gMARS

gMARS is an implementation of a Core War Memory Array Redcode Simulator (MARS) written in Go.

In the the game of Core War, two virus-like programs written in assembly fight against each other in the memory of a Simulator where they are able to write and execute new code and modify eachother. For more information about Core War see:

• Wikipedia: CoreWar entry
• corewar.co.uk: John Metcalf's Core War Site with tutorials, history, and links.
• KOTH.org: A King of the Hill server with ongoing competitive matches, information, and links.
• Koenigstuhl: An 'infinite hill' site that collects warriors and publishes their rankings and source code.

Why another MARS?

gMARS was created to provide a reference implementation of a MARS in Go. There are many other implementations but I wanted to meet the following requirements:

1. A thread-safe library implementing the MARS mechanics.
2. Strong compliance to standards, with R/W limits and '88 rules enforcment.
3. Reporting hooks to support custom front-ends and analysis engines.
4. A modern visual simulator front-end.

Running the Simulator

Currently only two warrior matches are supported and the warrior files must be supplied as command line arguments. Both versions also accept the following arguments

  -preset string
        Load named preset config (and ignore other flags)
  -8    Enforce ICWS'88 rules
  -F int
        fixed position of warrior #2
  -c int
        Cycles until tie (default 80000)
  -debug
        Dump verbose debug information
  -l int
        Max. warrior length (default 100)
  -p int
        Max. Processes (default 8000)
  -r int (CLI only)
        Rounds to play (default 1)
  -s int
        Size of core (default 8000)

Presets

You can use the -preset <name> flag to use a named presed configuration. If a preset is loaded, the other flags are not parsed and applied.

Name	Simulator Mode	CoreSize	Length	Processes	Cycles
nop94	NOP94	8000	100	8000	80000
88	ICWS88	8000	100	8000	80000
icws	ICWS88	8192	300	8000	100000
noptiny	NOP94	800	20	800	8000
nop256	NOP94	256	10	60	2560
nopnano	NOP94	80	5	80	800

Visual MARS Controls

Keyboard controls:

• Space to start/pause the simulation
• Up/Down to increase or decrease simulation speed
• Left/Right to stop or step forward one frame of the simulation (at the visualizer speed)
• R to reset the simulator with the next starting position
• Escape to quit

Extra Arguments:

• -showread: Enable recording and rendering of CoreRead states.

CLI MARS

When the simulation completes in the gmars CLI, a line is printed for each warrior with the number of wins and ties:

1 0
0 0 

Implemented Features

• Compilation of code compliant with the ICWS'94 standard specification (favoring pMARS compatibility when applicable)
• ICWS'88 compilation mode to enforce valid code generation.
• Simulation of two warrior battles
• Read/write limits (implemented, but not thoroughly tested)
• Hooks generating updates for visualization and analysis
• Visual MARS with interactive keyboard controls

Planned Features

• P-Space support
• Interactive debugger
• Round robin and benchmark modes

Language Support

I have implemented the ICWS'94 Draft Standard to the best of my ability and added the following modifications based pMARS and other simulators:

Empty Fields

In the draft standard, if only a single operand is applied, it is placed in the B-Field for DAT instructions, or otherwise placed in the A-Field. In both cases #0 is supposed to be placed in the remaining field.

I found that corewin and pMARS load $0 into the B-Field when the instruction opcode is not DAT. Since this can cause divergent outcomes, I chose to follow other simulators for compatibility.

FOR/ROF Macros

FOR and ROF pseudo-opcodes have been added including labels and embedded for loops.

<start_ref...> <count_var> FOR <count_expr>
...
ROF

The count variable starts at 1 and increments for each following line until it equals the value of the count expression. Other labels added before the count variable name will be evaluated as line references to the first line emitted by the macro.

Variable concatenation with the & pseudo op is not implemented but planned.

Start Address Example

start i FOR 2
DAT start, i
ROF

Compiles to:

DAT.F  $  0, $  1
DAT.F  $ -1, $  2

Embedded Loop Example

i FOR 2
j FOR 2
DAT i, j
ROF
ROF

Compiles to:

DAT.F  $  1, $  1
DAT.F  $  1, $  2
DAT.F  $  2, $  1
DAT.F  $  2, $  2

Non-Supported Extensions

pMARS allows assignment to variables with a syntax appearing as (a=CORESIZE/2). This feature is not currently implemented, and I am not sure if I will plan to do so.

Testing Status / Known Bugs

The compiler is more subjective and still going through testing and active development, but the backend has been tested fairly thoroughly by running compiled load code and comparing outcomes to pMARS.

Load code tests were done with the 94nop and 88 Koenigstuhl hills. I found a single warrior Rush (11,1) that has inconsistent outcomes, which I am stil investigating.