From news@stormking.com Sat Oct 12 03:52:59 1993 Received: by stormking.com with UUCP id AA24986 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for cbx.rec.games.corewar); Wed, 13 Oct 1993 00:46:15 -0400 Path: valhalla.stormking.com!speedway.net!news.world.net!news.sprintlink.net!uunet!tcsi.tcs.com!agate!dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!peruvian.cs.utah.edu!bdthomse From: bdthomse@peruvian.cs.utah.edu (Brant Thomsen) Subject: Re: Once more into the breach: "Smart" programs Date: 12 Oct 93 09:52:59 MDT Message-Id: <1993Oct12.095300.14428@hellgate.utah.edu> Originator: bdthomse@peruvian.cs.utah.edu Organization: University of Utah Computer Science References: Lines: 110 Apparently-To: cbx.rec.games.corewar@stormking.com In article KENT@dirac (Kent Peterson) writes: >Well, I've looked over the new standard, and I was wondering: Does >anyone have any opinions on the friendliness of the '94 standard >to "smart" Redcode programs? I've been spending the last month or two messing around with the '94 standard (which explains my recent disappearance from the '88 hill). So far, my experience has been that the new standard does more to encourage SHORTER programs, although "smart" programs also have the potential to do better under the new standard. The two things I believe will contribute most to the effectiveness of "smarter" programs in the new standard are the post-increment (>) capabilities and the ability to use the "DAT.F 0, 0" and operand- specific instruction to reduce (or eliminate) the bootstraping and set-up time. The problems I have had with writing complex programs are that the '88 stanard is too limiting ... many things I wanted to do required additional DAT statements to hold information or could not be done quickly enough (or were too fragile) to be effective on the hill. To illustrate the point about shorter programs, however, I have included the source to CURIOUS GEORGE II. Note that even the concept which allows CURIOUS GEORGE to exist is impossible under the '88 standard. A "Curious George" consists of a: spl.A #0, <1 djn.A #-100, <0 This creates a DJN stream which decrements the A operands of the instructions. However, it does not kill itself because each of these instructions will continue to act as if the A operand is a "$0" no matter what the value really is. I have really been enjoying the new standard and the freedom it allows. I have the feeling that, in the future (i.e. when this tournament is over), when I try to get back on the '88 hill, it will be through making my '94 programs backwards-compatible that I will be the most successful. (Is this the first '94 standard program to be posted to the net? Perhaps I'll achieve fame after all!) ;redcode-94 ;name CG II ;author Brant D. Thomsen ;strategy CURIOUS GEORGE TAKES SOME FRIENDS AND GOES STREAM FISHING ;strategy Seven friends are better than none! ;strategy A cross between Hydra and ROTLD, works very hard at being ;strategy hard to find and kill. ;strategy Good for tournament play, since tends to tie when it doesn't win. ;strategy Submitted: @date@ dist equ (8000 / 8) sdist equ 670 ; The standard version of George split spl.A #0,