Weekly 5-Map Tournament - Codes - Closing 21 Oct 2012

[mopa42]

Tournament time again! This should be pretty fun.

After our code map tournament of tournaments, it is only appropriate to have a tournament of codes. To cryptographers, codes and ciphers are different things and I've tried to honor that distinction. There are plenty of interesting ciphers, such as Vigenere, Caesar, AES for another week. Look at wikipedia for details on any of these.

A few useful links:
All Tournaments
Code Map Scoreboard
Tournament Score Tool

Theme:
Famous Codes



   
   
   
   
   
   

Map Name:	Size:	Complexity:
Morse Code	Large	High
ASCII	Medium	Low
Konami Code	Medium	Medium
PURPLE	Small	Medium
RSA	Medium	High

[Zaggy]

I gave the first four a shot; I'm the first to submit scores.

Morse Code is a tough one; with the continuous flow of high-HP drones with limited building space, it can be difficult to make progress.

ASCII is a relatively quick one.  I have to retry this for a better time.

Konami Code isn't too bad either; there's 7 emitters to take care of here.

PURPLE is deceptively easy.  You may think your time is limited, but it does take a while for creeper to break free, and by then you're probably busting in on the right side anyway.

RSA has a few crystals and chips near the surface, but not too much building area, combined with relatively strong emitters for a map without experimentals.

Good luck everyone (even though there's no luck in CW2 other than phantoms)!

[Wheatmidge]

Good luck everyone (even though there's no luck in CW2 other than phantoms)!

I just feel the need to point out that drones also have luck to them. It's a question of which building they choose to target.

[deety42]

I always wondered what algorithm governs drone behavior.  I've never quite been able to pin it down.  Or, is there some randomness involved if an object is not within a certain distance?  Just speculating...

[Wheatmidge]

Virgil discussed it somewhere.. not sure where. But a Drone will randomly select any building or unit that it can get to and then go for it. If it is walled off it will randomly choose a point within its available area and go there. When it either gets to its target building or location it searches again.
In the case of drone evasion, if the LS is the only thing for the drones to target they will target it. and they will go to where ever the LS was when they searched for it. when they get to that point they then go towards the location where the LS is again and again, and again....

[SmileyCoder]

Scores as of today:
Results Per Player


   
   
   
   
   
   

Rank	Name	Morse Code	ASCII	Konami Code	PURPLE	RSA	Total Score	Total Time
1	Zaggy	9255	11009	10908	11489		42661
2	TheSmileyCoder		11454		11994	12048	35496
3	Helper		11447		11963	11585	34995
4	inept_celt		10792		11113		21905
5	franke99		10843				10843

Scores recorded at 2012-10-16 15:14:08 forum time.


Nice scores from Helper. :)

[mopa42]

Morse Code was tricky to crack, but I had my best creeper cryptanalysts working on it :)

[SmileyCoder]

I must be doing something wrong in the Morse Code. 10 attempts and I keep getting killed. Grrr.

[Wheatmidge]

If you are dying on Morse Code it probably means you are being too aggressive. You have to start that one defensively I think. Which is always a little sad, because being defensive does not help your speed.

[SmileyCoder]

I WILL!! find a way.

[SmileyCoder]

I WILL!! find a way.

Finally managed to get a semi-aggressive approach.

[Wheatmidge]

And to beat Konami Code make sure you dig up twice and then dig down twice, then dig left, then dig right, and then dig left again, and finally dig right. That should give you a great start. Or 30 tries.

[SmileyCoder]

And to beat Konami Code make sure you dig up twice and then dig down twice, then dig left, then dig right, and then dig left again, and finally dig right. That should give you a great start. Or 30 tries.

huh?

[lurkily]

And to beat Konami Code make sure you dig up twice and then dig down twice, then dig left, then dig right, and then dig left again, and finally dig right. That should give you a great start. Or 30 tries.

huh?

One video game company (Konami I guess?) making games for the NES, then the SNES used the same cheat code on all their games - up up down down left right left right b a start.  It's one of those cultural references.

[SmileyCoder]

I see. Thank you for the explanation. I've only ever used PCs as gaming platforms.

I see Wheatmidge is making a real effort at taking the first place this week.