From corewar-l@stormking.com Tue May 21 20:07:55 1996 Received: by couchey.inria.fr (5.57/Ultrix3.0-C) id AA17036; Tue, 21 May 96 20:07:55 +0200 Received: from uu3.psi.com (uu3.psi.com [38.145.250.2]) by nez-perce.inria.fr (8.7.1/8.7.1) with SMTP id UAA20936 for ; Tue, 21 May 1996 20:07:52 +0200 (MET DST) Received: by uu3.psi.com (5.65b/4.0.940727-PSI/PSINet) via UUCP; id AA27473 for ; Tue, 21 May 96 13:08:33 -0400 Received: from (server@localhost [127.0.0.1]) by valhalla.stormking.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id MAA30100; Tue, 21 May 1996 12:56:38 -0400 Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 12:56:38 -0400 Message-Id: <4nsn7e$l2d@mozo.cc.purdue.edu> Errors-To: tuc@stormking.com Reply-To: bremermr@cartoon.ecn.purdue.edu Originator: corewar-l@stormking.com Sender: corewar-l@stormking.com Precedence: bulk From: bremermr@cartoon.ecn.purdue.edu (Myer R. Bremer) To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Core Warrior 30 X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0b -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Usenet News "rec.games.corewar" .xX$$x. .x$$$$$$$x. d$$$$$$$$$$$ ,$$$$$$$P' `P' , . $$$$$$P' ' .d b $$$$$P b ,$$x ,$$x ,$$x ,$$b $$. Y$$$$' `$. $$$$$$. $$$$$$ $$P~d$. d$$$b d d$$$ `$$$$ ,$$ $$$$$$$b $$$P `$ $$$b.$$b `Y$$$d$d$$$' . . a . a a .aa . a `$$$ ,$$$,$$' `$$$ $$$' ' $$P$XX$' `$$$$$$$$$ .dP' `$'$ `$'$ , $''$ `$'$ `Y$b ,d$$$P `$b,d$P' `$$. `$$. , `$$P $$$' Y $. $ $ $ Y..P $ `$$$$$$$' $$$P' `$$b `$$$P `P `$' `Y'k. $. $. $. $$' $. Issue 30 May 20, 1996 ______________________________________________________________________________ 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 Newbies should check the stormking page for the FAQ, language specification, guides, and tutorials. Post questions to rec.games.corewar. All new players are infinitely welcome! If ftp.csua.berkeley.edu is unreachable, you can download pMARS at: Terry's web page--http://www.infi.net/~wtnewton/corewar/ Planar fpt site--ftp://ftp.inria.fr/INRIA/Projects/para/doligez/cw/pmars ______________________________________________________________________________ Greetings. Sorry this is late. How many times do I apologize to you guys anyways? Lots of new warriors on the '94 hill, four of them in the top ten. I would love to chat, but busy busy. PIN numbers? Self-fights? Artificial aging? Should we vote on this stuff? --M R Bremer ______________________________________________________________________________ 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 45/ 39/ 16 Scan Man David van Dam 151 167 2 33/ 19/ 47 Rosebud Beppe 147 81 3 44/ 41/ 15 Wind-up Toy v1.2c Ian Oversby 146 199 4 39/ 34/ 27 Thermite II Robert Macrae 143 1747 5 38/ 33/ 30 stoninc Maurizio 143 1 6 39/ 35/ 27 T.N.T. pro Maurizio Vittuari 142 126 7 39/ 36/ 25 Chameleon M R Bremer 141 1218 8 39/ 36/ 25 dummy brain bjoern guenzel 141 3 9 40/ 38/ 23 Blur Anton Marsden 141 154 10 38/ 35/ 28 Solomon v0.6 Ian Oversby 141 2 11 36/ 33/ 31 Bomber Boy David van Dam 140 36 12 30/ 21/ 48 Impfinity v4g1 Planar 140 1946 13 26/ 11/ 63 ompega Steven Morrell 140 8 14 39/ 39/ 22 The Core Clear V1.3 David van Dam 139 262 15 37/ 36/ 27 Grilled Octopus v0.5 David Boeren 138 963 16 27/ 16/ 57 Hazy Shade II John K W 138 706 17 39/ 41/ 19 Violent Micro v0.4 basehead 138 12 18 40/ 42/ 18 Stepping Stone Kurt Franke 137 560 19 41/ 44/ 15 Eggbeater Anton Marsden 137 7 20 31/ 26/ 42 Whisper v0.1 Ian Oversby 136 10 21 30/ 24/ 46 blue candle bjoern guenzel 136 27 22 35/ 35/ 30 Tornado 3.0 Beppe 135 1548 23 30/ 26/ 43 Walk Like An Egyptian John K W 135 305 24 30/ 26/ 43 test John K W 134 76 25 32/ 29/ 39 Flurry Anton Marsden 134 708 Weekly age: 88 ( 107 last week, 78 the week before ) New warriors: 11 Turnover/age rate 13% Average age: 435 ( 456 last week, 403 the week before ) Average score: 140 ( 141 last week, 142 the week before ) The top 25 warriors are represented by 14 authors: van Dam, Oversby, Marsden, and JKW with 3, Vittuari, Bezzi, and guenzel with 2. David van Dam owns the top spot. He has a strangle hold on KoTH that would make Microsoft jealous. As for the rest of the rabble . . . newcomer Rosebud by Bezzi has come on strong, debuting in second place. After falling a bit mid-week, it has managed to return to second place. All the 1000+ guys maintain their usual positions. Tornado was still alive when this snap shot was taken, but--sorry Beppe. Impfinity should cross the 2000 mark by next issue. I remember a version of Sphinx in the old '88 days that lasted over 2100. Besides Rosebud, new warriors include Bomber Boy, an incediary bomber, blue candle, a stone/spiral, Violent Micro, strategy unknown, Whisper and ompega, imp heavy warriors, Eggbeater, a scanner, Solomon v0.6, from a long line of pspace warriors, and stoninc, a very successful test (stone?) from Vittuari. ______________________________________________________________________________ 94 - What's New # %W/ %L/ %T Name Author Score Age 2 29/ 16/ 55 Rosebud Beppe 142 1 16 29/ 27/ 44 test John K W 132 1 13 33/ 34/ 34 Bomber Boy David van Dam 132 1 17 26/ 23/ 51 blue candle bjoern guenzel 129 1 17 36/ 42/ 22 Violent Micro v0.4 basehead 129 1 20 29/ 27/ 44 Whisper v0.1 Ian Oversby 131 1 13 21/ 11/ 68 ompega Steven Morrell 131 1 12 39/ 45/ 16 Eggbeater Anton Marsden 133 1 6 37/ 37/ 26 dummy brain bjoern guenzel 137 1 12 35/ 36/ 29 Solomon v0.6 Ian Oversby 134 1 5 38/ 33/ 30 stoninc Maurizio 143 1 ______________________________________________________________________________ 94 - What's No More # %W/ %L/ %T Name Author Score Age 26 21/ 34/ 45 Torch t19 P.Kline 109 4 26 0/ 1/ 2 stone test 11 Beppe 3 4 26 1/ 2/ 1 Yogi Bear P.Kline 4 7 26 1/ 1/ 2 test eif JKW 4 69 26 34/ 41/ 25 Gem of the Ocean P.Kline 128 542 26 34/ 39/ 27 Flimsy v0.4a Ian Oversby 129 187 26 2/ 0/ 2 test Maurizio Vittuari 8 35 26 19/ 13/ 68 EvolCap XI John Wilkinson 125 437 26 31/ 35/ 34 La Bomba 1.3 Beppe Bezzi 126 310 26 34/ 40/ 26 Blanket Party J E Long 127 465 26 37/ 48/ 15 Solomon v0.3 Ian Oversby 126 354 ______________________________________________________________________________ 94 - What's Old # %W/ %L/ %T Name Author Score Age 12 30/ 21/ 48 Impfinity v4g1 Planar 140 1946 4 39/ 34/ 27 Thermite II Robert Macrae 143 1747 22 35/ 35/ 30 Tornado 3.0 Beppe 135 1548 7 39/ 36/ 25 Chameleon M R Bremer 141 1218 15 37/ 36/ 27 Grilled Octopus v0.5 David Boeren 138 963 25 32/ 29/ 39 Flurry Anton Marsden 134 708 16 27/ 16/ 57 Hazy Shade II John K W 138 706 18 40/ 42/ 18 Stepping Stone Kurt Franke 137 560 23 30/ 26/ 43 Walk Like An Egyptian John K W 135 305 Lost Blanket Party, Evol Cap, and Gem of the Ocean, but added Walk Like An Egyption. ______________________________________________________________________________ HALL OF FAME * means the warrior is still active. Pos Name Author Age Strategy 1 Impfinity v4g1 Planar 1946 * Stone/ imp 2 Thermite II Robert Macrae 1747 * Qscan -> bomber 3 Jack in the box Beppe Bezzi 1620 P-warrior 4 Tornado 3.0 Beppe Bezzi 1548 * Bomber 5 Torch t18 P.Kline 1539 Bomber 6 Frontwards v2 Steven Morrell 1420 One shot scanner 7 Evol Cap 6.6 John Wilkinson 1299 Imp / stone 8 quiz Schitzo 1262 Scanner/ bomber 9 Chameleon Myer R Bremer 1218 * P-warrior 10 T.N.T. Maurizio Vittuari 1204 Bomber 11 Grilled Octopus v0.5 David Boeren 963 * P-warrior 12 Iron Gate 1.5 Wayne Sheppard 926 CMP scanner 13 Agony II Stefan Strack 912 CMP scanner 14 Barrage Anton Marsden 876 Qscan -> replicator 15 Blue Funk Steven Morrell 869 Stone/ imp 16 Thermite 1.0 Robert Macrae 802 Qscan -> bomber 17 Blue Funk 3 Steven Morrell 766 Stone/ imp 18 Night Train Karl Lewin 755 Replicator 19 Mirage 1.5 Anton Marsden 736 Scanner/ bomber 20 Blizzard Anton Marsden 713 Qscan -> replicator 21 Flurry Anton Marsden 708 * Qscan -> pwarrior 22 Hazy Shade II John Wilkinson 706 * P-warrior 23 HeremScimitar A.Ivner,P.Kline 666 Bomber 24 La Bomba Beppe Bezzi 650 Qscan -> replicator 25 myVamp v3.7 Paulsson 643 Vampire Hazy Shade II by JKW pushes off Blue Funk 5 by Steven Morrell. ______________________________________________________________________________ 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 51/ 13/ 36 bxt im4 bjoern guenzel 188 25 2 52/ 25/ 23 Toxin IVa Edgar 178 36 3 48/ 22/ 29 Fork v0.1-10p Christoph C. Birk 174 82 4 50/ 27/ 23 Toxin IVb Edgar 174 23 5 51/ 29/ 20 scan test bjoern guenzel 174 21 6 53/ 34/ 13 Extreme Prejudice Scott Manley 172 79 7 52/ 40/ 8 Sapper Andrew Fabbro 164 1 8 47/ 32/ 21 Toxin IV Edgar 162 60 9 49/ 37/ 14 coal 3.22b bjoern guenzel 160 64 10 39/ 26/ 35 So Long Hyakutake Scott Manley 153 81 11 46/ 45/ 10 Drill 1.1 Edgar 147 38 12 35/ 31/ 34 Szyzyg v1.01 Scott Manley 138 48 13 40/ 44/ 16 Bloodhound Mk III Andrew Fabbro 136 31 14 39/ 46/ 15 8-Ball 2 Iain Hogg 133 54 15 29/ 25/ 46 invicta John K. Lewis 133 43 16 33/ 34/ 33 Szyzyg v1.0 Scott Manley 131 49 17 38/ 48/ 14 8-Ball Iain Hogg 128 58 18 38/ 56/ 6 Hide'n'Seek debug Edgar 119 7 19 36/ 61/ 3 Slow Edgar 111 10 20 33/ 58/ 10 yet another test 0.2 Justin Kao 108 20 21 33/ 64/ 4 Micro Centurion Edgar 102 16 22 29/ 59/ 12 yet another test 0.3 Justin Kao 99 9 23 6/ 2/ 0 Sapper Andrew Fabbro 18 2 24 6/ 2/ 0 Sapper Andrew Fabbro 18 3 25 4/ 0/ 0 test 0.01 Christoph C. Birk 12 75 37 challenges. Pathetic. So it goes in the summer I suppose. Violent Micro and basehead are no more, taking up residence on the '94 draft hill. bjoeren guenzel also has a solid position on the pro hill. ______________________________________________________________________________ The Hint Killing Imps Since Bezzi wrote a hint on imps last issue, I thought I'd find some material on how to kill them. This is part of a hint column from Paul Kline's _Push Off_ with some comments added by me (denoted with the >> sign). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On Killing Imps. Oh yes, they can be killed. Here are some of the ways. 1. Gates. Gates. Gates. Say again. Gates. Gates. Gates Here is the form W. Mintardjo used in Beholder's Eye and Winter Werewolf: gate equ example-10 example spl 0,> Of course the spl line can do the same: >> spl #-gate, > Since authors tend to have gates close to the executing code, the values >> of the increments had to be small numbers. However, the scan/bomb >> increments can also be spl #-2667-gate, <-2667-gate or spl #-2667*2-gate, >> <-2667*2-gate. This gives a little more freedom in picking constants, at >> least against 3 point imps. An imp cannot pass 'gate' because of the continual decrementing. (Well actually I have seen an imp structure that passes such a gate, but it was a little too delicate to survive normal bombing :-) >> Paul must have wrote this before he invented Cannonade, a gate crashing >> imp spiral. By having a non-standard 2668 imp closely followed by a >> standard 2667 spiral, Cannonade is able to sacrifice one of the mov 0,2668 >> instructions on the gate. When decremented, the instruction turns into a >> mov 0,2667, perfect for the following spiral. However, with post >> increment, you could just increment your gate instead of decrementing it. Here is the form used in the vampires, Sucker and Twilight Pits: gate equ example-10 example spl 0,> In addition to imp-killing scan increments, there is the imp-killing >> core clear. Clearing with dat <2667, <2667*2 is often effective. This >> spiral clear will stun and then kill 3 point and 7 point imps. I believe >> this code was first used in JKW's SETI, but don't quote me on that. >> >> ;name spiral spl clear followed by linear dat clear >> add.a #382, ptr >> mov @-1, {ptr >> jump jmp -2, 0 >> half dat <0-dist,<0-dist-2 >> ptr spl #2, #3 3. Forward bombing and decrementing, two different strategies, but the same principle. Since the imp never repairs its trailing process you can knock them off with a left-to-right bombing run. Depending on the bomb you are using, this can be more-or-less successful. Here is one approach: example spl 0,> This is an '88 replicator that would get totally annihilated on the '94 >> hill. Just throw in a TimeScape replicating engine with the linear >> bombing and--voila--anti-imp paper. 5. Self-splitting. Since the imp only kills your program if you have fewer processes than he does, you can create a tie by having more. Then if you are overrun you will follow, not outrun him. This means extra processes at -every- location, including spl-zero lines, since any or all other lines may be dat-bombed and lost during the battle. 6. Very rapid startup. Imps and their co-components can take 40-50 instructions to launch, plus a 'large' startup code. If you come out swinging that's 40-50 instructions for bombing or scanning to your advantage. >> Not so true anymore. Binary launches are huge, but jmp/add and vector >> launched spirals have a relatively small footprint. However, they do take >> extra time to launch, so a rapid start up (ala quick scan maybe) can be >> effective in more ways than one. ______________________________________________________________________________ Extra Extra I ripped this off the newsgroup in case you missed it. Just another thread in the PIN/no PIN argument. Thanks to Nathan Green for his work on this. David van Dam (D.vanDam@is.twi.tudelft.nl) wrote: : guenzel@extern.lrz-muenchen.de (Bjoern Guenzel) wrote: : > I wonder if it is possible to create a 'mega-handshaking': a program : > which returns a unique win/loss in it's self-fight that allows to : > calculate the secret number. Then write a second program that easily : > beats all the others... (only for one month, of course). But when you have a script file that generates the warrior, it only takes the time to submit 3 warriors to make a new one. : I think it's not so difficult. Not too difficult at all. : You just use the handshake routine to determine the distance between your : warriors in the self fight (aha, another reason against self fights). The : the first time you send your warrior to the hill and it can win (distance : DIV 200) times. The second time you change the program a little bit and you : win (distance MOD 200) times. I used div/mod 100, but the idea is the same. You also need to be able to tell which warrior found who first too. : With these 2 values you can calculate the secret number. It's simple. : So, who has the time to try it out? I guess that would be me. :) After debugging my programs, I determined that pizza's magic -F number was using the method described above. I created two warriors, Cheater and Control. Cheater was designed to SPL carpet the opponents starting position, and then spl/dat clear. Control was exactly the same, except with the wrong numbers. Without the magic numbers, it should do very poorly. The assult on the veteran hill was not encouraging. As I had feared, the warriors on the veteran hill don't stay in thier starting places long enough to get bombed. :( Cheater only did well against one warrior, 107/91/2 vs. 7/191/2 The warriors on the beginner's hill did a much better job of sitting still. :) The Beginner hill: # %W/ %L/ %T Name Author Score Age 11 48/ 42/ 10 Cheater Nathan Green 154 2 25 16/ 68/ 16 Control Nathan Green 65 1 Against many opponents, Cheater scored ~150 wins, ~50 losses. (I'll give you one guess how many starting locations I was able to cram into 100 instructions.) Control, however, only managed to push the last killed program off the hill. I wonder what kind of wacky warriors would evolve in an experimental hill in which the -F number was known in advance... -- Nathan Green (ngreen@plains.nodak.edu) GCS d? s: a21.4>21.5 C+++ UV P>+ L++>+++ E W N++ o++ K+ w---(--) M- V PS PE Y t+ 5 X R tv-(--) b++>+++ DI++>+++ D+ G+>++++ e(*)>+ h!>++ !r !y+ (Version 3.1) ______________________________________________________________________________ Questions? Concerns? Comments? Complaints? Mail them to people who care. authors: Beppe Bezzi or Myer Bremer