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Arimaa >> Bot Development >> Seeking bot partner
(Message started by: ingwa on Apr 19th, 2015, 4:26pm)

Title: Seeking bot partner
Post by ingwa on Apr 19th, 2015, 4:26pm
As some of you know, I have started to work on a new bot called Meijin - japanese for "brilliant man", also the name of one of the most prestigious Go tournaments in the professional go circus. This will be my third bot; I have previously worked on aami-ra and badger and i thought that this time I'd do it right. :)

One of the things I'd really would like to avoid this time is to work alone.  To create a competitive bot today, there is so much basic stuff that you need to even be in the runnings: static goal detection static capture move generation, well-tuned search engine, support for multiple cores, etc that it will take a long time before you can start to work on the things that really matter: the evaluation and selective move generation.

And then there is the social side of it: sharing a goal, brainstorm about ideas and so on. I have worked so long with development that I simply know that I don't want to work alone on a major project again.

So I am seeking somebody to work with. Originally the plan was to start now and be competitive for the the next year's challenge and give Sharp a run for the money. But that goal has to change now that the challenge is gone. But there is still the bot championship, of course, and having the best bot in the world is of course still a worthy goal. :)

Here is some technical information: I have started Meijin using Ricardo Barreira's sample bot in C. I am currently working on adding the missing basic features like static goal detection and static capture move generation. I am also improving some aspects of it that I didn't like as well as moving it from C to C++. Some of the aspects on how he uses "volatile" makes that a bit more difficult than I thought, but it will be completed soon.

So if you would like to create a world-class Arimaa bot in C++ and are not a lone wolf, here's your chance. :) And if you're a very good Arimaa player and want to be in on the project then you're also very welcome even if you're not a developer.

Title: Re: Seeking bot partner
Post by lightvector on Apr 19th, 2015, 5:54pm
This sounds like an awesome project.

Good luck!

Title: Re: Seeking bot partner
Post by deep_blue on Apr 20th, 2015, 8:10am
I might call my self a semi-decent player. What would I then do to help eventually? Play the bot and find weaknesses? Give some general thoughts how I would evaluate some positions?

Title: Re: Seeking bot partner
Post by ingwa on Apr 20th, 2015, 8:33am
Those two, definitely, and maybe also come up with new ideas for individual features to evaluate.

Title: Re: Seeking bot partner
Post by deep_blue on Apr 20th, 2015, 12:50pm
I then would be willing to help.  :)
My programming skilles are, well, almost non-existing but I sort of know how a bot works in theory so maybe I have some ideas.  ;)

Title: Re: Seeking bot partner
Post by thomastanck on Apr 20th, 2015, 5:43pm
I have no idea how useful I'd be, but I have some free time in a few days time. Maybe then we'd know if I can help with the porting to C++ or anything else :P



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