Getting started

Status: there is no release to download yet. The engine and the host for classic Java robots work and are tested against classic Robocode. A command-line battle runner (#12) and the desktop GUI (milestone M2) are still to come. This page describes what you can do now and will turn into a real quick start with the first release.

Write a robot today

Robots for robocode-s are classic Robocode robots. Everything you write against the classic robocode.* API (Robot, AdvancedRobot, TeamRobot, RateControlRobot) runs on robocode-s unmodified, so the best way to start right now is the classic toolchain:

Install classic Robocode 1.11.1 and do its first-robot tutorial.
Set up your robot as a normal Java project in your IDE, against the robocode.api library (see Developing a robot).
Package it as a robot jar with classic’s packager or your build tool.

The jar you produce is exactly what robocode-s runs and what the rumble will accept.

Build robocode-s from source

If you’d like to try the engine itself, or follow along with development, build it from the repository. You need Rust (stable), a C toolchain and JDK 21:

git clone https://github.com/nhofsted/robocode-s.git
cd robocode-s
cargo test --workspace     # engine, protocol, server, runner
./gradlew build            # Java robot host, sample robots, test oracle

The repository README has the details. At this stage battles are run by the test tools rather than a user-facing command.

What the first release will look like

One download per platform (Windows, Linux, macOS; x86-64 and arm64). Java robots need a JRE; robocode-s fetches a pinned Eclipse Temurin JRE on first use, so you don’t have to install one.
A command-line runner for headless battles: pick robots, rounds and a seed, get results and a recording.
The desktop GUI for setting up battles, watching them live with your robot’s debug painting, and replaying recordings.
The rumble client, built into both, for volunteering battles to the rumble.

Watch the GitHub repository for releases.