Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

Okay, the FTC game is out and so are an awful lot of hints and rumors to start making a game out of. This will be fun, right? Also, please keep Water game, Denim Games, Harambe Games, and Goat Games to a minimum, only bring it up if you have more to bring to the conversation at hand.
Our First Major "hint" was a FRC blog post that technically isn't a hint at all, located here, it's really just Frank nerding out about some Scifi movies and shows while also saying, "Oh yeah, and the teaser is coming". The scan be taken at face value, or you can do the right thing and take it apart bit by bit. I'll leave the nitty gritty to you, but the main point to take from this point is that this year's theme will be SciFi/Space.
Secondly, we had a supposed "leak"of this year's game animation, which are confirmed to be fake, but looking into it can give some neat ideas of what \the game could possibly be, the "leaks" were posted on CD here, here, and here, if it wasn't for the ufo-style game pice, I would say this looks like robot tetherball, where the center balls would be called "planets", I don't have any main point from these, but maybe you might get something.
Anyway, if you have any hints I might have missed, or analysis for stuff I didn't, please share so we can beat Ri3d to the punch.

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

Sci-fi/space kind of fits with the current VEX game, Starstruck. And, it's time for unusual objects according to the 4 year cycle theory. I'll expect some space-related unusual objects then, maybe even something similar to the "stars" from VEX.

Also the "leaks" are entirely a joke/prank (a good one though) and I don't think anything can be inferred from them.

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Patiently awaiting the teaser video...(tomorrow?)

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I put very little faith in any hints and speculation- but robot tetherball is a cool idea I'd never considered.

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I definetly hope we'll be shooting something again :)

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

So here are the thoughts we had while enjoying cold beverages a few nights ago.

Themes. Stronghold worked really well, I believe the theme was the largest part of that.
So, if themes are good then what possible themes are left?
Pirates?
Steampunk?

hmmm but there is that scifi hint. Oh maybe Star Trek? no that belongs to a different movie studio.

If Only Disney held the rights to some popular, generation spanning movie franchise. Hmmm oh well. Guess its gonna be pirates.

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

While I enjoyed the shooting games because I find them fast paced, I've done so many shooting games (10,12,13,14,16) since I've been in FRC. Wouldn't mind an unlimited game piece procession game like lunacy though.

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

I recently watched some videos on how cassette tape drives and floppy disk drives work. How is this relevant? The shapes of cassette and floppy disks would satisfy the "unusual object" game piece theory. There have been a lot of 1960s references from FIRST recently. Cassettes were released in the '60s. Floppy disks were designed in the '60s, but not released until 1971. Data storage game? :cool:

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

Spider-Man game confirmed.

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

2 iPads
2 Doctor Who Cybermen
2champs

Both sci-fi references are classic media from the 60's, a decade that also featured Project Gemini, a program that launched 2 astronauts into LEO.

On the weight of the available evidence: how about a return of 2v2v2?

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I really want something to shoot again. I've driven 2 years so far, and let me tell you. Stacking totes is not as fun as shooting balls :P

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Having been human player during RR, I can say that was a fun game for human players. A good mix of fun for human players and the drivers would be nice. It seemed that this year was not the most fun for HPs.

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

Except for the ones that spent like 100 hours practicing their curve ball to get it into the opponent's courtyard :D.

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Actually that would be quite interesting.
Also presumably quite unsafe :rolleyes:

Yes please. Automated shooting was one of the most interesting projects I've ever worked on

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Spiderman has been under water before.

Water game confirmed.

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Pizza? pickle chips? Pizza pucks. hockey pucks, hockey confirmed.

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Worse. Far worse.

1999 is about to get a reboot. The game piece that year: Floppies.

(OK, so that was actually kind of a fun-ish game, and the "floppies" were essentially toroidal beanbags full of foam peanuts, but still...)

Nope, confirming that once again, there will be 2 alliances on the field.

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

I am predicting that the only way to load robot code will be using a USB floppy disk drive.

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One of our mentors theorized that the "pizza and wings" sign off was hinting at a football game.

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Or using the MXP as a floppy drive port. (you have to cut off one of the pins so the filled hole lines up)

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I think its a safe bet that this year will be a Harambe wearing denim with a goat in a pool game.

But in all seriousness, I'm really hoping they will go back to a more sports theme, or maybe a futuristic theme. in my opinion, the whole Medieval ages thing was tacky and did not make any sense.

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The real game is which will load faster... USB floppy drive or Labview.

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

Heard Disney Imagineering is helping out with the game design this year. Coincidence it also so happens that Disney is also in the process of building a Star War themed section in Disneyland. Star Wars is considered Sci-Fi. Star Wars game?

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

I would honestly love it, but that would make legal a nightmare if you wanted to buy a lightsaber(tm or something) game piece for practice :P

Though I must add that Disney Imagineering is good at what they do (game animation AFAIK from 2016), so their content will be of stupidly high quality. I eagerly await their work, even if not for the game animation...

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

I beg to differ...

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

While I enjoy shooting balls just as much as anyone else, I really hope it is a shooting game with an unusual object. Probably the most interesting part of 2015 was working with the totes as there wasn't a lot of information from prior games (even though shooting the totes would have been way better).

On second thought, has the AndyMark field been confirmed to be relevant for the 2017 game? I think I remember them posting something about that last year.

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

The AndyMark field has key interfaces that are identical in function to the traditional field. FIRST insisted on that before they would approve the field for competition use so that they could continue to design game elements based on those key interfaces. So for example you could use the sides of the AM field with the traditional ends or one end of the AM field and one end of a traditional field. You could potentially use some AM pieces of the sidewall with pieces from a traditional field. FIRST switched from the old side wall outriggers to the AM ones for its fields, made possible by the fact that the interfaces between the individual pieces of the side share the same basic interface. Yes the AM side puts a round tube in a square hole but the size of the tube is the same as the traditional field.

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

From a spectators view point, it was just ehh. It didn't make sense because when I think of the Middle Ages, the last thing that comes to mind is robots.

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i will put all my thoughts out after Tuesday :D

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I decided to make a spreadsheet listing the detailed characteristics of the past FRC game pieces, 1992-2016. I also posted this in "2017 Game Speculation". There are some patterns visible here. Spheres are the most common game piece shape, while cylinders are the least common. "CIR", "CYL", "SQ", and "TRI." are abbreviations for "circle," "cylinder," "square," and "triangle" respectively. If the filler is labeled as "air", it means that the game piece is filled with air at pressure higher than that of the ambient air, i.e. inflated(soccer balls, tubes, etc.).

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Really, really hoping for a shooting game...

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^ this. Or anything where automation is a big advantage :)

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Anything is a shooting game if you want it to be. Tote cannons anyone?

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Since disney is designing the game again this year I decided to look up what's new to Disney this coming year.

https://www.undercovertourist.com/bl...rld-universal/

Will water game make an appearance?

Lunacy wheels perhaps?

The return of non 3v3 action?!?

We shall see. Until then may the force be with you ::ouch::

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

But when you think of sci-fi, the first thing that come to mind is...

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

i-pads from 2001: A Space Odyssey + Cybermen headphones = pre-cursors of Microsoft's HoloLens

As others have pointed out, it would seem cost-prohibitive to equip every FRC team with their own HoloLens. But what if Microsoft donated only two of their AR headsets per field? Without their own HoloLens teams would still need to be able to prepare properly and practice in advance of their competitions so would need some kind of emulator...

need for emulator + DLC reference = HoloLens emulator

So DLC Pack1 may include the free emulator download and a bare bones 3D representation of the 2017 field as a HoloLens "room". FIRST needs to get this to teams early so they have a chance to familiarize themselves with the technology and interface before kick-off.

I'm not sure how AR can be used in an FRC game in an audience-friendly way.

One human player from each alliance plays a Dejarik-like game on the (virtual) third level of this year's field and their actions affect the field elements on levels one and two in real time. And we get to design our own team-themed avatars.

pizza + wings + fried pickle chips + parfait = 2017 game name = "Take-Out"

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

Perhaps navigating an Asteroid field.... dealing with flying Mynocks....

Stealing plans for the Death Star


Rogue FIRST

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

[quote=Bob Steele;1607748]Perhaps navigating an Asteroid field..../QUOTE]

Wait...Space theme...Video game theme...Asteroid game............

Asteroids Game?

Re: Putting all the hints together (FRC)
 

I like your thinking.