[tournaments from 2003 and 2004]
(December 21, 2002) We ran nineteen sides overnight, for about 100 rounds per side. We used the current default rules (10x10 world, 10 sides per round, 5000-100 seed.) Gnats was excluded because of its occasional crashes. Productive Plus is a modified Productive. Sugar Pixies and Decoys are unfinished experiments.
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Early deaths | Food sources (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| solar | manna | enemies | ||||||
| 1 | Intoxicated 3 | Daniel von Fange | 28.7% | 35% | 37% | 51 | 48 | |
| 2 | World Toad 3 | Devon | 16.4% | 29% | 53% | 25 | 53 | 20 |
| 3 | Commune 2 | Devon | 15.9% | 42% | 18% | 52 | 41 | 5 |
| 4 | Business Cycle 2f | Matt Burkholder | 15.2% | 33% | 31% | 69 | 25 | 4 |
| 5 | Productive 5f | Daniel von Fange | 14.9% | 24% | 59% | 100 | ||
| 6 | Productive Plus | Daniel von Fange | 14.1% | 20% | 58% | 100 | ||
| 7 | Eventually 12 | Devon | 11.3% | 17% | 63% | 100 | ||
| 8 | Microb 2 | Matt Burkholder | 11.1% | 48% | 10% | 37 | 55 | 6 |
| Not Quite Mad | Warren | 11.1% | 36% | 19% | 5 | 86 | 8 | |
| 10 | Teledont 6f | Matt Burkholder | 10.9% | 22% | 52% | 13 | 61 | 24 |
| 11 | Active | Warren | 10.3% | 28% | 29% | 79 | 20 | |
| 12 | Not Quite Wise | Warren | 8.5% | 36% | 28% | 4 | 85 | 10 |
| 13 | Four Winds 2 | Warren | 7.2% | 27% | 32% | 81 | 18 | |
| 14 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 6.3% | 19% | 46% | 100 | ||
| 15 | Grudge 2 | Devon | 4.4% | 11% | 48% | 100 | ||
| 16 | Ants 2 | Warren | 3.8% | 31% | 31% | 46 | 45 | 7 |
| 17 | Sugar Pixies | Devon | 1.6% | 15% | 38% | 77 | 22 | |
| 18 | Missile-lunatic 4 | Warren | 0.9% | 10% | 49% | 100 | ||
| 19 | Decoys | Devon | 0.2% | 9% | 50% | 81 | 18 | |
(November 30, 2002) 51-69 rounds per side. Lunatic snuck in somehow, and beat Gnats. Check out the new improved Teledont.
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Early death rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intoxicated 3 | Daniel von Fange | 32.1% | 39% | 16% |
| 2 | Eventually 12 | Devon | 26.0% | 30% | 50% |
| 3 | Teledont 6 | Matt Burkholder | 14.5% | 30% | 39% |
| 4 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 11.3% | 18% | 54% |
| 5 | World Toad 3 | Devon | 11.1% | 26% | 29% |
| 6 | Commune | Devon | 8.9% | 27% | 23% |
| 7 | Grudge 2 | Devon | 8.2% | 19% | 46% |
| 8 | Microb 2 | Matt Burkholder | 7.4% | 45% | 6% |
| 9 | Four Winds | Warren | 6.8% | 27% | 22% |
| 10 | Not Quite Wise | Warren | 6.4% | 35% | 17% |
| 11 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 5.7% | 17% | 56% |
| 12 | Lunatic 2 | Devon | 4.4% | 16% | 26% |
| 13 | Missile-lunatic 4 | Warren | 3.9% | 13% | 44% |
| 14 | Gnats 8 | Matt Burkholder | 2.1% | 9% | 53% |
| 15 | Circle the Wagons | Matt Burkholder | 1.5% | 10% | 31% |
(November 20, 2002) Now that cooling cost starts at 0, Teledont is unseedable. I added some new sides (Commune, Ring of Fire) and some old ones (Poison Ivy, Missile-lunatic), and upgraded Megadont and World Toad. Because there are more than ten sides, the scores add up to more than 100%, and the number of rounds varies slightly by side (it's around 25).
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Early death rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intoxicated 2 | Daniel von Fange | 32% | 42% | 23% |
| 2 | World Toad 3 | Devon | 21% | 43% | 37% |
| 3 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 14% | 36% | 43% |
| 4 | Commune | Devon | 13% | 42% | 38% |
| 5 | Eventually 12 | Devon | 11% | 17% | 55% |
| 6 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 9.4% | 13% | 47% |
| 7 | Grudge | Devon | 8.4% | 22% | 44% |
| 8 | Microb 2 | Matt Burkholder | 7.4% | 43% | 11% |
| 9 | Missile-lunatic 4 | Warren | 6.7% | 18% | 33% |
| 10 | Gnats 8 | Matt Burkholder | 5.6% | 19% | 44% |
| 11 | Megadont fixed | Matt Burkholder | 4.0% | 26% | 56% |
| 12 | Ring of Fire | Devon | 3.9% | 10% | 45% |
| 13 | Iron Bubble | Devon | 1.9% | 10% | 29% |
| 14 | Poison Ivy 4 | Warren | 1.4% | 9% | 75% |
(November 16, 2002) With automated tournaments, it's now feasible to run experiments. This tournament has the same sides as the previous one, but was run with quadratic cooling cost. Some of the difference is noise, but the effect is clear. In the previous tournament, there are giants in four of the top five sides; in this one there are only two. 30 rounds:
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Early death rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eventually 12 | Devon | 32% | 37% | 60% |
| 2 | Gnats 8 | Matt Burkholder | 15% | 33% | 17% |
| 3 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 14% | 23% | 43% |
| 4 | World Toad 2 | Devon | 13% | 23% | 33% |
| 5 | Grudge | Devon | 7.4% | 17% | 60% |
| 6 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 7.0% | 17% | 57% |
| 7 | Intoxicated | Daniel von Fange | 4.9% | 7% | 53% |
| 8 | Microb 2 | Matt Burkholder | 3.4% | 23% | 17% |
| 9 | Teledont 5 | Matt Burkholder | 2.2% | 7% | 77% |
| 10 | Iron Bubble | Devon | 1.1% | 7% | 50% |
(November 16, 2002) 20 rounds with the new automated tournaments. It didn't take terribly long, and I was doing other things meanwhile. New Eventually and Grudge, which did much worse than I expected.
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Early death rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 20% | 25% | 60% |
| 2 | Eventually 12 | Devon | 16% | 20% | 65% |
| 3 | Intoxicated | Daniel von Fange | 15% | 25% | 35% |
| 4 | World Toad 2 | Devon | 14% | 35% | 35% |
| 5 | Iron Bubble | Devon | 7.9% | 25% | 25% |
| 6 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 6.9% | 20% | 55% |
| 7 | Gnats 8 | Matt Burkholder | 6.8% | 20% | 50% |
| 8 | Teledont 5 | Matt Burkholder | 6.2% | 10% | 80% |
| 9 | Microb 2 | Matt Burkholder | 3.3% | 15% | 10% |
| Grudge | Devon | 3.3% | 10% | 80% |
(November 13, 2002) New Eventually and Iron Bubble. 21 rounds:
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Early death rate | Score when doesn't die early | Score when survives round | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | World Toad 2 | Devon | 24% | 43% | 30% | 36% | 55% | |
| 2 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 22% | 24% | 45% | 42% | 92% | |
| 3 | Gnats 8 | Matt Burkholder | 17% | 24% | 45% | 32% | 70% | Three 100% wins. |
| 4 | Eventually 11 | Devon | 14% | 14% | 62% | 38% | 100% | Now delays building sentinels, for growth and nonagression. |
| 5 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 5.6% | 10% | 75% | 24% | 59% | |
| 6 | Iron Bubble | Devon | 4.4% | 10% | 45% | 8% | 46% | Very simple armored autotroph. |
| 7 | Microb 2 | Matt Burkholder | 3.6% | 29% | 10% | 4% | 12% | |
| 8 | Teledont 5 | Matt Burkholder | 3.5% | 10% | 65% | 11% | 37% | |
| 9 | Intoxicated | Daniel von Fange | 2.9% | 5% | 40% | 5% | 60% | |
| 10 | Missile-lunatic 4 | Warren | 2.8% | 10% | 75% | 12% | 30% |
Early deaths were just under 50%, and overall survival was 18% (25% in non-elimination rounds), because 48% of rounds were won by elimination. I think most sides pay too much attention to offense and not enough to defense. Iron Bubble, with heavy armor and no offense, beat Teledont and Intoxicated, two sophisticated agressive sides.
(November 11, 2002) New Gnats, Teledont, and Eventually. No more Fighters. 30 rounds:
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Early death rate | Score when doesn't die early | Score when survives round | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | World Toad 2 | Devon | 40% | 63% | 10% | 44% | 63% | Good defense. Doesn't start fights. |
| 2 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 12% | 20% | 63% | 33% | 60% | Corner hiding matters more than missiles. |
| 3 | Intoxicated | Daniel von Fange | 8.9% | 17% | 57% | 21% | 53% | |
| 4 | Gnats 8 | Matt Burkholder | 7.7% | 23% | 43% | 14% | 33% | |
| 5 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 7.6% | 20% | 67% | 23% | 38% | Good defense but starts fights. |
| 6 | Missile-lunatic 4 | Warren | 5.8% | 17% | 60% | 14% | 35% | |
| 7 | Microb 2 | Matt Burkholder | 5.1% | 17% | 10% | 5.7% | 31% | |
| 8 | Teledont 5 | Matt Burkholder | 4.5% | 10% | 73% | 17% | 45% | |
| 9 | Eventually 10 | Devon | 4.2% | 10% | 70% | 14% | 42% | Now with smarter missiles, but doesn't live to use them. |
| 10 | Poison Ivy 4 | Warren | 3.5% | 13% | 80% | 18% | 26% |
Overall survival was a dismal 21%, early death rate was 53%, and 30% of rounds were won by elimination (mostly by World Toad). Eventually is in ninth place, and it's not because this version is any weaker than its predecessors. With the new Gnats, there are now two sides that retaliate effectively when shot at. This means sides that shoot at everything they see - Poison Ivy, Teledont, Eventually, and Gunner - get killed. Those four have the four highest early death rates, higher than Productive or Intoxicated. I'm glad to see strategy being decisive.
Microb's small cells are intended to be too cheap to be efficiently killed with missiles, and it works. In one round, it held off all three missile users (and got Productive to kill itself) and scored 78%. I've also seen it defeat six World Toads the same way. The shields on the Rat-derived type make a big difference. Microb has a splendid early death rate. There should be lots of interesting variations on this theme.
(November 5, 2002) Replaced Homesick with Intoxicated. 20 rounds:
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Early death rate | Score when doesn't die early | Score when survives round | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eventually 9 | Devon | 21% | 30% | 65% | 61% | 71% | I don't know why the early death rate is so high. |
| 2 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 18% | 35% | 55% | 41% | 53% | Good defense. |
| 3 | World Toad 2 | Devon | 18% | 50% | 30% | 25% | 35% | |
| 4 | Intoxicated | Daniel von Fange | 12% | 15% | 50% | 24% | 80% | Affects balance of other sides. |
| 5 | Teledont 4 | Matt Burkholder | 11% | 35% | 30% | 16% | 32% | |
| 6 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 7.8% | 20% | 65% | 22% | 39% | Often killed by Intoxicated. |
| 7 | Microb 2 | Matt Burkholder | 3% | 30% | 20% | 4% | 10% | |
| 8 | Missile-lunatic 4 | Warren | 2.8% | 20% | 40% | 5% | 14% | |
| 9 | Poison Ivy 4 | Warren | 2.7% | 15% | 60% | 7% | 18% | |
| 10 | Fighters 5 | Devon | 1.7% | 5% | 40% | 3% | 34% |
Presumably because of Intoxicated, overall survival is down to 26% and early death rate is up to 46%. 25% of rounds were won by elimination.
I'm glad to see Fighters in last place, but not to see Gunner in second. They are both ancient sides that shouldn't have a chance against good opponents. Intoxicated's success indicates that sides need more early defense, which is probably why Gunner did so well.
(October 31, 2002) Same sides as before, but with Eventually 8, which (as you can see) is much better than 7. 20 rounds:
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Early death rate | Score when doesn't die early | Score when survives round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eventually 8 | Devon | 31% | 40% | 35% | 47% | 77% |
| 2 | World Toad 2 | Devon | 12% | 45% | 10% | 13% | 26% |
| 3 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 11% | 20% | 65% | 32% | 55% |
| 4 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 11% | 45% | 35% | 17% | 24% |
| 5 | Fighters 5 | Devon | 10% | 25% | 20% | 12% | 39% |
| 6 | Poison Ivy 4 | Warren | 9% | 35% | 25% | 13% | 27% |
| 7 | Missile-lunatic 4 | Warren | 4.8% | 25% | 40% | 8.1% | 19% |
| 8 | Teledont 4 | Matt Burkholder | 4.6% | 30% | 35% | 7.1% | 16% |
| 9 | Microb 2 | Matt Burkholder | 4.3% | 50% | 5% | 4.5% | 8.6% |
| 10 | Homesick 3 | Warren | 1.5% | 10% | 40% | 2.5% | 15% |
Overall survival was 32% (more than three sides per round) and early death rate was 31%, so the average score for a side that didn't die early was 14%, and that for survivors was 31%. 25% of rounds were won by elimination.
(October 30, 2002) I replaced Business Cycle with the repaired Teledont, and upgraded a few others.
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Fraction | Comments and reasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 31% | 45% | 69% | Hiding in corners really helps. |
| 2 | Poison Ivy 4 | Warren | 21% | 50% | 42% | Impervious to missiles. |
| 3 | Eventually 7 | Devon | 14% | 25% | 56% | Recent upgradesmade it worse. |
| 4 | World Toad 2 | Devon | 14% | 55% | 25% | Excellent survivor. |
| 5 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 9.25% | 30% | 31% | Good defense, even against missiles. |
| 6 | Homesick 3 | Warren | 3.75% | 25% | 15% | |
| 7 | Fighters 5 | Devon | 2% | 10% | 20% | |
| 8 | Microb 2 | Matt Burkholder | 1.3% | 30% | 4.3% | Runs, but can't hide. |
| 9 | Missile-lunatic 4 | Warren | 1.2% | 15% | 8% | |
| 10 | Teledont 4 | Matt Burkholder | 1.1% | 20% | 5.5% | Dies. |
Overall survival was 30% (yay). Only two rounds were won by elimination (both by Productive). In the 15 of 20 rounds in which I remembered to check, 35% of sides died before 4500 frames, and another 35% died later. Eventually, Productive, and Teledont had high early death rates.
(October 26, 2002) I replaced Algae and Fool with Fighters and Missile-Lunatic. Fighters did much better than I expected. Overall survival was 25%. 3 of 15 rounds were won by elimination.
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Fraction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eventually 6 | Devon | 28% | 40% | 69% |
| 2 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 26% | 33% | 77% |
| 3 | World Toad 2 | Devon | 20% | 60% | 34% |
| 4 | Fighters 4 | Devon | 13% | 40% | 34% |
| 5 | Poison Ivy 4 | Warren | 4.5% | 27% | 17% |
| 6 | Homesick 3 | Warren | 3.9% | 13% | 30% |
| 7 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 2.8% | 13% | 21% |
| 8 | Microb | Matt Burkholder | 0.3% | 7% | 5% |
| 9 | Missile-lunatic 3 | Warren | 0.1% | 7% | 2% |
| 10 | Business Cycle | Matt Burkholder | 0.07% | 7% | 1% |
(October 24, 2002) Missiles have been weakened, and it has improved the feel of the game. Missile-users still took the top two places, but they appear to be beatable now. Only two of 15 rounds were won by elimination. Overall survival is up to 32%. Early deaths are under 30%, and would be even lower if Productive didn't blunder and die so often.
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Fraction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eventually... 5 | Devon | 38% | 60% | 63% |
| 2 | Productive 5 | Daniel von Fange | 18% | 27% | 68% |
| 3 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 15% | 60% | 26% |
| 4 | World Toad 2 | Devon | 12% | 60% | 20% |
| 5 | Poison Ivy 4 | Warren | 9.7% | 40% | 24% |
| 6 | Microb | Matt Burkholder | 2.7% | 40% | 6.7% |
| 7 | Homesick 3 | Warren | 2.6% | 27% | 9.8% |
| 8 | Business Cycle | Matt Burkholder | 0.3% | 7% | 4% |
| 9 | Algae | Devon | 0 | 0 | |
| Fool | Warren |
(October 3, 2002) 16 rounds:
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Fraction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Productive 4 | Daniel von Fange | 38% | 38% | 100% |
| 2 | Eventually 5 | Devon | 19% | 31% | 59% |
| 3 | World Toad 2 | Devon | 17% | 44% | 38% |
| 4 | Fighters 3 | Devon | 10% | 25% | 41% |
| 5 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 7.5% | 19% | 40% |
| 6 | Poison Ivy 2 | Warren | 4.8% | 6.3% | 76% |
| 7 | Teledont 2 | Matt Burkholder | 1.9% | 6.3% | 31% |
| 8 | Missile-lunatic 3 | Warren | 0.2% | 6.3% | 3% |
| 9 | Life and Death 4 | Warren | 0.06% | 13% | 0.5% |
| 10 | Algae | Devon | 0 | 0 | |
| Rat without shields 2 | Warren |
Algae was only in four rounds, and Rat-no-shields in twelve. Productive didn't have radio hardware yet, so it formed a blob instead of a line. It seems to work fine anyway.
Overall survival was 19%; survival in non-elimination rounds (8 of 16) was 27.5%.
(September 28, 2002) Look who won.
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Fraction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Productive 3 | Daniel von Fange | 53% | 55% | 97% |
| 2 | Eventually 3 | Devon | 15% | 15% | 100% |
| 3 | World Toad | Devon | 12% | 25% | 49% |
| 4 | Poison Ivy 2 | Warren | 8.7% | 15% | 58% |
| 5 | Algae | Devon | 4.7% | 10% | 47% |
| 6 | Sunflower | Matt Burkholder | 2.5% | 5% | 50% |
| 7 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 1.7% | 10% | 17% |
| 8 | Missile-Lunatic 3 | Warren | 1.5% | 15% | 10% |
| 9 | Teledont 2 | Matt Burkholder | 0.1% | 5% | 2% |
| 10 | Rat without shields 2 | Warren | about 0 | 5% | about 0 |
Of 20 rounds, 13 were won by elimination. Overall survival was 16%; survival in non-elimination rounds was 27%.
(September 25, 2002) These results speak for themselves. I ran 14 rounds, and Eventually won ten of them by elimination.
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Fraction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eventually 3 | Devon | 71% | 71% | 100% |
| 2 | Poison Ivy 2 | Warren | 18% | 21% | 83% |
| 3 | Teledont 2 | Matt Burkholder | 7.3% | 14% | 51% |
| 4 | World Toad (old version) | Devon | 1.8% | 14% | 13% |
| 5 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 1.4% | 7% | 20% |
| 6 | Missile-Lunatic 3 | Warren | 0.07% | 7% | 1% |
| 7 | Flyswatter 2 | Warren | 0 | 0 | |
| Life and Death 4 | Warren | ||||
| Sunflower | Matt Burkholder | ||||
| Fool | Warren |
The fraction of sides which die early is down to something like 40%. This is why Eventually is doing better - whenever it survives long enough to build missiles, it wins. The early death rate is down because sides are getting better at defense, so overly agressive sides die before they can kill many others. Teledont in particular is no longer surviving well.
(September 23, 2002) Results of today's tournament:
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | First Half | Second Half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teledont 2 | Matt Burkholder | 32% | 40% | 16% | 48% |
| 2 | Eventually... 2 | Devon | 30% | 30% | 40% | 20% |
| 3 | Poison Ivy 2 | Warren | 12% | 15% | 8.2% | 16% |
| 4 | Life and Death 4 | Warren | 10% | 20% | 19% | 0.9% |
| 5 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 7.3% | 25% | 9.5% | 5.1% |
| 6 | Sunflower | Matt Burkholder | 4.1% | 15% | 2.7% | 5.5% |
| 7 | Flyswatter 2 | Warren | 2.1% | 15% | 0.2% | 4.0% |
| 8 | Missile-Lunatic 3 | Warren | 1.9% | 10% | 3.8% | 0.0% |
| 9 | Cycle 3 | Devon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Life and Death 3 | Warren |
I included two versions of Life and Death to see if 4 really was an improvement over 3. I guess so.
The tournament had twenty rounds, but I originally ran just ten. Eventually won, but I thought it might be a fluke, so I ran another ten rounds. The last two columns show the results of the first and second halves. You can see how different they are.
The moral: ten rounds is not enough to overcome noise. This may be partly because present sides tend to fight unpredictable battles. More advanced sides might have less random results.
Overall survival was 17%.
(Sepember 21, 2002) I ran a few little tournaments recently. The top scorers in the combined results:
| Rank | Side | Author | Score | Survival | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teledont 2 | Matt Burkholder | 42% | 74% | 19 |
| 2 | Eventually... | Devon | 31% | 47% | 19 |
| 3 | Gunner 2 | Warren | 16.4% | 34% | 29 |
| 4 | Poison Ivy 2 | Warren | 15.6% | 21% | 29 |
| 5 | Cycle 3 | Devon | 9.4% | 35% | 20 |
| 6 | Flyswatter 2(?) | Warren | 6.4% | 33% | 15 |
| 7 | Sunflower | Matt Burkholder | 4.6% | 17% | 18 |
| 8 | Life and Death 4 | Warren | 3.2% | 4% | 20 |
| 9 | Missile-Lunatic 2 | Warren | 2.8% | 33% | 24 |
I included survival scores because they're easy to calculate and they provide useful information. For instance, Missile-Lunatic survives often (because of its missiles and passive dodging?) but scores low because of its low growth rate.
I'm not sure what version of Flyswatter I used.
[This was the first tournament.]
Grobots by Devon Schudy (dschudy@yahoo.com) and Warren Schudy (wschudy@wpi.edu)