eyehook - games : War Bytes

War Bytes

Build a Better Battle Robot

War Bytes is a robot battle game where you program robots to do battle in a virtual arena. Robots can wreak destruction in War Bytes with Death Rays, Mines, EMPs, and more. Please refer to the instructions below for more details on how you can build a better battle robot.

The War Bytes Game Screen

Battle Arena
where the robots battle
Robots
a list of robots in the arena
Hit Points (HPs)
the robot is destroyed when HPs = 0
Edit
edit the robot's program
Control Panel
control the battle (start, stop, reset)

How to Play

Select the robots you want to battle (you must select at least 2 robots). Click on the Start button to begin the battle. When only 1 robot is left standing, the game is over.

Programming Your Robot

To modify a robot's program, click on the Edit button. This will bring up the edit screen. A list of all available commands is on the right hand side of the edit screen. Click on the [+] next to a command to view more detailed information.

Warm Up
Every command has a warm up interval. This is the number of turns it takes before the robot can execute the command. For example, DEATH_RAY has a warm up of 10 turns; while MOVE has a warm up of 2 turns. So one robot could move 5 times in the amount of time it takes another to fire a DEATH_RAY.

Program Flow
The commands in a robot's program are executed one at a time. IF_XXX commands allow you to conditionally execute the next command. IF_XXX commands can be nested. Once the last command in a program has been executed, it moves back to the beginning of the program and starts over again.

An Example Program

 SEEK      //
		turn towards the nearest enemy

		DEATH_RAY // fire a death ray

		IF_EMPTY  // if there is
		nothing in front of the robot

		    MOVE  // move
		forward one square

Advanced Commands

IF_ITER(n) and IF_NOT_ITER(n)
Every time a robot's program loops back to the first command, its number of iterations increases by one. You can use the IF_ITER and IF_NOT_ITER commands to conditionally execute a command every n-th iteration.
IF_ITER(n) evaluates (iterations%n == 0)
IF_NOT_ITER(n) evaluates (iterations%n != 0)

GOTO(LABEL), LABEL, and BREAK
The GOTO command can be used to branch to a different location in the program specified by the LABEL. The BREAK command is used to return to the beginning of the program. For example:

 SEEK

		DEATH_RAY

		MOVE

		IF_DAMAGED

		    GOTO(OUCH) // jump to
		the OUCH label

		BREAK // return to the first command
		(SEEK)

		OUCH: // the OUCH label

		    TELEPORT

		    REPAIR

Saving Your Robot (for future visits)

The User1 - User4 robots are automatically saved (in a cookie) whenever you update them (you need cookies enabled for this functionality). When you modify the built-in robots, changes to their programs only last for the duration of your visit.

Good luck and enjoy building a better battle robot!
-eyehook