BBEANS4 Rules and Registration

[Urjak]

man manu was just giving an idea. dont be so harsh.

[Trovaner]

Personally, I like things the way they are now. This way you can't blame him for playing favorites (by driving into one bot and putting them at a disadvantage).

BTW to make the opponents ignore user controlled bots, all you have to do is change this line: "if not plus.isHuman(enemy): weighted_dist += 3" (from AI\__init__.py)
To something like this: "if not plus.isHuman(enemy): weighted_dist += -99"
You could also change make the value zero (if you want the AI to treat you fairly) or higher (if you want the AI to attack you more than other bots)

[Clickbeetle]

what would be cool is if you could make a kind of ref bot that you (clickbeetle) can control while the other two are battling so you could have an F2 camera. i know the other bots would attack you but cant you make it in the AI code for the bots to ignore you or something? then also if the two fighting bots got tangled or something the ref bot could go and give them a nudge. just a thought.

Actually having a refbot would make the camerawork harder.  With no human player, the Orbit camera is centered at the 0,0,0 point of the arena.  This allows me to pan around the whole arena with an equal view on all sides.  If you watch some old BBEANS match videos you can see how it works.

With a human-controlled refbot in there, the orbit camera's center would be offset and also moving around, and it would be harder to get a good angle on the action depending on where the bots were in relation to the refbot.

I can guess that the added source of human error would also be the source of a lot of complaints.  For example, if the bots get stuck dancing in circles, and the refbot comes in to nudge them, which allows one bot to get under the other and win.

It IS an interesting idea, though.  You could definitely tweak the AI's priority so they would ignore the refbot.  But I don't think I want to try it right now.  Perhaps in another tournament.

Oh yeah, and I lied.  Today is the last day I can post before leaving.  I thought I wouldn't be able to but I can now.  Still no news from Death.

[Sage]

i could do the splash if its any trouble

i like doing splashes.

[Clickbeetle]

Thanks for the offer, but it would be almost as much work getting the bots to you as it would be making it myself (meaning it's not much work).  Besides, I still don't know whether Death or Harcsa will be the final entry.

[Somebody]

Whats a splash?

[somestrangeguy]

Splash pic of BBEANS 3

[Somebody]

OK. Good Luck to all!

[Clickbeetle]

Here's the splash pic for BBEANS4.

There's actually a nice variety of designs here (if you ignore all the Mako lookalikes, that is).  There's a couple of drums, a couple of piston rammers, a couple of hammers, and not an overwhelming number of horizontal spinners.  There's even a three-wheeled rammer!  It may be a VS-dominated bracket, but with all that other variety it promises to be an interesting tourney.

While it's still technically legal for you to update entries up to the point when the brackets are posted, I would very much appreciate it if no one made any changes to their bot so I won't have to make any changes to the picture.

[R0B0SH4RK]

PREDICTION TIME!

Winner: Haymaker - Infiniteinertia
     -Nothing's powerful enough to get close to this in a regular fight.

Second: Layziee - Pyscolone
     -Too well built to lose to much. I can really only see it losing to 3 bots.

Darkhorse: Enfilad3 - R0B0SH4RK
     -A well-built wedge and sufficient KO power should defeat most.

Others to look out for:
Ham-mer Sandwich 2 - sage : Wedgeless bots beware.
Go Barbie, Go! - Barbie : A mw Shebeast?
Red Tide VI - Firebeetle : Tough looking drum.
Thumper - JoeCB1991 : The only tribar HS :O
DoaMadman - Jules : It'll either be a MW Mako, or fail. Hard.


Well, that's 25% of the whole field there, so there's a good chance I could be right :P

And what does Botreactor's bot do? Is it a side hammer?

[philetbabe]

My "Rookie" opinion :

Best design : #14 Rage III (so cute) and #22 Red Tide VI (compact, well armed and a genious up bracket)

Most Original  : #5 System failure (warning : the prolonged contemplation of this bot may be brain damaged !)

Most feared :
1/#6 T-4 (because of the low barrier around the arena),
2 et 2 bis / #4 Haymaker and Thumber which both look very resistant and heavily
gunned.
3/ #22 Red Tide VI may be killer if it is quick to get near its foe and reach the core of it's ennemy, with a too slow drive motor it may be eject before biting.

By the way : Will it be possible, later,  to create an archive of all this bots (and their own AI) and to deposit it in the download area ?

[MetalikVyper]

Now that the 2.1 patch is finished, it's time for the event you've all been waiting for...

Bot Battle for Eminent AutoNomous Supremacy #4

Rules

First, make sure to read the BBEANS general rules, updated 6/28/08.

BBEANS4-specific Rules

Weight Class: Middleweight

Components: DSL 2.1

Arena: BBEANS Tournament Arena

Special Rules: Realistic.  Most of you are familiar with this.  For those who aren't, all bots must be reasonably realistic, basically meaning that you can't have any intersecting components that couldn't intersect in real life.  A blade going through an armor plate is fine, because you could cut a slot in the armor in real life.  A blade going through a wheel isn't fine.  For some good examples, look at the stock DSL AI and the entries for BBEANS2 (click here).  All these bots comply with the Realistic Rule.

Tournament Format: Double elimination.  Best 2 out of 3 matches wins.  3 minute matches.  32 entry slots.  If I get much more than 32 entries, though, I might boost the bracket to 64 slots like I did for BBEANS3.



Entering

Registration is now closed.

Changing Your Entry

This part is a little different from past BBEANS.  If you want to change your entry to a totally different bot, you have until I AI your entry to do so.  I will wait at least one week to AI bots, so you have at least that long to change it, possibly longer.  If you made your own AI, then you still only get one week to change your entry.

If you only want to update your bot, then you can do that as many times as you like.  As long as it is the same design and can use the same AI as the previous bot, you can update it.


Prizes

The Champion will receive the following weapon!

(Image removed from quote.)

Yeah, it's a sword, and it looks cool, but what are you going to do with it?  Use it in the next BBEANS, that's what!  This prize, and others like it, are legal for use in BBEANS tournaments!  They're fairly balanced, so you don't need to worry about having an unfair advantage.  But who doesn't like shiny novelty components to show off their skill?

You can also use the bare sword blade, minus crossguard and pommel, if you wish.  Sometimes the plain blade fits better than the whole sword.

Other prizes are TBA.  I'm thinking there will be at least four more, all BBEANS-legal.  I'm afraid the laser rifle still isn't legal, though.  That counts as part of Firebeetle's Component Pack.  Sorry.

The Champion gets the Champion's Sword in addition to one other prize of their choice.  The Runner-up, the Rumble winner, and each winner of each additional award gets one prize of their choice, excluding the Champion's Sword.

You can give the prize components to other people if you want, but only the people who win them are allowed to use them in BBEANS.  So I can't use the prize components, even though I have all of them.  Just to be fair.


I think that covers everything.  Any questions, post them here.


Competitors registered ( 32 )[/u]
JoeCB1991
Sorrow
Dragonfire
ianh05
zipdragon64
R0B0SH4RK
infiniteinertia
Naryar
H@zm47
Somebody
Clickbeetle
Firebeetle
duh102
sage
Scrap Daddy
somestrangeguy
Gigafrost
TorrFac
Philetbabe
Meganerdbomb
Pyscolone
Barbie
mjrobots
Phlox
Botreactor
Urjak
Silver
Jules
andrewm0304
Sammy
man manu
Seastalker

i sent clickbeetle an email with my entry so why am i not here?

[pyscolone]

I'm kinda suprised Sorrow could only come up with a Mako-clone after 8 versions of smitemare.

[infiniteinertia]

there are a few bots that could potentially end up giving me trouble. ones with decent armor (silver plows) and the reallyreally wedged VSs of sorrow and jules. Urjak's and Robo's fast wedges will also give me trouble.

there are also a few bots that i just dont see beating me. but you never know. Im not optimistic till i get a result or too.

I really dont have any predictions, but I'd watch out for Urjak's Sweeper-thing and Enfilad3.

My prediction to win is Sage's Hammer Sandwich.

[Sage]

i think im gonna do a all bot prediction for fun. in order :

Bras Ouvert- decent weapons, but big wheels will be a problem.  should do well against shell HS, but VS will destroy it. looks a little slow for a rammer.

ByeyE- wedged rammer. its ok. popups will be its downfall.

DoaMadman- hey its mako MW. as with all large weapon vs's, if a hammer gets knocked off its over. should chuck most bots pretty well though, hopefully over the side.

Enfilad3- its a popup. popups OWN in dsl. i can see it losing against larger hs's, because they will just knock it away.

FRF- weak and ill-armored popup. its gonna lose its weapons easily. but against rammers it should be good.

go barbie go- losta weapons, invertible, wedgy. not bad. should do well.

Gohem- another vs with hammers. might do well. looks like it would be wobbly.

hammer sandwich 2- it works well if it gets under something. the srimech works, but sometimes takes a while. flippers are its weakness. does well against shell spinners and things without wedges.

Haymaker- amazing damage, tiny chassis, wont get wobbly if a hammer gets knocked off, or a wheel. the arena will be its downfall, cause of its smaller area becuase of the box in the middle. fast bots will be its main weakness.

hazardous contraption- my bots downfall. looks well armored. might be a darkhorse.

hostility II- weapon reach is short, which might be a problem. the weapon is actually pretty weak damage wise. but the front is well armored, so who knows.

interventionism 2.0- nice idea. bar spinner. looks like the weapons will fall off pretty easily.

iron spaghetti- i love how the name fits the bot so well. not much else to say. slapping weapons are good, but the axles are weak.

layziee- its pysc. compact, wedge, good weapon... only thing is the wapon motor could be knocked off.

mace2- looks... ok. could be good.... who knows.

no leaf clover- what the ? why is the wedge so weird. another vs. same weaknesses as the others. will do just as well as the others too.

no name #12- looks like a decent rammer. popups will defeat it, cause there is no wedge.

NOS-BOT- its odd. i havnt known spike clubs to do much damage on a FS. we'll have to see.

pysco sweeper- looks good. nice armor, looks speedy, decent weapons, if a little less than most. most danger it has is being declawed.

rage III- 3 wheels. cool. weapons are a tad far apart.

red red green- looks cool. weapon looks a little weak, and not much armor.

red tide VI- gonna be a hard bot to beat. awesome weapon, nice wedge...

Ripterra- small weapon on a big bot. i can see those thingys coming off pretty quick.

slasher- cant see really what it does. possibly a flipper.

smitemare 8- HEY! look at that. another vs. this one looks a bit better than average, but still just a VS.

smoker- that extender is gonna be knocked off so easily its not even funny (ok, it is)

system failure- really cool looking bot. that hammer is gonna do some massive damage.

t4- flippers are gonna be really good in this BBEANS, cause the walls are soooo low.

thumper- i like it. a rammer could do well against it, but i can see this thing taking down a lot of VS.

thunderstruck- well... weak weps, but looks like it can spin pretty fast. who knows.

TITAN- fast weapon, but pretty weak other than that.

undercutter- i like this one. the drum could be knocked off easily.




PREDICTIONS:
winners- haymaker, enfilad3, layziee, or red tide.
2nd- hammer sandwich, system failure

darkhorse- t4, go barbie go.

phew....

[Jules]

I wonder where all those people got there VS spinner Ideas lol.
I hope I don't end up losing to one of them, that would be embarassing.
I could picture it happening, Smitemare 8 looks very good.

[ianh05]

i can tell you that slasher is a VS.

heres a better look at my entry...



and now my predictions.

Bras Ouvert- if the weapons dont move, i dont think it will deal enough dmg to worry the other bots.

ByeyE- nice idea, however i think most spinners wont have a problem here.

DoaMadman- possible winner, very nice design and if its as good as mako look out!

Enfilad3- trouble here for my entry and im sure most others, killer wedge.

FRF- pop-up? if it is a pop-up it could cause some trouble for the wedgeless bots.

go barbie go- its barbie the dsl queen! what more needs to be said?

Gohem- the only VS that uses a tribar, that could be trouble for others, i see it backfiring somehow.

hammer sandwich 2- the first of 2 hammer bots, the extenders may come of a bit too easy.

Haymaker- the arena will be its main downfall, if it stops spinning the chassis is opened to attacks.

hazardous contraption- pretty neat design, reminds me of neglected waterbug.. might upset a few of the favs if it works that well.

hostility II- not enough weapons in my opinion and a wedges dream.

interventionism 2.0- heres another nice design, the wedge is very well designed and provides good protection, i just cant see the weapon doing that much dmg.

iron spaghetti- a solid FBS, wedges should eat it up though.

layziee- well built, should go places.

mace2- neat idea, im pretty sure any bot with a better wedge will beat it though.

no leaf clover- it'll do ok just like the other VS's.

no name #12- anything with a wedge should beat it, if its fast enough it might cause an upset.

NOS-BOT- wedges, face spinner and some wheel protection. might do better then most think.

pysco sweeper- reminds me a lot of the devil bot in dsl, might cause some trouble.

rage III- seastalker is a rammer specialist! it looks a little weak and looks like it would have trouble with a lot of entries but his results say he should go deep in this tourney.

red red green- looks so tiny and compact!, phlox built it so it might be a lil pain in the you know what

red tide VI- made by firebeetle and looks very well designed its in my top 4.

Ripterra- looks pretty weak, nice tank tracks though!

slasher- a neat VS different to most others i've seen. can cause an upset apart from that i dont see much from it, should get a win or 2.

smitemare 8- looks like a strong VS, should rack up some wins.

smoker- looks easy to get under and rip up from under it.

system failure- this bot will eat mine up if it stops mine spinning and hammers away. will cause a lot of headaches.

t4- flipper + low wall = death.. nuff said.

thumper- looks pretty tough however the chassis is pretty exposed and in such a small arena it WILL stop spinning or at least slow down enough to get a good hit on the chassis at some point during the match.

thunderstruck- hopefully my entry will do better then my last bbeans entry, couple of things in its favour.

1. No ACAMS this time round!
2. No Glenku either.
3. currently undefeated by all entered builders in BBEANS lol!

for the 2nd BBEANS in a row my entry has the most number of weapons, this time they go round and round at a nice pace :)

TITAN- well its unique, i just dont see it going that far at all.

undercutter-  maybe if the teeth point up a bit i would give it a good chance, the motors are pretty exposed and the weapons wont have enough time to do damagae as the bots could just go straight over the top.. i dont think it will do too good.

[Venko]

I will not give predictions but...
Whats a "DARKHORSE" bot?

[Flying_Chao]

I will not give predictions but...
Whats a "DARKHORSE" bot?

I was wondering about that too....

[R0B0SH4RK]

A "darkhorse" is a bot/team/athlete/other competitor of somekind that is not the absolute favourite or consensus best in what it is competing in, but still has a shot at winning.

Basically, if the favourites don't win, the darkhorse probably will.