Issue 16 February 12, 1996
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Core_Warrior_ is a weekly newsletter promoting the game of corewar. Emphasis
is placed on the most active hills--currently the '94 draft hill and the
beginner hill. Coverage will follow where ever the action is. If you have
no clue what I'm talking about then check out these five-star internet locals
for more information:
FAQs are available by anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu as
pub/usenet/news.answers/games/corewar-faq.Z
FTP site is: ftp.csua.berkeley.edu /pub/corewar
Web pages are at:
http://www.stormking.com/~koth ;Stormking
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~pizza/koth ;Pizza
http://pauillac.inria.fr/~doligez/corewar/ ;Planar
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Greetings.
Hi,
being my partner Myer away for work I'm back again for second week in a row;
Myer's fans will read again theyr favourite next week, don't worry.
This week an historical event is happened, Paul Kline's Torch t18 broke the
100 wall for first time in the 94 hill history, congratulations Paul.
______________________________________________________________________________
Current Status of the Internet Pizza Server ICWS '94 Draft Hill:
Hill Specs:
coresize: 8000
max. processes: 8000
duration: after 80,000 cycles, a tie is declared.
max. entry length: 100
minimum distance: 100
rounds fought: 200
instruction set: ICWS '94 Draft
# %W/ %L/ %T Name Author Score Age
1 43/ 31/ 26 T.N.T. Maurizio Vittuari 154 1
2 38/ 28/ 34 Tornado 3.0 Beppe 149 63
3 42/ 39/ 19 quiz Schitzo 144 661
4 42/ 42/ 17 test i7a Beppe Bezzi 142 17
5 29/ 16/ 55 Impfinity v4g1 Planar 141 461
6 24/ 7/ 69 Evol Cap 6.6 John Wilkinson 141 276
7 29/ 16/ 55 Clisson P.Kline 141 3
8 37/ 34/ 29 Thermite II Robert Macrae 141 262
9 26/ 12/ 62 Hazy.Shade.Of.Winter John K W 141 208
10 42/ 44/ 13 seventyfive Anders Ivner 140 161
11 35/ 29/ 36 Torch t18 P.Kline 140 1040
12 41/ 42/ 18 Mirage 1.5 Anton Marsden 140 175
13 42/ 44/ 13 Frontwards v2 Steven Morrell 140 514
14 40/ 42/ 18 Boombastic Maurizio Vittuari 139 396
15 39/ 41/ 20 Harmony P.Kline 138 44
16 41/ 45/ 14 orestes Kafka 137 26
17 39/ 41/ 21 testnorm Maurizio Vittuari 137 32
18 33/ 29/ 39 patroclus Kafka and Kurt 136 57
19 22/ 9/ 69 Night Train Karl Lewin 135 548
20 40/ 46/ 14 smart crow again Karl Lewin 135 58
21 28/ 21/ 52 Blizzard Anton Marsden 135 11
22 32/ 30/ 38 Jack in the box Beppe Bezzi 134 1028
23 37/ 40/ 23 Koolaid II: WoGG v2.2 David Boeren 133 66
24 28/ 23/ 48 Hector 3 Kurt Franke 133 7
25 32/ 31/ 37 Breeder v2 J. E. Long 132 109
Results have been obtained submitting a lose all warrior, so as not to be
biased.
Weekly age: 55
New warriors 8 Turnover/age rate 15%
Average age: 249 ( 284 last week, 265 the week before )
Average score: 139 ( 132 last week, 131 the week before )
The 25 warriors on the hill are represented by 15 authors.
The 1000 age wall is no more !! Torch t18 and Jack in the Box have passed
this magic quote for first time in the 94 hill, even if some 88 warrior
passed 2000.
Stats are more or less the same as last week, the increased average score is
due to the loss against the scorekeeping warrior; we have a younger age,
having the hill lost 3 aged veterans: La Bomba, juliet and paper, and Hector 2
All warriors pushed off were in the bottom positions last week, apart
obviously those replaced by their authors.
Maurizio's new warrior, T.N.T. is the new King with a confortable lead over
the second from the moment it entered.
Fast bombers are still dominating, holding position 1 and 2, scanners are
still proving good as are stone imps; replicators are confined in the last
positions.
Those with ;redcode verbose may have noticed some strange experiment made by
two authors, Paul Kline and your beloved writer, attemping the hill with
warriors unable to enter and scoring in a strange way; Paul has now showed
down with Clisson, entering the top ten, what Beppe is Planning to do nobody
knows :-)
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94 - What's New
1 40/ 32/ 28 T.N.T. Maurizio Vittuari 147 1
3 42/ 43/ 15 test i7a Beppe Bezzi 140 1
5 41/ 40/ 19 testnorm Maurizio Vittuari 141 1
9 25/ 17/ 58 Clisson P.Kline 134 1
17 26/ 22/ 52 Blizzard Anton Marsden 130 1
17 38/ 47/ 16 orestes Kafka 129 1
18 27/ 24/ 48 Hector 3 Kurt Franke 131 1
18 37/ 43/ 20 Harmony P.Kline 130 1
A new king, T.N.T., and three others new warriors in the top ten.
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94 - What's No More.
26 29/ 32/ 39 La Bomba Beppe Bezzi 126 650
26 23/ 25/ 51 juliet and paper M R Bremer, B. Bezzi 121 607
26 24/ 22/ 54 Hector 2 Kurt Franke 125 561
26 34/ 46/ 20 ajax Kafka and Kurt 123 131
26 19/ 15/ 66 The Lime Twig 2.1 John K W 123 85
26 36/ 52/ 12 Days John K W 119 51
26 2/ 2/ 0 testnorm Maurizio Vittuari 5 16
26 1/ 1/ 1 Harmony P.Kline 5 2
:-(((((((((((((((((
I'm not in the mood to comment those results, just to say this is new record
of lost age in a week: 2103 (previous record 1617 on 4 December 95)
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94 - What's Old
13 31/ 30/ 39 Torch t18 P.Kline 132 1040
22 28/ 30/ 42 Jack in the box Beppe Bezzi 126 1028
3 38/ 40/ 22 quiz Schitzo 136 661
19 18/ 9/ 73 Night Train Karl Lewin 127 548
14 38/ 46/ 16 Frontwards v2 Steven Morrell 131 514
6 25/ 16/ 59 Impfinity v4g1 Planar 134 461
15 37/ 43/ 20 Boombastic Maurizio Vittuari 131 396
7 20/ 7/ 72 Evol Cap 6.6 John Wilkinson 133 276
11 34/ 35/ 32 Thermite II Robert Macrae 133 262
10 22/ 12/ 66 Hazy.Shade.Of.Winter John K W 133 208
A new entry, the mysterious, and poetic, Hazy Shade of Winter, and three
losses, see above.
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HALL OF FAME
* means the warrior is still running.
Pos Name Author Age Strategy
1 Torch t18 P.Kline 1040 * Bomber
2 Jack in the box Beppe Bezzi 1028 * P-warrior
3 Iron Gate 1.5 Wayne Sheppard 926 CMP scanner
4 Agony II Stefan Strack 912 CMP scanner
5 Blue Funk Steven Morrell 869 Stone/ imp
6 Thermite 1.0 Robert Macrae 802 Qscan -> bomber
7 Blue Funk 3 Steven Morrell 766 Stone/ imp
8 HeremScimitar A.Ivner,P.Kline 666 Bomber
9 quiz Schitzo 661 * Scanner/ bomber
10 La Bomba Beppe Bezzi 650 Qscan -> replicator
11 myVamp v3.7 Paulsson 643 Vampire
12 Armory - A5 Wilkinson 609 P-warrior
13 juliet and paper Bremer & Bezzi 607 P-warrior
14 Phq Maurizio Vittuari 589 Qscan -> replicator
15 Hector 2 Kurt Franke 561 Qscan -> replicator
16 B-Panama X Steven Morrell 518 Stone/ replicator
17 Night Train Karl Lewin 548 * Replicator
18 Frontwards v2 Steven Morrell 514 * One shot scanner
19 Impfinity v4g1 Damien Doligez 461 * Stone/ imp
20 Boombastic Maurizio Vittuari 396 * Bomber
22 NC 94 Wayne Sheppard 387 Stone/ imp
22 Cannonade P.Kline 382 Stone/ imp
23 Torch t17 P.Kline 378 Bomber
24 Lucky 3 Stefan Strack 355 Stone/ imp
25 Derision M R Bremer 351 Scanner
25 Request v2.0 Brant D. Thomsen 347 Qvamp -> vampire
Torch and Jack passed 1000 age, now both have a 100 advantage over the
previous leader, being 2000 next 'round number' I don't think to speak again
of them until ...
quiz and La Bomba enters the top ten even if La Bomba has finished his run,
as did juliet and paper and Hector. Vittuari's Boombastic enters in 20th spot.
______________________________________________________________________________
Current Status of the Internet Pizza Server Beginner's Hill:
Hill Specs:
coresize: 8000
max. processes: 8000
duration: after 80,000 cycles, a tie is declared.
max. entry length: 100
minimum distance: 100
maximum age: At age 100, warriors are retired.
rounds fought: 200
instruction set: ICWS '94 Draft
# %W/ %L/ %T Name Author Score Age
1 49/ 16/ 34 CoreWarrior M R Bremer 183 35
2 40/ 11/ 49 Breeder v2 J. E. Long 168 76
3 38/ 10/ 52 silkworm v3.0 Brian Haskin 166 63
4 34/ 9/ 57 Breeder J. E. Long 159 86
5 31/ 5/ 64 Test2 George Eadon 158 43
6 31/ 8/ 61 New Papery v0.1 Ian Oversby 154 84
7 32/ 14/ 54 Paper8-IV 2.5 George Eadon 150 61
8 43/ 42/ 15 Our Vamp v3 R Bartolome & JS Pul 144 94
9 23/ 10/ 67 Wanderer v0.1 Ian Oversby 136 17
10 30/ 25/ 46 Yakumo v0.3 David Boeren 135 10
11 41/ 48/ 12 Veld's fist Julian 134 9
12 23/ 14/ 63 Banshee VI Andy Nevermind 132 1
13 39/ 46/ 14 Auntie v0.2 Ian Oversby 132 14
14 21/ 11/ 69 Thunder V 1.2 Andy Nevermind 130 75
15 31/ 33/ 35 Szyzyg Scott Manley 130 60
16 31/ 33/ 36 Uvavu Scott Manley 129 71
17 30/ 31/ 40 You Wouln't Let It Lie! Scott Manley 128 70
18 22/ 17/ 61 AB Scanner 2.9.1 Chris Hodson 128 46
19 30/ 32/ 38 D'arko Scott Manley 127 50
20 28/ 36/ 36 idiot/savant v0.1 Brian Haskin 119 78
21 31/ 49/ 20 Slaver v1.1 Christoph C. Birk 114 27
22 30/ 49/ 21 MJv5 J. E. Long 111 12
23 24/ 44/ 32 Maya v1.6c Christoph C. Birk 105 44
24 20/ 36/ 44 beemer 1.5 Chris Hodson 104 25
25 7/ 36/ 57 Multi-Worm v1.0 Christoph C. Birk 78 2
Hill top is kept by Myer Bremer, we are waiting his return in 94, followed
by J. E. Long with a warrior that's in 94 too and Brian Haskin.
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The Hint
The defence.
What is the defence ? it's using part of your resources not to damage you
enemy but to avoid it damage you; in soccer and basketball the defence is as
much important as attack is, if not more, same in Corewar even if the
scoring system gives some advantage to attack.
A defence only warrior, even if a perfect one, has no chances to make the
hill being an all ties score too low, but some form of defence is needed and
the right balance can help you score better and live longer on the hill.
Let's give a look at some forms of defence, how well they work and how much
they cost in terms of resources expended.
-------
Self splitting
If we add a spl 0 instruction on top of a stone we have some advantages:
A hit in the first or the last line don't stop it working, we accumulate
processes so as an imp spiral won't kill but only tie us, we can use a djn
stream because a process falling off it won't kill us and we can couple an
imp spiral to our bomber
This is payed somewere because:
We have larger footprint for a scanner to find and there is slight speed
reduction.
The sum of advantages is more than those of disadvanages so, in practice,
every stone is self splitting and some use even more process eating
structure to accumulate processes even faster, see Cannonade, Impfinity and
juliet storm for examples.
---
Adding imps
In 94 imps are used more for survival than for attack; adding imp spirals to
stones and replicators my get them much harder to kill for a replicator,
without reducing too much their offensive potential. The drawback is that a
stun attack on the spiral can have a negative effect on the stone, so the
number of wins is reduced.
---
Boot and decoy
Booting away from a decoy is a common form of defence against scanner, very
effective against one shoot like Frontwards and Porch Swing if you have a
good way to attack a core clear of course. There are very little negative
effects for bombers, apart the time spent booting away, but it's difficult
to make a decoy invisible to your own scanner, Agony II is the only cmp
scanner I know using this tecnique.
Some warriors now use a decoymaker instead of booting, i.e. they add at the
beginning some lines like
mov <xx, <yy
creating a pattern of dat 0,1 good to trigger one shot scanners; another
advantage is that, in the meantime, you drop some bombs. The drawback is
that this decoy is less effective against opponent cmp scanners, the colored
cells are not many, and that a qscan can find the decoymaker and from it
bomb the warrior too.
---
Active decoys
It's a tecnique I use from long and I always kept secret, but having Robert
published it in his warrior Mason I have to unveil my secret ;-)
There is no nedd to use dats to make your decoy, if you use spl #xx,yy
instructions instead you can sometimes manage to stun wounded silk modules
that happen to land here; the cost is nothing and you can gain a few points.
I f you like you can insert a few stp instruction, to try brainwashing a
pspacer, or even some mov -10,<3000 instruction to make your enemy create a
spl #0 carpet somewere in core; just be careful not to be here :-)
Is a good thing if you insert some $$$ 1,1 line to stop djn streams and
erase your boot pointer, a mov bomb, >xx hitting it can have devastating
effects.
---
Pspace
Should your warrior score very good against one opponent class but be
useless against another, you can switch it with something else, able to
score against your enemy; obviously using pspace has its weaknesses:
brainwash and slow startup.
---
djn defence
It's sometimes good to have a jmp clear+1 line leading your warrior; should
it be decremented by a stream it will jump to the core clear that, if well
made, will work even if decremented.
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Planar's Corner
Due to heavy work and study needs of mr. Damien we are sorry not to have our
favourite columnist article this week.
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Questions? Concerns? Comments? Complaints? Mail them to people who care:
Beppe Bezzi <bezzi@iol.it>, Myer R Bremer <bremermr@ecn.purdue.edu>
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