From: chrisopj@acfcluster.nyu.edu
Subject: Team Play
Message-ID: <1993Apr30.201828.1@acfcluster.nyu.edu>
Date: Sat, 1 May 1993 01:18:28 GMT

Hoi!

I'm still a newbie, but learning here and there by combing the *huge*
files of archived warriors at soda.b.e.

Quick question: are there any facilities out there for having more than
two warriors in core at once...or more specifically, more than two
warriors, but stilll with *two* "sides", so that teammates would have to
work together somehow (IPC!)...

*shrug* Just asking. I could of course spend quite a long time just
figuring out what is here now, but there seem to be many posts in the
archives of people suggesting that stalemates of some kind have been
reached, or that the scope and range of innovation has been reduced to
finding better optimum numbers...

Just a suggestion, or not even that...;)
Jeff, whose 1 line test program did better on the hill than his 9 line
real one :(


From: jonn@microsoft.com (Jon Newman)
Subject: Re: Core! 1.1 on a Quadra-800;  Crashes.
Message-ID: <1993May01.234617.8373@microsoft.com>
Date: 01 May 93 23:46:17 GMT

Burch_Ben@msmail.wes.mot.com (Ben Burch) writes:
>Hello!  I recently started trying to use Core! 1.1.  It crashes a lot on my
>Quadra-800.  Does anybody else have the same experience?  Is there a more
>up-to-date version which does not crash so often?  Thanks!
>
>-Ben Burch
>Burch_Ben@msmail.wes.mot.com

There is a know problem with Core! 1.1 involving a certain Redcode
instruction (I think it was SUB).  Please contact me at jonn@microsoft.com
for an updated version of Core!

Jon Newman
-- 
jonn@microsoft.com    

This is not the official opinion of Microsoft Corporation.  Bill Rules!


From: DURHAM@ricevm1.rice.edu (Mark A. Durham)
Subject: New MADgic Core v5.0 for Amiga
Message-ID: <16BC26524.DURHAM@ricevm1.rice.edu>
Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 12:11:32 GMT

Is anyone interested in a new version of The MADgic Core for the Amiga?
I have doubled the colors, added tracing to files, trimmed the MARS
engine, squished a few bugs, improved the 2.0 look-and-feel (still even
on 1.3, but particularly on 2.x and up now that I have 2.1 myself), and
a few other things (like read and write limits with folding!).
 
I would ordinarily just go ahead and post it to soda, but I have so many
plans which have not been included yet (like AGA support and support for
the new draft) that I tend to think it would be better to wait.  So,
anyone desperate for a new version please send me a message saying so.
(If you would rather wait, you can tell me that instead).
 
Mark A. Durham
durham@ricevm1.rice.edu


From: jhbrown@athena.mit.edu (Jeremy H Brown)
Subject: RedCode test suite...
Date: 2 May 1993 23:01:43 GMT
Message-ID: <1s1jsnINN8ot@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>

Howdy.  I'm looking for a full suite of test code with which to test a
corewar system I and a friend built (yes, hardware) for a class.  I
would like something that tests each opcode in all addressing modes,
etc. etc. according to the '88 standard.  It would be particularly nice
if it could switch between in-memory and in-register evaluation, as the
former is easier to implement in hardware and is what we currently
(think we) have working.

Thanks in advance!
Jeremy Brown



From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: Tournament update
Date: 3 May 1993 01:54:17 -0500
Message-ID: <9305030654.AA09954@necs.vuse>


As the first entries for the upcoming summer tournament arrive, I thought
I'd ask you to adhere to the following format to make parsing by my tournament
script possible. Please start your warrior with:

;redcode
;name <program name>
;author <your name>
;contact <preferred email address>
;group {A/B}

(;strategy lines are also encouraged)

It looks like there's going to be enough entries for two separate groups
(leagues). Group A will consist of "veterans" with current or past stable
warriors on the hill; group B is reserved for newcomers. Include the ;group
directive if you want to override my decision where to put you. To those 
who have already sent me their entry, don't resend.

I will reject entries that have been deliberately obfuscated by omission of
labels, etc., since your next opponent has to be able to understand your
code. To repeat, you will receive code for all warriors of the previous
round along with the name of your next opponent. You may submit a new 
entry for the next round or keep your previous one.

This tournament is open to anyone with an email address, but understand that
due to time constraints I cannot accept more than about 50 entries, first
come first serve. Deadline is Friday, May 7th, 20:00 CST.

The tournament will be run on my Cyrix486 Notebook, using Albert Ma's 
Mercury system and scripts written in 4DOS BTM-language.

Good luck, Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)


From: bdthomse%peruvian.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Brant Thomsen)
Subject: Wimp
Date: 3 May 93 13:18:43 MDT
Message-ID: <1993May3.131844.25847@hellgate.utah.edu>


I have been spending the last month trying to perfect the perfect 
fighter against an Imp-spiral/stone combination.  Unfortunately, it
appears that they are no longer enjoying their dominance on the hill.

Of the programs I submitted to KOTH, the one that did best was Wimp 6.1
It could hold its own against the Spirals and Scanners, but has been
getting demolished by the replicators (* paper).  It appears that it is time
to start over with a different tact.  (Perhaps pull an old vampire out of
the dust bin and try to polish it up again...)

Wimp had three separate parts that ran in tandem.  The largest part was a 
stone that turned into an Imp-gate when it bombed itself.
(It is of the form SPL 0, <x ; DAT <x+1 )
The other primary section was a simple perpetual core clear.  (It would start
over again by bombing its counter.)

The last part was only one line.  I called it a "Wimp", although if someone
else has used it, it may have a different (better?) name.  Basically,
it is a one-line perfect Imp-gate:  JMP 0, <-5.
When the bombing routine was running, it would hog up enough cycles that the
core clear and "wimp" would be almost useless.  However, if the opponent had
converted all his/her processes into an Imp-Spiral, and my bombing routine
and core clear were dead, the "wimp" guaranteed me a win (usually).
The presence of the "wimp" allowed me to create the rest of my program in such
a way as to ENCOURAGE its being overwritten by an Imp-Spiral, and all I had
to do was to manage to disable the other player's stone before they could
bomb my "wimp".

;redcode
;name Wimp 6.1
;author Brant D. Thomsen
;strategy Spends first 10,000 cycles bombing core using DAT.
;strategy Clears the core while maintaining a perfect Imp gate,
;strategy  then converts into a perpetual core clear.
;strategy (Hides bootstraping code now.)
;strategy Submitted: @date@
;kill Wimp 6.21

dist	equ	7000
bdist	equ	26
cdist	equ	17
step	equ	3359

; Relocate and obscure the bootstraping code.

start	mov	#-2500, clear+dist-7
	mov	delete, -1
	mov	#-4500, clear+dist-8
	mov	delete, -1
	mov	#-50, clear+dist+6
	mov	delete, -1
	mov	#-4000, clear+dist+5
	mov	delete, -1

	mov	top, top+dist+bdist
	mov	delete, -1
	mov	top+1, top+dist+bdist+1
	mov	delete, -1
	mov	top+2, top+dist+bdist+2
	mov	delete, -1
	mov	top+3, top+dist+bdist+3
	mov	delete, -1
	mov	top+4, top+dist+bdist+4
	mov	delete, -1

	mov	clear, clear+dist
	mov	delete, -1
	mov	clear+1, clear+dist+1	
	mov	delete, -1
	mov	clear+2, clear+dist+2
	mov	delete, -1

	mov	hope, hope+dist+bdist+cdist
	mov	delete, -1

	spl	top+3+dist+bdist, #1
	spl	top+2+dist+bdist, #1
	spl	top+1+dist+bdist, #1
	spl	top+dist+bdist, #1

	spl	hope+dist+bdist+cdist, #1
	mov	delete, -1

	mov	delete, -3
	mov	delete, -5
	mov	delete, -7
	mov	delete, -9

	spl	clear+dist, #1
	mov	delete, -1

	dat	#1
	dat	#1
	dat	#1
	dat	#1
	dat	#1

delete	dat	#1

	dat	#1
	dat	#1
	dat	#1
	dat	#1
	dat	#1

clear	spl	0, <-7
	mov	1, <clear+6
	dat	<-9, <-9

top	spl	0, <clear-bdist-7
	sub	#step, loop
loop	mov	2, -4-bdist+1-step
	djn	top+1, <clear-bdist-7
	dat	<clear-bdist-7, <clear-bdist-7+3

hope	jmp	0, <-3

; Add a target below to attract the scanners.

	dat	#1
	 .
	 .
	 .
	dat	#1

	end	start
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Brant D. Thomsen			Practice random acts of
bdthomse@peruvian.cs.utah.edu		kindness and senseless beauty.
(University of Utah)


From: kosakd@reis36.alleg.edu (David Ulysseus Kosak)
Subject: An FAQ
Message-ID: <1993May4.201551.10105@alleg.edu>
Date: Tue, 4 May 1993 20:15:51 GMT

Hello there,

	I seem to have lost the ftp address for CoreWar material and I  
can't find an old copy of the FAQ list on this board.  Could someone help  
out and mail the address to me where I can get a copy of the CoreWar  
basics (RedCode and such)?  
	Thanks in advance for helping out a newbie with a pesky question.   
(:

			-Dave Kosak
			 kosakd@alleg.edu

--
  (@)  <o>()          \^/        *        {O}  @   <@>           (o)
___|*___|_|____**____*_|_____*___|___**____|___|____|____***_____*|_____
|_____|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|_|
|__|______|_DAVID GEORGE KOSAK_|______|kosakd@alleg.edu____|______|____|
|___(@)______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|_|
||/*/|/\@/\(The new flowers on my wall are in honor of Spring.)|*|/\|*\|  


From: han@sor.inria.fr (Jay Han)
Subject: Core Wars enters the Top 100 PC Games chart
Message-ID: <HAN.93May5164413@olrik.sor.inria.fr>
Date: 5 May 93 16:44:13 GMT

Yes sir. And about the same I entered the Hill for the first time :)
Core Wars is at the 16th position of the Tip20 this week. So vote!
The Top 100 Chart is posted in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.announce, along
with the rules to vote.

--
                                                         Jay Han


From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: (Last) tournament update
Message-ID: <C6L0zx.Mr6@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Thu, 6 May 1993 01:47:56 GMT



*Please*, don't forget to add ;contact and ;group lines to your 1st round
entry.

I've been asked what I would do if the number of participants was not a 
power of 2 (required for double-elimination). To make things a little
more interesting, I decided to bring the number of warriors to the next
power of two by adding "cloaked" warriors. These have variable strength
(the ones in the B group tend to be easier), and are mostly warriors posted
to r.g.cw but no longer on the hill. The trick is that their code (and real
name) will not be revealed until they drop out of the race.  Cloaked warriors
have unique (fake) names and do not change between rounds. So, if your next
opponent is "Automatic Player", make sure you study his previous battles to
find out what would be an effective countermeasure.
I am trying to make this challenging, but not too difficult, since I don't
want "Automatic Player" to win the tournament :-)

Of course, your opponent for the 1st round is assigned randomly.

I will send out warrior code as an uuencoded archive in portable-ZIP format
(extractable by unzip5.0p1 on UNIX,DOS,OS/2,VMS,Mac,Atari and pkunzip2.04g
on DOS). If this is a problem, tell me and I'll send them as a catenated
text file (ca. 5x bigger) to you.

Last thing: I am going to be away from my terminal all day Friday and won't
be able to acknowledge receipt of last-minute entries or answer questions.

Help make this tournament a success by submitting your warrior!

-Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)


From: ama@athena.mit.edu (Albert Ma)
Subject: Graphical Mercury is out
Date: 6 May 1993 02:57:16 GMT
Message-ID: <1s9uqcINNfd2@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>

I've just uploaded a graphical version of Mercury into soda.berkeley.edu.
Right now it's in pub/corewar/incoming because they finally removed write
access to systems.  Do I need to email the administrator about moving it?

The new program is called pluto.  The files mercury.exe, pluto.exe, and
readme.txt are all in the file mercury.zip.

Mercury.exe has been updated.  I reprogrammed parts of the compiler and
the decode phase of the interpreter so that less memory access is done.
The result is about 5% gain for 386's.  I don't expect any gain for 486's
as the 8K on-board cache makes memory access very speedy.  The program
is also slightly smaller now.  I would suggest that people keep the old
version of mercury around just in case there's a bug in the new version.
Also in the old version I left out the instructions to set the maximum
length of the program, even though it was implemented.


Pluto uses VGA 80*50 mode to represent the core.  As with Nandor's
suggestion, the user can decide whether or not to display reads, moves,
and decrements.  Instructions are in readme.txt.  This program is fast.
Too fast.  My first priority for an update will be to add a throttle.
I guess it is about 3/4 of the speed of mercury.  Blue is player1 and Green
is player2.  Experiment with the program to figure out the display.
The status display is extremely crude.  It was a kludge.
I haven't tried the program in Windows yet.  My guess is that everything
will work except for the escape key, as in mercury.

You guys have until the 19th to find all the bugs and to propose simple
modifications to the program.  After that I won't have my roommate's PC
to program with.  I don't have time for major modifications as finals
are coming up.

Comments are suggestions are welcome.

Enjoy!
Albert Ma		ama@athena.mit.edu


From: ama@athena.mit.edu (Albert Ma)
Subject: Pluto problem
Date: 6 May 1993 08:22:20 GMT
Message-ID: <1sahrsINNmol@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>

Stefan informed me that on his machine, Pluto displays trash on the
screen after trying to switch back from the status display.
This doesn't happen on my computer.
I'd like to ask that users of Pluto email me about whether or not
everything works right on their system.  In your email, please
tell me:
1) whether it works
2) what the problem is if it doesn't work
3) CPU type and speed (Mhz)
4) VGA graphics card used
5) Environment running program under (Windows, Desqview, or DOS for example)

This would help isolate the problem.  Hopefully I can fix this problem
quickly.

Thanks in advance to everyone who responds

By the way, the program is paused while in the status mode.  I forgot
to mention that in the instructions.

Albert Ma			ama@athena.mit.edu


From: bezenek@plains.NoDak.edu (Todd M. Bezenek KO0N)
Subject: crobots() robot needed to defeat mine
Message-ID: <C6LJBs.oKx@ns1.nodak.edu>
Date: Thu, 6 May 1993 08:23:52 GMT

I was told that some discussion of crobots() goes on here.

I have a robot that has never been defeated.  If someone has a robot
that they think is good, let's get together and give me some severely
wanted competition!

Thanks,

Todd
--
Todd M. Bezenek, KO0N
bezenek@plains.nodak.edu


From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu
Subject: _Push Off_
Message-ID: <1993May6.093247.1@acad.drake.edu>
Date: Thu, 6 May 1993 15:32:47 GMT

                                _PUSH OFF_
                        A midweek review of Corewar
                                May 6, 1993
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  I.  The Standings:

 #  %W/ %L/ %T                      Name               Author   Score     Age
 1  48/ 40/ 12              Dragon Spear             c w blue     157     357
 2  48/ 43/  8                 Agony 5.1        Stefan Strack     154     409
 3  46/ 41/ 13            Iron Gate 1.01       Wayne Sheppard     151      83
 4  47/ 43/ 10               Backstabber         Anders Ivner     150     175
 5  46/ 46/  8               Medusa's v7   Mintardjo & Strack     147     548
 6  34/ 21/ 46                     Snake       Wayne Sheppard     147      15
 7  34/ 22/ 44             Night Crawler       Wayne Sheppard     145     255
 8  39/ 38/ 23             Leprechaun 1b         Anders Ivner     141    1167
 9  43/ 48/  9                  Sting II      Arno Fuhlendorf     139      73
10  31/ 24/ 45               Sphinx v2.8         W. Mintardjo     138    1253
11  30/ 23/ 47                Imprimis 6              P.Kline     137     655
12  29/ 22/ 49                     ttest        nandor sieben     136     131
13  28/ 21/ 51                      ittt        nandor sieben     135     132
14  39/ 46/ 15                  Sucker 6        Stefan Strack     132     277
15  28/ 24/ 48           +0 Stormbringer       Dan Nabutovsky     131    1685
16  27/ 28/ 45                   Hobbits      Arno Fuhlendorf     126      12
17  38/ 53/ 10           Paratroops v2.1         W. Mintardjo     122      27
18  26/ 32/ 43              FlyPaper 1.1            J.Layland     120      32
19  37/ 56/  7                       XBS     Fredrik Ohrstrom     119       1
20  23/ 28/ 49                Nurgle III             c w blue     118       8

21  30/ 53/ 17                  FireTrap              P.Kline     106       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:

Well, this weeks biggest news item is S. Strack's announcement of
a new tournament.  Based on the annual 'PeekaBoo' Valentine Tournament,
Stefan is seeking to challenge competitors with a little different format.
This is an elimination tournament, where the winners get to
submit a different warrior for each upcoming round.  In order to give
more people a chance he has divided things into expert and novice groups
(I think he used the terms 'stable' and 'unstable' :-).

One player trying to decide whether he wants to go with the big boys is 
J. Layland, whose FlyPaper 1.1 was seen momentarily in second place.
Congrats!  Unfortunately FlyPaper knocked off a stone or two and fell
into the bottom ten after.

FlyPaper and Hobbits (my guess - replicators) are making the scanners
happy.  Today's top five slots are all cmp-scanners.

D. Nabutovsky put up his early-version imp-stone program, Impossible,
to test the waters.  Guess it's too hot!
  21   4/ 44/ 51                Impossible       Dan Nabutovsky      65 
Wow, last Fall Impossible would have had less than 20% losses - maybe we
ARE making some progress against imps.  

And my nomination for the Optimist Trophy:
   Program "miniscule" (length 2) by "Iain Scott"
   (contact address "eoin@ecr.mu.oz.au"):
   ;strategy
   ;strategy if it's really small, no one will find it
Yeah, right. :-)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 IV.  The Outlook:

 4  35/ 18/ 46                     Snake       Wayne Sheppard     152       1
 1  49/ 41/  9                   Cleaver       Wayne Sheppard     157       1
 2  34/ 22/ 44                   Test II       Wayne Sheppard     147       1
10  43/ 47/ 10                  Sting II      Arno Fuhlendorf     138       1
 9  45/ 45/ 10                  Zipp 440             c w blue     144       1
 5  46/ 41/ 13                 Emerald 4              P.Kline     151       1
 3  33/ 21/ 45                sub-type-i             c w blue     145       1
 2  33/ 21/ 46               Test II 1/2       Wayne Sheppard     146       1
 8  40/ 42/ 18               sub-type-bs             c w blue     138       1
 9  31/ 21/ 48              Chimera v3.5         W. Mintardjo     140       1
 2  37/ 27/ 37              FlyPaper 1.1            J.Layland     147       7
10  42/ 45/ 14             Iron Gate 1.1       Wayne Sheppard     139       1
 8  43/ 47/ 11             Medusa's +7.2         Mintardjo W.     138       1
 5  32/ 20/ 48             Snake-crawler       Wayne Sheppard     144       1
 8  41/ 43/ 16            Iron Gate 1.02       Wayne Sheppard     139       1
 9  46/ 44/ 10           Glass House 2.0            j.layland     147       1
 7  44/ 46/ 11           Paratroops v2.1         W. Mintardjo     142       1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  V.  The Quick Look:

21  10/ 43/ 47                       TS3         W. Mintardjo      78       0
20  28/ 57/ 15                       XBS     Fredrik Ohrstrom      99       1
21  11/ 70/ 19                      6809       Rudi Cilibrasi      52       0
21   7/ 84/  9                      BANG        David K. Peck      30       0
21  29/ 55/ 16                      Harm             c w blue     104       0
21  19/ 74/  8                      Tiny           Iain Scott      64       0
21  19/ 72/  9                      bomp               Harvey      66       0
21  27/ 73/  0                      simp              Unknown      81       0
21  22/ 74/  4                     68010       Rudi Cilibrasi      70       0
21  23/ 62/ 14                     68020       Rudi Cilibrasi      85       0
21  16/ 74/ 10                     Dwarf        George Gorman      57       0
20  25/ 37/ 38                     Paper       Wayne Sheppard     112       1
21  34/ 61/  5                     Scnfo     Fredrik Ohrstrom     107       0
20  24/ 51/ 25                     Sting      Arno Fuhlendorf      96       1
21  21/ 79/  0                     ptest              Unknown      63       0
21  16/ 71/ 14                     quick     Cliff Fitzmorris      61       0
21   1/ 89/ 10                    BigImp        David K. Peck      12       0
21  19/ 79/  2                    Circus        David K. Peck      58       0
21   5/ 57/ 37                    Estone              Mestern      53       0
21  25/ 71/  4                    Invest      Andre van Dalen      79       0
21   5/ 64/ 31                    MiniMe        David K. Peck      46       0
17  39/ 45/ 16                    Wimp 6     Brant D. Thomsen     134       1
20  10/ 41/ 49                    rabbit         W. Mintardjo      78       1
21   8/ 84/  9                   Acrobat        David K. Peck      32       0
21   6/ 64/ 30                   Anarchy David K. Peck (95dpe      49       0
19  24/ 24/ 53                   Hobbits      Arno Fuhlendorf     123       1
21   9/ 71/ 20                   Leecher        David K. Peck      47       0
21   5/ 93/  2                  Carnival        David K. Peck      17       0
21   1/ 50/ 49                  Confused              Jay Han      51       0
21  18/ 64/ 19                  FineHook        David K. Peck      72       0
21  28/ 54/ 18                  FireTrap              P.Kline     102       0
21  13/ 85/  2                  Hellfire        David K. Peck      40       0
21  11/ 74/ 16                  Ice Cube             c w blue      48       0
21  10/ 60/ 31                  MeAndYou        David K. Peck      59       0
21  21/ 70/ 10                  New tiny           Iain Scott      71       0
19  38/ 50/ 12                  Shredder             c w blue     125       1
21  18/ 63/ 19                  SinkHook        David K. Peck      73       0
20  33/ 59/  9                  Sunburst              Jay Han     107       1
21   7/ 88/  4                  The Borg       Rudi Cilibrasi      26       0
19  39/ 47/ 13                  Wimp 6.1     Brant D. Thomsen     132       1
21  37/ 52/ 11                  Zipp 440             c w blue     122       0
21   6/ 78/ 16                 Batallion        David K. Peck      35       0
21   9/ 88/  3                 Biohazard        David K. Peck      29       0
21   2/ 87/ 12                 Defensive        David K. Peck      17       0
21  18/ 65/ 17                 Latchhook David K. Peck (95dpe      71       0
21  36/ 61/  3                 Sunburst1              Jay Han     110       0
20  36/ 52/ 12                 Wimp 6.11     Brant D. Thomsen     120       1
20  31/ 54/ 14                 ministone            j.layland     108       1
21  19/ 57/ 24                 s-n-a_1.0     Cliff Fitzmorris      81       0
21   0/ 53/ 47                 test v0.1      Raistlin Majere      48       0
21  25/ 62/ 13                Early Bird             c w blue      89       0
20  36/ 50/ 14                Eclipse II              P.Kline     122       1
21  12/ 54/ 34                Homunculus               Pi Qan      70       0
20  23/ 25/ 52                Nurgle III             c w blue     121       1
21  11/ 87/  2                ToxicWaste        David K. Peck      35       0
21   0/ 43/ 56                Warp Speed           Iain Scott      57       0
20  35/ 55/ 10                sub-type-s             c w blue     115       1
21   1/ 38/ 61                test v0.4d      Raistlin Majere      63       0
21   7/ 89/  4               Dracula 1.0       Rudi Cilibrasi      26       0
21  23/ 47/ 30               Eclipse III              P.Kline      98       0
18  39/ 46/ 15               Emerald 4.1              P.Kline     131       1
21  10/ 78/ 12               Love Bomber           Iain Scott      41       0
19  28/ 51/ 21              Emerald City              P.Kline     106       1
21  30/ 41/ 30              FlyPaper 1.0            J.Layland     118       0
21   7/ 83/ 10              Glass Houses              Unknown      32       0
21  15/ 80/  5              Ground-Zero+        E. J. Andrews      51       0
21  10/ 61/ 29              Parasite v 6      Roderick Easton      59       0
21  22/ 27/ 51              Silver Paper         W. Mintardjo     117     235
21  30/ 58/ 12              Vamkill Orff              Fredrik     103       0
19  24/ 26/ 50              sub-type-b+r             c w blue     122       1
21  20/ 79/  1             coloured tiny           Iain Scott      60       0
20  27/ 41/ 32           Desperate I (b)     Brant D. Thomsen     114       1
20  39/ 53/  8           Glass House 2.0            j.layland     124       1
20  32/ 39/ 29           Plasma-Advanced       Wayne Sheppard     124       1
21  16/ 75/  9           bomber (v. 1.A)         Th.F.Telkamp      56       0
21  28/ 59/ 13          BSLIV - my style              P.Kline      97       0
20  38/ 53/ 10          Glass House 2.01            j.layland     123       1
20  33/ 43/ 23       No Ties Allowed 1.1       Wayne Sheppard     123       1
21  13/ 86/  0          scan v0.1 -test-         Th.F.Telkamp      41       0
19  37/ 47/ 16    Iron Gate testing.....       Wayne Sheppard     128       1
21   3/ 97/  0    2 handed coloured tiny           Iain Scott       9       0
20  15/ 46/ 39       Trident [version 2]         W. Mintardjo      85       1
21   0/ 93/  7        Loving Stun Bomber           Iain Scott       7       0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 VI.  The Hint:

Here's an idea to make yourself a little more resistant to imps.  An imp-spiral
kills you if it overruns your code and you have fewer processes running than
it does.  You will outrun the spiral and execute garbage instructions.
Many programs use gates to keep the imps away, and some put a simple
imp (mov 0,1) following their code to provide an escape.  But another way
to avoid being killed is to have more processes than the imp-spiral.

Let's say you are executing a standard reverse core-clear:

      spl 0,<-10
      mov bomb,<-12
bomb  dat <-11

which will become a perfect gate once it completes clearing core.

If you set it up so that only one process enters the spl-0, you will have
three processes active at any one time (one is going to die at 'bomb').
If the imp-spiral has more than three processes (it will), and it overruns
you before you are ready, you will die.  Instead, if you can drop multiple
processes into the routine, you won't die - you will just be overrun by
the spiral and follow it around until the timer runs out on the battle.
You get one point for the tie, and rob him of two points.

The simplest variation (and the fastest core-clear) is to use this form:

      spl 0,<-10
      mov bomb,<-12
      jmp -1,<-12
bomb  dat <-11

But if you don't want the extra length, you could try some other way of
getting multiple processes in.

Incidentally, even a partial gate like the above before completion, can
be effective against Night Crawler whose imp-spiral is so short that
one or two lucky hits will kill it.  (It's the stone that's hard to find :-)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VII.  The End:

Paul Kline
pk6811s@acad.drake.edu

From: gyugyi@leland.Stanford.EDU (Paul Gyugyi)
Subject: Re: crobots() robot needed to defeat mine
Message-ID: <1993May7.001944.19740@leland.Stanford.EDU>
Date: Fri, 7 May 93 00:19:44 GMT

In article <C6LJBs.oKx@ns1.nodak.edu>, bezenek@plains.NoDak.edu (Todd M. Bezenek KO0N) writes:
|> I was told that some discussion of crobots() goes on here.
|> 
|> I have a robot that has never been defeated.  If someone has a robot
|> that they think is good, let's get together and give me some severely
|> wanted competition!

There's an archive of robots at earthsea.stanford.edu (36.60.0.64)
in ~ftp/pub/crobots/Xcrobots.tar  (It also has a marginal X interface
to the sun version of crobots).  See if any robots there can beat
yours.  It has the entries from a contest run here about a year ago.

-- 
Paul J. Gyugyi
Grad student, control systems, Stanford University
LEGGO  Waffles, a breakfast you can build!
gyugyi@isl.Stanford.EDU

From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: EBS Summer Tournament Round 1 Results
Message-ID: <C6oy1G.Kpv@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Sat, 8 May 1993 04:34:28 GMT


Round 1 of the EBS summer tournament is played. Unfortunately, only nine
human players participated; I had to add seven "cloaked" warrior to get to
16. Needless to say I didn't split into group A and B. I guess with finals
and all, this is probably the worst time to start a tournament (maybe the
obligatory code-sharing is also a deterrent?).

Automatic report follows. Note that people in the looser bracket can still
win the tournament, if they get to the top within their bracket and win
against the finalist of the winner bracket.

Round 1 starts 05-07-93 22:17:46
-------------------------------------------------
Ivy3.4 by Damon Gallaty versus Homunculus by   Pi Qan
Results: 10 3 87
Ivy3.4 by Damon Gallaty advances in winner bracket
Homunculus by   Pi Qan moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
No.4 by Automatic Player versus flash by Nandor Sieben
Results: 39 61 0
flash by Nandor Sieben advances in winner bracket
No.4 by Automatic Player moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Emerald 4 by Paul Kline versus No.1 by Automatic Player
Results: 89 10 1
Emerald 4 by Paul Kline advances in winner bracket
No.1 by Automatic Player moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
No.7 by Automatic Player versus Leprechaun 1b by Anders Ivner
Results: 52 48 0
No.7 by Automatic Player advances in winner bracket
Leprechaun 1b by Anders Ivner moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
No.3 by Automatic Player versus No.2 by Automatic Player
Results: 43 48 9
No.2 by Automatic Player advances in winner bracket
No.3 by Automatic Player moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Full moon by Dan Nabutovsky versus No.5 by Automatic Player
Results: 92 8 0
Full moon by Dan Nabutovsky advances in winner bracket
No.5 by Automatic Player moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Paper by Wayne Sheppard versus Give Me a Cmp-Scanner! by James Layland
Results: 100 0 0
Paper by Wayne Sheppard advances in winner bracket
Give Me a Cmp-Scanner! by James Layland moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Sphinx v2.9 by W. Mintardjo versus No.6 by Automatic Player
Results: 56 28 16
Sphinx v2.9 by W. Mintardjo advances in winner bracket
No.6 by Automatic Player moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Round 1 ends 05-07-93 22:20:35

Round 2 deadline for new submissions is Friday May 14th, 20:00 CST. Watch
for these exciting confrontations.

Winner bracket:

Damon Gallaty vs. Nandor Sieben
Paul Kline vs. No.7 by Automatic Player
No.2 by Automatic Player vs. Dan Navbutovsky
Wayne Sheppard vs. W.Mintardjo

Looser bracket:

Qui Pan vs. No.4 by Automatic Player
No.1 by Automatic Player vs. Anders Ivner
No.3 by Automatic Player vs. No.5 by Automatic Player
James Layland vs. No.6 by Automatic Player

Code for all warriors, except those by Automatic Player, is mailed to the
participants.

-Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)


From: DURHAM@ricevm1.rice.edu (Mark A. Durham)
Subject: Re: New MADgic Core v5.0 for Amiga
Message-ID: <16BC8EDA8.DURHAM@ricevm1.rice.edu>
Date: Sat, 8 May 1993 21:53:46 GMT

In article <16BC26524.DURHAM@ricevm1.rice.edu>
DURHAM@ricevm1.rice.edu (Mark A. Durham) writes:
 
>
>Is anyone interested in a new version of The MADgic Core for the Amiga?
>
Due to overwhelming response, I will post v5.0 soon (within the week).
MAD


From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: Round 2 for latecomers
Date: 9 May 1993 12:19:15 -0500
Message-ID: <9305091719.AA22337@necs.vuse>


Scott Adkins sent his entry to the EBS summer tournament too late for the
1st round, but I fit him in anyway. His warrior is going to replace one
of the No.X warriors in the looser bracket and fight his first match in
round 2. To be fair, I thought I'd make this public: I will accept up to
four latecomer submissions for round 2 that will similarly replace No.X
warriors in the looser bracket. You have until Tuesday, 20:00 CST, because
I need to post the revised schedule for the looser bracket in order to
give people already in this bracket a chance to react.

-Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)


From: c_allison@icrf.icnet.uk
Subject: Help: non-compressed documents
Date: 10 May 93 10:43:17 GMT
Message-ID: <1993May10.104317.1@icrf.icnet.uk>


Hi,

does anyone have plain text versions of:

redcode-icws-88.Z
tutorial.1.Z
tutorial.2.Z

If so, can you either mail them to me or let me know of an
anonymous ftp site.

Thanks in advance,

Shade



From: sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu (Scott W. Adkins)
Subject: Re: Help: non-compressed documents
Message-ID: <1993May10.123607.11821@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu>
Date: Mon, 10 May 1993 12:36:07 GMT

In article <1993May10.104317.1@icrf.icnet.uk> c_allison@icrf.icnet.uk writes:
>
>Hi,
>
>does anyone have plain text versions of:
>
>redcode-icws-88.Z
>tutorial.1.Z
>tutorial.2.Z

What do you mean by plain text versions?  They are already in ascii format
(i.e., not formatted by postscript, tex, etc).  

For others who don't know yet, the above documents and even more documents
can be found at soda.berkeley.edu in the /pub/corewar/documents directory.
The redcode-icws-88.Z document is the ICWS '88 Standard that we base all 
of our programming on.  That one is probably the most important document
there...

Scott
-- 
         Scott W. Adkins           Internet: sadkins@ohiou.edu
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                     ak323@cleveland.freenet.edu
    Ohio University of Athens        Bitnet: adkins@ouaccvma.bitnet


Date: Mon, 10 May 1993 13:00:00 MST
From: <ASMQK@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Message-ID: <93130.130000ASMQK@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Subject: Re: Help: non-compressed documents

For me plain means : no .Z extension . Can anybody tell me how to
get back the original file on a PC ?

Nandor.


From: sadkins@bird03.cs.ohiou.edu (Scott W. Adkins)
Subject: Re: Help: non-compressed documents
Message-ID: <1993May10.173842.10642@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu>
Date: Mon, 10 May 1993 17:38:42 GMT

In article <1993May10.123607.11821@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu> sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu (Scott W. Adkins) writes:
>In article <1993May10.104317.1@icrf.icnet.uk> c_allison@icrf.icnet.uk writes:
>>
>>Hi,
>>
>>does anyone have plain text versions of:
>>
>>redcode-icws-88.Z
>>tutorial.1.Z
>>tutorial.2.Z
>
>What do you mean by plain text versions?  They are already in ascii format
>(i.e., not formatted by postscript, tex, etc).  
>
>For others who don't know yet, the above documents and even more documents
>can be found at soda.berkeley.edu in the /pub/corewar/documents directory.
>The redcode-icws-88.Z document is the ICWS '88 Standard that we base all 
>of our programming on.  That one is probably the most important document
>there...

Well, it was pointed out to me that I should have read the subject line.  I
somehow missed it when I was replying to the last article... :-)

The ".Z" extension is a method of compressing files, and is most notably used
in Unix compression.  If you are on a Unix system, then you can type:

	uncompress redcode-icws-88.Z

And it will uncompress a file, leaving "redcode-icws-88" as the result.  For
those DOS users, you will have to find a comparible way of uncompressing the
files.  I suggest looking for COMPRESS.EXE, which can probably be found at 
wuarchive.wustl.edu in /mirrors/msdos/archivers or something close to that.

Alternatively, feel free to send me email (at least I keep up with that...),
and I can send you any of the above files in uncompressed format.

Scott
-- 
         Scott W. Adkins           Internet: sadkins@ohiou.edu
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                     ak323@cleveland.freenet.edu
    Ohio University of Athens        Bitnet: adkins@ouaccvma.bitnet

From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: Re: Help: non-compressed documents
Message-ID: <C6tw1J.8nL@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Mon, 10 May 1993 20:39:18 GMT

In article <93130.130000ASMQK@ASUACAD.BITNET> <ASMQK@ASUACAD.BITNET> writes:
>For me plain means : no .Z extension . Can anybody tell me how to
>get back the original file on a PC ?
>
>Nandor.


Sure. Get COMP430D.ZIP, a (un)compress-compatible for DOS. Available from
SIMTEL, garbo, and other fine FTP sites near you. 

Better yet, get GZIP107.ZIP for DOS. This is a drop-in replacement for
UNIX compress that produces tighter files using the new "deflate" algo. It
will also decompress .Z files.

-Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)


From: jlayland@kilroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (James Layland)
Subject: Re: Help: non-compressed documents
Date: 10 May 1993 23:25:59 GMT
Message-ID: <1smoa7$m2o@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>

I have already sent a reply in email, but since I see 3 new articles
posted here...

If you have uncompress on your system (Unix), ftp the compressed file
and then uncompress it as previously stated, but...

If you do not have an uncompress program, then you can ftp the file
_without_ the .Z extension, and you will get the uncompressed version.
Of course, this takes longer to transmit.

For example, after ftp'ing to soda, type "get tutorial.1" instead
of "get tutorial.1.Z".

Hope this helps anyone else with problems.

For that matter, I hope this is all true...

James
jlayland@grissom.jpl.nasa.gov



From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: Core War Frequently Asked Questions (rec.games.corewar FAQ)
Date: 11 May 1993 00:00:38 -0400
Message-ID: <games/corewar-faq_737092805@GZA.COM>

Archive-name: games/corewar-faq
Last-modified: 1993/04/16
Version: 2.0.4

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?                                     243

15. What is KOTH?  How do I enter?                                   252

16. Is it DAT 0, 0 or DAT #0, #0?  How do I compare to core?         357

17. How does SLT (Skip if Less Than) work?                           369

18. What does (expression or term of your choice) mean?              381

19. Other questions?                                                 509

---------------------------------------------------------------------

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: If you have access to telnet, you can read rec.games.corewar (and
many more groups) through the gopher information retrieval system. Telnet to
consultant.micro.umn.edu (134.84.132.4) or any of the other gopher servers
and go through these menus:

        1  - Information about Gopher
        10 - Gopher+ example server
        11 - non-Gopher+ link
        7  - News
        11 - USENET news
        24 - rec
        21 - games
        6  - corewar

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".  Your program will play 100
battles against each of the 20 other programs currently on the Hill. You
receive 3 points for each win and 1 point for each tie.  (The existing
programs do not replay each other, but their previous battles are recalled.)
All scores are updated to reflect your battles and all 21 programs are ranked
from high to low.  If you are number 21 you are pushed off the Hill, if you
are higher than 21 someone else is pushed off.

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 <program name>" and ";author <your name>"
   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, <example
                     DAT <example, #0

Imp-Ring - A minimal Imp-Spiral.
            d        EQU (coresize+1)/3
            A        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to B
            B        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to C
            C        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to A+1

Imp-Spiral - An Imp-like program with two or more processes supporting
   each other.  A three-point spiral, with six processes running in this
   sequence:
            d        EQU (coresize+1)/3
            A        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to B
            B        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to C
            C        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to A+1
            A+1      MOV 0,d   ; copy self to B+1
            B+1      MOV 0,d   ; copy self to C+1
            C+1      MOV 0,d   ; copy self to A+2

Incendiary Bomb - A type of Stun bomb which creates a SPL 0 carpet.
           example   SPL 0, 8
                     MOV -1, <-1

Mirror - see reflection

On-axis  -
Off-axis - On-axis scanners compare two locations M/2 apart, where M
   is the memory size.  Off-axis scanners use some other separation.

Paper - A Paper-like program.  One which replicates itself many times.
   Part of the Scissors (beats) Paper (beats) Stone (beats Scissors) analogy.

Pit-Trapper - (also Slaver, Vampire).  A program which enslaves another.
   Usually accomplished by bombing with JMPs to a SPL 0 pit with an
   optional core-clear routine.

Reflection - Copy of a program or program part, positioned to make
   the active program invisible to a CMP-scanner.

Replicator - Generic for Paper.  A program which makes many copies of
   itself, each copy also making copies.

Self-Splitting - Strategy of amplifying the number of processes executing
   a piece of code.
           example   SPL 0
           loop      ADD #10, example
                     MOV example, @example
                     JMP loop

Scanner - A program which searches through core for an opponent rather
   than bombing blindly.

Scissors - A program designed to beat replicators, usually a (B-field
   scanning) vampire.  Part of the Paper-Scissors-Stone analogy.

Self-Repair - Ability of a program to fix it's own code after attack.

Slaver - see Pit-Trapper.

Stealth - Property of programs, or program parts, which are invisible
   to scanners, accomplished by using zero B-fields and reflections.

Stone - A Stone-like program designed to be a small bomber.  Part of the
   Paper-Scissors-Stone analogy.

Stun - A type of bomb which makes the opponent multiply useless processes,
   thus slowing it down.  Example is referred to as a spl-jmp bomb.
          example spl 0
                  jmp -1

Vampire - See Pit-Trapper.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Q19: Other questions?
A19: Just ask in the rec.games.corewar newsgroup or contact me (address
below). If you are shy, check out the Core War archives on soda first to
see if your question has been answered before (see Q10).

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Additions/Corrections/etc. to this document are solicited.
The rec.games.corewar FAQ has been compiled by Mark Durham and is being
maintained by:

Stefan Strack, PhD                      stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu
Dept. Pharmacology, 424 MRB             stracks@vuctrvax.bitnet
Vanderbilt Univ. Medical Center         Voice: +615-322-4890
Nashville, TN 37232-6600, USA           FAX:   +615-343-6532


From: wangsawm@prism.CS.ORST.EDU (W. Mintardjo)
Subject: c88v320.zip updated
Message-ID: <1smqn1INNnfo@flop.ENGR.ORST.EDU>
Date: 11 May 93 00:06:57 GMT


I've just uploaded c88v49.zip to soda.berkeley.edu

The changes on this version mainly emphasize on the debugging level. Some other
features such as user configuration file, core dump, etc are also added. It
also fixes some subtle bugs which occured in the previous version.

Version update:
---------------
1. Bugs fixed:
 - At the assembler level where it fails to reject invalid symbol
 - At the simulator level where it fails to normalize CMP/SLT address after
   skipping
 - At the simulator level where it misinterprets SLT instruction with direct
   addressing mode
 - Tracing, watch-point and break-point are now set properly
2. Source redcode listing is now directed to standard output
3. Replaying battle up to two rounds now works correctly
3. User configurable file
4. Faster execution and smaller simulator unit
5. Debugging now is not restricted to graphical battle only
6. Many new utilites such as: core dump, evaluator, response control, core edit,
   process tracing, debug zoom, process/memory viewing switch etc

This brings together with the previous version to:
 1. Full-screen interface. (Support 80x50 mode)
 2. Windowing system interface
 3. Multiple round battles
 4. Speed optimization
 5. Battle replay
 6. Moderate debugging facilities such as: core dump, debug zoom, etc
 7. Support user configurable file

Hardware Requirement
--------------------
1. 8086+
2. 640K RAM (suggested)
3. CGA color or better
4. DOS 3.30 or better

Bugs/comments/suggestions go to: wangsawm@prism.cs.orst.edu

Mintardjo W.


From: c_allison@icrf.icnet.uk
Subject: Newbie question
Date: 12 May 93 14:43:32 GMT
Message-ID: <1993May12.144332.1@icrf.icnet.uk>



Hi everyone,

being new to Core War and a complete bozo when it comes to all this
low-level coding stuff I have a glaring newbie question!

I can understand:

BMB DAT #000
STA ADD #004,  BMB

which adds 4 to the value stored in location BMB to give an equivalent:

BMB DAT #004

but I *don't* understand:

STA ADD #004,  LOC
LOC JMZ  STA,  -01

How the hell do you add 4 to a JMZ instruction?  And what do you get?

Please help,

Bewildered



From: jlayland@kilroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (James Layland)
Subject: Re: Newbie question
Date: 12 May 1993 16:26:51 GMT
Message-ID: <1sr8gb$fhf@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>

In article <1993May12.144332.1@icrf.icnet.uk> c_allison@icrf.icnet.uk writes:
>I can understand:
>
>BMB DAT #000
>STA ADD #004,  BMB
>
>which adds 4 to the value stored in location BMB to give an equivalent:
>
>BMB DAT #004
>
>but I *don't* understand:
>
>STA ADD #004,  LOC
>LOC JMZ  STA,  -01
>
>How the hell do you add 4 to a JMZ instruction?  And what do you get?
>
The first thing you should do is FTP the tutorial and ICWS'88 specs for Redcode
from the corewar archives on soda.berkeley.edu, to answer this and many other questions.

To answer your specific question, the add instruction (with an immediate A operand)
adds the number (4) to the B-field of the target (LOC).  So in your example, you 
get

LOC JMZ  STA, 3  ; 3 = -1 + 4

However, the add instruction is even more versatile if it uses a non-immediate A-operand.

A simple bomber might look like:

STEP  dat #-3364, #3364
LOOP  mov <-1-3364, 1+3364
      add STEP, LOOP
      djn LOOP, #1999
... put core clear here...

Now the add instruction increments both the A- and B- fields of LOOP, so that
a different location is decremented and bombed on each pass through the loop.
The DJN stops the loop just before it bombs itself.

There is a lot of useful stuff in the corewar archive.  Check it out.

James
jlayland@grissom.jpl.nasa.gov
  



Date: Wed, 12 May 1993 22:45:09 MST
From: <ASMQK@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Message-ID: <93132.224509ASMQK@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Subject: Re: Help: non-compressed documents

Finally I win against tar.Z but what can I do with an  encapsulated
postscript file ?
Nandor.


From: han@sor.inria.fr (Jay Han)
Subject: Re: Newbie question
Message-ID: <HAN.93May13150921@blueberry.sor.inria.fr>
Date: 13 May 93 15:09:21 GMT

RTFM! :-)

If you haven't yet, get the ICWS88 document, available at
soda.berkeley.edu:/pub/corewar/documents/standards (I think)

As to your question, one point that is not outlined clearly enough in
the ICWS is the fact that there are 3 types of opcodes:

Type 0: DAT
Type 1: JMP DJN JMN JMZ SPL
Type 2: MOV CMP ADD SUB SLT

Type 0 accepts only @ and < arguments
Type 1 accepts all arguments except # in the first (A) field
Type 2 accepts all arguments except # in the second (B) field

This is fine, but then Type 2 also has the following peculiarity: 
If field A is #, then that value is used as operand to the B-field of
the location pointed to by the B-field. If A-field is not-#, then both
A and B fields are used as operands. So, actually your code should
look like:

bomb    DAT #0, #0
advance ADD #4, bomb

This adds 4 only to the B-field of "bomb", because the A operand is
immediate (#4). On the contrary, look at this:

advance ADD #4, loc
loc     JMZ advance, -1

The line "advance" adds 4 to the B-field of "loc". After advance
executes, these lines become:

advance ADD #4, loc
loc     JMZ advance, 3         <---   -1+4 = 3

Then, the second line executes. JMZ jumps to the location pointed to
by its A-field (here, "advance") if the B-field of the location
pointed to by its B-field is zero. I.e. if the B-field of the location
"loc+3" is zero, we get back to "advance". If not, we continue
downward.

Read and re-read the ICWS88 carefully. It took me several times to
understand all the subtle rules in it (like what happens when
something like "SPL 0" executes). Only recently did I find out that
"DAT <-1, <-2" can be of some interesting use.

Have fun!

Jay (never did better than 19th on the Hill) Han

--
                                                         Jay Han


From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu
Subject: _Push Off_
Message-ID: <1993May13.113128.1@acad.drake.edu>
Date: Thu, 13 May 1993 17:31:28 GMT

                                _PUSH OFF_
                        A midweek review of Corewar
                               May 13, 1993
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  I.  The Standings:

 #  %W/ %L/ %T                      Name               Author   Score     Age
 1  35/ 21/ 43             Night Crawler       Wayne Sheppard     149     338
 2  37/ 26/ 37           ImpsAreMyFriend            J.Layland     148      12
 3  36/ 28/ 36              FlyPaper 2.0            J.Layland     145      43
 4  44/ 44/ 13              Dragon Spear             c w blue     144     440
 5  33/ 23/ 44                Imprimis 6              P.Kline     143     738
 6  33/ 25/ 42               Sphinx v2.8         W. Mintardjo     140    1336
 7  42/ 45/ 14            Iron Gate 1.01       Wayne Sheppard     139     166
 8  30/ 23/ 47           +0 Stormbringer       Dan Nabutovsky     138    1768
 9  41/ 44/ 15                  Sucker 6        Stefan Strack     138     360
10  38/ 39/ 22             Leprechaun 1b         Anders Ivner     137    1250
11  29/ 22/ 49                     ttest        nandor sieben     136     214
12  42/ 49/  9                 Agony 5.1        Stefan Strack     136     492
13  29/ 22/ 49                     Snake       Wayne Sheppard     136      98
14  42/ 50/  9               Medusa's v7   Mintardjo & Strack     134     631
15  38/ 43/ 20                  Herem II         Anders Ivner     133       2
16  41/ 50/  9                  Sting II      Arno Fuhlendorf     132     156
17  27/ 22/ 51                      ittt        nandor sieben     132     215
18  40/ 50/ 10               Backstabber         Anders Ivner     130     258
19  38/ 48/ 14                  ScanTest            J.Layland     127       1
20  26/ 39/ 35              sub-type-b+r             c w blue     114       5

21   2/  2/  1                  ScanTest            J.Layland       6       7

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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:

Round 1 of S. Strack's tournament has been completed.  All human particpants
breathed a sigh of relief as those who had non-human opponents ('Automatic
Player') won :-)  As a help for the second round, Stefan mailed out the
source code for all the submittals.  Just to make things interesting,
he doubly-encrypted the source (Zip and uuencode) which gave some authors
a bit of a puzzle.

Just when things at the top of the Hill seemed to have settled down to
a back-and-forth struggle between imps and scanners, along came J. Layland's
FlyPaper 2.0 which is firmly locked in the top 5.  Not only that, but 
his ImpsAreMyFriend and ScanTest are also showing some muscle.  
ImpsAreMyFriend is especially interesting as it is challenging Night Crawler
as the highest-ranked imp-program.  King of the Hill competitors are 
anxiously waiting some published code (WE'LL SETTLE FOR HINTS!) to see
if J.L has uncovered some new principle or what :-)

The Hill weathered a late shower of Dwarf's, Tests, and (everybody's
favorite) 'Unknown by Unknown'.  The forecast is for a steady drizzle
of new participants - WELCOME!  And an occasional blast from an old program
just shows that the Hill continues to get tougher.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 IV.  The Outlook:

 5  44/ 44/ 12                  ScanTest            J.Layland     144       1
 8  28/ 20/ 52               Sphinx v4.3         W. Mintardjo     137       1
 3  34/ 24/ 42              FlyPaper 2.0            J.Layland     145       1
 3  46/ 44/ 10              sub-type-cmp             c w blue     148       1
 1  38/ 24/ 38           ImpsAreMyFriend            J.Layland     151       1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  V.  The Quick Look:

20  40/ 52/  8                        A2        Stefan Strack     127       1
21  33/ 57/ 10                        BS            J.Layland     108       0
20   1/ 45/ 54                       BTB              Fredrik      56       1
21  26/ 54/ 20                       Tsp         W. Mintardjo      98       0
20  26/ 52/ 22                       Tsp         W. Mintardjo     101       1
20  36/ 58/  6                       XBS     Fredrik Ohrstrom     114       1
20  27/ 61/ 12                       a11         S. Halvorsen      93       1
21  29/ 69/  3                       rs2                Shade      89       0
20  28/ 38/ 34                      Test       Wayne Sheppard     118       1
21  18/ 74/  8                      Test T. M. Bezenek (Dewdn      63       0
21   0/ 89/ 11                      imp4                Shade      11       0
21  26/ 55/ 19                      test              P.Kline      97       0
21  28/ 61/ 11                     Dwarf        George Gorman      95       0
21   4/ 72/ 24                     Splat                Shade      35       0
17  38/ 46/ 15                     TTp12         W. Mintardjo     130       1
21  28/ 61/ 11                   Dwarf30        George Gorman      94       0
21  15/ 53/ 31                   Frobozz     Fredrik Ohrstrom      77       0
21   0/ 46/ 54                   Unknown                 Eric      55       0
21  12/ 76/ 12                   impsimp               Harvey      49       0
19  36/ 43/ 20                  Herem II         Anders Ivner     130       1
21  18/ 72/ 10                  re-entry                  ECP      64       0
21  20/ 78/  2                 test v0.6      Raistlin Majere      63       0
21  20/ 63/ 17                Early Bird             c w blue      77       0
18  26/ 25/ 49                Nurgle III             c w blue     128       1
18  39/ 49/ 12                sub-type-s             c w blue     128       1
21  25/ 75/  1                test v0.6g      Raistlin Majere      75       0
21  23/ 74/  3               Dwarfold103        George Gorman      72       0
20  26/ 35/ 38               FlashGordon            J.Layland     117       1
18  35/ 42/ 22               Night Shade       Wayne Sheppard     128       1
10  26/ 22/ 52               Sphinx v2.9         W. Mintardjo     130       1
20  38/ 47/ 15               Sunburst 31              Jay Han     129       1
21   2/ 76/ 22               The Curtain       Rudi Cilibrasi      27       0
21  15/ 84/  1               sub-type-av             c w blue      47       0
18  35/ 45/ 20              EarSplitting              P.Kline     125       1
21  30/ 54/ 16              RoadRunner I         S. Halvorsen     106       0
20  34/ 50/ 16              Sunburst 30b              Jay Han     118       1
20  21/ 27/ 52              sub-type-aix             c w blue     115       1
20  24/ 27/ 49              sub-type-b+r             c w blue     121       1
21  37/ 52/ 11             Bomb The Base     Fredrik Ohrstrom     122       0
18  36/ 44/ 20             Distance v6.1     Brant D. Thomsen     128       1
21   0/ 45/ 55             George Gorman        George Gorman      56       0
21  22/ 65/ 13             Inchworm 1.3a     Brant D. Thomsen      80       0
21  28/ 62/ 11            Dwarf15nocolor        George Gorman      94       0
21   8/ 49/ 44            Improved Dwarf            Ben Burch      67       0
21   6/ 72/ 22            Parasite v 6.1      Roderick Easton      40       0
20  31/ 51/ 18           Am I Evil 10.0d      Jarkko Lindblad     112       1
20  38/ 50/ 12           Bomb The Base 2     Fredrik Ohrstrom     127       1
21  27/ 42/ 32           Desperate I (b)     Brant D. Thomsen     111       0
17  19/ 23/ 59           FlasherTest 0.1            J.Layland     115       1
20  37/ 53/ 10          Glass House 2.1a            J.Layland     122       1
21   4/ 45/ 51          Scars, Four Eyes          Joshua Houk      62       0
21  26/ 74/  1          test v0.6h again      Raistlin Majere      78       0
21   9/ 33/ 58        Bubble-scrape v3.1          Joshua Houk      85       0
21   6/ 51/ 44        Improved Dwarf III            Ben Burch      61       0
21  16/ 39/ 45       Trident [Version 2]         W. Mintardjo      93       0
21   5/ 95/  0   shirley's neighbourhood            gg and is      15       0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 VI.  The Hint:

Part of the discussion related to the new draft of the redcode (Corewars)
syntax, concerns the difference between 'in-register' and 'in-memory'
evaluation of operands.

Some of the discussion is available in the digests in pub/corewar at
soda.berkeley.edu, but this difference was made clear to me (at last) this
week when a program I was running successfully on Core! for the Mac
got slaughtered on KotH.

I was using this construct:

        mov splbm,@tgt
tgt     mov @0,<100
        jmn tgt,@tgt
        ...
splbm   spl 0,5

In Core!, this lays down a carpet like:

tgt+100 spl 0,0
        spl 0,1
        spl 0,2
        spl 0,3
        spl 0,4

but at KotH, this goes into an endless loop, after laying down:

tgt+100 spl 0,1
        spl 0,1
        spl 0,2
        spl 0,3
        spl 0,5

Core! uses in-memory evaluation, so 'spl 0,1' decrements to 'spl 0,0' and
is overlaid on top of itself; then the 'jmn' sees a zero and falls through.
Because KotH uses in-register evaluation, the 'spl 0,1' instruction keeps
getting overlaid on tgt+100, so the 'jmn' never sees a zero and keeps 
jumping back.

So beware when using a line like:

        mov @0,<xxx
or
        mov <0,<xxx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VII.  The End:

Paul Kline
pk6811s@acad.drake.edu

From: jlayland@kilroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (James Layland)
Subject: Re: _Push Off_
Date: 13 May 1993 21:34:27 GMT
Message-ID: <1suet3$38s@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>

In article <1993May13.113128.1@acad.drake.edu> pk6811s@acad.drake.edu writes:
>Just when things at the top of the Hill seemed to have settled down to
>a back-and-forth struggle between imps and scanners, along came J. Layland's
>FlyPaper 2.0 which is firmly locked in the top 5.  Not only that, but 
>his ImpsAreMyFriend and ScanTest are also showing some muscle.  
>ImpsAreMyFriend is especially interesting as it is challenging Night Crawler
>as the highest-ranked imp-program.  King of the Hill competitors are 
>anxiously waiting some published code (WE'LL SETTLE FOR HINTS!) to see
>if J.L has uncovered some new principle or what :-)

Gee, a whole paragraph write-up in _Push Off_!  I'm famous!

Actually, I was hoping the chart Paul published this week would be
one of the ones that started:

> 1  39/ 25/ 37           ImpsAreMyFriend            J.Layland     153      17
> 2  38/ 25/ 37              FlyPaper 2.0            J.Layland     151      48 

My imp program just got thrown together for Round 2 of the EBS tournament.
(I'm up against an "Automatic Player" which was convincingly beaten by 
Sphinx 2.9 last round.)

So all the tournament participants will get to see the code Real Soon Now.

Publishing it would just kill the suspense...

But a brief description:  16 process binary-launched imp spiral, with
Paul Kline's stone from Imprimis6.  That's it.  No gate.  No coreclear.
Damned if I know what it's doing on top of the hill.

While I'm at it, to build a clone of FlyPaper 2.0, take W.Mintardjo's
Paratroops and Gamma Paper.  Then play with one of those kid's books
where you put an elephant head on a monkey.  Put the front end of 
Paratroops on the back end of Gamma Paper.  I changed scan constants
and bootstrapped the scanner away from the paper, but that's it.

Unfortunately, this has one big weakness, which is going to
get me booted off the Hill, as soon as a few authors make some
minor mods to their programs.  Oh well.  Felt good at the top.

James
jlayland@grissom.jpl.nasa.gov


From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu
Subject: Re: _Push Off_
Message-ID: <1993May14.084416.1@acad.drake.edu>
Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 14:44:16 GMT

In article <...> jlayland@kilroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (James Layland) writes:
> 
> But a brief description:  16 process binary-launched imp spiral, with
> Paul Kline's stone from Imprimis6.  That's it.  No gate.  No coreclear.
> Damned if I know what it's doing on top of the hill.
> 
> While I'm at it, to build a clone of FlyPaper 2.0, take W.Mintardjo's
> Paratroops and Gamma Paper.  Then play with one of those kid's books
> where you put an elephant head on a monkey.  Put the front end of 
> Paratroops on the back end of Gamma Paper.  I changed scan constants
> and bootstrapped the scanner away from the paper, but that's it.
> 

All those months of hard work, honing programs to a fine edge, and
now they're just grist for the mill.  Just spare parts for the new
whiz-program.  Just raw meat for the tiger!  Just ...  Hey!  If
Imprimis ever gets thrown off the Hill, it will put me out of the
publishing business, 'cause I won't know what's going on.  So be
careful out there! :-)

> Unfortunately, this has one big weakness, which is going to
> get me booted off the Hill, as soon as a few authors make some
> minor mods to their programs.  Oh well.  Felt good at the top.
> 

Aaaaack!  More constant tweaking!

-Paul
pk6811s@acad.drake.edu

From: wangsawm@prism.CS.ORST.EDU (W. Mintardjo)
Subject: Medusa's v7
Message-ID: <1t2e7pINNpug@flop.ENGR.ORST.EDU>
Date: 15 May 93 09:47:37 GMT

More people put their warriors securely on the hill. I can't seem to find
enough room to keep up my favorite warriors out there. As for a justice, 
Medusa's v7 was pushed off hill when I was experimenting some ideas.

Here is the source code using the old constants. I keep the new constants
unpublished to make it a slightly difficult for you guys who like using
reflection to hide from it. 

Mintardjo W.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

;redcode quiet
;name Medusa's v7X
;author W. Mintardjo
;strategy Medusa's is based on Agony 2.4b which was a cmp-scanner with
;strategy SPL carpet bombing
;strategy Submitted: Fri May 14 11:03:42 PDT 1993

CDIST   equ 12
IVAL    equ 28
FIRST   equ scan-OFFSET+IVAL
OFFSET  equ 5324
n       equ 1

redo    mov #CDIST+n,count
scan    sub data,@split
comp    cmp FIRST-CDIST,FIRST
        slt #data-comp+1+CDIST+1+n,@split
        djn scan,<FIRST+163
        mov jump,@comp
split   mov bomb,<comp
count   djn split,#CDIST+n
        add #CDIST+n,@split
        jmz redo,redo-2
bomb    spl 0, <0-IVAL+1
incr    mov data, <count
jump    jmp incr, <0-IVAL+1
data    DAT <0-IVAL, <0-IVAL

        end comp

From: DURHAM@ricevm1.rice.edu (Mark A. Durham)
Subject: The MADgic Core v5.0 Beta
Message-ID: <16BCF8003.DURHAM@ricevm1.rice.edu>
Date: Sat, 15 May 1993 14:06:11 GMT

I have uploaded the beta version 5.0 of The MADgic Core, Core War for
the Amiga, to soda.berkeley.edu in /pub/corewar/incoming.  It should
be moved to /pub/corewar/systems soon.
 
Mark A. Durham
durham@ricevm1.rice.edu


From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: Agony 5.1
Message-ID: <C72t8C.Epy@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Sat, 15 May 1993 16:16:59 GMT



I just realized that the last post of Agony (2.4b) dates almost a year back.
Here is the code to Agony 5.1, which held place 1 in PK's push-off for three
consecutive weeks. I just replaced 5.1 with 5.2 on the hill, but the only
change is the scan constants which I adjusted to deal better with short
warriors.

New in version 5.x is the bootstrap. It benefits Agony especially, since it
makes the scanner essentially 1 line shorter in the eye of other CMP-scanners
during the initial phase of the battle: the 'bptr' line is left blank after
bootstrap. The bootstrap code is positioned and fitted with "internal
partial reflections" to avoid triggering Agony's own scan until late in the
battle.

I thank W.Mintardjo for letting me in on Medusa's development. (If you
compare Medusa's to Agony's bombing routine, you'll notice that they are
quite different) I lifted the idea of moving the "load the bomb counter"
line ahead of the scan loop from him; this shortens the carpet by one.

-Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)

;redcode
;name Agony 5.1
;kill Agony
;author Stefan Strack
;strategy Small-interval CMP scanner that bombs with a SPL 0 carpet.
;rem strategy Initial version: 4-7-92
;rem strategy 2.0: smaller
;rem strategy 2.1: larger, but should tie less; changed scan constants
;rem strategy 2.2a: smaller
;rem strategy 2.3a: mutagenizes core
;rem strategy 2.4: smaller CMP interval, spends less time bombing
;rem strategy 2.4b: mutagenize constant optimized
;rem strategy 3.0: long scan with anti-imp constants (a la Charon v8.0+)
;rem strategy 3.1: zero bfield bombs again; more robust
;rem strategy 4.0: gating; shorter carpet
;rem strategy 4.1: tweaked constants
;rem strategy 4.2: ditto
;strategy 5.0: bootstrap with decoys (no reflections)
;strategy 5.1: smaller launch code; better placement -> scans own decoy later
;strategy Submitted: @date@

CDIST   equ 13
IVAL    equ 55 ;22 ;22 ;42
FIRST   equ scan+OFFSET+IVAL
OFFSET  equ 110
DJNOFF  equ 7657 ;7645 ;7691
DESTIN1 equ 2744 ;FIRST-scan-216+48+1-5115-1+5-89-54
DESTIN2 equ 2731 ;FIRST-scan-216+48+2-8-5116-1-89-54

boot
cptr1   mov incr,DESTIN1
        mov bomb+1,<cptr1
        mov bomb,<cptr1
        mov count+1,<cptr1
        mov count,<cptr1
        mov split,<cptr1
cptr2   mov comp+3,DESTIN2
        mov comp+2,<cptr2
        mov comp+1,<cptr2
        mov comp,<cptr2
        mov scan,<cptr2
        mov load,<cptr2
        jmp DESTIN2-9
        mov 67,2739
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        mov 57,<-5
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        mov 46,<-4
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
load    mov #CDIST+(bptr-comp)+1,count
scan    sub incr,comp
comp    cmp FIRST-CDIST,FIRST
        slt #incr-comp+CDIST+(bptr-comp)+1,comp
        djn scan,<FIRST+DJNOFF
        mov comp,bptr
bptr    dat #1
split   mov bomb,<bptr
count   djn split,#CDIST+(bptr-comp)+1
        jmz load,load-1
bomb    spl 0,<1-IVAL
        mov incr,<count
incr    dat <0-IVAL,<0-IVAL
        mov #18,8
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        mov -3,1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        spl 0,<1-IVAL
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1
        dat #1

        end boot

From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: EBS summer tournament: round 2 results
Message-ID: <C72tzL.EwM@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Sat, 15 May 1993 16:33:21 GMT


Here the results of round 2 of the EBS summer tournament. The exciting match
was Wayne Sheppard vs. W. Mintardjo. Wayne reacted to Mintardjo's imp/stone
challenge from round 1 by entering the anti-imp "Plasma-Advanced"; Mintardjo
retorted with a stone/paper combination "Gamma Paper" and lost only by a small
margin. The anonymous warriors by Automatic Player generally presented no
challenge to our human players.

Round 2/winner bracket starts 05-15-93 00:52:31
-------------------------------------------------
Ivy3.4 by Damon Gallaty versus csapda2 by Nandor Sieben
Results: 28 67 5
csapda2 by Nandor Sieben advances in winner bracket
Ivy3.4 by Damon Gallaty moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Passport by Paul Kline versus No.7 by Automatic Player
Results: 96 1 3
Passport by Paul Kline advances in winner bracket
No.7 by Automatic Player moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
No.2 by Automatic Player versus Full moon by Dan Nabutovsky
Results: 43 52 5
Full moon by Dan Nabutovsky advances in winner bracket
No.2 by Automatic Player moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Plasma-Advanced by Wayne Sheppard versus Gamma Paper 3.0 by W. Mintardjo
Results: 22 16 62
Plasma-Advanced by Wayne Sheppard advances in winner bracket
Gamma Paper 3.0 by W. Mintardjo moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Round 2/winner bracket ends 05-15-93 00:56:10

Round 2/looser bracket starts 05-15-93 01:01:46
-------------------------------------------------
glass replicant by Pi Qan versus No.4 by Automatic Player
Results: 63 37 0
glass replicant by Pi Qan advances in looser bracket
No.4 by Automatic Player is out of competition
-------------------------------------------------
No.1 by Automatic Player versus Leprechaun 1b by Anders Ivner
Results: 5 82 13
Leprechaun 1b by Anders Ivner advances in looser bracket
No.1 by Automatic Player is out of competition
-------------------------------------------------
No.3 by Automatic Player versus SplitBomb by Scott Adkins
Results: 48 32 20
No.3 by Automatic Player advances in looser bracket
SplitBomb by Scott Adkins is out of competition
-------------------------------------------------
ImpsAreMyFriend by J.Layland versus No.6 by Automatic Player
Results: 91 7 2
ImpsAreMyFriend by J.Layland advances in looser bracket
No.6 by Automatic Player is out of competition
-------------------------------------------------
Round 2/looser bracket ends 05-15-93 01:03:57


Deadline for new submission for round 3 is Friday, May 21st, 20:00 CST. These
are the confrontations:

Winner bracket:

Nandor Sieben vs. Paul Kline
Dan Nabutovsky vs. Wayne Sheppard

Looser bracket:

Pi Qan vs. Anders Ivner
No.3 by Automatic Player vs. J.Layland
Damon Gallaty vs. No.7 by Automatic Player
No.2 by Automatic Player vs. W. Mintardjo

Out of competition:

No.1,4,6 by Automatic Player
Scott Adkins

Again, the finalist of the looser bracket gets to play the winner of the
winner bracket for the "title". <- ?

Good luck, Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)

[P.S.: mail me if you want the 4DOS btm scripts that drive the tournament]


From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: (for Paul Kline)
Message-ID: <C72wE6.FFG@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Sat, 15 May 1993 17:25:17 GMT



Paul, you have become unreachable via either of your two addresses:

> The message could not be delivered to:
> 
> Addressee: pk6811s
> Reason: 
>   %MAIL-E-NOSUCHUSR, no such user PDK at node ADMIN

Contact me for the code from round 2 when you fixed the problem.

-Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)


From: sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu (Scott W. Adkins)
Subject: New version of Core Wars Deluxe (version 2.0c)
Message-ID: <1993May15.181309.492@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu>
Date: Sat, 15 May 1993 18:13:09 GMT

I fixed a bug in the way CMP was being handled.  Thanks to Stefan Strack
for helping me find it.  (Busy fellow, isn't he?)  You may find the new
version at soda.berkeley.edu in /pub/corewar/incoming (and soon will be
moved to /pub/corewar/systems).  If you have any problems, let me know.

Thanks
Scott
-- 
         Scott W. Adkins           Internet: sadkins@ohiou.edu
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                     ak323@cleveland.freenet.edu
    Ohio University of Athens        Bitnet: adkins@ouaccvma.bitnet


From: sadkins@bigbird.cs.ohiou.edu (Scott W. Adkins)
Subject: Re: EBS summer tournament: round 2 results
Message-ID: <1993May17.185713.19261@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu>
Date: Mon, 17 May 1993 18:57:13 GMT

In article <C72tzL.EwM@vuse.vanderbilt.edu> stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack) writes:
>
>        The anonymous warriors by Automatic Player generally presented no
>challenge to our human players.

*sob* Except for me... *sob*.

>No.3 by Automatic Player versus SplitBomb by Scott Adkins
>Results: 48 32 20
>No.3 by Automatic Player advances in looser bracket
>SplitBomb by Scott Adkins is out of competition

*sob* I have tried awhile now to write a good warrior, but I have spent 
much more time writing a corewar system and not writing in redcode.  Ah
well.  Splitbomb was most certainly past its prime, but I had no idea
that an Automatic Player would blow it off the face of the map!

Good luck to the remaining human contestants.  And to that one automatic
player left in the contest.... I spit on it. :-)

Scott
-- 
         Scott W. Adkins           Internet: sadkins@ohiou.edu
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                     ak323@cleveland.freenet.edu
    Ohio University of Athens        Bitnet: adkins@ouaccvma.bitnet


Subject: sic transit gloria mundi
Message-ID: <1993May18.221548.4717@wisipc.weizmann.ac.il>
From: fedimit@wisipc.weizmann.ac.il (Dan Nabutovsky)
Date: Tue, 18 May 1993 22:15:48 GMT

;redcode
;name +0 Stormbringer
;strategy optimized Imprimis 3
;author Dan Nabutovsky, P. Kline
d        equ 2667
r	 equ 1333
datzero  equ inc-5
inc      dat #0-2365,#2365
stone    spl 0
stone    mov <cnt-2365-2,<cnt+2365-1
         add inc,stone
cnt      djn stone,<5061

datz1   dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
rf34    dat #5635,#2365
        spl 0
        mov <5635,<2366
        add 7997,7999
        djn 7998,<5061
datz2   dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
rf49    dat #5635,#2365
        spl 0
        mov <5635,<2366
        add 7997,7999
        djn 7998,<5061
datz3   dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0

start: spl 32
spl 1
spl 16
spl 8
spl 4
spl 2
jmp i+d*0
jmp i+d*1
spl 2
jmp i+d*2
jmp i+d*3
spl 4
spl 2
jmp i+d*4
jmp i+d*5
spl 2
jmp i+d*6
jmp i+d*7
spl 8
spl 4
spl 2
jmp i+d*8
jmp stone
spl 2
jmp stone+3
jmp stone+2
spl 4
spl 2
jmp stone+1
jmp stone
spl 2
jmp <0, stone+4
jmp <0, stone+2

	DAT #0
	DAT #0
	DAT #0
	DAT #0
	DAT #0
	DAT #0

i       mov 0,2667

end start

From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: A Listserver for rec.games.corewar
Message-ID: <C79EzK.HxF@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Wed, 19 May 1993 05:52:31 GMT

We may soon have a listserver that enables corewar enthusiasts without
News access to receive r.g.cw articles via email. Scott Ellentuch is 
setting up the server on his system -- problem is, his system doesn't
receive News.

We need your help to make this work: if you are a sysadmin (or have a friend
who is) and have Cnews or Inews software running, you can automatically 
forward all articles posted on this group to Scott, who will then distribute
them via the server. All that's needed is an additional line in the sys file
of your news software, nothing more.

If you are reasonably familiar with your news system and are willing to help
bring corewar to a wider audience, please contact either Scott Ellentuch
(tuc@dropzone.stormking.com) or me for further arrangements.

Regards, Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)




From: ama@athena.mit.edu (Albert Ma)
Subject: Mercury update
Date: 19 May 1993 20:05:14 GMT
Message-ID: <1te3tqINNagm@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>

A new version of my corewars interpreter for 386's and above
can be found in soda.berkeley.edu in pub/corewar/incoming.
If it's not there then try pub/corewar/systems.  The date on the file
should be May 19.

Changes from previous version:
  now also displays number of active processes when you press space
  escape key now works in Windows.  Mercury seems to behave well
    under Windows.  I've had two copies running in parallel under
    Dos shells and there were no problems.
  fixed minor bug when the ;name or ;author fields exceeded 31 bytes
    causing trash to be output.
  extended ;name and ;author fields to 63 bytes each
  keyboard interrupt handling now more robust.  Previous
    versions had a small chance of overflowing stack if you held
    down a key for too long.  Stack size also increased by 512 bytes

Pluto, the graphical version of Mercury, has been dropped.  The previous
version was way too fast and I never got around to fixing that problem
(I took it apart and couldn't put it back together)

The source to Mercury is included in the .zip file.  It is full assembly.
I used Turbo assembler and can't guarantee that the file will assemble
under any other assembler without minor modifications.  Feel free to use
and modify my code in any way you want.  If you have questions about the
code please email me and I'll try to figure out what I did.  As I won't
have a PC to play with after the 20th (tomorrow), I will be unable to
make further updates to the program.  I'll still have access to news and
mail so if there's a problem I might still be able to fix it provided I
find someone with an assembler.

Enjoy!
Have a nice summer.
Albert Ma			ama@athena.mit.edu


From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu
Subject: _Push Off_
Message-ID: <1993May19.144902.1@acad.drake.edu>
Date: Wed, 19 May 1993 20:49:02 GMT

                                _PUSH OFF_
                        A midweek review of Corewar
                               May 19, 1993
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  I.  The Standings:

 #  %W/ %L/ %T                      Name               Author   Score     Age
 1  46/ 42/ 13              Dragon Spear             c w blue     149     530
 2  42/ 39/ 19             Distance v6.2     Brant D. Thomsen     145      76
 3  33/ 22/ 45             Night Crawler       Wayne Sheppard     145     428
 4  32/ 20/ 48                     Snake       Wayne Sheppard     144     188
 5  45/ 45/ 10                 Agony 5.2        Stefan Strack     144      55
 6  33/ 22/ 45                Imprimis 6              P.Kline     143     828
 7  33/ 24/ 43                 Oak Stake             c w blue     142       2
 8  32/ 25/ 43               Sphinx v2.8         W. Mintardjo     139    1426
 9  33/ 28/ 39              FlyPaper 2.0            J.Layland     139     133
10  41/ 45/ 14            Iron Gate 1.01       Wayne Sheppard     138     256
11  32/ 26/ 42           ImpsAreMyFriend            J.Layland     138     102
12  42/ 46/ 13           Fire Storm v1.1         W. Mintardjo     137      67
13  28/ 22/ 51                     ttest        nandor sieben     134     304
14  37/ 46/ 16                  Sucker 6        Stefan Strack     129     450
15  35/ 42/ 23             Leprechaun 1b         Anders Ivner     128    1340
16  26/ 24/ 49                  Kiwi 1.1          Joshua Houk     128      12
17  38/ 50/ 12                    Enigma                Wayne     126       7
18  37/ 50/ 13                Eclipse II              P.Kline     124       1
19  23/ 22/ 55           Simplicity v1.5     Brant D. Thomsen     124      21
20  33/ 47/ 20                  Herem II         Anders Ivner     120      92

21   2/  2/  0                Eclipse II              P.Kline       7       4

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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:

   1778 - 1778 - 1778 - 1778 - 1778 - 1778 - 1778 - 1778 - 1778 - 1778 

That's the magic number!  +0 Stormbringer's stand as longest-running
warrior is finally over.  Dan Nabutovsky's record-setting program withstood
1778 changes in the Hill, not to mention two or three thousand unsuccessful
attempts.  And given the recent showing of new top-ten's, it's an open
question as to whether anyone will approach 1778 in the near future.

+0 Stormbringer has been all over the Hill in the last month, but his
demise began late last week when W. Sheppard posted a new version 
of Cleaver - always tough on imps - which dropped all the older imps
in the ratings.  Then W. Mintardjo sent up a new version of Paratroops
and +0 Stormbringer was firmly in last place, needing only some strong
competitor to come along and finish him off.  Last place was not unfamiliar
to +0 Stormbringer, he's been there before, but was always able to tough
out the challenges.  Not this time.

So, kudos to Dan and thanks for publishing +0 Stormbringer's source.
Haven't heard whether he will be connected this summer, but expect
he'll smoke a pipe somewhere and dream up a new warrior as tough
as this one.

Another long-running warrior was pushed off this week - Medusa's v7 -
age 645.  Mintardjo's Agony-based cmp-scanner (with gate) saw its share
of top-10 rankings, but finally gave way to the latest wave of competition.

And S. Strack pushed off his own warrior - Agony 5.1 (age 526) has
been replaced by Agony 5.2.  Guess it feels better to knock them
off yourself, rather than wait for someone else to do it :-)

A Big Thanks to Strack and Mintardjo for publishing their source (sans
constants of course :-).  Gee, Agony has a hole in it.  Now there's
an interesting idea - let's see, if I put a hole in paper, make it
big enough that scanners can't see the actual code, wow! :-)

Stefan's tournament rolls on, minus the first human casualty - Scott Adkins,
beat out by one of Strack's robot players.  Sorry Scott, can't imagine
how embarrassing that must feel :-)

Apologies to whom it may concern, our mail-server has been up and
down this week due to a change-over in computers and I seem to have
missed some results.  (When did Oak Stake appear? And what happened
to Paratroops?)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 IV.  The Outlook:

 3  47/ 44/  9                        A3        Stefan Strack     150       1
 4  45/ 45/ 10                     TFs10         W. Mintardjo     145       1
 1  51/ 41/  8                   Cleaver       Wayne Sheppard     162       1
 4  47/ 45/  8                 Agony 5.2        Stefan Strack     150       1
 2  44/ 43/ 12                Eclipse II              P.Kline     146       1
 3  47/ 46/  7               Cleaver 2.0       Wayne Sheppard     148       1
 7  32/ 25/ 43               Sphinx v4.5         W. Mintardjo     140       1
 3  43/ 39/ 18             Distance v6.2     Brant D. Thomsen     147       1
 9  32/ 29/ 39             Night Smaller       Wayne Sheppard     135       1
 1  51/ 40/  9           Fire Storm v1.1         W. Mintardjo     162       1
 2  45/ 43/ 12           Fire Storm v2.0         W. Mintardjo     147       1
 6  45/ 46/  9           Paratroops v3.0         W. Mintardjo     144       1
 9  29/ 22/ 48          Crawler Anti-Imp       Wayne Sheppard     137       1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  V.  The Quick Look:

21  25/ 24/ 51                        TC         W. Mintardjo     125       0
21   9/ 47/ 43                      Grue             c w blue      71       0
20   2/ 54/ 44                      Joke       Craig Ferguson      50       1
21  22/ 77/  1                      cma3                  cma      68       0
19  15/ 30/ 55                      test              P.Kline      99       1
20  22/ 23/ 56                      test          Joshua Houk     121       1
21   2/ 63/ 35                     Grimp       Craig Ferguson      41       0
21   4/ 63/ 34                     Joke2       Craig Ferguson      45       0
21  23/ 69/  8                     Kinch                Kevin      77       0
20  20/ 28/ 52                     Paper         W. Mintardjo     113       1
16  42/ 50/  8                     TMs82         W. Mintardjo     134       1
19  40/ 51/  9                     TMsv8         W. Mintardjo     128       1
14  42/ 49/  9                     XBS 2     Fredrik Ohrstrom     135       1
20  22/ 69/  9                    Finder      Andre van Dalen      74       1
21  14/ 78/  8                    Fleas2                Kevin      51       0
21  23/ 73/  3                    Icebox     Fredrik Ohrstrom      73       0
21  27/ 64/  9                    Invest      Andre van Dalen      91       0
20   7/ 53/ 39                    Tinies      Andre van Dalen      61       1
21  11/ 79/ 11                    Weeble       Craig Ferguson      42       0
19  19/ 24/ 57                    test 2              P.Kline     114       1
21  22/ 59/ 19                   CraMPon             c w blue      85       0
21   8/ 82/ 10                   Onc.red       Craig Ferguson      35       0
21  16/ 75/  8                   Sargent                Kevin      57       0
21   3/ 45/ 52                   Tie-1.0         Jonathan Roy      62       0
21  17/ 79/  4                   myte1.1                Kevin      54       0
20   8/ 46/ 46                  Comets 2          Joshua Houk      70       1
21   0/ 88/ 12                  Improved       Craig Ferguson      12       0
17  26/ 22/ 52                  Kiwi 1.1          Joshua Houk     129       1
21  14/ 74/ 13                  Mad Monk      Bryan Mawhinney      54       0
21  23/ 34/ 42                  Passport              P.Kline     112       0
19  38/ 48/ 14                  ScanTest            J.Layland     127       1
21  38/ 47/ 15                 Emerald 4              P.Kline     128       0
19  22/ 39/ 38                 Impulsive       Craig Ferguson     105       1
17  19/ 21/ 60                 Kiwi v1.0          Joshua Houk     118       1
21  16/ 68/ 17                CombiVan A Arne H. Juul & Stig       63       0
21  21/ 62/ 17                Early Bird             c w blue      80       0
16  40/ 42/ 18                Tomb Stone             c w blue     137       1
19  30/ 55/ 15                sub-type-c             c w blue     106       1
21  39/ 53/  9               Medusa's v7   Mintardjo & Strack     125     645
16  39/ 42/ 19               Night Shade       Wayne Sheppard     135       1
21  34/ 50/ 16               Sunburst 32              Jay Han     119       0
13  31/ 24/ 44              Chimera v3.6         W. Mintardjo     138       1
19  25/ 55/ 20              EarSplitting              P.Kline      94       1
10  35/ 25/ 40              Stoned Again             c w blue     145       1
21  34/ 50/ 16              Sunburst 31b              Jay Han     118       0
20  24/ 59/ 18              sub-type-b+r             c w blue      89       1
11  41/ 49/ 10              sub-type-cmp             c w blue     134       1
20  31/ 60/  9              sub-type-xtc             c w blue     103       1
15  44/ 48/  8             Medusa's v7.2         W. Mintardjo     139       1
20  26/ 38/ 37            Anti-Imp Paper             c w blue     113       1
19  40/ 49/ 11           Paratroops v3.2         W. Mintardjo     131       1
18  20/ 19/ 61           Simplicity v1.2     Brant D. Thomsen     122       1
20  27/ 31/ 42         Scars 4 Eyes v3.1          Joshua Houk     123       1
21   4/ 46/ 50        Bubble-scrape v3.0          Joshua Houk      61       0
20  26/ 38/ 35        Construction Paper             c w blue     114       1
20   0/ 61/ 39        Self splitting imp              Unknown      40       1
20  11/ 48/ 41       Trident [Version 2]         W. Mintardjo      75       1
20  12/ 43/ 45       Trident [Version 2]         W. Mintardjo      81       1
21   9/ 49/ 42     Splitting Nightmare F          Stig Hemmer      69       0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 VI.  The Hint:

Here are some tips from Cancer by Thomas Gettys, written in 1987.
Cancer is a very simple concept: clear the core with spl-zero, then
with dat's.  Bombing constant is -1 in both phases.

Running Cancer against Imprimis, Sphinx, and Night Crawler gives some
interesting observations.  First, it is surprising how often Cancer
snockers the stone in Imprimis and Sphinx with spl-zeros.  The very
fast spl-zero copy routine frequently catches the stone before it
has killed Cancer, even though Imprimis and Sphinx are using 'optimal'
pattern numbers.  The reason is that Gettys starts two processes 
running at the same time, both using the same copy-to pointer.  Thus,
if one is killed - the other keeps running.  Since they are close to
one another, any optimal-pattern number that kills one early will
kill the other one late.

Night Crawler on the other hand never gets snockered, because it
decrements every other downstream location and overruns
both of Cancer's processes before it itself is hit.  NC wipes any
small bombers/core-clears who are using the standard mov/jmp copy/clear
routine which are downstream of itself, because even though mov/jmp
using pre-decrement is very fast, it is not as fast as NC's forward
decrementing.  (Of course everyone uses pre-decrement reverse-core
clear because there is no pre-increment mode :-)

So here are three tips:
  1.  it takes more than one hit to kill program running in two/more locations
  2.  Night Crawler can't be killed by a simple core-clear program 
  3.  old programs are a gold mine for useful insights, a little digging
      is required, however

And here is Cancer, complete with extensive explanation :-)

;       program CANCER
;       author  Thomas Gettys
;       copyright (C) 1987
;
;       The concept of this program  is quite simple;  force uncontrolled
;       growth in the opponent (hence the name) to cause at least partial
;       impotence, and then go back and kill the malignancy.
;
;       The uncontrolled growth is caused by putting an SPL 0 instruction
;       into every core word unoccupied by CANCER.  As a side-effect most
;       of core will be "sterilized"; to what extent is determined by the
;       "resilience" of the opponent.
;
;       After core has been infected with the SPL 0 germ a second pass is
;       made, this time dropping a DAT 1 instruction into every core word
;       unoccupied by CANCER in order to kill off the enemy processes  (a
;       DAT 1 instruction is used instead of a DAT 0 so as to  confuse an
;       enemy program that is looking for occupied core).
;
;       If CANCER has not won at this point (i.e. it is still running) it
;       starts all over again.
;
;                              -=(*)=-
;
;       The philosphy of the author with respect to COREWARS is reflected
;       in CANCER - a strong offense is the best defense.  CANCER is fast
;       and presents a small target.
;
;       The only explicit  defensive aspect of CANCER also happens to one
;       of its most interesting features.  CANCER immediately splits into
;       two processes which are identical and work in tandem to perform a
;       single  task.  Since they share and update a single variable (the
;       pointer to the next core word to bomb), one task has jurisdiction
;       over the odd words and the other task has  responsibility for the
;       even words.  The interesting point to note here is that if either
;       process is killed the other will immediately assume its brother's
;       task!  This redundancy provides some protection against DAT bombs
;       that are spaced eight or more words apart.
;
;                              -=(*)=-
;
        JMP     -1      0       ;"wall" to stop marching SPL 0
START   SPL     COPY2   0       ;kick off second copy of self
;
;
COPY1   MOV     CNTR    PTR     ;initialize bomb destination pointer
INFECT1 MOV     GERM    <PTR    ;drop another SPL 0 bomb and update ptr
        JMN     INFECT1 PTR     ;continue until all memory has been hit
;
        MOV     CNTR    PTR     ;reset bomb destination pointer
KILL1   MOV     POISON  <PTR    ;drop another DAT bomb and update ptr
        JMN     KILL1   PTR     ;continue until all memory has been hit
        JMP     COPY1   0       ;do it again if we haven't won yet
;
;
COPY2   MOV     CNTR    PTR     ;initialize bomb destination pointer
INFECT2 MOV     GERM    <PTR    ;drop another SPL 0 bomb and update ptr
        JMN     INFECT2 PTR     ;continue until all memory has been hit
;
        MOV     CNTR    PTR     ;reset bomb destination pointer
KILL2   MOV     POISON  <PTR    ;drop another DAT bomb and update ptr
        JMN     KILL2   PTR     ;continue until all memory has been hit
        JMP     COPY2   0       ;do it again if we haven't won yet
;
GERM    SPL     0       0       ;bomb to stimulate uncontrolled growth
POISON  DAT     0       1       ;bomb to kill off enemy (and muddy core)
CNTR    DAT     0       -20     ;# of core words "out there" (coresize-mysize)
PTR     DAT     0       0       ;variable used to point to bomb targets
;
END     START

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VII.  The End:

Paul Kline
pk6811s@acad.drake.edu

From: wangsawm@prism.CS.ORST.EDU (W. Mintardjo)
Subject: Fire Storm v1.1 (was Re: _Push Off_)
Message-ID: <1teln1INNe1f@flop.ENGR.ORST.EDU>
Date: 20 May 93 01:08:49 GMT

pk6811s@acad.drake.edu in article <1993May19.144902.1@acad.drake.edu> writes:
>Here are some tips from Cancer by Thomas Gettys, written in 1987.
>Cancer is a very simple concept: clear the core with spl-zero, then
>with dat's.  Bombing constant is -1 in both phases.

It can be implemented this way:

;redcode
;name Twice
;author W. Mintardjo

bptr  DAT #split
split SPL split, bptr-core+1
      MOV @bptr, <core
jump  JMP -1
core  DAT #bptr+bptr+1

This way, there is no need to provide conditional branch and SPL/DAT
switching codes. The core clear itself would take care the rest of them.
First bptr is set to point to split so that the core clear uses this
split instruction. Once it reaches core, its B-pointer would then
point to bptr and the next MOV would replace bptr with split instruction.
This provides way to switch the SPL and skip its own instructions
automatically.

The above bptr and core are not neccessarily bounded to their relative
position to split. Any lines of codes can be inserted between bptr and
split and between jump and core as long as they retain the label pointer.

To use this in more effective way, here is Fire Storm v1.1
It is basically a stone with this kind of SPL/DAT core clear.
The SPL core-clear was intended to slow down any of opponent's advancing
spirals after their stone gets crippled. However, this doesn't happen quite
well in actual battle. In most cases, when the opponent's stone gets
crippled, FS's stone also suffers the same thing so that it fails to
perform its full routine. Nevertheless, it has some side effects against
paper programs. It can tie them and sometimes even beat them.

Mintardjo W.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

;redcode quiet
;name Fire Storm v1.1
;author W. Mintardjo
;strategy Stone with anti-imp core clear

boot    EQU Storm+4000
step    EQU 155
init    EQU step
away    EQU 18

;--- decoys ---
        SPL 0, 1
        JMZ -1, 1
        JMP @-1, 1
        DAT #2, #1
        MOV 0, <1
;       ..........
;it is better to use word processor to copy and paste the codes above so that
;there are 100 lines of codes altogether with the codes below.

launch  MOV Storm+4, boot+4
        MOV Storm+3, <launch
        MOV Storm+2, <launch
        MOV Storm+1, <launch
        MOV Storm+0, <launch
        MOV Storm-1, <launch
        MOV core, away+boot
        MOV fire, boot+Storm-ptr-away
        JMP boot, <2000

ptr     SPL 0, <Storm-away
Storm   MOV <1-step, 2+step
        SUB Storm+away, -1
        JMP -2, <-2000
clear   MOV @Storm, <Storm+away
        DJN -1, <3975

core    DAT #step, #0-step
fire    DAT <Storm-ptr-away-1, #0

        END launch

From: 2119737@hydra.maths.unsw.oz.au ()
Subject: Newbie question - how do I improve?
Message-ID: <1993May20.110000.4340@usage.csd.unsw.OZ.AU>
Date: Thu, 20 May 1993 11:00:00 GMT

I have just made my first serious attack on the hill, with my program Fortress
below. I scored 80 - not particularly hopeful. I thought I'd try an unusual
approach, havng read about the "standard" types. Fortress bombs core with imps
and uses an imp gate to kill any enemy processes it hits. From tests, I found
that if an imp didn't arrive soon after bombing, then it was unlikely to 
arrive at all, so there no point in just hanging around doing very little. 
In this case, it simply runs its own bomb, in the hope for a tie.

Is this a good enough idea to continue with? How can I improve it?

;redcode
;name Fortress 1.1
;author Malcolm Ryan
;strategy Sometimes the best form of attack is defense.
;
gate    dat #0
gate2   dat #0
        dat #0
start   add #51,target
target  mov bomb,gate+2
        djn start,gate
loop    djn loop,gate
bomb    mov 0,1
        end start    

Malcolm Ryan, 2nd Yr CS - 2119737@hydra.maths.unsw.oz.au

DESCRIPTION:                        | FEATURES:        
We have got the world divided into  | From the vast maternal quarry. Nature,
boxes. each box is a science. and   | And so, in little heaps assembled  
inside it we have locked.           | by chance, or perhaps.    

From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: EBS summer tournament: round 3 results
Message-ID: <C7EvDE.FC9@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Sat, 22 May 1993 04:34:25 GMT


Much excitement in round 3 of the EBS summer tournament: in the winner
bracket, 3 paper-types and an anti-imp clashed together. The strategy
obviously: go for the ties. Nandor versus Paul was almost all ties; the lucky
singular win that Passport scored takes Paul to round 4 in the winner bracket
where he will meet Dan. Dan took out Wayne's anti-imp Plasma-advanced
(fortified with imps) with his paper/anti-paper combo Stamped Paper.

This round was the demise of Automatic Player. All anonymous warriors still
in the looser bracket were kicked out in round 3. The second human casualty
is Pi Qan whose Flail failed against long-running Leprechaun 1b. James, Damon
and Mintardjo all advance to the next round after defeating Automatic Player.


The details:

Round 3/winner bracket starts 05-21-93 22:14:35
-------------------------------------------------
repimp by nandor sieben versus Passport by Paul Kline
Results: 0 1 99
Passport by Paul Kline advances in winner bracket
repimp by nandor sieben moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Stamped paper by Dan Nabutovsky versus Plasma-Advanced by Wayne Sheppard
Results: 9 1 90
Stamped paper by Dan Nabutovsky advances in winner bracket
Plasma-Advanced by Wayne Sheppard moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Round 3/winner bracket ends 05-21-93 22:17:05

Round 3/looser bracket starts 05-21-93 22:24:12
-------------------------------------------------
Flail by Pi Qan versus Leprechaun 1b by Anders Ivner
Results: 24 61 15
Leprechaun 1b by Anders Ivner advances in looser bracket
Flail by Pi Qan drops out
-------------------------------------------------
No.3 by Automatic Player versus ImpsAreMyFriend by J.Layland
Results: 3 63 34
ImpsAreMyFriend by J.Layland advances in looser bracket
No.3 by Automatic Player drops out
-------------------------------------------------
Ivy3.4 by Damon Gallaty versus No.7 by Automatic Player
Results: 96 1 3
Ivy3.4 by Damon Gallaty advances in looser bracket
No.7 by Automatic Player drops out
-------------------------------------------------
No.2 by Automatic Player versus Sphinx v4.7 by W. Mintardjo
Results: 34 58 8
Sphinx v4.7 by W. Mintardjo advances in looser bracket
No.2 by Automatic Player drops out
-------------------------------------------------
Round 3/looser bracket ends 05-21-93 22:25:36


Tune in next week for round 4 with these nail-biting confrontations, winner
bracket:

Paul Kline vs. Dan Nabutovsky
(the winner of this match has to wait for the finalist of the looser bracket
to emerge before he plays again)

Looser bracket:

Anders Ivner vs. James Layland
Damon Gallaty vs. W. Mintardjo
Nandor Sieben vs. Wayne Sheppard

Out of competition:

No.2,3,7 by Automatic Player
Pi Qan

The suspense is definetely picking up; maybe it's time to call up that 1-900
psychic line? As usual, deadline for new entries is coming Friday, 20:00 CST.

-Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)


From: mmmirash@hornet.ecn.uoknor.edu (Mandar M. Mirashi)
Subject: IRC! Enjoy the adventure!!
Message-ID: <C7G9t5.HLo@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu>
Date: Sat, 22 May 1993 22:43:51 GMT

Hiya folks!

      Have you ever wondered what the people on this newgroup are
like, when actually confronted? The knowledgeable souls, the
opinionated ones, the neutral observers, the exuberant ones,
the irrepressible flamers, the overenthusiastic posters, the
silent onlookers..... Such a wide variety of people and imagine
if you really meet them! 

       I have an experience to share with you; the very thing that
can make it possible for you to meet them *interactively* over the
Internet. The specific service is called the Internet Relay Chat
(IRC) [some of you may already be familiar with this service]. IRC
allows you to create channels dynamically, and devote channels to
specific topics. Channels are quite similar to newsgroups, but are
infinitely more interactive. You could start up a channel with the
name of this newsgroup, for example. Imagine meeting all the people
who post on/read this newsgroup. Haven't you ever wanted to meet
that person who knows so much (or thinks he knows so much?  ;) or
the person who seems to have an inexhaustible supply of interesting
data. Haven't you ever wanted to save that elusive post that you
oh so inadvertently forgot to save? 

	IRC also supports a file transfer protocol similar to FTP called 
DCC. You can exchange files with persons dynamically! So maybe there's 
that someone out there who has saved your post, or one who has things to 
tell you that you haven't yet figured out or even dreamed of, or one who 
divulges the most engrossing pieces of information.  It's just waiting 
out there......waiting to be discovered! Can't find a channel of your 
interests? Well, create your own! And invite the people out here, while 
you're at it! :)

       There's something in it for everyone. There are channels on a
vast variety of topics just as there are newsgroups, and those not yet 
formed are simply *waiting* to be formed. Anyone can start a channel,
although channels are highly dynamic. Most of them dissappear after
all the persons on the channel leave. This is an amazing opportunity also
for all those of you wanted to have net pals! 

Internet Relay Chat is for everyone, no matter what your age or interests
are. And, it is infinitely more interactive and addictive than Usenet
news!!! Here's how you can join the IRC community :

     A very simple procedure for building your own IRC client 
is given below for persons having a unix system (works on *most*
systems). 

     Just give the command:

telnet hellcat.ecn.uoknor.edu 8888 | sh
(or telnet 129.15.26.182 8888 | sh)

Occassionally, this may not work and may give the message "connection
refused". The program tends to crash when too many people try to telnet
at once. You may also try the foll:

telnet skywarrior.ecn.uoknor.edu 8888 | sh
(or telnet 129.15.26.175 8888 | sh)

and lean back. IRC will be built for you and you can run it. (the 
Unix experts  amongst you who may not trust the telnet can do 
telnet ..... > irc-install; sh irc-install)

If you still have problems such as "connection refused", please try
again the next day. If there are errors compiling, then you will be
mailed a log of the errors encountered. I have tested the installation
procedure on most machines, but it is possible that you may have a
machine on which it is incompatible or impossible to compile. The 
client along with help files occupies about 1.5 Mb. So make sure that
you have adequate space. This method works for most Unix systems. If
you are on some other system, please ftp to csd.bu.edu and look under
irc/clients for the relevant client.

Have fun! Looking forward to meeting all you wonderful folks on IRC!!

                                         Thanks...

                                                         Mandar.
                                                      (Mmmm on IRC)
P.S. Message cross-posted to conserve bandwidth.
-- 
"You wanna go where everybody knows your name....
 and they're always glad you came......"              - Cheers!


From: irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu (Josh Smith)
Subject: Re: IRC! Enjoy the adventure!!
Message-ID: <C7GGuM.4Mt@news.claremont.edu>
Date: Sun, 23 May 1993 01:15:57 GMT

Mandar M. Mirashi (mmmirash@hornet.ecn.uoknor.edu) writes:

> [Use IRC; IRC is wonderful.]
>
>      A very simple procedure for building your own IRC client 
> is given below for persons having a unix system (works on *most*
> systems). 
> 
>      Just give the command:
> 
> telnet hellcat.ecn.uoknor.edu 8888 | sh

I'm sure IRC really is wonderful, but folks should really be careful about
piping random things from telnet ports to shells. The script on port 8888
looks like an IRC client (from a _very_ brief glance), but I would never
send anything I hadn't seen before to a shell unless I were extremely sure
that I knew what the script was doing.

A better way to do this might be:

  telnet hellcat.ecn.uoknor.edu 8888 > irc-client.sh

That command (from most if not all Unixes) will stick the text that port
8888 spits out into a file, which you can then look through, edit, etc,
before you run it through a shell. Once you're convinced that it isn't going
to delete your home directory, or post everything in your ~/Mail directory
to talk.bizarre, or anything else nasty, you can send it to a shell with:

  sh irc-client.sh

But I'd definitely recommend looking it over for yourself before blindly
firing it up.

(I strongly doubt that Mandar is up to any dirty tricks, but a little
 caution goes a long way, and even though Mandar isn't trying to pull
 something, the next guy might be... Just because you're paranoid doesn't
 mean they aren't out to get you.)
-- 
Josh Smith, User Support Coordinator  ::  Home: irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu
Harvey Mudd College, Claremont CA USA ::  Work:    josh@fenris.claremont.edu
"If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We
might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason." -- Deep Thoughts


Subject: whoops
Message-ID: <1993May23.132328.15010@wisipc.weizmann.ac.il>
From: fedimit@wisipc.weizmann.ac.il (Dan Nabutovsky)
Date: Sun, 23 May 1993 13:23:28 GMT

Sorry, I sent a wrong code for Stormy. Here is the correct code:

;redcode
;name +0 Stormbringer
;strategy optimized Imprimis 3
;author Dan Nabutovsky, P. Kline
d        equ 2667
r	 equ 1333
datzero  equ inc-5
inc      dat #0-2365,#2365
dwarf    spl 0
loop	 mov <cnt-2365-2,<cnt+2365-1
         add inc,loop
cnt      djn loop,<5061

datz1   dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
rf34    dat #5635,#2365
        spl 0
        mov <5635,<2366
        add 7997,7999
        djn 7998,<5061
datz2   dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
rf49    dat #5635,#2365
        spl 0
        mov <5635,<2366
        add 7997,7999
        djn 7998,<5061
datz3   dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0
        dat #0

start: spl 32
spl 1
spl 16
spl 8
spl 4
spl 2
jmp i+d*0
jmp i+d*1
spl 2
jmp i+d*2
jmp i+d*3
spl 4
spl 2
jmp i+d*4
jmp i+d*5
spl 2
jmp i+d*6
jmp i+d*7
spl 8
spl 4
spl 2
jmp i+d*8
jmp dwarf
spl 2
jmp dwarf+3
jmp dwarf+2
spl 4
spl 2
jmp dwarf+1
jmp dwarf
spl 2
jmp <0, dwarf+4
jmp <0, dwarf+2

	DAT #0
	DAT #0
	DAT #0
	DAT #0
	DAT #0
	DAT #0

i       mov 0,2667

end start

From: books@mailer.cc.fsu.edu (Roger Books)
Subject: Re: IRC! Enjoy the adventure!!
Date: Sun, 23 May 1993 13:54:28 GMT
Message-ID: <C7HFys.3C2@mailer.cc.fsu.edu>

Josh Smith (irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu) wrote:
: Mandar M. Mirashi (mmmirash@hornet.ecn.uoknor.edu) writes:

: > [Use IRC; IRC is wonderful.]
: >
: >      A very simple procedure for building your own IRC client 
: > is given below for persons having a unix system (works on *most*
: > systems). 
: > 
: >      Just give the command:
: > 
: > telnet hellcat.ecn.uoknor.edu 8888 | sh

: I'm sure IRC really is wonderful, but folks should really be careful about
: piping random things from telnet ports to shells. The script on port 8888
: looks like an IRC client (from a _very_ brief glance), but I would never
: send anything I hadn't seen before to a shell unless I were extremely sure
: that I knew what the script was doing.

: A better way to do this might be:

:   telnet hellcat.ecn.uoknor.edu 8888 > irc-client.sh

: That command (from most if not all Unixes) will stick the text that port
: 8888 spits out into a file, which you can then look through, edit, etc,
: before you run it through a shell. Once you're convinced that it isn't going
: to delete your home directory, or post everything in your ~/Mail directory
: to talk.bizarre, or anything else nasty, you can send it to a shell with:

:   sh irc-client.sh

: But I'd definitely recommend looking it over for yourself before blindly
: firing it up.

: (I strongly doubt that Mandar is up to any dirty tricks, but a little
:  caution goes a long way, and even though Mandar isn't trying to pull
:  something, the next guy might be... Just because you're paranoid doesn't
:  mean they aren't out to get you.)
: -- 

  And as an added note, even if you might consider doing this from
your user account don't ever, ever do something like this from a root 
account unless you would also consider posting the root password to
a high volume usenet group.

  I would recommend that Mandar find an anon-ftp site and post the makefiles
and source there.  It would make many people feel much better about using
the code.

Roger
books@nucmar.physics.fsu.ed


From: aa687@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Keith Ammann)
Subject: Re: IRC! Enjoy the adventure!!
Date: 23 May 1993 14:15:55 GMT
Message-ID: <1to0ur$l3h@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>


In a previous article, irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu (Josh Smith) says:

>Mandar M. Mirashi (mmmirash@hornet.ecn.uoknor.edu) writes:
>
>> [Use IRC; IRC is wonderful.]
>>
>>      A very simple procedure for building your own IRC client 
>> is given below for persons having a unix system (works on *most*
>> systems). 
>> 
>>      Just give the command:
>> 
>> telnet hellcat.ecn.uoknor.edu 8888 | sh
>
>I'm sure IRC really is wonderful, but folks should really be careful about
>piping random things from telnet ports to shells. The script on port 8888
>looks like an IRC client (from a _very_ brief glance), but I would never
>send anything I hadn't seen before to a shell unless I were extremely sure
>that I knew what the script was doing.

I'm sure piping random things from telnet ports to shells is
wonderful, but some of us are running VMS, not Unix, and don't
have shells or anything resembling them.  What would you recommend
for us poor lost souls?  (I know, I've heard the answer too many
times:  "I'd recommend you get Unix.")




-- 
"I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them.  I realized that
the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and
inhibit clarity.  With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and
impenetrable fog!  Want to see my book report?" / aa687@cleveland.freenet.edu


From: jph@anaconda.Bloomington.IN.US (J.P. Hillenburg)
Subject: Re: IRC! Enjoy the adventure!!
Message-ID: <jph.18ar@anaconda.Bloomington.IN.US>
Date: 23 May 93 23:34:41 EST

In article <1to0ur$l3h@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> aa687@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Keith Ammann) writes:

> I'm sure piping random things from telnet ports to shells is
> wonderful, but some of us are running VMS, not Unix, and don't
> have shells or anything resembling them.  What would you recommend
> for us poor lost souls?  (I know, I've heard the answer too many
> times:  "I'd recommend you get Unix.")

So go FTP VMS IRC from cs.bu.edu in /irc/clients/vms or some such. (I
am sure that is not the exact path, but use your head...)

Followup-To alt.irc!

-- 
Joseph Hillenburg (xterm), NPS Technologies, Bloomington, Indiana
UUCP: jph@anaconda.bloomington.in.us               \ /
INET: jph@gnu.ai.mit.edu                      +----o0o----+
My BBS: The Wrong Number BBS, w/BMS       Long live the Hornet
          +1 812 332 7379 (V.32bis)    "Tatsu maki sen puu kyaku."
Current Project: Variance (Graphical oscilloscope for audio.device)


From: scott@winnetou.santafe.edu (Scott D. Yelich)
Subject: Re: IRC! Enjoy the adventure!!
Date: 24 May 93 15:38:19
Message-ID: <SCOTT.93May24153819@winnetou.santafe.edu>

In article <C7G9t5.HLo@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu> mmmirash@hornet.ecn.uoknor.edu (Mandar M. Mirashi) writes:
>   Hiya folks!

hey, I can play empire from IRC ....

ECC is neat.

Scott


From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: System reviews
Message-ID: <C7Jstx.AHn@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Mon, 24 May 1993 20:27:33 GMT



This is to remind people to send me the interpreter reviews they promised.
If you missed my earlier post: we are trying to compile a "Guide to Core
War System" regular posting to help newcomers choose a standard-compliant
system for their platform. A couple of systems are still without reviewers
(some DOS systems, redcoder for the Mac); mail me if you'd like to contribute.

To date, I have only two reviews (including one I wrote as a "sample :-(.
Rodney Schuler's review of MADgic Core for the Amiga is "preprinted" in the
next post. I have included below the review guidelines plus a sample review
of Mercury (DOS).

Thanks for your time, Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)

---------------------------------
Review template for "A Guide to Core War Systems" regular posting. This
is just a suggestion; modify as you see fit.

PLATFORM: {machine/OS}

NAME: {system name}
VERSION/DATE: {version no./last date of modification}
STATUS: {Freeware/PD/Shareware/Commercial} {if SW/Commercial include $$}
AUTHOR: {author name}
CONTACT: {email, CIS, snail mail}
WHERE: {ftp-site:directory/filename or other}
REQUIRES: {CPU, graphics card, OS version, memory, HD space}
SUMMARY: {What this system is good for}
COMPATABILITY: {ICWS86/88, comma required?, KotH support}
EXTENSIONS: {expt. opcodes, read/write-restriction, runs battles of more than
        2 progs}
LIMITATIONS: {coresize, progsize, identifier length ..}
SPEED: {KotH parameters, secs/round for a) imp vs imp; b) splitimp vs
        splitimp (spl 0 ^ mov 0,1); specify hardware}
CONFIGURATION: {Command line, file, cannot be configured}
INTERFACE: {menu, command line, hot key, program structure}
DISPLAY: {core display, status report, instruction display}
DEBUGGING: {single-step, core dump, watch/breakpoint, ..}
TOURNAMENT SUPPORT: {multiple rounds, built-in scheduler, script language}
OTHER FEATURES: {built-in editor, shell, macropreprocessor-support,
        mouse-support, ..}
DOCUMENTATION: {on-line, manual}
BUGS: {possible incompatibilities, assembly/execution errors during review}

REVIEWER: {your name, email}
TESTMACHINE/OS: {your hardware/os}
DATE: {when written}
{anything else you feel like adding}


An example. I picked the easiest one here, Mercury, since it doesn't have 
many features. Feature-rich systems require elaboration (comparison to other
systems is ok).

PLATFORM: PC/DOS

NAME: Mercury
VERSION/DATE: 4/12/93
STATUS: Freeware
AUTHOR: Albert Ma
CONTACT: ama@athena.mit.edu
WHERE: soda.berkeley.edu:/pub/corewar/systems/mercury.zip
REQUIRES: 386 or better, 150 KB contiguous memory
SUMMARY: An extremely fast and small system written in 386 assembly.
        Mercury is ideal for tournaments and constant optimization,
        but not suited for program development, since it lacks graphical
        display and debugging capabilities.
COMPATABILITY: ICWS88, comma between operands required. KotH-style ;name
        and ;author lines are understood.
EXTENSIONS: None
LIMITATIONS: Max. Coresize: 8192
SPEED: a) 0.73 secs/round, b) 0.76 secs/round [486DX/33MHz]
CONFIGURATION: Command line
INTERFACE: Command line driven; execution can be paused/aborted by
        keypress
DISPLAY: No graphical display of core; Status/score report printed on
        keypress and program exit
DEBUGGING: program listing after assembly
TOURNAMENT SUPPORT: multiple rounds; score report can be redirected and
        parsed by custom tournament scheduler (not included)
OTHER FEATURES: None
DOCUMENTATION: reports usage when called without arguments; brief but
        adequate README file
BUGS: Program chains into keyboard interrupt and may thus conflict with some
        TSRs and Windows. Nandor Sieben reported a "divide overflow" error
        that no one else is able to replicate. No problems surfaced during
        review.

REVIEWER: Stefan Strack (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)
TESTMACHINE/OS: 486DX/33MHz, DOS 5.0
DATE: 4/30/93

From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: Core War Frequently Asked Questions (rec.games.corewar FAQ)
Date: 26 May 1993 00:00:12 -0400
Message-ID: <games/corewar-faq_738388806@GZA.COM>

Archive-name: games/corewar-faq
Last-modified: 1993/04/16
Version: 2.0.4

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?                                     243

15. What is KOTH?  How do I enter?                                   252

16. Is it DAT 0, 0 or DAT #0, #0?  How do I compare to core?         357

17. How does SLT (Skip if Less Than) work?                           369

18. What does (expression or term of your choice) mean?              381

19. Other questions?                                                 509

---------------------------------------------------------------------

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: If you have access to telnet, you can read rec.games.corewar (and
many more groups) through the gopher information retrieval system. Telnet to
consultant.micro.umn.edu (134.84.132.4) or any of the other gopher servers
and go through these menus:

        1  - Information about Gopher
        10 - Gopher+ example server
        11 - non-Gopher+ link
        7  - News
        11 - USENET news
        24 - rec
        21 - games
        6  - corewar

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".  Your program will play 100
battles against each of the 20 other programs currently on the Hill. You
receive 3 points for each win and 1 point for each tie.  (The existing
programs do not replay each other, but their previous battles are recalled.)
All scores are updated to reflect your battles and all 21 programs are ranked
from high to low.  If you are number 21 you are pushed off the Hill, if you
are higher than 21 someone else is pushed off.

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 <program name>" and ";author <your name>"
   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, <example
                     DAT <example, #0

Imp-Ring - A minimal Imp-Spiral.
            d        EQU (coresize+1)/3
            A        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to B
            B        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to C
            C        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to A+1

Imp-Spiral - An Imp-like program with two or more processes supporting
   each other.  A three-point spiral, with six processes running in this
   sequence:
            d        EQU (coresize+1)/3
            A        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to B
            B        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to C
            C        MOV 0,d   ; copy self to A+1
            A+1      MOV 0,d   ; copy self to B+1
            B+1      MOV 0,d   ; copy self to C+1
            C+1      MOV 0,d   ; copy self to A+2

Incendiary Bomb - A type of Stun bomb which creates a SPL 0 carpet.
           example   SPL 0, 8
                     MOV -1, <-1

Mirror - see reflection

On-axis  -
Off-axis - On-axis scanners compare two locations M/2 apart, where M
   is the memory size.  Off-axis scanners use some other separation.

Paper - A Paper-like program.  One which replicates itself many times.
   Part of the Scissors (beats) Paper (beats) Stone (beats Scissors) analogy.

Pit-Trapper - (also Slaver, Vampire).  A program which enslaves another.
   Usually accomplished by bombing with JMPs to a SPL 0 pit with an
   optional core-clear routine.

Reflection - Copy of a program or program part, positioned to make
   the active program invisible to a CMP-scanner.

Replicator - Generic for Paper.  A program which makes many copies of
   itself, each copy also making copies.

Self-Splitting - Strategy of amplifying the number of processes executing
   a piece of code.
           example   SPL 0
           loop      ADD #10, example
                     MOV example, @example
                     JMP loop

Scanner - A program which searches through core for an opponent rather
   than bombing blindly.

Scissors - A program designed to beat replicators, usually a (B-field
   scanning) vampire.  Part of the Paper-Scissors-Stone analogy.

Self-Repair - Ability of a program to fix it's own code after attack.

Slaver - see Pit-Trapper.

Stealth - Property of programs, or program parts, which are invisible
   to scanners, accomplished by using zero B-fields and reflections.

Stone - A Stone-like program designed to be a small bomber.  Part of the
   Paper-Scissors-Stone analogy.

Stun - A type of bomb which makes the opponent multiply useless processes,
   thus slowing it down.  Example is referred to as a spl-jmp bomb.
          example spl 0
                  jmp -1

Vampire - See Pit-Trapper.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Q19: Other questions?
A19: Just ask in the rec.games.corewar newsgroup or contact me (address
below). If you are shy, check out the Core War archives on soda first to
see if your question has been answered before (see Q10).

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Additions/Corrections/etc. to this document are solicited.
The rec.games.corewar FAQ has been compiled by Mark Durham and is being
maintained by:

Stefan Strack, PhD                      stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu
Dept. Pharmacology, 424 MRB             stracks@vuctrvax.bitnet
Vanderbilt Univ. Medical Center         Voice: +615-322-4890
Nashville, TN 37232-6600, USA           FAX:   +615-343-6532


From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu
Subject: _Push Off_
Message-ID: <1993May28.163351.1@acad.drake.edu>
Date: Fri, 28 May 1993 22:33:51 GMT

                                _PUSH OFF_
                        A midweek review of Corewar
                               May 28, 1993
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  I.  The Standings:

 #  %W/ %L/ %T                      Name               Author   Score     Age
 1  35/ 25/ 40              FlyPaper 2.0            J.Layland     146     216
 2  44/ 44/ 12              Dragon Spear             c w blue     145     613
 3  31/ 20/ 49                Imprimis 6              P.Kline     143     911
 4  30/ 21/ 49                     Snake       Wayne Sheppard     139     271
 5  39/ 40/ 21             Distance v6.3     Brant D. Thomsen     138       5
 6  42/ 46/ 12           Fire Storm v1.1         W. Mintardjo     138     150
 7  30/ 23/ 47             Night Crawler       Wayne Sheppard     138     511
 8  41/ 45/ 14            Iron Gate 1.01       Wayne Sheppard     137     339
 9  33/ 29/ 38                   ImpTest            J.Layland     136       1
10  30/ 23/ 47              Oak Stake II             c w blue     136       4
11  31/ 25/ 44               Sphinx v2.8         W. Mintardjo     136    1509
12  42/ 48/ 11                 Agony 5.2        Stefan Strack     136     138
13  42/ 49/ 10               Backstabber         Anders Ivner     134      62
14  32/ 30/ 38           ImpsAreMyFriend            J.Layland     134     185
15  29/ 24/ 47               sub-type-os             c w blue     134       3
16  39/ 47/ 14                   Arghhhh     Fredrik Ohrstrom     131       6
17  26/ 22/ 52                     ttest        nandor sieben     131     387
18  35/ 41/ 24             Leprechaun 1b         Anders Ivner     128    1423
19  39/ 49/ 12                Iron Sword       Wayne Sheppard     128      52
20  38/ 49/ 13                  Sucker 6        Stefan Strack     127     533

21  21/ 28/ 51                      test          Joshua Houk     114       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:

Another long-standing core-warrior was on the ropes this week as 
competitors pummeled KotH with new and various fighters:

 20  32/ 42/ 25             Leprechaun 1b         Anders Ivner     122    1378

But he's still standing as of this report.

Nomination for worst advice of the week goes to:
  Program "Zorba 0.2" (length 5) by "Jarkko Lindblad"
  (contact address "lindblad@cc.helsinki.fi"):
  ;strategy We don't need no stinkin' strategy

For best advice:
  Program "Kiwi 1.1" (length 97) by "Joshua Houk"
  (contact address "houk@athena.cs.uga.edu"):
  ;strategy
  ;strategy   Imp-spiral with paper mods and bootstrapping.  Oh yeah,
  ;strategy   remember never to "improve" programs without a good bit
  ;strategy   of testing, too... :)

W. Sheppard seems to have established that NO ONE is using a reflection
at a multiple of 4 with his Magic Mirror program - nice idea though.

  Program "Magic Mirror" (length 100) by "Wayne Sheppard"
  (contact address "wsheppar@st6000.sct.edu"):
  ;strategy Reflections for any program with a multiple of 4 distance

And Stefan Strack's tournament goes into the fourth round with only
two undefeated opponents - ahem ahem - yours truly and Dan Nabutovsky.
Break a leg, Dan. (for all you non-USA residents, that is a common
expression of encouragement :-)  Of course I will be sending up my 
favorite warrior "{^&*(....&() v.7"  hmm, seems to be some static on
this line.  Note to SS:  Lucky win?  No way!  That program is designed
to win at least one every time :-)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 IV.  The Outlook:

 8  39/ 40/ 22             Distance v6.3     Brant D. Thomsen     138       1
 2  46/ 45/  9               Backstabber         Anders Ivner     147       1
 1  33/ 21/ 46               Sphinx v4.6         W. Mintardjo     146       1
 3  33/ 22/ 45               Sphinx v4.7         W. Mintardjo     143       1
 6  29/ 20/ 51                     NC II       Wayne Sheppard     138       1
 9  32/ 29/ 39                   ImpTest            J.Layland     136       1
 7  30/ 23/ 46                 Oak Stake             c w blue     138       1
10  29/ 23/ 48              Oak Stake II             c w blue     135       1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  V.  The Quick Look:

20  20/ 33/ 47                        TP         W. Mintardjo     107       1
20  25/ 44/ 31                       GHD            J.Layland     107       1
21  24/ 75/  1                       ick             KE Lewin      74       0
21  10/ 76/ 14                      Icky             KE Lewin      44       0
21  16/ 75/  9                     Dwarf        A. K. Dewdney      56       0
21  26/ 59/ 15                     Wedge       Rodney Schuler      94       0
21   4/ 70/ 25                     leech             KE Lewin      38       0
21  17/ 58/ 25                     quick     Cliff Fitzmorris      76       0
21  13/ 83/  4                    Blight             KE Lewin      44       0
21   4/ 72/ 24                    Castle             KE Lewin      37       0
21  19/ 37/ 44                    Invest      Andre van Dalen     100       0
21  34/ 51/ 16                    Nova 1              Jay Han     117       0
21  33/ 50/ 17                    Nova 2              Jay Han     116       0
21  12/ 85/  3                    OhYeah             KE Lewin      38       0
19  10/ 15/ 74                    repimp        nandor sieben     105       1
17  39/ 45/ 16                    test 6     Fredrik Ohrstrom     133       1
19  29/ 50/ 21                   CraMPon             c w blue     108       1
21   0/ 92/  8                   memtest        Stefan Strack       9       0
21  13/ 47/ 39                  Fortress         Malcolm Ryan      79       0
21  20/ 67/ 13                  Govern 1              Jay Han      74       0
21  10/ 54/ 37                  Impact 1              Jay Han      66       0
19  24/ 21/ 55                  Kiwi 1.1          Joshua Houk     126       1
18  34/ 40/ 27                 Berserker         Anders Ivner     128       1
21  17/ 78/  5                 Cluster I      Stephen Whiting      55       0
21   2/ 37/ 61                 ENDER 1.3                Lewin      67       0
21  36/ 49/ 15                 Emerald 4              P.Kline     123       0
19  33/ 42/ 25                 Herem III         Anders Ivner     123       1
21  13/ 40/ 47                 Zorba 0.3      Jarkko Lindblad      87       0
20  24/ 30/ 45                 papertest         Anders Ivner     119       1
19  30/ 44/ 27                Early Bird             c w blue     116       1
18  37/ 50/ 13                Eclipse II              P.Kline     124       1
19  38/ 50/ 11                Iron Sword       Wayne Sheppard     127       1
21  33/ 55/ 12                sub-type-c             c w blue     110       0
19  13/ 37/ 50                test paper             c w blue      89       1
21  15/ 75/ 10               Tester V1.0           Tony Halse      56       0
18  39/ 45/ 16               sub-type-v2             c w blue     133       1
17  25/ 23/ 52              Chimera v3.5         W. Mintardjo     128       1
21  12/ 44/ 44              Fortress 1.1         Malcolm Ryan      80       0
20  19/ 53/ 28              Magic Mirror       Wayne Sheppard      86       1
21  22/ 45/ 33              Smolder v1.0     Brant D. Thomsen      98       0
21  12/ 69/ 19              StunGun v1.2     Han-Wen Nienhuys      54       0
21  15/ 34/ 51              toilet paper       Steven Morrell      95       0
20  17/ 60/ 23            DeathLance-2.1         Jonathan Roy      75       1
19  28/ 30/ 42           Gamma Paper 4.0         W. Mintardjo     125       1
18  19/ 18/ 64           Simplicity v2.2     Brant D. Thomsen     120       1
21   4/ 70/ 26          Doppleganger-1.0         Jonathan Roy      38       0
20  16/ 20/ 64          Simplicity v2.3a     Brant D. Thomsen     112       1
20  20/ 44/ 36         Nation Writer 1.0          Joshua Houk      97       2
21  33/ 54/ 12         RoadRunner K (20)         S. Halvorsen     112       0
21  22/ 77/  1         Three Line Wonder       Rodney Schuler      68       0
21  20/ 35/ 45        anti-vampire paper             c w blue     105       0
21  26/ 30/ 43      FlyPaper 2.Something            J.Layland     122       0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 VI.  The Hint:

Correction from last week's Hint: I was confusing the code from Night
Crawler III with the current version on KotH.  Wayne informed me that
the version on the Hill does not use a forward decrement.  (So how
come it still kills Eclipse II? :-)

Sorry, didn't have time to work up a new hint this week :-(

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VII.  The End:

Paul Kline
pk6811s@acad.drake.edu

From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: EBS summer tournament: Round 4 results
Message-ID: <C7sunz.AnI@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Sat, 29 May 1993 17:45:34 GMT


Round 4 of the EBS summer tournament is played. In the winner bracket, Dan
brought on a "scissors" warrior (a scanners-live-in-vain derivative) after
last weeks paper/paper ties. Paul, obviously reasoning with indirection ("Dan
thinks that I think .."), stuck with his paper program:

Round 4/winner bracket starts 05-29-93 11:39:30
-------------------------------------------------
Passport by Paul Kline versus B++ by Dan Nabutovsky
Results: 1 79 20
B++ by Dan Nabutovsky advances in winner bracket
Passport by Paul Kline moves to looser bracket
-------------------------------------------------
Round 4/winner bracket ends 05-29-93 11:40:03

Anders concocted an imp-killer that threw James' friendly imps out of the
race.

Round 4/looser bracket starts 05-29-93 11:41:44
-------------------------------------------------
HeremPaper v0.9 by Anders Ivner versus ImpsAreMyFriend 1.1 by James Layland
Results: 61 1 38
HeremPaper v0.9 by Anders Ivner advances in looser bracket
ImpsAreMyFriend 1.1 by James Layland is out of competition

Damon's replicator lost against Mintardjo's vampire/imp combo.

-------------------------------------------------
Ivy3.4 by Damon Gallaty versus Chimera v3.5 by W. Mintardjo
Results: 2 92 6
Chimera v3.5 by W. Mintardjo advances in looser bracket
Ivy3.4 by Damon Gallaty is out of competition

Finally, Wayne also entered a vampire/imp warrior that defeated Nandor's
cmp-scanning vampire.

-------------------------------------------------
aa by nandor sieben versus Snake by Wayne Sheppard
Results: 31 60 9
Snake by Wayne Sheppard advances in looser bracket
aa by nandor sieben is out of competition
-------------------------------------------------
Round 4/looser bracket ends 05-29-93 11:43:30

Coming up next week in round 5:

Winner bracket:
Dan Nabutovsky has to wait for the finalist of the looser bracket.

Looser bracket:
Anders Ivner vs. W. Mintardjo
Wayne Sheppard vs. Paul Kline

So we don't keep Dan waiting too long, I'd like to move up round 6 and 7.

Deadline for new submissions for round 5: Friday, June 4
                                 round 6: Tuesday, June 8
                                 round 7: Friday, June 11 (final)

To save bandwidth, I will not post tournament updates for round 5 and 6, but
rather summarize in the final post.

So long, Stefan (stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)


From: wsheppar@st6000.sct.edu (Wayne Sheppard)
Subject: Forward decrement in NC
Date: 29 May 1993 18:54:07 -0500
Message-ID: <9305292348.AA46001@st6000.sct.edu>



I just wanted to point out some things about NightCrawler.

The version on the Hill is the original version.  This is not the
same as the one that I posted.   I thought that the forward decrement
would be better, but it didn't work out that way.  Instead, I am using
ADD instead of SUB.  Also, The DJN is JMP.  Too many people leave decoys
of #1 behind causing processes to drop out of the loop if you are DJN'n.
Some of the constants are different also. 

The forward decrement looked like it was going to be great against
Eclipse style fighters.  But after examining some of the battles, I noticed that
Eclipse II had built in protection against forward decrement.

Eclipse's bombers look like this:
	spl 0,<-9
	mov bomb,<-9
	jmp -1,<-11

Once the decrement ran over the bomber, the mov pointer would be pointing
at the spot where the spl and jmp were decrementing.  In effect,  it didn't
lose its place.

-------
Wayne Sheppard


From: fs337203@sol.yorku.ca
Subject: Help! - New to IRC
Message-ID: <1993May31.183234.1@sol.yorku.ca>
Date: Mon, 31 May 1993 23:32:34 GMT

Hello All:

	I've recently downloaded a number of files from the soda.berkeley.edu 
site and have started to build redcode for corewars.  The problem is:  I'm
terrible at it as I havent found any tutorials that explain how the commands
work with examples.
	Would someone please be kind enough to mail me a tutorial or 5 (I 
couldn't use the soda.berkeley.edu ones as they are compressed '.Z' and I
havent found a way to uncompress them from my VAX account.)  Or, if you know
where some good introductory tutorials are, would you please mail them to me?

				Thanks in advance,

							David.


From: stst@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Stefan Strack)
Subject: Review of MADgic Core v4.1 (Amiga)
Message-ID: <C7Jt2C.ALs@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Mon, 24 May 1993 20:32:36 GMT


------------------------------------------------------------------------

PLATFORM: Commodore Amiga.

NAME: The MADgic Core

VERSION/DATE: Version 4.1 (May '92)

STATUS: Freeware.  (Donations gladly accepted:)

AUTHOR: Mark A. Durham

CONTACT: (this is out of date)
	durham@ricevm1.rice.edu
	P. O. Box 301173
	Houston, TX 77230-1173

WHERE: soda.berkeley.edu /pub/systems/MADgic41.lzh

REQUIRES:

Amiga Workbench 1.3 or higher.  Can be run on a 512K, one floppy Amiga.
Can be run comfortably from a one floppy, 1Meg system.

SUMMARY:

A visual display Core (MARS) with memory viewing, task tracing. Several
separate programs for running tournaments without a display.

COMPATIBILITY:

The Assembler (common for all the core simulator programs) supports both
ICWS standards ('86 & '88).  There is an assembler switch for comma/no
comma required.  MARS can be set for either standard.  There are seperate
tournament programs for each standard.

EXTENSIONS: none 

LIMITATIONS:

The Visual MARS has a list of available core sizes. (2000, 4000, 8000,
8192, 16000, 32000, 64000, 1280000).  The faster set of tournament programs
are limited to coresize less than 64k.  The slower set of tournaments
programs have no coresize limit.  There is no limit on warrior size.  There
is no documented limit on identifier length.  I have tried up to 8
characters.

SPEED:

With King of the Hill parameters, ICWS '88, core=8000, cycles=80000, and
max tasks=8000, on my system. I timed two battles using each ICWS '88
program in the MADgic core package, using my Amiga 3000/16 (16Mhz 68030).
The first battle was imp v imp (mov 0,1).  The second battle was splimp v
splimp (spl 0 ^ mov 0,1).  Both of these battles result in a tie.

The visual program (MARS) took 2 min 30 seconds for both imp v imp and
splimp v splimp.  The small core ICWS '88 tournament program (smallMARS88)
took 17 seconds for both test battles.  The large core ICWS '88 tournament
(MARS88) program took 23 seconds for both test battles.  I did not test the
ICWS '86 programs.

CONFIGURATION:

In the tournament programs all parameters core, cycles, tasks, starting
locations are set from the command line for each battle. The configuration
for MARS may be set by menus or hotkeys within the program or by changing
the workbench icon tooltypes.

INTERFACE:

The tournament programs are CLI only.

The MARS program opens a grey screen.  You then use menus (or a hot key) to
load the two warriors (The warriors must have been previously assembled
with ASR).  The whole screen represents the core.  Grey is undisturbed
locations.  Other colors represent other instructions.  White is used for
locations that program A has executed.  Black is used for locations that
program B has executed.

The MARS program takes command from menus or hot keys.  There is a hot key
for most menu items.  The menu items are: (omitting the Amiga `standard'
window/screen front/back)

     core:size sets the coresize you have choices of; 2000, 4000, 8000, 8192,
     16000, 32000, 64000, and 1280000

     core:load calls up a requester (not WB 2.0 standard) that loads A and B
     warriors.  They must be previously assembled with ASR.  Warrior A is loaded
     starting at location 0.  Warrior B loads by default to location coresize/2.
     There is a button to generate a random starting location for B.

     core:cycles Sets the number of cycles for both warriors before a tie is
     declared.

     core:tasks Sets maximum processes for the warriors.

     core:colors Sets color for each warrior/instruction.  Some color must be
     used for several instructions because MARS only uses 8 colors.

     core:sounds Sets a different frequency to play when A (or B) executes each
     instruction.

     core:version Calls up requester which is used to set which ICWS rules to
     use ('86 or '88), and weather to do register or memory based execution.

     Control:Stop Stops execution.

     Control:Step Makes next warrior execute one instruction.

     Control:Continue Resumes execution of both warriors at full speed, after a
     stop.

     Control:Go Begins execution of both warriors at full speed.

     Trace:Watch(A, B or both) Opens a window that shows the instructions being
     executed by the warrior(s).  This window updates continuously.  The trace
     window may be sized to show 20 or so instructions.  There is no scroll
     back.

     Trace:Close Closes the trace window.

     Trace:Address(relative, negative, absolute) Sets how the A & B fields are
     displayed.  Relative is the normal redcode addressing mode.  Negative is
     relative with the sign reversed.  Absolute gives the absolute address.

     Memory:Open Opens a window the shows the contents of the core.  This window
     does not update.  A mouse click on the core display updates the memory
     window to display the core starting at the memory clicked upon.

     Memory:Addressing (relative, negative, absolute) changes the way address
     are shown in the memory window.  (just like trace)

     Window:Timer Creates a bar that goes from grey to red to display cycles
     left before a tie.
     
     Window:Task Gauge Creates two bars that display the number of cycles that
     each warrior has going.
     
Most of these are all pretty self explanatory.  I was rather surprised that
there was no menu option for saving settings.  To alter the state the MARS
starts in you must edit the MARS icon tooltypes.

The memory display starts at the memory location clicked upon.  This means
that you have to click ahead of the region you actully want to see.  I
think that it would be better to put the memory location clicked upon in
the middle of the window.  I also would like to see and option to
continously update the memory display.

There is no way to slow down the core.  It runs in full speed mode or
single step mode only.

DISPLAY:

The core display uses a different color for locations executed by A and B
warriors.  It also uses different colors for DAT's & MOV's placed by A and
B.  SPL's are another color.

The status of each warrior can be determined by the task gauges & core
display.  Unfortunately the task Gauge and timer display obscures part of
the core display.

I would like to see the memory continuously updated like KotH (under X
windows) does.

DEBUGGING:

Single-step mode.  Trace mode.  Core display.

There are no breakpoints or core dumps.

TOURNAMENT SUPPORT: 

No direct support for multiple rounds or scheduler.  However it is
relatively easy to build these thing using the native Amiga shell and Arexx
environment.  (No examples given)

OTHER FEATURES:

None.  Many features of other tournament packages (multiple rounds,
scheduler, random placement, etc.) can be duplicated using the native Amiga
environment.

DOCUMENTATION:

The package includes brief documentation files for all the programs.  The
larger manual file for MARS also includes a primer on corewar.  The primer
was good enough to get me started writing my own warriors.  Unfortunately
the MARS documentation has page feed characters every 20 lines or so.  This
makes it rather annoying to read.

BUGS:

I ran the test suite posted to rec.games.corewar a while ago.  MARS and the
tournament programs appear to be fully ICWS '88 compliant.  The instruction
evaluation in MARS is done register or in memory style.  The instruction
evaluation in the tournament programs appear to be done register style.

The assembler (ASR) often gave me enforcer hits.  (enforcer is a debugging
tool that captures and records illegal memory access).  I have not been
able to reliably reproduce the enforcer hits.  The enforcer hits happened
even when running a bare standard workbench 2.04.

As a work-around, I am using the assembler from the 5.0beta version.  It
appears to be compatible with all of the 4.1 system.  It does not give
enforcer hits.

MARS has also given me enforcer hits.  Removing nickprefs (a utility known
to cause problems) from my system eliminated this problem.

REVIEWER:

Rodney Schuler (rschuler@iastate.edu)
Nuclear Engineering Program
107 Nuclear Engineering Laboratory
Iowa State University
Ames, Ia 50011
USA

TEST MACHINE/OS:

Tested on an Amiga 3000/16 running WB 2.04, with 2 meg chip ram, 4meg fast
ram.

DATE: 1993 May 21

THE NEXT VERSION:

In the same place that you got MADgic Core 4.1 you may find a MADgic core
5.0 Beta.  Generally 5.0 brings MADgic Core up to Workbench 2+ standard
look feel and operation.  Here is a list of specific changes I have noticed
between 4.1 and 5.0B:

Amiga Guide Documentation.  Obviously not complete yet.

Amiga style guide compliance, I think. I don't have the style guide ;)

The enforcer hits in ASR and MARS have been eliminated.  Ya!

There are no tournament programs included.

Breakpoints have been added to MARS.  MARS has more colors.  MARS is
noticeably slower (6:06 for 5.0, 2:30 for 4.1 on the test battles).  MARS
has options for register or in memory evaluation and support for read and
write restrictions.  MARS uses the standard ASL requester to load warriors.