Well, I imagine that whatever technique would be used (TCP, write/read ln...) the competition would run locally on a computer, which logs and possibly records the games. That means both server and clients. Ofcourse this add the restriction that all bots must be compilable on the same platform, but I don't know if that really is an issue. How likely is it to use platform dependent code in an AI for such a competition?
Regardless of that, I also imagine, that it would be best to use a turn based game for such a compo. It should make it easier for people to program an ai if they don't have to consider making real-time actions. You can further add a time limit so your bot is only alowed to spend a maximum of lets say 1 second to calculate a move.
You could also give a set of action points each turn which the bot can spend on actions so for instance movement costs 2 points and fire costs 5. If you are given 10 points each turn you can then for example move twice and then shoot.
If you use a turn-based game you would also have to decide whether the turn shift between each player, or if all players make their moves simultaniously each turn.
But it all depends on the game ofcourse and if there even is enough interest in such a competition? Would anyone really bother making a bot game if there is only two/three people who are interested in participating?
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