Tron

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Tron
Tron Logo.jpg
Author(s) ABC
Extends AdvancedRobot
Targeting Dynamic Clustering, Play It Forward
Movement Anti-Gravity Movement, Wave Surfing
Released pre-2003
Best Rating #1 Melee (2003)
Current Version 3.11
Code License closed
Download
Sub-pages:
News - Archived Talk

Background Information

What's special about it?
Tron is a melee specialist. It stayed at the top of the MeleeRumble for a long time. I came up with the idea while trying to make a "corner move" for Shadow. I needed it to make a sharp 90 degrees turn to follow the walls in a corner, so I decided to make a new bot that always turned 90º – that way it would be very easy to avoid walls. I never thought it would be so effective against most targeting algorithms, but I soon found out.
How competitive is it?
MeleeRumble ‒ APS: 67.05% (10th), PL: 387-10 (11th), Survival: 46.28%

Strategy

How does it move?
Tron moves only in four directions (directly up, left, down, and right), wobbling slightly while moving and making sharp 90º turns. It always moves in the least dangerous of the four cardinal directions. With version 3, it became a True Wave Surfer in 1v1.
How does it fire?
Tron was the first robot to use Dynamic Clustering, invented by ABC and then known as "Tron's Gun" and described as a "forward pattern matcher". (Specifically, it uses DC-PIF). This gun was then ported to Shadow, open-sourced in DCBot (alongside Chalk by Corbos), sparking the KNN revolution.
How does it dodge bullets?
In one-on-one, it surfs. In melee, it moves in a way that is very predictable for humans but very hard for robots.
How does the melee strategy differ from one-on-one strategy?
It uses a "zone based" Anti-Gravity Movement in melee.
How does it select a target to attack/avoid in melee?
It selects the closest enemy as a target. To avoid "thrashing" between enemies it doesn't change targets until a bot is about 200px closer than the current target, or if the other candidate is attacking him.
What does it save between rounds and matches?
Between rounds, it saves the last 3000 scans from each enemy (used for targeting) and some misc. stats. Between matches, it saves nothing.

Additional Information

Where did you get the name?
From the classic game (and sci-fi movie) Tron. I think the game was played with motorcycles, but hey, "Tanks can play too!"
Can I use your code?
It is not open source. I'm a very sloppy coder (when I can). Please use the code in MiniTron.
What's next for your robot?
ABC hasn't updated Tron since 2005.
What other robot(s) is it based on?
Quite a few ideas and algorithms were bounced back and forth between Shadow and Tron.