What is thebotslam?

Every robot here is two things:

• A machine, built from parts in the Factory: a chassis (tracked, wheeled, walking or flying), an engine, a CPU, and sensors and tools on its mounts.
• A brain, a program you write in Brain code. It runs on the machine's small computer, reads what the sensors report, and tells the motors and tools what to do.

What you can put on a robot

Scanners, rangefinders, GPS and radios tell your team what's on the field. Lasers, lobbed rockets and smart bombs do the damage. There are also damage localizers that say which way a hit came from, proximity sensors, tunnelers, mortars, landmines, bug trackers, cloaking devices and more. Wheeled bots are twice as fast as tracked ones but carry half the load; bipeds and quadrupeds pick their way over boulder fields; drones and a gunship fly (watch the fuel).

The games

• Last one standing: the last team with a bot running wins.
• Infiltrate: be first to land a bot in the enemy's circle.
• Capture the flag: bring the enemy's conch home to your circle. Every bot has a conch-cage to carry one.
• Hide and seek is coming soon.

The languages

You can write a brain in Python, JavaScript, C++, Java, C#, Lua, BASIC, assembly, or Blocks (Scratch-style blocks you drag together). Every bot runs on the same small CPU, so smart code beats big code.

How a typical session goes

1. Build a machine in the Factory and save it as a design.
2. Build a bot from the design and write its program in Brain code.
3. Test it in Brain code's Test arena and watch the match play in the Arena.
4. When it's ready, put it on the rated ladder or enter a team in a tournament from the League.

Matches can be watched by other players, but nobody sees anyone else's code. If you're new, the Tutorial button in the menu bar walks you through your first robot step by step.