Game Engine Phase 2

Entelect Challenge 2017 Announcements
1

Hi Guys,

Phase 2 for the game engine has been merged into master, please go and have a look play around look at the new weapons and provide us with some feedback, we will make an official release next week after unit tests have been added. We will have a look at suggestions and feedback given for the remainder of this week.

Have fun and good luck!

2

The rules state regarding the double shot “Requires 8 rounds worth of energy to use”, and I suppose “x rounds worth of energy” means the amount of energy that you would accrue within 8 rounds. That would imply that on a small map, the double shot would require 2 x 8 = 16 energy to fire, or 3 x 8 = 24 energy on a medium map. Is my interpretation correct?

3

I think the wording is incorrect. If you look at the code it is in fact 8 energy. not 8 rounds worth of energy.

4

Hey bgh,

That is correct, it is 8 rounds for the double shot so 2 * 8 = 16 for a small map, and 3 * 8 = 24 for a medium map

5

Indeed. Tested and confirmed with the reference bot. it is 8 rounds worth, so map energy gain * round cost. so 24 energy for med map

6

hi ,is the pre-compiled engine zip updated too ?

7

Hi Wjb,

We will do so next week, we are currently just accepting feedback and suggestions.

8

hi guys

does any unused energy after making a shot get carried over?

large map:
round 3 i have 12 energy and i fire off a hunter would the 2 energy left carry over into the next round ?

9

Hi MarkMyb,

After a shot is made, the remaining energy is carried over, so if you have 24 energy and the shot requires 16 and you get 2 energy a round then after using the weapon you will have 10 energy for the next round.

Does this make sense?

10

Wow that is a long time to wait. I mean, on a large map a random dummy enemy can be killed within 60 turns. On a medium map it is 40 turns. So, we will basically have only one or two special bullets for the whole match?

11

I think this is intentional as to really make you plan when you use those specials. They are still capable of turning the tide of the battle in 1 turn. I think the idea this week is for us to test and give feedback on the power level of these specials. So far they seem pretty fair to me, but I will put some proper tests in this weekend to really try them out vs my old bot version and see how much difference they can make

12

There were some issues with the corner shot and both cross shots. I submitted a fix on github.

1 Like
13

It appears that the seeker missile also has a problem if there are not targets in range. I will try to get to fixing it as soon as I get some time again

14

Hi all. I’m excited to try out the new types of shots :smiley:

I’d just like a quick clarification on the seeker missile. It looks to me like the game engine’s code and the documentation are contradicting each other.

From the readme:

Fire Seeker Missle Command - This will fire a missle at target area, finding the nearest ship cell in a 5 x 5 block of cells , if there is no ship the center point given will be the target of the missle.

From the game engine (FireSeekerMissleCommand)

var cellInRage = occupiedCells.Select(x => new
                    {
                        distance = Math.Sqrt(Math.Pow((x.X - _centerPoint.X), 2) + Math.Pow(x.Y - _centerPoint.Y, 2)),
                        cell = x
}).OrderBy(x => x.distance).First(x => x.distance <= 2);

So the docs are saying a 5 by 5 block, but the code seems to be working on a Euclidean distance of less than 2 from the center, which would end up excluding the three furthest blocks on each corner of the 5 by 5 block.

Which of these two is correct?

Thanks :slight_smile:

1 Like
15

Just to confirm. The current code does indeed shoot in a diamond shape (as shown in the image). I think this is intentional, and makes sense to me. So if it wasn’t intentional, I would cast my vote to keeping it as is. Seems more balanced, and just seems more logical that the seeker missile would check a diameter around where it is fired, and not a square.

16

Hi Guys,

The original idea was to include the 3 outer blocks of each corner, I will have a look to fix this. Thanks for pointing this out.

However, if you guys feel it would be more balanced to keep in a diamond shape, rather than making it a square this could also be done.

17

would a diamond shape pose problems when the nearest ship is on the border in against one of the maps corners and only a lenght of two cells ?

not sure because i did not look at the code but i imagine a square would not miss such a case, where a diamond could , would my assumption be false ?

18

Yes a diamond shape would not be able to hit the corner (unless you aim it so you “waste” a few squares).
In my mind each of the special shots as a very specific application. So if you wanted to check corners, why not use the corner shot, or even cross shot? I don’t think there should be one special shot to just be the go to for every situation.
Just my opinion, but maybe we should get a vote going on this or something. But I guess also if it was originally intended as a square, then that might have to be the default. My vote is for diamond though.

19

Oh no, a diamond, now that is going to be a MajorPAIN to code…

2 Likes
20

i personally do not care either which way it is made or chosen or intended to be used , any negative side to weapon provides a positive side for strategy , that is why i ask.