Follows the diagnosis that proactive straight-line ramming CANNOT work: both bots
have MAX_SPEED=8, so a pursuit cannot catch an evading equal-speed opponent.
Measured over 49 rounds per arm, opportunity -> contact was **0/6** (base), 0/40
(ring), 0/12 (ringhot). The only proactive conversion in the whole corpus came
from a FINISHER, and only because a <20-energy DrussGT stops fleeing (that episode
closed at 6-8 px/tick). Opportunity episodes never got below ~80px; one ran the
full 60-tick duration cap and closed only 198->171px; a perfectly aligned
full-speed one closed 195->114px then plateaued.
CHANGES
- **Finisher-only default.** `finisher` (<20 energy, dist<300, we are healthier)
and the rare `desperation` (both <5, dist<150) are kept; `opportunity` and the
speculative `plan` are OFF. Both are env-reenableable with no rebuild:
`TR_RAM_OPPORTUNITY=1` (tune via TR_RAM_OPP_DIST/MARGIN) and `TR_RAM_PLAN=1`.
Justification: it removes 100+ non-converting episodes per fixture at zero
measured loss (oldram vs base was p=0.69, damage 279 vs 284, survival 17/49 vs
16/49) - and each of those episodes spent up to 60 ticks driving STRAIGHT at
the enemy, abandoning the mover's dodging and disrupting aim.
- **`desperation` KEPT** deliberately: it is cheap and rare, fires only when both
bots are nearly dead at short range (a coin-flip where 0.6 contact can decide
it), and it is not the refuted straight-line pursuit.
- **THE BULLET-RAIN ABORT WAS DEAD CODE AND IS NOW FIXED.** `onHitByBullet`
accumulated raw bullet FIREPOWER while `TR_RAM_ABORT_DMG = 0.5` was documented
as a DAMAGE rate - so the bar was implicitly "sum of power > 7.5 over 15 turns"
and the maximum rate ever observed was 0.27. It now accumulates REAL ENERGY via
a `bulletDamage(power)` helper matching the server's `4p` / `6p-2` formula, and
`TR_RAM_ABORT_DMG` defaults to **2.0 energy/turn** (~30 HP over 15 turns):
"abort an in-progress ram if we take > 2.0 energy per turn". Same effective bar
for normal firepower, and it can now actually fire - the live run reports
`dmgRate=1.07/turn` where the old units said 0.27.
- **`ramStuckTicks` REMOVED.** It required `dist < 5px`; contact occurs at ~36px
(two 18px radii) and position rewind prevents getting closer, so it could never
increment. Only the 60-tick duration cap can now self-end a ram.
LIVENESS (measured, default config, vs a charging Java RamFire, 3 rounds):
default -> `[ram] ON reason=finisher` x3, `reason=opportunity` x0
TR_RAM_OPPORTUNITY=1 -> `reason=opportunity` x4, `reason=finisher` x2
So the opportunity states DID occur and are suppressed by the new default - the
removal is real, not an arm that never fires. A line also read
`[ram] OFF reason=duration dmgRate=1.07/turn`, confirming the new energy units.
Adds docs/ramming_negative_result.md (70 lines) recording the question, the five
diagnostic answers, the geometric reason, the finisher exception, the two dead
code paths, and an explicit "do not re-attempt a proactive straight-line ram; if
point-blank forcing is ever wanted it is an INTERCEPTION/cornering movement
problem" note - the same pattern that stopped the corpse bug recurring.
Guards: test_ram_decision 40 (was 28), test_gun_harness 39, test_vbullet_metric 11,
test_power_selection 3, test_adaptive_radar 41, test_tfil_ring_weights 24,
test_power_policy 26, test_rack_membership 48, test_selector_tiebreak 19,
test_tm_pattern_registration 20, test_vbullet_admit_gate 12,
acceptance_offline_vs_online 12/12. ModularBot compiles.
Honest note: the abort-threshold fix is a real (tiny) behaviour change, NOT
measured-neutral - it only bites while a finisher ram is under sustained fire,
which is exactly the user's stated wish. The finisher-only removal itself is
measured-neutral per the given A/B.
