hacker.org

Damn, "'You were too slow at 3034 moves!' is incorrect." isn't even close...
"'You were too slow at 1990 moves!' is incorrect.". I'm on the right way...
1875 -> Yes!

This challange was real fun!

'You were too slow at 2077 moves!' is incorrect.

Dammit

Is everybody else also getting "503 Service Temporarily Unavailable" errors from time to time, or is that just me?

If my warrior gets 503 it waits one minute and then retries... Also implementing a performance indicator is good to judge different strategies. Best is to apply the cybernetic principle

NOOOOOOO! End boss slayed at 1901 moves! NOOOOOO!

Sliver18 wrote:NOOOOOOO! End boss slayed at 1901 moves! NOOOOOO!

In my opinion, in such a case the website should just give you the benefit of the doubt and accept this.

A program that can achieve a turncount of 1901 can certainly also achieve a turncount of 1899, if you just run it often enough, what with the RNG variation that is in place here.

Running the same program repeatedly is just a pointless exercise, and puts unnecessary stress on the servers. The server load is already high enough, what with the 503 errors that keep happening with this challenge.

But then you get the same problem with "End boss slayed at 1902 moves! NOOOOOO!" - you have to have an arbitrary cutoff somewhere, and it might as well be here.

Yeah well. If the server was super fast and there were not issues with it, then sure, run the same program a hundred times till you get the proper result.

Under ideal circumstances, you are right.

AMindForeverVoyaging wrote:Yeah well. If the server was super fast and there were not issues with it, then sure, run the same program a hundred times till you get the proper result.

Under ideal circumstances, you are right.

Under any circumstances, I am right - increase the limit and you get exactly the same problem, it's just that the challenge has become easier. I could encapsulate both halves of the problem in two analogies: "Oh no, my solution to King Mouse is 30 characters long - if only the limit had been one greater!", and "Oh no, my answer to Anybody Out There doesn't seem to be accepted - getting all that data off the server for nothing puts undue load on it!"
Anyway, all these challenges being made by adum, the one who manages the server, I think they're fine.
Algorithm improvement is better than "run again and hope" - it's an exercise in balancing the time cost of levelling up with the associated ability improvement.
Full disclosure: I got Cave Master in about 1920 the first time I tried it, IIRC.
(I suspect my mind's not going to be changed easily, and I've got emotionally attached to my point of view, so I'm not going to argue any more)

mmm ... maybe this challenge got stronger? my bot almost immediately dies, if user-level is only one higher then current level. however, i think it's just a matter of finding the right parameters to begin with and maybe adjust during runtime ... nevertheless, in my opinion it's fun to optimize the bot

mmm ... i managed to beat the master in 1891 steps. i've logged the html to a log file, but there does not seem the be the name of the monster in the html? it just tells me to "return to collect the prize" ...

aurora wrote:mmm ... i managed to beat the master in 1891 steps. i've logged the html to a log file, but there does not seem the be the name of the monster in the html? it just tells me to "return to collect the prize" ...

nevermind ... just had to scroll a little bit in my log-file

1814 ..

My attempts failed till I wrote version which makes statistics what happens ... to understand the rules.

The main problem for this and cavern challenge were the ?name= &spw= required interface not to get "not logged in" message ... thanks the forum

I had a feeling that pending just on neighbours of stairs let you wait for monsters longer than walking through all the places, but I did not check that at statistics. So I walked in "2N" pattern till I decided to go down when I chosen shortest way to the already remembered stairs position (if known).

Just the decision when to go down, when use which potion ... ,
btw: I just logged the statistics, but I solved the puzzle before actualy making a research on it ... so I don't understand the weapons ...

I barely needed to modify my code from cavern master since it was averaging 76.88 moves per level out of the box.


some hints / things to note: (all are kinda self explanatory)

- you need to average less than 76 moves per level (1900 moves / 25 levels)

- try over-leveling your character early, it may save you moves later when fighting monsters since it will take fewer hits to kill them.

- when you find the stairs down, stay in adjacent spaces so you can move on quickly after meeting your level requirement for moving on.