From e2115dcd04f6a50a616ec86ca04769ed00caf10b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Restart2008 <restart.openfront@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2025 21:08:59 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] NukeWars: prefer spawn tiles farther from already-assigned
 team tiles to reduce clumping

---
 src/core/execution/SpawnExecution.ts | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 30 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/core/execution/SpawnExecution.ts b/src/core/execution/SpawnExecution.ts
index 709f2dab3..2a7303e09 100644
--- a/src/core/execution/SpawnExecution.ts
+++ b/src/core/execution/SpawnExecution.ts
@@ -78,7 +78,36 @@ export class SpawnExecution implements Execution {
             // team's half and avoid tight clumps near the border.
             const biasFactor = -0.5;
             const centerDistance = Math.abs(xt - midpoint);
-            const score = d + centerDistance * biasFactor;
+            // Compute distance to existing team-owned tiles (if any) so we prefer
+            // tiles that are farther away from already-assigned spawns. This
+            // helps avoid clustering near the midpoint or other crowded areas.
+            let minDistToTeam = Infinity;
+            try {
+              const team = player.team();
+              if (team) {
+                for (const p of this.mg.players()) {
+                  if (p.team() !== team) continue;
+                  // skip the current player
+                  if (p === player) continue;
+                  for (const owned of p.tiles()) {
+                    const dd = this.mg.manhattanDist(owned, t);
+                    if (dd < minDistToTeam) minDistToTeam = dd;
+                    if (minDistToTeam === 0) break;
+                  }
+                  if (minDistToTeam === 0) break;
+                }
+              }
+            } catch (e) {
+              // defensive: if anything goes wrong, fall back to no team-distance bias
+              minDistToTeam = Infinity;
+            }
+
+            const spreadFactor = 0.9;
+            const teamDistanceScore = isFinite(minDistToTeam)
+              ? -minDistToTeam * spreadFactor
+              : 0;
+
+            const score = d + centerDistance * biasFactor + teamDistanceScore;
             if (score < bestScore) {
               bestScore = score;
               best = t;