Talk:MoxieBot

Very neat - I like how you refer to the Bullet Shadow idea. The notion (in a vague form =)) has crossed my mind as something an elite wave surfer might want to try in a really tight spot (like in a corner + 2 bullets in the air), since not getting hit is so much more important than hitting the enemy when you're vastly outscoring them and trying to optimize <% total score>. Best of luck with MoxieBot! I might have to add some bullet shielding detection if you start beating Diamond. =) --Voidious 06:22, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Don't worry about me...Worry about if DrussGT starts using it! :) Ncj 04:27, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

I also really like the sound of this. I'm actually wondering about incorporating this into DrussGT. I'd check whether there is anywhere I can get with a coverage of >95%, and if their bullet power is > 0.1, and if so take that option for this wave. I'm also wondering if you can increase your coverage by waiting to fire until a bit later, or whether the earlier you fire the better your coverage is sort of thing. By mixing this idea with imaginary waves I think the coverage might be able to be increased substantially. Anyways, nice work on this bot =) --Skilgannon 08:50, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks! There are definitely situations where you can get that kind of coverage if the enemy is far away and you get to move in a straight line at top speed. In the simple case where you move in a straight line to the point at which the wave will break, then I think that firing earlier will get you the largest shadow: The angle at which you need to fire will be the same no matter when you fire. This means the angle between your intersecting bullet and the enemy bullet is constant regardless of time, as will be the component of your bullet's movement perpendicular to the enemy bullet's movement. The angular width of the bullet shadow is a function of this perpendicular component and the distance from the wave origin of the bullet intersection. As the perpendicular component is constant, the only way to get a larger angular width is to intersect the wave earlier, which means firing as soon as possible. Of course, the point you intend to move to is under your control...Actually, this gave me some ideas for selecting a better location than I do now. Ncj 04:24, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

I've been thinking of this also lately, but from a slightly other perspective. If bullets collide, you know where the enemies bullit was heading, so you could move there indeed. Not specifically because that is a safe spot, although a nice side-effect, but as a sort of 'smoke curtain' to influence the gunnery of your opponent. He would register this spot as a peak, while normally you wouldn't had moved there in the first place. I feel like having a card in my sleeve, while wearing a t-shirt. --GrubbmGait 00:56, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

Very nice. For a while I've been thinking about integrating Bullet Shadows into a surfing movement, but this is the first time I've seen a bot with some particularly nice use of them. Also, I like the term "Bullet Shadow", I never had a good term for it before. Some thoughts:

• Perhaps it would make sense to only have it move to positions with large shadows, instead of occasionally going to small shadow locations?
• Looking at results here, it seems like my bot Midboss does particularly well against this. I'm pretty sure it's because of Midboss' rather smart bulletpower selection. Perhaps MoxieBot should fall back to another strategy when the enemy is firing small bullets?
• Very impressive looking in battle! :)

--Rednaxela 01:09, 5 February 2011 (UTC)