Caligula

Caligula
Author(s)	CrazyBassoonist
Extends	AdvancedRobot
Targeting	Random Linear
Movement	Multimode
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Background Information

Bot Name

Caligula

Author

CrazyBassoonist

Extends

AdvancedRobot

What's special about it?

It's a very competitive nano that is quite different from the other top nanos. It may lose to most good nanos, but it can really destroy bots with simple targeting.

Great, I want to try it. Where can I download it?

http://robocoderepository.com/BotDetail.jsp?id=3975

How competitive is it?

It's currently ranked sixth in the nanorumble.

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Strategy

What is its basic strategy?

The basic idea behind Caligula is that it's not very good against the top bots, but it can totally crush most weak robots. It switches to ramming opponents if they are strong enough that it can't beat them any other way.

How does it move?

First, it tries moving ahead at full speed to trick HOT bots. If that fails, it reverses direction every time the other robot shoots a bullet, which dodges LT nearly perfectly. If it dies twice in both of these modes, it rams the opponent with linear prediction, and takes into account which direction it should go in instead of trying to turn more than 90 degrees in one direction. This is a good strategy because while ramming rarely beats opponents by large margin, it usually gets a score in at least the 40's against even very good bots. I think it's actually pretty respectable as far as rambots go when it's in that mode.

How does it fire?

It uses a random linear gun. The main reason I chose this is that it isn't very accurate, but it is very hard to dodge every bullet. I may have to change its targeting however, as full linear targeting works much better against robots fleeing at a very close range.

How does it dodge bullets?

Only its anti-LT movement involves bullet dodging.

Is this robot Melee-capable?

Nope.

What does it save between rounds and matches?

The movement to use.

Additional Information

Where did you get the name?

Caligula had a bad habit of beating up on commoners.

Can I use your code?

RWPCL.

What's next for your robot?

• Rethink the gun at close ranges
• See if there's anything I can do to make the anti-HOT movement better at dodging. Right now I'm exploring the option of making it move slower so it bounces off of the walls less.

Does it have any White Whales?

It has a more trouble than it should with medium-level bots with high firepower, as those can usually defeat its first two movements and then beat it when it tries to ram them.