Hi, so this also is the discussion thead about anything acl related, not only important stuff like bot registration right?
also:Code: [Select]"Some arenas may not have detectable floors, please make cliff/edge detection systems on/off-able."
Does that still apply now that energy bridges are attachable by hooks? I guess there are niche cases like small floor holes or continuum platforms, but these aren't frequent.
That looks good. I wonder how well it'll hold up only being able to fire backwards while being one of the slowest bots out there?
I haven't been able to get a stable or accurate part count out of a camera, but I counted it at 51, which puts it in the unfortunate position of being the smallest and least armored bot in the heavyweight class.
As much as the target following behavior makes bots engage more quickly and keep attacking, the ramming behavior does somewhat ruin it as the winner will usually be the bot that ends up on the bottom (or has lasers). At least with random walk behavior, you tended to get multiple encounters between multiple bots with relatively few collisions, even if it took a lang time to get a complete kill.
I'm planning to add a system to keep an optimal distance to the target, based on what the broadside had, but I can see the situation getting messy for bots designed to go forward only, especially in tighter parts of the arena. I'm thinking that adding a second set of rear-facing hooks to do collision avoidance might let the bot get away from its enemy more easily. Kinda makes me wish I'd kept the whole reversible drive and navigation system.
How to count parts? Camera's activity underestimates this thing.
I didn't count parts, but this one is so fat it could be the reason why bots got divided into classes.
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How to count parts? Camera's activity underestimates this thing.
Perhaps anti-air missiles would be more effective if they got a burst of acceleration when they were exactly aligned with the target. That should help with attacking ground based targets too, as the missile could align itself at a relatively high altitude, then perform a high-speed dive into the target.
it would either be tooo slow, or clip through the target, or just knock the target flying with the kinetic force before the grenade exploded.Perhaps kinetic weapons could be effective in some cases. Many of the combat bots are as good as dead once they roll, so a kinetic missile could be used to flip a bot before finishing it off with conventional weapons. They may work as a countermeasure against ramming attacks too.
I load up the blueprint in Notepad++ and get it to count all the instances of "local_to a_" then subtract any control blocks, as well as all the instances of "_rotor\n" (for the second part of motors and elbows) and "_head\n" (for the second part of pistons) remember to change the search type to the 'Extended' type (\n is for new line)
I like to filter detected parts to only lock onto parts moving faster than a threshold velocity, which should prevent the bot locking onto piles of debris while still being able to see small bots.
The turret doesn't seem to be too slow now that bots tend to follow their target, as the target bot will usually approach or follow head on. A lot of turrets seem to have difficulty hitting low targets and end up firing over the top of them (which would be center-mass hits on a more sensible sized bot), especially at close range.
Good luck with the new bot, I'm still waiting for someone to build one with multiple independent turrets.
Have you thought about relaxing the distance/proximity requirements for detonating the grenade? It looked like there were a few cases where the grenade passed close enough to do major damage without being detonated. It could be effective to deploy all the lances in a fan pattern when space allows to give it more chances to get one of them into range.I increased detonation distance for fight with bigger bots.
Perhaps now would be a good time to add some new variations on the basic ACL to keep things interesting.Sumo - there are infinite forces, infinite masses and partially broken physics. It will need rules to control this.
QuotePerhaps now would be a good time to add some new variations on the basic ACL to keep things interesting.Sumo - there are infinite forces, infinite masses and partially broken physics. It will need rules to control this.
Air - would be nice. I am not sure if fights in a spherical arena would be easy to watch. My zero gravity big bot construction map (a closed box) is quite unpleasant place, camera is bumping into walls and has weird direction controls.
I think the main limit of ACL is that automated combat bots are hard to build and require much time.
I think most of the people building entries have a couple of basic platforms and turrets that they use as a template to build a particular bots specialised parts around.It still takes much time. Probably it is worse for me, since I usually try to use new weapon and tactic I never used in ACL.
Here are the basic rules based on what the last version used:Old rules banned jets/propellers completely. Not only for downforce, but also steering, acceleration, whatever else. I think this ban was good and we should keep it.
Aerodynamic downforce only- no jets or propellers
Bots must be limited to a maximum width/length
Mass must be constant
Bots must have the same control continuum/start button setup as for ACL entries
No damage causing weapons
With a bit more armour on the turrets and some bigger wheels...
I'd be interested to see how the cerberus stands up to a 75 part mudslide-XL with 6+ cannons an a single turret.
It has it's problems, but that bot is absolutely devastating and looks cool too.
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How much of the tail structure is necessary? It looks like it might be relatively simple to get the part count down enough to enter the middleweight class.