Conspec recognition
Bots use various methods to identify others of their species.
In and Out
Bots can use the numbers stored in in/out to identify conspecs.
Advantages:
- Easy to implement
Disadvantages:
- Very, very easily fooled
Example:
Step 1-Initialize IO port
cond *.robage 0 = start 100 .out1 store stop
Step 1-Check In against out. note that if nothing is visible, the in values default to 0, which might screw up bot behavior. It's usually best to add *.eye5 0 != to be sure.
cond *.in1 *.out1 != start ...
Memloc and Memval
Bots can use Memloc and Memval to read a location in another bot's memory. This can be used for conspec recognition.
Advantages:
- More secure than In and Out
Disadvantages:
- Can be fooled
Example: -Using the length of DNA as conspec Step 1: Set memory location to read to DNA length
cond *.memloc .dnalen != start .dnalen .memloc store stop
Step 2: Read the value of the other bot's DNA length. This may not work if no bot is visible, so add *.eye5 0 != to be sure.
cond *.memval *.dnalen != start ...
Refeye and Myeye
By far the most popular form of conspec recognition.
Advantages:
- Can't be tricked passively
Disadvantages:
- Can be tricked if .myeye is altered by an info shot, venom or a virus
- Some bots can change these values to match, usually with .delgene. BlueOnBlue in the Bestiary can do this.
Other RefVars
Other RefVars such as .refshoot can be used to identify members of your species too.
Advantages:
- Can't be tricked passively
- Rarer than Refeye and Myeye and so less likely to be targeted
Disadvantages:
- Most bots may only have one instance of the command in their DNA
Example:
-For all refvars, including .myeye; remember to check if there is a bot with *.eye5 0 !=.
cond *.ref__ *.my__ != start ...
Other
Some other forms of conspec recognition have been thought up, but most are very impractical.
