Re: One for the programmers or maths/logic geeks

Snidely wrote:

>On May 11, 2:52 pm, xhos...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
>> How im****tant is the even coverage?  I'd be tempted to just make it fly
>> around at pseudo-random (or maybe depth-first systematically), checking
>> each non-checked square before entering it and remembering the result
for
>> future use. That way it would cover all accessible land regardless of
the
>> shape, although perhaps not evenly.
>
>I'd be tempted to just set it up as a random walk, choosing dir->next
>if dir-Owner !match.  And let it wind its own way through the plot,
>rather than manually moving it.  You only have to have it move one
>square at a time at some arbitrary interval ~= len(birdsong).  And why
>bother remembering?

The thing needs to move a lot faster than that, otherwise it's
pointless.  it's not just the checking that takes the time either
(though that's enough of a load), it's the fact that in can go much
quicker from A to B in one move than in a series of short ones.

If it helps to explain why, remember the 'bird' is represented as a
physical object, so momentum's a factor  - slowing to a halt and then
accelerating to max speed every metre would be little faster than a
walk, whereas moving smoothly can be the equivalent of a fast car.
-- 
John Hatpin