RoboCode

[Hackmaster]

Hi All... I would just like to bring to everyone's attention probably one of the funner things you can do to learn how to write in java. (and something really fun to do in general.)

there is a game out there. it is called RoboCode. essentially, in this game, you program your own tank to go and attack other tanks. it's as simple as that.

the tank can move, your turret can move, and your radar for sensing other bots can move, all 360 degrees. basically, the challenge is to find a way to sense the other bots, and fire upon them accurately.

probably the best part about this game is that you can download your buddies code and his bot and your bot can fight it out. this is great, too, because you will both begin to get better, and eventually, your bots will become very good, by adapting to the other's strategy.

you can start out very simply, by doing something like.... you see a bot, you shoot it. done. it may miss, because of movement, and other such things, but you get the point. on the other hand, you can also begin to circle them, slowly closing in, while triangulating where they will be in a second, and firing ahead, all while dodging their feeble attempts to hit you.

I only picked up the game a few days ago, and I love it. I'm not great yet, but I have ambition. I would say there aren't many prereqs in terms of programming ability either, but it helps. I mean, it's not a big deal to change some values around (and they supply sample robots as well, to toy around with.) but here's some neat history: IBM actually made this game to teach java to kids. which means it's great for that, but also lots of fun.

this is a shout out to the mods and admins of compsci: go check this out. http://robocode.sourceforge.net/. the thing is, I think it's SUCH a great teaching tool that I would, were I you, either make a string for it, or better yet, a whole forum. I love this concept. but, if you think that it's not that good, well, then, I would humbly suggest that this be the roboCode thread, and we can discuss here.

also, if this doesn't really catch here, and you have problems, I would be happy to answer any questions anyone may have, or look at any bots that people have. or even try them against mine. not likely you'll win, but...

Thanks a lot for reading... if you're still awake.

[PaulButler]

I wrote a bot for a similar game a while ago except it was in space. It was another of the IBM ones though. I was new to Java and Eclipse at the time, so it helped me learn quickly.

They have one called CodeRally too, I haven't tried it but here is a link: http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/coderally

Apparently at one of the universities here they have them write a bot for one of these games as one of their projects.

[tsullivan]

Yeah, I played with this game a while ago. It is a lot of fun. I found it a great way to practice some of the basic skills I picked up in my first year comp-sci courses.
It's also a great way to compete with other people to see who has better algorithm skills.

[Aziz]

My teacher showed me this in grade 11. I never really got to actually do any Java (in school) because everyone else was so noobish... I'm definitely going to check this out. We should have tourneys...

A lot of this is going to be about math and geometric algorithms. Can you include third-party libraries with your bots? I've already got some analytical libraries in the works.

[Nick]

wow this seems like a great game makes me all the more anxious to finally learn java ^.^

[rizzix]

....Or use a Turing (langauge) that can interact with the java api. Same thing

[Nick]

WHAT!?!?!? u can do that?

[Mazer]

Of course, didn't you know?

[rdrake]

Oh, but he knows.