Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

Madtown Throwdown Throwback replayed the 2014 game this year. It was interesting to see how even games with weak alliances could be exciting. And of course, stronger teams had to make weaker ones look better.

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

With no personal bias (okay a little), I'd have to say Ultimate Ascent.

With the huge diversity in robot design, a unique strategy could be made for every single match, with combinations that most people wouldn't have thought of until it actually happened.

For example, the "ideal" alliance was a full-court shooter pumping out discs, a robot with ground intake to clean up any missed shots, and a fast cycler utilizing the loader on the other side.

However, there were times when alliances would be double FCS and a cycler, and those alliances sometimes outscored the ideal ones.

I've been doing match planning for my team for the past few years, and Ultimate Ascent was easily the most entertaining to plan.

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

I agree.
One of the best games where strategy was important to the very end!
I do hope however we never get a game using the triangular shape.

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

Hopping on the bandwagon here.

Like Edwin I value games with a large strategical depth first and foremost. With secondly the intensity while watching.

For me 2014 was that game. Incredibly deep strategical plays, and people were creating strong strategies and brand new plays even up to Einstein finals. So in keeping with the 1-10 scale.

1- Aerial Assist 9.5
2- Ultimate Ascent 9 - Deep strategical plays, very distinct types of robots. New combos
3- Rebound Rumble 7 - Some ball starving techniques and an epic conclusion to matches.
4- Logomotion 6 - Minibots were cool, but were more predictable. Some interesting tube starvation.
5- Breakaway 5.5 - Ball starving and some limited defense. Zoned robots interesting. Rip dawgma penalties
6- Overdrive 4 - Interesting watching robots shoot massive balls. Understandable game. Tipping robots. Lots of bumping.
7- Recycle Rush 3.5 - Fun first 0.6 seconds of the match, match strategy very limited, auton too challenging.
8- Lunacy 1.5 - zzzzzz. Terrible livescoring, slow, supercells were kinda lame, lame auton. Interesting teamwork.

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

OCCRA and VEX have done similar style of games using balls and cylinders as scoring pieces, and the games were great to watch.

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

For qualification rounds, 2012 was the best. The bridge balancing was something really exciting that nearly every match contained.

2013 was really solid all around.

For elimination rounds (ignoring silly penalties), 2014 was the best. The high level teams had a multiplying effect when playing with each other, making matches really good. In other years the effect of good teams playing with each other was more additive.

Overall, I have a slight preference for 2012. It would have been a clear win though if triple-balances had been allowed in quals.

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

Ultimate Accent was a perfect balance of robot-on-robot and actual scoring. It was a fun game to drive and spectate, with lots of projectiles, fast robots, and an open field to mess around on.

From a design standpoint, it also was fun for students to work with stable aerofoils as opposed to the various spheres used in many FRC games. I understand the goal is to teach students to engineer solutions to complex problems, but in a learning environment, building a robot that you could dial in to land every. single. shot. was a real affirming expirience. It was a clear indicator to the teams and students that they had achieved their goal.

Also, we got a bunch of frisbees to mess with during build season. ::safety::

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

Please ignore the "walked 7 miles to school uphill both ways" nature of my post, but Richard brought up a few factors above that help support my theory that 2004 was one of FIRST's best games from both a participant and spectator's point of view:

• Projectiles are always super fun! Great for spectators and the element of unpredictability is exciting.
  
• Ending hanging points, and subsequent defense of the hanging bar, caused some of the most intense match endings I've ever personally witnessed.
  
• Autonomous mode was still somewhat in its infancy, but the great drop of kickballs was exciting (especially for teams that built giant funnels).
  
• The raise in platforms was a distinct design challenge for many teams.
  
• The high goals and low goals, and the 2x doubler ball, gave an opportunity to teams of all levels to build a robot that could contribute on the field.

...and finally, my favorite aspect:

• A really wide range of designs could effectively play the game. Funnels, hangers from the floor, defensive hangers (these were awesome), 2x ball manipulators, quick driving defensive bots with last-second hangs, and even a few robots that could do almost all of the tasks.

Having been on a GDC, designing games is hard. SO hard. Designing a game with a lot of the above points without it being too "busy", or having too many tasks for one team to complete, is harder. Designing a game where all levels of team experience can contribute to the gameplay is harder still. And on it goes. My hat remains off to all GDC members across all competitions, because it is truly a tough job to get just right.

tl;dr: 2004 remains my personal perfect mix of excited spectators, a unique spread of robots, excellent visual gameplay, good scoring spread among tasks, and being an interesting engineering challenge. YMMV. If you aren't familiar or haven't watched videos, you should check it out.

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

It's my favorite in my heart, but I always feel like I'm being biased because it was my first real game and my team had a good robot. When I try to be objective I put Aerial Assist higher.

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

Having only participated in Recycle Rush, I'm voting off of what sounds best. I voted Lunacy. I know what I'm doing! ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

I think Aerial Assist should be on the list with "Best game to watch/coach"

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

Preach!

Also, this thread asks two different questions, IMO. The thread title asks "What was the best FRC game?". The poll asks "What is your favorite FRC game?".

For me, those answers are different.

Re: What was the best FRC game POLL
 

It would be interested to run these results taking into account the number of teams that participated each season.

I picked Ultimate Ascent because it was spectator-friendly, featured defense, and allowed for a large number of different designs.