 80 0 19 43/ 53/ 3 Glass House 1.3 j.layland 133 1 20 31/ 56/ 12 CraMPon c w blue 107 1 20 1/ 65/ 34 Stabb In The Back v2.0 James B. Burke 38 1 21 4/ 82/ 14 zc j.layland 26 0 19 42/ 47/ 11 Charon v8.1 Cisek,Strack,Kline 137 1 21 11/ 66/ 23 CraMPon c w blue 57 0 21 21/ 78/ 1 cc2 j.layland 65 0 21 17/ 36/ 47 Test W. Mintardjo 98 0 21 32/ 47/ 22 stone2d Sasha Wait 117 0 21 19/ 49/ 32 stone2e Sasha Wait 89 0 17 39/ 43/ 18 New Shears W. Mintardjo 136 1 21 30/ 50/ 20 stone2d Sasha Wait 109 0 21 30/ 47/ 23 test Andy Pierce 113 0 21 28/ 50/ 22 stone2f Sasha Wait 106 0 21 26/ 53/ 21 stone2g Sasha Wait 99 0 21 21/ 55/ 25 stone2h Sasha Wait 87 0 21 17/ 81/ 1 Puppy I Greg S. Stark 53 0 21 0/ 89/ 11 Sit Urban Koistinen 11 0 21 2/ 98/ 0 None Urban Koistinen 7 0 21 32/ 46/ 22 DLT j.layland 119 0 21 9/ 71/ 20 strangler Cormac Walsh 46 0 21 22/ 76/ 2 DLT2 j.layland 68 0 21 18/ 69/ 13 Simplex-2 Sami Tammilehto 67 0 21 18/ 79/ 3 Dithyramb v0.5 Matthew K. Gray 57 0 21 12/ 85/ 3 BlindMan v0.1 Matthew K. Gray 39 0 21 9/ 88/ 3 BlindMan v0.3 Matthew K. Gray 30 0 21 21/ 77/ 2 Puppy v0.5 Greg S. Stark and Ma 65 0 21 16/ 71/ 14 Scoop v1.0 Matthew K. Gray 61 0 21 17/ 82/ 1 Cerberus v1.0 Matthew K. Gray 51 0 20 15/ 84/ 2 hungry hippo Greg Stark 45 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. The Hint: Optimal-shmoptimal. Dan Nabutovsky is using 7 as a bombing increment step with great success in Moonstone. There really is a lot to be explored out there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. The End: Paul Kline pk6811s@acad.drake.edu From: consp07@bingsunn.cc.binghamton.edu (consp07) Subject: deluxe version 13 Message-ID: <1oqeba$i4@bingsunn.cc.binghamton.edu> Date: 24 Mar 93 19:55:22 GMT Has anyone tried Scott Adkins v.13 deluxe corewars simulator? It compiles just fine, but when running it with the supplied dwarf redcode, the simulation just sits there, not displaying any bombs whatsoever? Any answers welcome. Thanks. -- | Consp07@bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu will reach Sir Paul Bobby| From: driver8@night.Corp.Sun.COM (Albert Handa) Subject: Apple Version Date: 24 Mar 1993 20:39:37 GMT Message-ID: <1oqgu9INNl0@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM> I have an Apple version of Corewar, from a shareware company. I know it`s try and buy, but I can't seem to get any help files open in it to get started. Does anyone have this version and can give me advice on it? Al From: loydb@fnordbox.UUCP (Loyd Blankenship) Subject: ftp Message-ID: Date: 25 Mar 93 02:17:48 CST I've recentley tried to grab a copy of MADgic41.lzh off of soda (from the directory pub/corewars/systems/), and got an error. I'm looking for an Amiga implementation of Core War, and was under the impression that it was the most current. If not, if someone would email the the correct info, I'd appreciate it. Also, I grabbed the two tutorial files (tutorial.1.Z & tutorial.2.Z), but I can't seem to get gnutar to decompress them. If anyone could email the text versions of these, I'd appreciate it. Loyd *************************************************************************** * loydb@fnordbox.UUCP SJ Games: 1 * Loyd Blankenship * * GEnie: SJGAMES US Secret Service: 0 * PO Box 18957 * * Compu$erve: [73407,515] * Austin, TX 78760 * * cs.utexas.edu!dogface!fnordbox!loydb * 512/447-7866 * *************************************************************************** From: consp07@bingsunn.cc.binghamton.edu (consp07) Subject: debugging tool for a corewar program Message-ID: <1p05on$2lp@bingsunn.cc.binghamton.edu> Date: 27 Mar 93 00:05:43 GMT Hi. Greenhorn here. That actual screen display etc, is not my main concern as far as writing good redcode, I want a good debugger. Anyone know the best corewar program out there that has a good debugger? Save me some time instead of downloading them all. Unix, msdos or macintosh, I'm not bothered, as long as it steps properly through the programs, and I can see where everything jumps to and so forth. -- | Consp07@bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu will reach Sir Paul Bobby| Date: Sunday, 28 Mar 1993 14:03:07 MST From: Message-ID: <93087.140307ASMQK@ASUACAD.BITNET> Subject: Re: debugging tool for a corewar program Check out 0readme.1st in the system directory. Nandor. From: ASMQK@ASUACAD.BITNET Subject: mars88 Message-ID: <93087.135403ASMQK@ASUACAD.BITNET> Date: 28 Mar 93 20:54:02 GMT I have uploaded the new version of mars88 to soda. Mars88 is an ICWS'88 Core War system for PC compatibles with menu-driven user interface, high resolution ( every core location is visible ) core display, 3-panel disassembler, tasklist viewer, built in editor. It requires ega or vga for the core display and the disassembler but otherwise works in text mode. 640 K RAM is highly recommended if you use the built in editor. To change coresize, maxtask, cycles, editor, colors, beep, edit the mars88.int file. New features: mouse-driven disassembler (works without a mouse as well), breakpoint, maximal tasklistsize now 9000 thanks to a new tasklist structure, about 1/5 faster if there are lots of spl's . 8 different kinds of core display (write,decrement,read on/off) try <1>,<2>,<3> in high res mode. Different color on dat statement. Please send me your opinion, suggestion. Nandor Sieben aznxs@asuacad.bitnet From: sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu (Scott W. Adkins) Subject: Re: deluxe version 13 Message-ID: <1993Mar29.020455.25377@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu> Date: 29 Mar 93 02:04:55 GMT In article <1oqeba$i4@bingsunn.cc.binghamton.edu> consp07@bingsunn.cc.binghamton.edu (consp07) writes: > >Has anyone tried Scott Adkins v.13 deluxe corewars simulator? > >It compiles just fine, but when running it with the supplied dwarf redcode, the >simulation just sits there, not displaying any bombs whatsoever? Ok, I am releasing the next version in a few minutes. I am sorry about a few things... namely, I *still* don't have any documentation for it (*but* I *do* have lots of command line help!). I also do not have all of the command line options completely finished and I do not have configuration files done. I will get to all of this later on this quarter (or summer if it comes down to it). This version is a complete rewrite of the previous package and contains no code from the older release. It supports both xwindows and curses, and it can be used for those unlucky people who don't have either. The program will also compile with Borland C on the IBM PC! It doesn't have graphics yet, but that will come later. Just compile it with the ANSI option (which also works for Unix as welL!) and you are set. I have worked very hard to make this program run as fast as possible (still not as fast as KotH though!) and as easy on memory as possible. Believe it or not, this version is twice as fast as the previous version! This release will be called Core Wars Deluxe v2.0Alpha, since it is not yet complete. I will get time to work on it more later, but I am quite busy at the moment. Please send me mail on bugs and anything else related to it. Send mail to "sadkins@ohiou.edu" (yes, that address now works again!) You can find it at soda.berkeley.edu in the /pub/corewar/systems directory! Please enjoy and have lots of fun with it. Though there is little docs with it, I think it will be self documenting. Oh, one other word... it has a default path of "./CODE" when looking for warriors to run. I though it would be nice to keep the directory half-way clean :-) And to answer the above question more or less... the display will show all bombings, and is now rather nice. (Oh, I forgot to mention... my program will compile on BSD systems, SYSV systems, Linux, 386BSD, and IBM PC's. It will also compile with gcc and cc compilers. I took great pains to be very compatible with everything... that means no warnings!) Enough said, Scott -- Scott W. Adkins Internet: sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ak323@cleveland.freenet.edu Ohio University of Athens Bitnet: adkins@ouaccvma.bitnet From: sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu (Scott W. Adkins) Subject: Valentine Tournament and other Neat News Message-ID: <1993Mar29.023932.29326@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu> Date: 29 Mar 93 02:39:32 GMT Ok, I am getting myself back on my feet now... (about time, eh?) Which means the tournament will start back up (whatever happened to my promises... ugh) I will release the results this week, since many have wondered what happened to them. I promise it won't happen again (but even I don't believe me these days). The delays were due to the fact that the finals week, last week of classes, etc meant that I had to do *real* work, which I often don't do. Not only will the tournament be back, but I will also be releasing the library of redcode that has been stacking up! I have been keeping up with this group and have added all the posted code to the library. Watch for the announcement later on this week. My newest Deluxe package has now been released (though imcomplete it is). If my memory serves me right, the only things missing compared to the older version is the config files and all of the tournament mode options (which were almost done). Over all, this package is still a vastly improved version and more powerful... you can find it at soda.berkeley.edu in the incoming directory (for now) and will be soon in the systems directory (i.e. /pub/corewar/incoming --> /pub/corewar/systems). Have fun! Scott -- Scott W. Adkins Internet: sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ak323@cleveland.freenet.edu Ohio University of Athens Bitnet: adkins@ouaccvma.bitnet From: bas@phys.uva.nl (Bas de Bakker) Subject: Re: debugging tool for a corewar program Message-ID: Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1993 14:53:22 GMT >>>>> On 27 Mar 93 00:05:43 GMT, consp07@bingsunn.cc.binghamton.edu >>>>> (consp07) said: c> Hi. Greenhorn here. That actual screen display etc, is not my main c> concern as far as writing good redcode, I want a good debugger. c> Anyone know the best corewar program out there that has a good c> debugger? Save me some time instead of downloading them all. Unix, c> msdos or macintosh, I'm not bothered, as long as it steps properly c> through the programs, and I can see where everything jumps to and c> so forth. Although I don't have experience with many corewar programs, I think King of the Hill (Unix/X11) does a good job at this. It allows you to single step through the programs and examine the instructions/data in the core. Look in soda.berkeley.edu:/pub/corewar/systems for something starting with koth. Bas. From: ch_hayhurst@vax.cns.muskingum.edu Subject: neophyte's questions Message-ID: <1993Mar30.143119.4886@vax.cns.muskingum.edu> Date: 30 Mar 93 14:31:19 -0500 Hello there, this newsgroup looks like it is interesting and I was wondering how I could jump in and participate in CoreWar. Is there an FAQ list to answer these kind of questions? If so, which FTP site can I get it from, or is it posted? I would like to find out more and any information would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Chris From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu Subject: _Push Off_ Message-ID: <1993Mar31.100130.1@acad.drake.edu> Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1993 16:01:30 GMT _PUSH OFF_ A midweek review of Corewar March 31, 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. The Standings: # %W/ %L/ %T Name Author Score Age 1 50/ 40/ 9 Agony 5.1 Stefan Strack 161 67 2 48/ 41/ 11 Dragon Spear c w blue 155 15 3 37/ 22/ 40 It nandor sieben 152 1223 4 47/ 42/ 11 Iron Gate Wayne Sheppard 152 869 5 48/ 44/ 8 Medusa's v7 Mintardjo & Strack 152 206 6 42/ 34/ 24 Nurgle c w blue 149 5 7 36/ 27/ 37 Imprimis 6 P.Kline 146 313 8 35/ 26/ 39 +0 Stormbringer Dan Nabutovsky 143 1343 9 35/ 26/ 39 Night Wayne Sheppard 143 952 10 35/ 27/ 39 Sphinx v2.8 W. Mintardjo 143 911 11 42/ 44/ 14 Paratroops v2.1 W. Mintardjo 141 274 12 40/ 41/ 18 Leprechaun 1b Anders Ivner 140 825 13 43/ 46/ 11 Eclipse II P.Kline 139 183 14 40/ 41/ 19 Moonstone 1 Dan Nabutovsky 139 137 15 40/ 43/ 17 New Shears W. Mintardjo 137 105 16 40/ 45/ 14 Sucker 5 Stefan Strack 135 1207 17 36/ 43/ 21 Meteor v3.0 W. Mintardjo 130 26 18 35/ 44/ 21 Grimm's Vampyre c w blue 127 22 19 36/ 47/ 17 Herem II Anders Ivner 124 687 20 30/ 44/ 26 Harm c w blue 116 1 21 30/ 57/ 13 Blofeld Fredrik \hrstr|m 103 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. The Basics: -Core War Archives are available via anonymous FTP at soda.berkeley.edu in pub/corewar... -FAQ for this newsgroup is available via anonymous FTP at rtfm.mit.edu as pub/usenet/news.answers/games/corewar-faq.z ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. The Scoop: Nandor Sieben and Scott Adkin share the headlines this week for releasing new versions of their Corewars simulators, Mars88 and Corewars Deluxe. These are the guys that make it possible for many of us to play CoreWars in the privacy of our own homes, and deserve abundant appreciation and thank-yous. Okay, JN, how about that long-promised release of Core! 2.0 for the Macintosh! :-) Two classic programs made attempts on the Hill this week, Mice and IMP: 21 19/ 47/ 34 Mice -- the classic progr not Jack Twilley 91 20 1/ 44/ 56 IMP A. K. Dewdney 57 Mice could not find enough stationary bombers to chew up, and got eaten up by scanners and vamps. IMP never could WIN games, only tie, and is handicapped by the scoring system which only gives one point for ties (three for wins). The Hill is also inoculated against imps with many programs incorporating imp-gates and other strategies. A. Pierce tried a variation on the basic IMP with a bit more success, but also failed to make it on KotH: 21 32/ 40/ 28 Imps! Andy Pierce 124 S.Strack finally got his stars in the right alignment with a new version of Agony: 1 56/ 36/ 8 Agony 5.1 Stefan Strack 175 It's been a long time since we saw 50% wins, and Agony 5.1 has had several such reports already - congrats! Also note, 'Dragon Spear' by CW Blue is not far behind. Blue's 'Nurgle' fighter (a bomber?) is also in the top 10 this week - kudos! The imp-spirals took a break this week as competitors focused on honing their existing programs. Looks like W. Sheppard's 'Night' is about to break the magic 1000-challenge barrier. Night weathered some serious attacks in earlier weeks, but is having easy sailing now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. The Outlook: 3 48/ 41/ 10 sub-type-cmp c w blue 155 1 1 50/ 40/ 10 Dragon Spear c w blue 160 1 6 39/ 31/ 30 Stoned Again c w blue 146 1 4 42/ 33/ 25 Nurgle c w blue 151 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. The Quick Look: 21 27/ 52/ 21 D j.layland 102 0 20 26/ 60/ 14 tm j.layland 92 1 19 35/ 42/ 22 v5 j.layland 129 1 21 2/ 67/ 31 vc j.layland 37 0 20 1/ 44/ 56 IMP A. K. Dewdney 57 1 11 42/ 43/ 15 dp2 Stefan Strack 141 1 20 37/ 47/ 16 dp3 Stefan Strack 126 1 21 26/ 71/ 3 Burp Jack Twilley 81 0 20 33/ 42/ 26 Harm c w blue 123 1 21 29/ 61/ 10 ice2 Ziad 97 0 21 21/ 64/ 15 mite Cormac Walsh 78 0 21 19/ 64/ 17 mite Cormac Walsh 74 0 20 35/ 45/ 20 test nandor 126 1 20 25/ 46/ 30 test j.layland 104 1 16 39/ 44/ 17 test nandor sieben 134 1 20 19/ 55/ 27 Demon Cormac Walsh 83 1 20 18/ 74/ 8 Sloth Hank Turowski 62 1 21 22/ 51/ 28 test2 j.layland 93 0 21 19/ 55/ 26 test3 j.layland 83 0 19 36/ 43/ 21 Zoiks! C. Parrinello 129 1 15 42/ 47/ 11 cproba nandor sieben 137 1 21 1/ 47/ 52 pepper Hank Turowski 55 0 21 30/ 57/ 13 Blofeld Fredrik \hrstr|m 103 0 21 11/ 78/ 10 Bomb422 James Jesensky 44 0 21 9/ 63/ 28 Bomb516 James Jesensky 54 0 14 41/ 42/ 17 Inferno c w blue 141 1 21 27/ 51/ 22 stone2d Sasha Wait 104 0 21 13/ 77/ 10 Scan 1.1 Mestern 49 0 21 29/ 51/ 19 stone2dd Sasha Wait 107 0 21 21/ 76/ 3 tiny-tim gss 65 0 20 35/ 58/ 7 Agony 2.1 Stefan Strack 113 1 21 23/ 53/ 24 Alternate Sami Tammilehto 93 0 21 20/ 70/ 9 Fast v2.2 Matthew K. Gray 70 0 21 5/ 46/ 49 Gala V3.0 Chris Parrinello 64 0 21 1/ 72/ 26 HERB v1.0 Brian Cavalier 30 0 21 17/ 57/ 26 Simplex-2 Sami Tammilehto 76 0 21 8/ 45/ 48 Simplex-3 Sami Tammilehto 71 0 21 9/ 77/ 14 Simplex-I Sami Tammilehto 41 0 21 10/ 45/ 46 strangler Cormac Walsh 75 0 21 36/ 45/ 19 Bilbo v1.0 Arno Fuhlendorf 126 0 14 36/ 28/ 36 Ghost Ship c w blue 144 1 21 15/ 66/ 19 Scoop v1.1 Matthew K. Gray 64 0 15 42/ 48/ 9 sub-type-s c w blue 137 1 21 2/ 90/ 8 CMP SCANNER Paul Bobby 14 0 20 37/ 44/ 19 Meteor v1.0 W. Mintardjo 131 1 17 35/ 39/ 25 Meteor v2.0 W. Mintardjo 131 1 16 37/ 40/ 23 Meteor v3.0 W. Mintardjo 134 1 21 2/ 42/ 57 paratrooper Vincent Li 61 0 21 35/ 52/ 13 sub-type-jj c w blue 119 0 16 38/ 41/ 21 sub-type-ps c w blue 135 1 21 9/ 54/ 37 CARNAGE v1.2 Brian Cavalier 65 0 21 29/ 70/ 1 Puppy v0.6.4 Greg S. Stark and Ma 87 0 21 13/ 77/ 9 Puppy v0.6.5 Greg S. Stark and Ma 49 0 21 39/ 56/ 5 Stoned Again c w blue 122 0 21 2/ 76/ 22 Trapper V1.0 Jack Twilley 28 0 21 1/ 66/ 33 Trapper V2.0 Jack Twilley 36 0 21 1/ 71/ 27 Trapper v1.2 Jack Twilley 32 0 21 0/ 95/ 5 hungry hippo Greg Stark 5 0 21 19/ 50/ 31 sub-type-b+r c w blue 89 0 13 42/ 46/ 12 sub-type-cmp c w blue 138 1 15 40/ 44/ 16 sub-type-vmp c w blue 136 1 21 24/ 73/ 3 Appleseed V42 Jack Twilley 76 0 21 18/ 80/ 2 Cerberus v2.0 Matthew K. Gray 57 0 21 3/ 86/ 10 Cerberus v2.1 Matthew K. Gray 21 0 21 18/ 80/ 3 Cerberus v3.0 Matthew K. Gray 56 0 21 4/ 70/ 25 Cerberus v3.1 Matthew K. Gray 38 0 14 40/ 40/ 20 Moonstone 1.1 Dan Nabutovsky 139 1 20 30/ 35/ 35 Pippin V 1.1a Arno Fuhlendorf 124 1 21 18/ 64/ 18 Fast Bomb V77+ Jack Twilley 73 0 21 4/ 53/ 43 Signal-gun 1.1 James Jesensky 56 0 19 38/ 45/ 17 Belladonna v1.0 Arno Fuhlendorf 132 1 13 40/ 44/ 15 Grimm's Vampyre c w blue 136 1 19 41/ 51/ 7 Juggernaut v1.3 Anders Ivner 131 1 21 22/ 77/ 1 Appleseed Five++ Jack Twilley 67 0 21 21/ 41/ 39 Experimental 1.1 Sami Tammilehto 101 0 21 19/ 78/ 3 Lapsilta Kielletty Juha Kivijarvi 60 0 21 32/ 61/ 7 Thundering buttocks Jordan Horwich 104 0 21 10/ 88/ 2 Lapsilta Kielletympi Juha Kivijarvi 31 0 21 1/ 66/ 33 Stabb In The Back v4 James Burke 37 0 21 2/ 69/ 29 Stabb In The Back v3.0 James Burke 35 0 19 38/ 43/ 19 Drugs Sex and Rock Roll c w blue 132 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. The Hint: To get on the Hill and stay, you have to have a strategy, or combination of strategies, that is effective against more than one kind of opponent. There just are not enough of any one kind of opponent to give a single- focus warrior the number of wins needed to stay up. Sometimes, if you are winning big against one variety, say scanners, you can add/change code that turns losses into ties against another variety, say replicators, that gives you a boost. Change losses into ties, and ties into wins. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. The End: Paul Kline pk6811s@acad.drake.edu