You know, this thread is a POC about something called SOTA+ method, not 3-kang.
Thanks for your answer. Yes, I am trying to understand SOTA+, but I believe I have to learn all the methods in order to understand SOTA+. This means in order to understand SOTA+, I should understand 2 kangaroos, then 3-4 kangaroos, then Mirror, and then SOTA, and SOTA+. Is this correct?
Usually in literature this is actually a Gaudry-Schost variant, because there cannot be a Kangaroo algorithm that actually goes side-ways, since cycles cannot be part of a Kangaroo algorithm, by definition.
This means the 2-3-4 kangaroo algorithm makes 2-3-4 long paths, while Gaudry-Schost variant makes many smaller paths until a distinguished point is found. I see your point, a normal kangaroo method can't go sideways, as the "maximum excursion" would not allow for the kangaroo to travel very far before going in to a loop?
But in general terms:
Mirror is faster than 3 kangaroos because it calculates 2 "cheap" points in every jump instead of 1, and SOTA is faster than mirror because it computes 4 "cheap" points instead of 1?
The trick in SOTA+ is how to detect and then get out of the cycles in a way that the overhead is not to big?
Thanks