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Zeitgeist — a spike by Chris Gathercole
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battledrones v14: Compass Rose, a four player map

Blog · Watch/Read · (gathered 2026-10-29)

  • Simon Willison released “battledrones v14: Compass Rose,” a significant update to his mobile web RTS that introduces a new four-player online mode and map.
  • The “Compass Rose” map features four-way rotational symmetry and supports up to four players (human or AI) through WebSocket multiplayer, expanding from the previous two-player limit.
  • The development process leveraged Claude Opus 5.5, which generated the new map and modified the WebSockets multiplayer network code based on an initial prompt.
  • The update includes new purple and green robot themes, joining the existing blue and red designs, and a replay link is provided to watch a four-way AI battle with the “Goliath Armada” mutator.