The Game

[Bharat Nain]

Corey was right. It indeed has a pyramid:ahh:

[Levin571]

and from what it looked like it is 3v3 this year

[Deltafrog]

Corey was right. It indeed has a pyramid:ahh:

What can we possibly do with those things?

[nparikh]

One can only wonder. ;)

[Levin571]

omg!!! stacking pyramids (notice there were both red and blue little tetras)


Tetrahedron Triumph???

[Deltafrog]

Arm wars???
:ahh:

[Leav]

i think arms will play a big part this year :ahh:

[107phoeNIX]

I think that from what we have seen, it looks like it may be more of a competition between the bots more that completing a task. I hope we get more than the PVC structures, this could be interesting.

[scitobor 617]

i think arms will play a big part this year :ahh:

My team has a bad history with arms. :(

[pyroslev]

Team 616 cant use their famous suction cups this year. :yikes:

[nparikh]

Now that we know there are pyramids, any ideas for what comes next?
:ahh: :D

[Deltafrog]

Team 616 cant use their famous suction cups this year. :yikes:

haha... maybe you can suck and lift your team mate(s) :cool:

[Levin571]

There's gotta be some sort of autonomous element but i have no clue what it will be

[Leav]

Now that we know there are pyramids, any ideas for what comes next?
:ahh: :D

{Bad Joke!}
:D

[Deltafrog]

There's gotta be some sort of autonomous element but i have no clue what it will be

It's probably something to do with grabing the pyramids!

[JBotAlan]

Any idea where the IR beacon will be (if there is one)?

[JBotAlan]

OMG Shut up and play the movie!

[107phoeNIX]

I don't see how an IR beacon would fit in so far... but who knows!

[107phoeNIX]

New motors? hmmmm... oh, and when you assemble your motors, don't forget the safety glasses

[107phoeNIX]

are you taking notes on the motor assembly? the tape will self destruct once viewed once :P

[JBotAlan]

I'm glad Joules didn't make me start programming the IR sensors, then.

[JBotAlan]

Well since I'm a lowly programmer, I hope I don't have to take notes. Our team's transmission girl is in Northville watching the transmission there, so I think we'll be OK.

[JeffO]

Dean said "$@#$@#$@#$@#"

[JBotAlan]

:D This guy likes sound effects!

[107phoeNIX]

hehe those videos were funny

[107phoeNIX]

ooh software downloads? anyone got a link?

[JBotAlan]

funny isn't even the word.

Wow. this guy used 'Crap' in his speech.

New C-compiler? SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!

[JeffO]

Dave said "crap"

[107phoeNIX]

oooh micro chip compiler. We are in the money this year!

[JBotAlan]

Try www.usfirst.org. They may not be updated yet.

I knew that they needed IR!!!!

[JBotAlan]

OH MY GOD THIS IS SO SWEET NEW COMPILER AND CAMERA!

[Sscamatt]

Pretty sure its 3v3, There are 3 lights on each side.

[107phoeNIX]

Oooh that little color follower thing looks 1337

[107phoeNIX]

hmmm the programming looks a little cheap, all the codes are made, but hey I can't complain, I am doing programming :P

[JBotAlan]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! !!!!

(Drooling by the gallon)

[107phoeNIX]

hmmm, I think I say screw the software toolkit... I will make it all my new language HAHA YES!!

[107phoeNIX]

hehe he mentioned this site, now it will get bombarded by people AAAAAAHHH!!!!

[JBotAlan]

Why would you buck the whole language that has been laid out for you? This is so easy! :confused:

[107phoeNIX]

Yes I will probably use some of what has been made, but the thing is that it is very limiting

[JBotAlan]

I just realized that the tetrahedron on the projection screen was a clue.

[Bharat Nain]

Never seen a flush toilet before? Why use one anyway? You know why god gave guys..umm..you know; to make sure all the trees get the water they need!
If you dont have anything nice to say, don't say it. Remember how Woodie said "Those kids don't get it" . Do you wanna be one of them?

[107phoeNIX]

hehe throwing 9lb tetras :P that would have gotten dangerous

[JBotAlan]

If you dont have anything nice to say, don't say it. Remember how Woodie said "Those kids don't get it" . Do you wanna be one of them?

Alright, sorry, man. I didn't think you'd take it that way. :o

[JBotAlan]

hehe throwing 9lb tetras :P that would have gotten dangerous

Ahhh! Mommy, mommy! He hit me with a flying tetrahedron! :)

[107phoeNIX]

LOL "Bling Bling for the brain" - Woody Flowers

[JeffO]

Bling Bling for the Brain!

[107phoeNIX]

Oooooh Game video!!

Placing little tetra's on big ones... knocking off terta's from the teams big tetra to get points.

A pressure pad to disable the robot and the human player can load it up.... hmmm this game looks strange...

[JBotAlan]

Bling Bling for the Brain!

Where did he come up with that? Hehe... :)

[Elgin Clock]

Pretty sure its 3v3, There are 3 lights on each side.
Yep, and it looks like a huge game of tic tac toe.

[107Dexter]

Yep, and it looks like a huge game of tic tac toe.
I was thinking more like connect 4...ish

[JBotAlan]

Freakish game. Switches? Odd.

[107phoeNIX]

not much on the field this year

[JBotAlan]

I can't wait to program the vision. I've been trying to do the same thing for the PC, but to no avail.

[107Dexter]

Haha I love human robots

[107phoeNIX]

tic tac toe?

[JBotAlan]

Our robot is going to be made out of tape and popsicle sticks because our sponsor, Magna Donnely, had a glitch in corporate accounts and was out $1,000,000. Ugh, everyone was in a bad mood with that one. I would've been, too. :(

[Stephen P]

Its totally tetra tic tac toe. :yikes:

[Mr. Ivey]

Al i have to say is Ohhh Wow.
And JosephM is a robot in the demonstration!!!

Ivey

[JBotAlan]

Why the third-grade safety presentation?

[107phoeNIX]

no idea, but the voice was funny

[107phoeNIX]

lol a game that gives us the rules.... hmmm, this is funny

[JBotAlan]

AAH!! RealPlayer just pooped out! Scared the crap out of me, but it's working now.

[107phoeNIX]

Wait, I wonder what these cameras are capable of. Maybe we could make a feed back to the driver.

[PyroPhin]

Interesting game... Im thinking alot of "strech devices" akin to 2002's Zone Zeal will be seen around. Has there been any anouncements on wether that strategy will still be legal?

~Phin

[PyroPhin]

Wait, I wonder what these cameras are capable of. Maybe we could make a feed back to the driver.

Could easily construct a series of LED's to let you know when you have a lock, or how close you are to getting said lock

~Phin

[MrToast]

Well, it looks like we won't be have 100+ point games this year.... Is this a good thing? I think it might be... Closer pointed games means more intense competitions....

What do y'all think about that?

Dave

[107phoeNIX]

password is:

3XTr1pl3play2oo5

[Stephen P]

DooooOOOOO -DWOOoooooooooo
wrong answer :yikes:

[JBotAlan]

Wait, I wonder what these cameras are capable of. Maybe we could make a feed back to the driver.

The way I caught it, these are a figurative "black box", and any kind of video feed would be impossible because (1) the radio uplink is way too slow, (2) anything of this nature would probably not be legal, and (3) the libraries to work this camera are probably in binary form, needing a hacker to break them apart to get at the video source. Nice idea, but pretty much impossible.

[Munkaboo]

Is anyone going to capture this? I need it by 1:30 =/

[Venkatesh]

Note this: The weight of the robot no longer includes the weight of the battery!

[JBotAlan]

Somehow I sensed they were gonna mess this one up again... :eek:

[JBotAlan]

Is anyone going to capture this? I need it by 1:30 =/

I think that FIRST puts the whole video on the Net when it's all over. I don't know about 1:30, though.

[JBotAlan]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! They started it OVER AGAIN!!! :ahh: :ahh: :ahh:

[BandChick]

I think this year's game is, like many others, going to end up a big pushing war. Unless teams can successfully come up with a GOOD, EASY, FAST way to cap, more time is going to be spent on defense than anything else.

Annnnd, just for those of you that aren't going to remember by the time you get home:

January 12: Last Day to Submit Missing Part Form

[107Dexter]

Light sensors, grabbing tetra's, and making sure the other team does not "connect 3"

[Ted Boucher]

Triple Plays complexity makes 2004 look like childs play.... this is a HUGE jump for FIRST and i am very glad they made it

GOOD LUCK in 2005 everyone!

[BandChick]

Dan and I were talking and it certainly does look like a giant tic-tac-toe game! Definitely going to be fun!

[107Dexter]

scoring = confusing

[BandChick]

scoring = confusing

What I seem to understand is the following:

Each capped tetra: 3points.
Each tetra UNDERNEATH the goal: 1point.
Each ROW of blue/red tetras: 10points. (Think Tic-Tac-Toe)
All 3 robots behind starting line at end of match: 10 points.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's like a giant tic-tac-toe game with lots of bonus opportunities.

[chaoticprout]

BandChick, after reading the PDF's you are correct. Going to be awesome.

[Ryan F.]

At fist my reaction was a total :confused: ...didn't make sense...but now it's growing on me. This game is going to get very physical between the robots. Also i think we're going to see more differences in the robots than we expect...lots of possibilities out there.

[Kel D]

poor rookies...

[BandChick]

poor rookies...

They did do a lot of things to make life EASIER for rookies though. Like the new programming language, and the new transmission and chassis. It shouldn't be impossible for them anymore than it is for the existing teams.

[Joe Matt]

Al i have to say is Ohhh Wow.
And JosephM is a robot in the demonstration!!!

Ivey

WTF? I don't know about you, but I was in the stands the whole time.

[karinka13]

What I seem to understand is the following:

Each capped tetra: 3points.
Each tetra UNDERNEATH the goal: 1point.
Each ROW of blue/red tetras: 10points. (Think Tic-Tac-Toe)
All 3 robots behind starting line at end of match: 10 points.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's like a giant tic-tac-toe game with lots of bonus opportunities.


I thought each capped tetra was 2 points? And do diagonals count for the rows of tetras? That wasn't very clear

[BandChick]

I thought each capped tetra was 2 points? And do diagonals count for the rows of tetras? That wasn't very clear

<C01> A TETRA is worth 1 point if CONTAINED in any GOAL and 3 points if STACKED on any GOAL at the end of the match, for the alliance of the corresponding color.
<C02> Any ROW of three GOALS OWNED by the same alliance at the conclusion of the match is worth 10 points for the alliance. There are eight possible ROWS.

If there are 8 rows, then, YES! diagonals do count.
And definitely three points. *points up*

[karinka13]

Thanks for clearing that up :) .

[Enterprize]

LOL "Bling Bling for the brain" - Woody FlowersBest quote ever!

Tetratic tic tac toe....sounds like an interesting game this year =)

Good luck all!

[LauraN]

What I seem to understand is the following:

Each capped tetra: 3points.
Each tetra UNDERNEATH the goal: 1point.
Each ROW of blue/red tetras: 10points. (Think Tic-Tac-Toe)
All 3 robots behind starting line at end of match: 10 points.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's like a giant tic-tac-toe game with lots of bonus opportunities.
I think it'll also be interesting to see how the game develops in real time. Think about it, you'll have to stay out on the field to the end of the game to get a row of tetras because they'll be switching back and forth as robots cap over other robot's tetras. But the bonus for one row and the bonus for being behind the line are the same. Hm...what will everyone go for? It should be fun to watch.

On the other hand, I feel bad for scouts. This is going to be so hard for any one person to follow!

[Petey]

I'm wondering how many times tetras will be able to be loaded, realistically. You're talking about a pretty intricate action--noticeably more intricate than Stack Attack--with the additional complicating factor of the scoring objects starting off of the field, not on it.

--Petey

[Jedi Padawan]

Ok so we have a giant game of tetra tic tac toe where potentially as soon as you place a piece you may have to place another just to counter someone countering your row.... this is interesting :D

[JohnBoucher]

Are the goals anchored or can they be pushed?

[Petey]

Ok so we have a giant game of tetra tic tac toe where potentially as soon as you place a piece you may have to place another just to counter someone countering your row.... this is interesting :D

Wikipedia has a good article about tic tac toe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tic_tac_toe).

--Petey

[Sam Lipscomb]

let's say that during autonomous mode, the red alliance gets a red vision tetra on the center goal. two seconds later, before the end of autonomous, the blue alliance puts -their0- blue vision tetra on the center goal, on top of the red vision tetra. do both teams get two extra tetras capped in the corners? or just blue, because they own the center goal?

[BandChick]

As small as your team might be, you can most likely scrounge up 3 or 4 people to watch a game. Something I learned from working with 25 is their method. Each robot on the field is assigned a scout, that way all they have to follow is what is going on with that ONE bot and not with the whole game simultaneously. It tends to work out pretty well.

The one thing I'm really curious about is capping. In 2003 most robots DIDNT stack because it wasn't time efficient. Even last year, most robots didn't cap because it took much time to get the right handle on the ball. The teams that could were usually succesful, but it takes a lot of time, and often, that was all they were able to do and usually only once or twice an entire match. Has FIRST taken all that into consideration?

[Stephen P]

I'm wondering how many times tetras will be able to be loaded, realistically. You're talking about a pretty intricate action--noticeably more intricate than Stack Attack--with the additional complicating factor of the scoring objects starting off of the field, not on it.

--Petey

I think it will be much easier than stack attack to move around tetras. It looks like they should be pretty easy to stick a hook or something through them and easy to lift. Plus, being 4 sided you won't have to orient them to place them on top of the stacks or to pick them up.

[JoeXIII'007]

Well, it looks like we won't be have 100+ point games this year.... Is this a good thing? I think it might be... Closer pointed games means more intense competitions....

What do y'all think about that?

Dave

The low-point value is what makes this INSANE game fun! :D Just as long there is no heavy damage sustained on the robots from possible wrestling matches on the field. NO BATTLEBOTS! Please, none of that this year.

That in it ownself is what makes this game awesome. With the exception of possible defensive manuevers that may have a little bit of rough play, the game has no CENTER goal (as a rumored game hint stated). So no king of the hill or fight for the bar. YAH!

Modularity, simplicity, and multiple strategy, ingredients for a great game.

[Gal Longin]

Can contain more than one tetra inside a single goal? i didn't see anybody say u can't, but on the other hand nobody said u can. :ahh: :ahh:

[Joe Matt]

Can contain more than one tetra inside a single goal? i didn't see anybody say u can't, but on the other hand nobody said u can. :ahh: :ahh:

As many as you want. The one highest up on the bottom, without any stacked on top, is considered to own that goal.

[Pin Man]

This game is so sick!!! Like I said from the beginning 3 vs 3!!! and I even won 5 bucks off it beccause another team mate said it wasn't possible!!! yayayay... a little dissappointed that the HP doesn't have that much involvement this year but I guess we'll see... I can't wait though... This seems to be such a great game and the competition is going to be intense!!! GOOD LUCK ALL!!!

[IMDWalrus]

I don't see much diversity in the robot designs themselves this year - there's really only one goal to accomplish here, that of stacking the tetrads. This is going to come down to the humans...the drivers, human players, and programmers in particular.

Programming could be vital here - I really do think that autonomous could be a deciding factor here. Then again, who knows how things will shake out?

[Gal Longin]

As many as you want. The one highest up on the bottom, without any stacked on top, is considered to own that goal.

I didn't mean how many tetras you can stack on top of a goal. i meant how many tetras can be Contained inside a goal. it seems as if there's only room for one but i'm not sure about it.

[kevin.fort]

Are the goals anchored or can they be pushed?
they are anchored i remember someone saying possibly with velcro but they are not supposed to be ablt to be pushed

[kevin.fort]

I don't see much diversity in the robot designs themselves this year - there's really only one goal to accomplish here, that of stacking the tetrads. This is going to come down to the humans...the drivers, human players, and programmers in particular.

Programming could be vital here - I really do think that autonomous could be a deciding factor here. Then again, who knows how things will shake out?
yea autonomous mode definitly seems importand as opposed to last year especially. because it is possible to score points in autonomous mode as well as receive a bonus that can only be received in autonomous mode

[Matt Krass]

let's say that during autonomous mode, the red alliance gets a red vision tetra on the center goal. two seconds later, before the end of autonomous, the blue alliance puts -their0- blue vision tetra on the center goal, on top of the red vision tetra. do both teams get two extra tetras capped in the corners? or just blue, because they own the center goal?

<G10> If during the AUTONOMOUS PERIOD a VISION TETRA is STACKED on a GOAL located on the edge of the field, a bonus TETRA will be STACKED on the nearest corner GOAL in the alliance END ZONE. If during the AUTONOMOUS PERIOD a VISION TETRA is STACKED on the CENTER GOAL, a bonus TETRA will be placed on both corner GOALS in the alliance END ZONE. All bonus TETRAS will be STACKED on the GOALS by field attendants at the earliest safe opportunity after the end of the AUTONOMOUS PERIOD. Once the AUTONOMOUS PERIOD ends, all VISION TETRAS are treated and SCORED as regular TETRAS for the remainder of the match.

It doesn't seem to make any distinction between one or both alliances getting bonus Tetras simultaneously, anybody else wanna toss their $0.02 in?

[Joe Matt]

I didn't mean how many tetras you can stack on top of a goal. i meant how many tetras can be Contained inside a goal. it seems as if there's only room for one but i'm not sure about it.

Sorry, must be the sleepyness talking. You can fit four tetras on the bottom, not stacked. You can fit way more, didn't have enough time to try it out.

[Alaina]

Why the third-grade safety presentation?
I believe that was the winner of the safety animation contest that was done a few months ago.

Question: If a tetra is on top of a goal and below it, does it count as a row?