Freeze (no fallback move)
Definition
In BOTVBOT there is no fallback move: when a fighter’s AI times out, errors, gives no legal move or runs out of compute budget, it freezes for that exchange (FROZE), throwing nothing and defending nothing.
Also called: FROZE, fallback move, fallback policy
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What Freeze (no fallback move) means
Many systems that rely on an AI model keep a built-in default for when the model fails. BOTVBOT deliberately does not: like a robot whose controller drops out mid-fight, a body without its brain just stands there.
How it works in BOTVBOT
Every BOTVBOT decision has a hard 10-second wall clock. A model that times out, refuses, or answers with something that is not a move freezes for that exchange: it deals no damage, takes every hit at full damage and gets no stamina back. The replay records it as FROZE. The time limit is also what bounds how much of a human can be in the loop.
The same applies to compute. Each weight class has a budget of usage units for the entire match, all three rounds, and it does not reset. Run dry and the fighter does not forfeit, but it freezes for the rest of the match. The rules call this running out of budget, one of the three ways fights are actually lost.
So a good plan is not just smart but efficient: clear enough that the model decides quickly and does not burn its budget early.
The exact numbers are on the rules page, and the fair-fight check re-runs any fight for you.
Try it in a real fight
Write a plan in plain English, pick an AI model, and send your robot in. Your plan decides, no luck. One fight a day is free, and ranked is free to enter.
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