Euphoria Contest #2

News:

Date:	News
09/02/2004	You've probably been wondering whether I've dropped off the face of the planet... not true. However, the contest is postponed indefinitely. Sorry guys. It will probably return at some stage - possibly in an open-ended contest form. (no end date) Flames, suggestions, etc, can be sent to mrtrick at google's fancy new webmail service.
10/12/2004	The contest will continue as initially planned, the postponement has been postponed. The files section has been updated, there is a map pack and a new sample bot - Swarm.
03/12/2004	Following the realisation that putting even shrouded entries online before the contest is over is a bit unfair to those who have submitted first, they won't be released... read below in the overview to see changes.
03/12/2004	Hurrah! Final beta stage! No more changes will be made to either the rules, or the framework, barring bug-fixes. Should there be no crippling problems, the contest can be started! (Finally)
01/12/2004	Fixed lots of documentation errors, added the results sequence to the framework. Currently working on a bug in the new engine which is causing units to switch sides.
01/12/2004	Fixed up a lot of inconsistencies inside the game rules. arena and map were being confused. Sorry for any trouble caused.
30/11/2004	Framework v2 Beta has not been finished yet, when it is it'll be available. At this stage it looks like it'll be a late start... watch this space.
30/11/2004	The rules page has been updated. Please look carefully through them, particularly for the Game and Coding rules.

Files:

File:	Description
maps.zip	New map pack - 10 maps total.
sh_swarm.exw	Swarming bot - shrouded. A little challenge to test your bots.
contest2_finalb.zip	Framework for the competition. Engine, eubots library, sample maps and drones.
Engine.exe	Executeable form of engine.exw for those who don't want to use win32lib.

Summary:

Write and submit a program that competes against other submissions in a battle of 'Eubots'.
The 'Eubots' framework will be provided.
Write it in well formatted Euphoria, and don't try any funny-business.
The 'Eubots' game has simple rules, but complex tactics.

Rule sections:

Tournament	Tournament proceedings and tournament-specific information.
Eubots	Game explanation and rules.
Coding	How not to be disqualified.

Competition Overview:

The competition will run for as long as it has to! Initially set to run for 1 month, the end-date is now tentatively set for January 15th.
An Arena program will run the competition:
- Generates a list of who should compete with who.
- Runs and adjudicates each match:
  - Starts each competitor's program.
  - For each turn:
    - Sends board state to each competitor, gets a response back.
    - Resolves all orders, determines a new board state.
  - If a competitor has no units left in a match, it is eliminated, and it ends execution until its next match.
  - Each time all competitors have had a match, update the scoreboard.
- Once a tournament is over, a battle royale for the four finalists is run.
- A person using Arena program can run individual battles manually, or run through an entire tournament automatically.
Both the Arena program and each competitor use the eubots framework. It defines eubots constants, and provides an inter-process communication method to allow each component to be a separate program. Each entry will be launched by the Arena program when it has a match, and shut down by the Arena program when the match is over.
When new competition entries are received, the competition will be run again with the new entries added, and the online rankings updated.When the competition is over, the entries will be made publically available.
The Arena program will be available online, as well as sample maps and stupid 'drone' bots.
The tournament will be run on a computer with a P4 2.4Ghz processor and 512M of memory.
Competition entrants are encouraged to submit their month of 'Eubucks' towards the prize pool.
The online rankings will (at some stage) be supplemented with 'replays' of the match. More details to follow.