Difference between revisions of "RoboRumble/Enter The Competition"

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Suggestions for your file host:
 
Suggestions for your file host:
 +
* It is recommended that you host JARs on this wiki. [[Special:Upload|Upload them here]].
 
* Do not upload to your own domain/web hosting. Such links have a strong tendency to break. This has happened to [[Voidious]], [[Skilgannon]], [[Darkcanuck]], [[David Alves]], [[Chase-san]], etc., etc., etc...
 
* Do not upload to your own domain/web hosting. Such links have a strong tendency to break. This has happened to [[Voidious]], [[Skilgannon]], [[Darkcanuck]], [[David Alves]], [[Chase-san]], etc., etc., etc...
* It is recommended that you host JARs on this wiki. [[Special:Upload|Upload them here]].
+
* Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub, OneDrive etc are not good options too. They might last longer than your own web host. But the prone to change file accessing API or worse require a human interaction to download a file. On 2017/09/07 we had to clean up a lot of Dropbox, GitHub, Google Drive links.
* Alternatively, Google Drive can a good host. Enable link-sharing and [https://lifehacker.com/share-direct-links-to-files-in-google-drive-and-skip-th-1493813665 transform the share link into a direct download link].
+
** If you are desperate use above big brother hostings. Below the known ways to modify their links to a workable ones.
* Dropbox is also good for hosting JARs. Enable public sharing and [https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/force-download append <code>?dl=1</code> to the end of the link].
+
*** Google Drive: enable link-sharing and [https://lifehacker.com/share-direct-links-to-files-in-google-drive-and-skip-th-1493813665 transform the share link into a direct download link].
* If you are developing your bot on GitHub, you can publish the JAR on [https://help.github.com/articles/about-releases/ GitHub Releases].
+
*** Dropbox: enable public sharing and [https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/force-download append <code>?dl=1</code> to the end of the link].
* You (ab)use GitHub as a file hosting service, by uploading the JAR to a public repository.
+
*** If you are developing your bot on GitHub, you can publish the JAR on [https://help.github.com/articles/about-releases/ GitHub Releases].
 +
*** You (ab)use GitHub as a file hosting service, by uploading the JAR to a public repository.
  
 
== Entering the competition ==
 
== Entering the competition ==

Revision as of 03:56, 8 September 2017

To create a bot that is accepted by the RoboRumble server, the following rules are mandatory:

  • The bot must have a package name.
  • The bot must be packaged in a JAR file.
  • A <botname>.properties file must be present in the JAR file.
  • The naming of the bot must reflect the internal structure.

The easiest way to do this is to package your bot with Robocode (Robot -> Package robot for upload).

Strong recommendations

  • Choose a unique main package name to avoid mixups between different authors. Stick with that one main package name per author.
  • Do not use underscores in your package name, bot name or version number. Robocode itself has no problems with it, but the client is known to have problems with them, especially in version numbers.
  • Keep your bot Java 8 compatible. The 2017 Java client survey showed that majority of the rating generating clients run Java 8.
    • Some would even say to keep your bot Java 5 compatible. This means compiling with -target 1.5 -source 1.5 and avoiding features introduced in later versions of Java. The RoboRumble client places no restrictions on the version of Java used to run matches, and someone might run your robot with Java 5, producing invalid battle results.
  • Try out your just-packaged bot before letting it loose in the rumble.
  • If your robot is worse than MyFirstRobot, don't enter it.

Publishing the JAR

You will need to upload your robot's JAR on a website that can store arbitrary files, giving you an URL with which others can download your robot. Keep in mind the following:

  1. The link must be a direct link. When the link is clicked, the JAR must immediately begin downloading, without any intermediate page.
  2. The link should not break. You should upload your JAR to a reliable file storage service. Random "free online hosting" services are definitely out. Broken links generally will not cause data loss, as all JARs entered into the rumble are backed up on Rednaxela's server; they are just annoying to fix.

Suggestions for your file host:

  • It is recommended that you host JARs on this wiki. Upload them here.
  • Do not upload to your own domain/web hosting. Such links have a strong tendency to break. This has happened to Voidious, Skilgannon, Darkcanuck, David Alves, Chase-san, etc., etc., etc...
  • Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub, OneDrive etc are not good options too. They might last longer than your own web host. But the prone to change file accessing API or worse require a human interaction to download a file. On 2017/09/07 we had to clean up a lot of Dropbox, GitHub, Google Drive links.

Entering the competition

  1. Decide which rumble you want to enter:
    • RoboRumble – Two-bot duel on a 800x600 battlefield over 35 rounds. Suitable for 1v1 and melee robots.
    • MeleeRumble – Ten bots on a 1000x1000 battlefield over 35 rounds. Suitable for melee robots only.
    • TeamRumble – Two teams of 5 bots each on a 1200x1200 battlefield over 10 rounds. Suitable for 5-bot teams.
    • Twin Duel – Two teams of 2 bots each on a 800x800 battlefield over 75 rounds. Suitable for 2-bot teams limited to 2000 Code Size total.
    • The rumble will automatically calculate your robot's Code Size and place it in the appropriate category.
  2. Upload your bot into file-hosting of your choice (see above).
  3. Add your robot to the correct participants list (1v1, melee, teams, Twin Duel).
  4. You should be able to see the results (some time later) on LiteRumble.

Adding your country's flag to ranking table

Enter your main package name and your country's ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code into RoboRumble/Country Flags.

See Also