Talk:Super Sample Bots

Would you mind if I take every current robots in this set, with some modified, and enter either roborumble, meleerumble or both? I'll post the change to their pages too. » Nat | Talk » 13:31, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Go ahead. Just remember that with these robots my goal is not to make them beat other robots badly, but to do what they try to do well; For example SuperCorner could be made much better with some changes to the movement to make it much less mirror-movement like, but that would also make it trap its enemy in the corner less. Also, after I finish the rest of the SuperSampleBots I am going to redo some of the old ones, so you may wish to wait a while. But go ahead and put them in if you feel like it.--CrazyBassoonist 13:35, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Or, if you wish to make them stronger, you could make a page called (SuperSampleBotName)/RumbleVersion and merely explain the changes on it--CrazyBassoonist 13:36, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Actually what I mean modified is about some old robot. I'd been working with SuperWalls (when I get a lot of edit conflict and didn't realize since it was 3:00 am here at that time.) I'll redo it, perhaps with true go-to movement, which will make codesize growing really large. Anyway, all robot will be added dummy method to make it MegaBot (since some maybe nano, micro or mini) And I haven't forgot the goals of these robot. Anyway, even SittingDuck is in meleerumble so I see no reasons why don't we put this all in rumble too. » Nat | Talk » 13:44, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Ok, well go ahead then=)--CrazyBassoonist 13:47, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Hi, where can I download these robots from? --HUNRobar 14:59, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

From each robot page, you will need to compile them yourself. Later I will put them on my own webspace, but not now ==) » Nat | Talk » 15:13, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Hey man, I've been meaning to say for a while that I think this is a really cool project. I think it's pretty common for newcomers to start working on bots, beat all the sample bots, feel encouraged and enthusiastic about making bots, then go online and find our monsters and get really discouraged. Having another tier of "sample" type bots to contend with would be very cool. --Voidious 15:46, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. It's nice to see other people are interested in it too=)--CrazyBassoonist 15:55, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

My only complaint, if you want to call it that, is that the Nanos kinda take this role right now. You know you're on the right track when you can start beating the various nanos. Of course, their source code is a jumbled mess, so that's a big strike against them. --Miked0801 16:11, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I guess you're right. But it can't really hurt to have the SuperSampleBots--CrazyBassoonist 18:21, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Well, I think they each serve a somewhat different niche. "Super Sample Bots" is a very accessible concept for new or young Robocoders -- some harder, but still understandable, bots to test your own creations against. For someone that's more likely to take their Robocoding to the next level (like most of us), NanoBots may prove to be a lot more interesting. But they are harder to learn from, yes, and getting thrashed by 10 lines of code may scare some people off. =) --Voidious 18:31, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I wonder if I can make SuperCrazy, I have an idea for a simple (but possibly strong) random movement and random targeting gun (it's crazy!). — Chase-san 16:02, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

That sounds pretty cool. For the gun you could probably just do something like HOT then just add a random number from like -30deg to 30 deg and it would keep the codesize small anyway just an idea --Exauge ◊ talk 16:20, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

Code size isn't really an issue with sample bots, clarity is. I want to put in simple yet semi-advanced features into the robot. I will use maximum escape angle for the random gun. (this robot calls Math.random(), a lot). — Chase-san 17:23, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

It would be great if other people would start making SuperSamples. I kind of let the project die because I realized that most of the robots need a rewrite, as when I started writing these I was just learning how Java worked and many of the existing ones aren't exactly good examples to new Robocoders. Some guidelines for making SuperSamples:

1: As Chase-san said, Clarity>CodeSize. Always make sure that the code is very clearly written, and commented in enough detail for people who are totally new to Robocode to understand it almost completely.

2: Similarity. The robot has to be clearly related to the sample robot it is based off of in movement or targeting. For example, SuperWalls should move along the walls and SuperCorners should move around the corners. It should also probably use the same color scheme. If your SuperSample isn't based off of an existing sample, try to come up with a name that describes it well.

3: Try to incorporate interesting ideas. Don't be afraid to incorporate ideas that don't work too well, or that are very uncommonly used/unorthodox.

4: Too much code can make things hard to read for beginners.

5: Don't feel like the SuperSample has to be based off of an existing sample. If you have an interesting idea that would help new Robocoders, feel free to make a new SuperSample.

6: Don't make it too strong. They should be stronger than the samples, but they should be quite beatable by beginners.

All in all, the most important thing for this project would be to rewrite some of the earlier SuperSamples and finish the whole set. Also, keep in mind that the robots you submit won't be considered the property of the submitter and can be edited by anyone on the wiki, but if you plan on changing a bot that was not yours originally you should restrict yourself to bugfixes and making the code clearer rather than making significant changes without at least talking to the original author first.

If people think that this is a good idea and would be willing to help with this, I'll write a more in-depth explanation of the project on the project page and also maybe a "guidelines for submitting SuperSamples" page.--CrazyBassoonist 18:27, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, just have to avoid the itch of wanting to improve its score. But all in all I considered it very fun to make such a small limited robot. — Chase-san 19:29, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

Very cool to see this idea revived. I think we should move the Super Sample Bots page to Category:Super Sample Bots and put the bots in that category. Maybe we should move the above guidelines there, too. Thoughts? One tiny nitpick is I think the package name should be lower case, to match the original samples and most other rumble bots. --Voidious 21:21, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

Good idea on all counts. — Chase-san 00:54, 9 August 2010 (UTC)