Tools to assist in decision-making for the browser game Trimps.

Copyright © 2018-2023 Mikkosoft Productions
Licensed under GPLv3.

Compiling

To compile the programs, simply type make. No additional libraries are required.

If using MinGW to compile for Windows, make sure to use the posix variant. The win32 variant of MinGW does not support C++ threads.

Spire optimizer

The spire program can be used for optimizing spire tower defense layouts. It utilizes a genetic algorithm to search for the layout with best damage or income. In the simplest form, pass your current layout as a command line argument and the program will try to find a layout that does more damage while not requiring more runestones. The behaviour can be further customized with options described below.

128-bit version

The optimizer can use 128-bit math to work with numbers larger than about 9Qi. A 128-bit build is provided in the releases as spire128.exe. To compile it yourself, set -DWITH_128BIT in CXXFLAGS;

Web interface

A web interface is available for searching spires right from your browser. This is a read-only interface, without any editing or submission capabilities. However it does put the queries in the pool sent to active spire@home users, so a better layout may become available after a while.

Command-line options

Some of the more important options are:

-f, --floors
Set the number of floors in the spire

-b, --budget
Set an upper limit of runestones to spend. If the budget starts with a plus sign, the value is added to the cost of the starting layout.

-u, --upgrades
Set upgrade levels of all trap types at once. The argument should be four numbers, one for each trap type. Poison and lightning traps can be set to zero to indicate that trap isn't unlocked yet.

-c, --core
Set stats of the spire core in use. Core description must start with a tier name, followed by any number of mods separated by slashes. Each mod is described by the trap or tower name, optionally followed by a colon and the value of the mod. For example "epic/poison:40/lightning:30/condenser:12".

-d, --core-budget
Set the cost limit of the core. If this option is not specified then the core will not be touched. If the budget starts with a plus sign, the value is added to the cost of the initial core.

-k, --keep-core-mods
Prevent swapping of core mods. Only change the values of existing mods. Specifying this option twice prevents downgrading mods from the original values.

-i, --income
Optimize for runestone income instead of damage. This is much slower so it may be prudent to first find a decent damage-optimized build and use that as a base for runestone optization.

--towers
Try to use as many towers as possible. This may produce layouts that have inferior damage or income. An optional argument can be used to specify the tower to maximize. Prepending the tower name with a - will maximize other towers instead.

-n, --numeric-format
Output layouts in numeric format compatible with swaq's TD calculator

--fancy
Produces fancy pseudographical output. For best result use a 256-color xterm or compatible terminal.

--online
Use the online layout database. On startup the database is queried for the best known layout. As better layouts are found they are submitted to the database.

--live
Perform database query in live mode and automatically obtain improvements that other users submit into the database. Implies --online.

--athome
Run in spire@home mode, working on random layouts from the online layout database. Most other options are ignored, but you may want to use -w to control how much processing power the program consumes. Only available in 128-bit builds.

--boredom
Set the maximum amount of cycles to spend on a spire@home work item without finding improvements. After the set amount has passed, a new work item is requested.

More advanced options can be used to tweak the performance of the program or the genetic algorithm:

-t, --preset
Choose a predefined set of options. Available presets are single, basic, diverse and advanced. This option is relatively safe to use even if you have no clue what the following ones are for.

-e, --exact
Use exact calculation mode when optimizing for damage. This reduces performance but guarantees that damage is calculated correctly. Income optimization always uses exact mode.

-w, --workers
Set the number of worker threads to use

-l, --loops
Set the number of new layouts generated per cycle. Smaller values may accelerate evolution but also cause higher synchronization overhead.

-p, --pools
Set the number of population pools to run in parallel. A higher number of pools enhances diversity but slows down evolution as each pool gets less time.

-s, --pool-size
Sets the maximum size of each pool

-r, --cross-rate
Sets the probability of crossing two layouts instead of mutating a single layout. Expressed as a number out of 1000.

-o, --foreign-rate
Sets the probability of picking the second layout for a cross from a random pool instead of the same as the first. Expressed as a number out of 1000.

--core-rate
Sets the probability of mutating the core. Expressed as a number ouf of 1000.

--heterogeneous
Use a heterogeneous pool configuration. This can help if the properties of the upgrade configuration cause evolution to get stuck at a local optimum.

--prune-interval
Set the number of iterations before pruning the worst performing pool

--prune-limit
Stop pruning when only this many pools are left

--extinction-interval
Set an interval for clearing a random pool (but never the best performing one)

--isolation-period
Set the number of cycles after an extinction event during which the cleared pool will receive no cross-breeding. This can allow the program to come up with fresh ideas.

Finally, a few options are mostly for debugging purposes:

-g, --debug-layout
Print detailed information of an enemy's progress through the layout

--show-pools
Continuously show the top layouts in each population pool while running

--raw-values
Print raw, full values of numbers. These are more difficult to read but may be helpful in debugging suspected accuracy issues.

Perk optimizer

The perks program calculates optimal level for perks. It has three required command-line arguments: base population, target zone and helium budget. Options can be used to further modify optimization goals:

--attack
Set the weight for trimp attack

--health
Set the weight for trimp health

--health
Set the weight for helium gain

--fluffy
Set the weight for fluffy exp gain

Each perk has an option which sets a base level for that perk. The optimizer may add further levels but will never remove levels.

--looting
--toughness
--power
--toughness2
--power2
etc.

Other options are available to set auxiliary modifiers:

--breed-time
Set your target breed time in seconds

--equip-time
Set the number of seconds you're willing to spend on gearing up at the target zone

--heirloom-attack
--heirloom-health
--heirloom-crit-chance
--heirloom-crit-damage
--heirloom-miner
Set heirloom values

--large
Set value of the "large" daily challenge modifier (less housing)

--famine
Set value of the "famine" daily challenge modifier (less income)

--achievements
Set the damage bonus gained from achievements

--challenge2
Set the stat bonus gained from Challenge²