Ball Collection By Defensive Alliance

[ewankoff]

can some one tell me the point of a backbot?
if its on defence it cant shoot and score right?

another question: do you score on your alliance station or the one across the field?

[Ryan M.]

can some one tell me the point of a backbot?
if its on defence it cant shoot and score right?Correct. The only thing it can do is collect balls to be ready for its alliance's turn on offense.

another question: do you score on your alliance station or the one across the field?The one across the field.

[Kelvin Ng]

I'm wondering...while an alliance is on defense, is that alliance allowed to gather balls dropped by the offensive alliance on the field? kinda like...stealing? =)

also, balls dropped into the corner goals are never retrieved again are they...so if all 80 balls are scored in corner goals, is that the end of the match?

[Tim Delles]

I'm wondering...while an alliance is on defense, is that alliance allowed to gather balls dropped by the offensive alliance on the field? kinda like...stealing? =)

The rules do not state that you can't pick up the balls. I hope you can cause relying on the human player all the time would not be cool. (No disrespect to the human players, its just at times its faster to do it with the robot)

also, balls dropped into the corner goals are never retrieved again are they...so if all 80 balls are scored in corner goals, is that the end of the match?

All balls entered into any goal can come back onto the field. However since you are scoring on the opposite side of the field, its your opponents that get to put the balls on the field when they want (meaning throwing them onto the field or into robots)

[Madison]

All balls entered into any goal can come back onto the field. However since you are scoring on the opposite side of the field, its your opponents that get to put the balls on the field when they want (meaning throwing them onto the field or into robots)

During your opponent's offensive period, your human players may immediately return balls into play -- either by throwing them to your BACKBOT or by loading them directly into one of the two robots you have playing defense.

Does anyone disagree with that interpretation?

[Tim Delles]

I would have to agree with that. Since i've been over thr rule book so many times and i was dreaming about it last night and i'm 99.9% sure that there is no rule that says "your Human Player can only enter balls onto the field when you are playing offense." (***This is not a rule, so please do not start to yell about it as you can say it say I'm 99% sure there is no rule that says ....***)

[AmyPrib]

100% sure. Balls go in, balls come right back out, IF the HP decides to throw them on the field.

The backbot can pick up anything on that side of the field. Also, the backbots can change dynamically throughout the match, so if your partner gets "tired" of offense, they can switch with you, like a substitution. Just as long as there is 1 backbot at all times.

[Ashley Christine]

A backbot can actually be a huge deal if you think about it, there are a lot of possiblities with what can be done with this bot. At least for a short amount of time. Gotta strategize.

And yes, the balls are constantly cycled through, but like Amy said, thats IF the human players throw them onto the field.

[Wetzel]

can some one tell me the point of a backbot?
To allow a 3 on 2 situation, hopefully leading to high scoring games.

Wetzel

[Ashley Christine]

Yeah, the more scoring, the closer the matches... possibly. :: ponders :: oh the possibilities!

[Lil' Lavery]

due to the clutter in front of the center goal in the "offensive zone" or around the corner goals depending on robot capabilities, I wouldnt be surprised to see some of the better shooting bots get on their side of the field, and then the backbot may have the oppurtunity to actually play defense. Also, against a team that is hording balls, the only available balls bay be on the other side of the field, once again bring the backbot into the action.
That combined with other tasks like gathering balls etc the backbot will have an important role

[Kelvin Ng]

And yes, the balls are constantly cycled through, but like Amy said, thats IF the human players throw them onto the field.

Lets get my thinking straight. =)

the offensive alliance scores in the goals.
the defense alliance's human players return the balls to the field.
the defensive alliance may toss the balls to the backbot or bots playing defense.
balls returned to the field by the defensive alliance HP's may be retrieved by the offensive robots, given the opportunity.

in order for the defensive alliance to have any balls to score when they go on offense, it would be best if the human players return the balls during the period when they are playign defense.

this is all so confusing =)

[Ashley Christine]

Lol, dont worry, you will get it. Watch the animation a feew times... and read section 4: The Game in the manual a few times. And then just play around with ideas.

You have the general idea already :)

[mpob]

Lol, dont worry, you will get it. Watch the animation a feew times... and read section 4: The Game in the manual a few times. And then just play around with ideas.

You have the general idea already :)

If you are on defense you want to gather, steal, collect, all of the balls,
and starve the other side of ammo.

I don't see why a team on defense would throw anything onto the field, except when the back bot, backed up to the wall and you could load it up.

if you are on defense and you get all 80 balls, and there is still 20 seconds left in that game period, why would you throw them onto the field?
You want to stop the other side from scoring!
If you hold all the balls, the offense cannot score, then when the next period happens you are on offense and you can use all that ammo!
(balls = ammo)


--Mike

[DKolberg]

While on defense, the offesive robots are on your human players side of the field, so your back bot can not be manually loaded unless your opponents will do that for you :) Your human players will have to throw the balls to the far side of the field where the back bot can collect them (as well as the offensive bots when they run out of balls).

[Kelvin Ng]

If you are on defense you want to gather, steal, collect, all of the balls,
and starve the other side of ammo.

I don't see why a team on defense would throw anything onto the field, except when the back bot, backed up to the wall and you could load it up.

if you are on defense and you get all 80 balls, and there is still 20 seconds left in that game period, why would you throw them onto the field?
You want to stop the other side from scoring!
If you hold all the balls, the offense cannot score, then when the next period happens you are on offense and you can use all that ammo!
(balls = ammo)


--Mike

Also consider that when your offensive period begins, you'd waste precious seconds loading the balls into your robots/throwing them on the field. I think its best if you threw the balls to the backbot while your alliance is playing defense.

Another interesting thought is...your opponent holds ammo for you in their robots while playing offense. Letting them score into the corner goals gives u ammo when you play offense, while only allowing them to score 1 point per ball. If you get more ammo, you may possibly score more balls in the centre goal, giving you a higher return =). Depends if the robots on your alliance can actually shoot accurately. Otherwise, it may just be better...

auto: score as many points as you can.
defense: prevent scoring, encourage the other team to miss, so you may collect their balls off the field.
offense: unload the balls into the corner goals
last period: play defense, all 3 robots block goals/gaurd shooter

or

auto: same as above
offense: score as many balls as you can, preferrably in the centre goal
defense: encourage the other team to shoot and miss (especially if your alliance is unable to score in the centre goal), or if you are able to score in the centre goal or if the robots must be loaded manually, allow them to score in the corner goals.
last period: do whichever gives your alliance a better chance at winning:

blocking robots
or
scoring

[Masterfork]

i personaly think it is purely engenious because it adds stategy to get the other defensive bots that are ball herders to resupply for the offensive period when it comes along and whey will be loaded and ready from the start,it is also very useful in that aspect it is all strategy for the defensive team because they can really get a handful of balls with the right bot design before they go on the offensive

[SoccerNerd36]

Just a thought: Wouldn't it be smart to put your best shooter as the back bot because if he can collect balls while his team is on defense, right before they become offense he can line place himself at a perfect spot in front of the goal, and unload as soon as the green light turns on. The other bots will be on offense and there will be a period of time when hes wide open in front of the goal resulting in high accuracy and high points.

[sciencenerd]

A backbot can actually be a huge deal if you think about it, there are a lot of possiblities with what can be done with this bot. At least for a short amount of time. Gotta strategize.

Just a thought: Wouldn't it be smart to put your best shooter as the back bot because if he can collect balls while his team is on defense, right before they become offense he can line place himself at a perfect spot in front of the goal, and unload as soon as the green light turns on. The other bots will be on offense and there will be a period of time when hes wide open in front of the goal resulting in high accuracy and high points.

Of course, one must remember that the backbot isn't guaranteed the run of half the field. Any other robot in the game can come there too, the only difference is the backbot has to stay there. So if it turns out that unobstructed, a backbot is way too effective, it is entirely possible that the alliance on offense will send one robot back to intercept and harass the backbot as it collects balls and gets lined up to score.