Q: I'm not sure how to submit my program. Help?
At present, we only allow submissions via Moodle. See this page for more information.
Q: Why does my snake never appear on the board?
Your program has most likely crashed before it was able to make a single move. Check your error logs to determing the reason for its abrupt exit.
Q: Why does my snake disappear from the board?
Your program was most likely functioning correctly for a period of time, but received some input that caused it to exit abruptly. Check your error logs.
Q: Why does my snake sometimes/always go straight?
If your agent unintentionally continues straight for an extended period of time, it signifies that the server is not receiving a move from your program within the required timeframe. Check that you are not doing too much computation between the time that you receive the state and the time that you output a move. Also check that when you print out a move, you also output a newline character (both CR+LF and LF are permissable).
Q: I'd like to submit a really awesome agent, but I'm not sure where to start. Any hints?
The current competition is designed to require real-time decision making. You'll therefore want to look at lightweight, speedy techniques, which rules out a lot of the more advanced AI approaches. Solutions to the shortest path problem are where you'll want to start looking, and maybe look at some cool heuristics. The rest is up to you. Good luck, and happy coding.