16
votes
Accepted
Should we close old KoTH challenges as off-topic?
I don't think the intention of the "answers must be competitive" rule ever was to close all questions which can't be improved on, nor does requiring closing follow from noticing a question which has ...
- 20.1k
14
votes
Should we close old KoTH challenges as off-topic?
Personally, I don't see any need to close old challenges that have ended, as people can still post (non-competitive) answers to them
The "(non-competitive)" is a red herring.
In a well presented ...
- 42.8k
13
votes
Should we close old KoTH challenges as off-topic?
Having one of my questions being quickly close-voted for this reason, I think it shouldn't happen. Just because an answer is late to a challenge, I don't think it's bad or invalid. The late answers ...
- 17.1k
11
votes
Tips for King of the Hill challenges
Account for turn order advantage
I've come across a number of challenges that would have wildly varying outcomes depending on who went first (or last) in the turn order, such that figuring out who was ...
- 3,538
10
votes
Accepted
Should competitors be able to run games for KoTHs?
Yes, but not competitively
The controller should be made available by the person running the KotH, to allow people to test and experiment, however they should not have a part in the final run that ...
- 11.1k
9
votes
Are random submissions with drastically different results each time allowed in KoTH challenges?
Ban generally, not specifically
I'm very much opposed to the idea that "OP has final say" (I.e. if the post author dislikes an answer, or doesn't think it's ok, they get to disqualify it)\${}...
9
votes
Accepted
Is it acceptable to ask for Github Pull Requests for a King of the Hill challenge?
Instead of using Github, just fetch the contents of the answer.
To parse it, read this question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10585029/parse-an-html-string-with-js (remember the question id: ...
- 7,383
9
votes
Tips for King of the Hill challenges
The Complete How-To KoTH
1. Have an idea
This is the part I can't help you with. If you're looking for ideas, check the sandbox, chat with others, or check your local board game store.
2. Refine ...
- 14.2k
9
votes
Tips for King of the Hill challenges
Read the tag wiki
The wiki for the king-of-the-hill tag contains useful information and tips for creating KOTH challenges. I have copied the material here, but the information is more likely to be up ...
- 22.9k
7
votes
Tips for King of the Hill challenges
Scale the challenge for the number of players
Many challenges involve a "field" (where the player has a location and may move) or "world" (where the player can interact with and ...
- 3,538
7
votes
Is it acceptable to ask for Github Pull Requests for a King of the Hill challenge?
No
This creates link-only answers, which are not permitted per general Stack Exchange policy.
- 6,123
6
votes
Should I post non-language specific KOTH?
Re. your title. Should you? That's up to you. Non-language-specific KoTH challenges are of course more accessible to more users, but harder to do.
Can you? Yes. One way to do it is to interface with ...
- 40.2k
6
votes
Tips for King of the Hill challenges
Allow as many bots as possible
Nobody wants to be disallowed from a contest right? Allow as many languages as you can. If someone posts a bot in a language you don't have, try as hard as you can to ...
- 28.1k
6
votes
King-Of-The-Hill but fully cooperative?
Each bot has its individual goal: improve its score. The means the KotH challenge you describe is not fully cooperative.
What exactly this means for your challenge depends on rules and details I do ...
- 206k
6
votes
Accepted
Is it KoTH if they don't fight each other?
From the king-of-the-hill tag wiki:
King-of-the-hill indicates a game where the submissions interact with and compete against each other in some form of game. Competitions which pit programs ...
- 206k
5
votes
is an entirely cooperative koth on topic?
No
One of the site-wide rules that applies to all challenge questions is that they must have an objective winning criterion. Unless that changes, the challenge you propose is indisputably off topic.
- 206k
5
votes
What language should I use for a single language KOTH?
JavaScript
JavaScript is known by a majority of Developers according to the SO survey.
It has (pseudo) classes, like this:
function MyBot(action){
this.action = action;
this.moves = [];
}
var ...
- 38.6k
5
votes
Tag Proposal: [asymmetric]
Create the asymmetric tag
Currently, cops-and-robbers is used to serve this role, which is an imperfect fit. Robbers typically just aim to crack specific cop answers in standard CnR challenges - they ...
5
votes
King-Of-The-Hill but fully cooperative?
Bots can be fully cooperative within games, while competing between games. If a team of bots gets a score for each game, that score can be added to each players individual score. This way, players ...
- 4,166
5
votes
CGCC Blog Post #3: King of the Hill!
Underappreciated posts
As part of blog posts, we'll demonstrate some of the more unappreciated posts on the site, and we highly recommend you check them out and give them an upvote. These were ...
- 17.1k
4
votes
Are random submissions with drastically different results each time allowed in KoTH challenges?
The end of the competition is drawing near and I'd say that ad hoc changes like this would make the KoTH challenge even more unfair. Within the parameters of your challenge, results can be very ...
- 199
4
votes
What language should I use for a single language KOTH?
Java
I wrote this answer under the assumption that there exists a good reason for limiting a challenge to only one language.
Popularity: In 2014, an overwhelming majority of universities use Java or ...
- 6,316
4
votes
Tips for King of the Hill challenges
FAQs
How big should my map be? As small as possible. There are three solutions here:
Scaling map. You often see this in the form of "Side length is equal to ...
- 14.2k
4
votes
Tips for King of the Hill challenges
Ask for sandbox reviews
I think everybody does that, but it is especially important with KotH. Designing a KotH is like designing a game (in fact, it IS a game), and you might need help to find some ...
- 3,037
4
votes
Accepted
What javascript-only KoTH challenges have there been?
Here are all the questions tagged king-of-the-hill and javascript:
https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/king-of-the-hill+javascript
- 6,536
3
votes
Can a question be closed for being too complex (but not necessarily hard)?
No, but...
There's no rule that would result in your challenge being closed for being too complex (although a complex spec is more likely to be unclear, which is a reason to close). However, for any ...
- 10.7k
3
votes
Accepted
Can I license my controller for a KotH under the GNU GPL v3?
You can license it however you wish offsite
The important (but still not necessary) part is that people can run it. Preferably the source should be shared for easier testing and for malware protection....
2
votes
Accepted
Should I post non-language specific KOTH?
Non-language-specific KotHs were actually pretty common up until a few years ago. Their popularity has decreased because it's easier to just use JS, Python, or Java, and most people will be familiar ...
- 17.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible