Re: Development of Naval Robocode

Hi Pavel,

Thank you for your response, I appreciate it.

I have elaborated some of the plans and added what I think would be needed 
as new game rules and impact on the game strategy.
I will just post them in here since I think that will be easier for 
everyone.

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Missiles

Elaboration
This feature consists of implementing Missiles in the game. It will be a 
new type of weapon that the ships will be able to use. Missiles will be 
more powerful than the current bullets or mines. These missiles won't 
behave like bullets, so they won't be able to hit something in their path. 
They will be launched from a ship and go straight into the air to high 
altitude. After that they will travel their distance and impact and 
detonate on a certain area of the battle arena. Every ship in the blast 
radius of the missile will be hit and damaged.

Impact on game strategy
The impact on the game strategy will be that the robocoders of ships will  
have to take in account a new type of weapon. There needs to be way the 
ships can estimate a location where the missile will most likely impact, so 
they can handle accordingly, or not. 

Changes in game rules
The minimum and maximum damage of missiles needs to be defined in the 
rules. The maximum distance a missile can travel also needs to be in the 
rules. The energy it takes to fire a missile needs to be significantly 
higher than a bullet or a mine, since it will do more damage. Firing 
missiles is not something you should be able to do over and over again.


Islands

Elaboration
The plan to implement islands into the arena is to create more dimension in 
the game. I want the islands to block radar scans so that you cannot see 
everything around you in a certain radius anymore. This creates an element 
of surprise, since you do not know what can be lurking behind the island. 
Maybe it is an idea that certain types of weapons(missiles in particular) 
can damage an island. To do that the island would need a certain amount of 
life or an energy level. This will enable the island to be destroyed after 
a certain amount of hits. If this does not get implemented it will 
basically just function like some kind of wall somewhere in the arena, 
since it should behave the same way. Maybe we can let the island be 
randomly generated, in terms of size and maybe shape.

Impact on game strategy
The impact this will have on the strategy is that it creates an element of 
surprise. If you do not know what's behind an island, you'll have to either 
circle around it to find out. Or you have to move away from there. This 
forces the robocoder to think about whether he wants to take that risk, or 
not.

Changes in game rules
In case an island can actually get destroyed, there could be a set life or 
energy value defined in the game rules. It is also an option to make the 
energy or life value depend on the size of the island, if it will be 
randomly generated.


Composition of ships

Elaboration
At the moment every ship that the robocoder can program is the same. I have 
the idea to make the robocoder decide the composition of his own ship. So 
for example he can have an extra powerful radar instead of a mine launcher, 
an extra powerful front cannon instead of a back cannon, etcetera. The idea 
was to make some sort of point system, or a maximum amount of components a 
ship can have.
 
Impact on game strategy
It would add a new form of flexibilty to the game because not every ship 
will be the same anymore. It would also force the robocoder to choose the 
approach he wants to take, he can sacrifice his back cannon to create an 
extra powerful front cannon, this gives the robocoder more freedom.

Changes in game rules
The rules will need to contain some form of point system or maximum amount 
of components which the robocoder is allowed to use.


Submarines

Elaboration
The idea was to create a new type of ship, this creates more dimension in 
the game once again. I want to make the normal radars, not detect the 
submarine. This would be a way to make use of the composition of ships, 
because you would need a sonar to detect a submarine. Submarines will be 
more fragile than normal ships so the game remains a bit more balanced. I'm 
thinking about making some weapons able to hit a submarine and making some 
unable to. I was planning to make missiles, mines and torpedo's(see below) 
able to hit a submarine, but normal bullets will not be able to.

Impact on game strategy
A robocoder will need to take into account that a new type of ship can be 
lurking in the deep. If you don't have a sonar you will be blind for what 
happens under water. So he will need to decide whether he wants to take 
that risk, or not. If the robocoder is planning to use a submarine, he 
needs to decide whether the fact of being more fragile, outweighs the fact 
of being harder to detect.

Changes in game rules
The maximum energy level of submarines needs to be specified in the rules 
since it needs to be lower than a normal ship. The rules also need to 
contain which type of weapons can hit a submarine. I also think it is a 
good idea to give the submarine less available components to use, due to 
its advantages.


Torpedoes

Elaboration
This is a certain type of self-propelling missile which travels trough 
water and detonates on hitting a ship or wall. The idea was to make this 
new type of weapon available to both normal ships and submarines. Torpedoes 
will travel at a lower speed than normal missiles and bullets, but will be 
faster than ships or submarines. The damage a torpedo will do to a ship or 
submarine will be in-between a missile and a mine. The damage done to a 
submarine will be higher(almost critical) than to a normal ship.

Impact on game strategy
This is a new aspect the robocoder will need to pay attention to, 
especially if he chooses to use a submarine. The ships will need to have a 
possibility to monitor the torpedo and act accordingly, or not.

Changes in game rules
Minimum and maximum damage of torpedoes will be specified in the rules. The 
extra damage a torpedo will do to a submarine, will be taken care of in the 
submarine's classes.

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With kind regards,
Colin

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