Holden/VersionHistory

1.13a - Wider surfing

• Widened number of bins updated on a bullet hit
• Fixed surfing algorithm to allow overshoot of GF+/-1 locations (was slowing down too soon)
• Normally I release only even numbered versions (odd numbers are for testing), but I've been unable to repeat this version's performance after some recent refactoring!

1.12a - Better anti-ramming + Bugfixes

• RoboRumble ‒ APS: 80.27% (35th), PL: 721-16 (14th), Survival: 89.77%
• Replaced my crude anti-ramming strategy with a slightly better one inspired by Skilgannon's description of how DrussGT does it. Holden doesn't do much surfing in this mode, but the movement planning is far better than the orbit-the-arena-center strategy used since 1.06.
• Tweaked flattener to add minimal flattening after first loss
• Primes GF0 as a dangerous location at the start of the round
• Adjusted bot width calculation, fixed but in state recording
• Version 1.14 is already ready & waiting in the wings once this version stabilizes... need to break into the top 20!
• Retired 5-Sep-2009

1.12 - Anti-ramming all the time

• Pulled as soon as I discovered a bug that locked Holden into anti-ramming mode

1.10 - More Precision

• RoboRumble ‒ APS: 79.81% (35th), PL: 718-18 (14th), Survival: 89.6%
• Rewrote surfing class to make it more precise and extensible
• Now uses same algorithm for prediction and movement
• Bullet hits now use actual bullet heading (surprisingly I'm so used to targeting that I didn't realize this was possible!)
• Improved bot width calculation and accounts for multiple tick exposure to waves at movement extremes
• Now surfs in a true orbit around enemy, not around the wave origin
• Shortened orbit radius to make better use of Holden's targeting advantage
• Some bullet power tweaks to improve energy usage, especially during the endgame

1.08 - 2nd Wave Surfing

• RoboRumble ‒ APS: 79.56% (37th), PL: 717-21 (18th), Survival: 88.01%
• Added 2nd wave surfing for a very modest performance increase
• Surfing algorithm now uses a better approximation of Holden's movement alg.
• Added onBulletHitBullet() handling for a nice scoring boost
• Retired 23-Aug-2009

1.06 - All-around tweaks

• RoboRumble - APS: 78.69% (41st), PL: 711-26 (23rd), Glicko-2: 2007.4, Survival: 87.09%
• Now uses Gaff's latest anti-surfer gun.
• Added rambot detection & avoidance
• Tweaked lazy flattener to kick in only after two lost rounds; no longer decreases after a win.
• Reduced preferred distance by 50
• Switched from variable bullet powers to prefer 2.0
• Retired 19-Aug-2009

1.04 - Lazy Flattener

• RoboRumble - APS: 77.21% (47th), PL: 711-26 (23rd), Glicko-2: 1983, Survival: 87.6%
• Added a flattening scheme which basically logs low-valued hits to the segmented buffers. This kicks in when Holden loses a round, increases if he keeps losing and decreases if he starts to win. Simple but effective.
• Retired 16-Aug-2009

1.02 - Surfing tweaks

• RoboRumble 1v1: 47th, 77.2% APS, 1713 ELO, 1984 Glicko2
• Adjusted a few segments (more lateral velocity, less accel and wall distance).
• Original version used bot width when calculating danger values; this one also uses width when storing hits.
• Increased minimum distance.
• Retired 25-Jun-2009

1.00 - Initial release

• RoboRumble 1v1: 50th, 1712 ELO, 1976 Glicko2, 2086 battles
• Retired 23-Jun-2009