Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

I really like the game and lok forward to it. There are so many different possibilities. Rookie/less advanced teams will be able to have a good role by pushing balls into the corner goals, while advanced/good rookie teams will be able to score in the center high goal. There are many possibilities with this game and I see a lot of different teams getting a chance to use there different capabilities. This game incorporates a lot of different tasks, and I think it will be a lot of fun :)

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

The circular goal reminds me a lot of a Quittich goal. Too bad they don't have a Golden Snitch to go after!

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

:o Wow I'm sorry, I completely did not know the dimensions of the field yet this year, it did just look more open to me. Thanks for saying what I meant, lol. :)

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

Yeah, it would be pretty awesome if FIRST could do a Golden Snitch type thing to go after, but then we would have to make flying robots....oh the possibilities. :D

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

I think one of the best changes this year is that there are very few penalties and they are reasonable. Last year we got hosed in our last divisional qualifying match by a partner that racked up 60 penalty points by accidentally bumping into opponents in the loading zone. Also, spectators and participants couldn't determine who had won a match until all the red flags were counted. This year, if you stay under 60 inches and don't purposely mug an opponent, there are no penalties - just scoring. Sounds great to me.

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

The thing I like best about this years game (aside from the obvious things about projectiles) as compared to last years game is the penalties.

Last year, you could be penalized for doing little things wrong (like not touching the loading zone, or standing in the wrong spot when you were loading the robot).

But this year you only really can lose points for designing your robot to break the rules (like by extending above 5" or reaching into the corner goals).

It should make the game a lot more fun.

- Toby

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

I didn't even think about penalties yet for this year's game. There were a lot of ways to lose points last year from penalties, and you didn't know the score until after the refs added it all up. You could lose a match or you could win a match by the amount of penalties one alliance got. This year it is a lot simpler and you don't have to think about a whole lot of specific things in order to keep from getting penalties. I agree that it should make the game more fun, although sometimes it was nice to win a match because the other alliance got a whole bunch of points lost from penalties. But you don't think that since most robots will need to be both offensive and defensive, that you'll get more 'bots hurting other robots in order to be defensive, therefore getting more penalties? I don't know, the competition manual for this year is still being downloaded on my computer so I don't know all the ways you can get penalties in this year's game yet. :)

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

I love this years game. Pretty simple yet exciting. Throw balls around or push them into the 1 point goals. The spectators will love it too, but we've got to make sure we don't accidentally hit them.

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

i think the NUMBER of penalites is essentially the same. the difference is the point value and reasonablility. Most penalites are 5 points each, except for a few severe ones (going out of bounds, etc.) Also, they've included exceptions (breaking 5' while in transient conditions, accidentally hitting another robot with an extention) to make sure that the pentalties are only incurred when the intent is reasonably clear (ie. getting knocked into another robot will not incur you a penalty, i hope)

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

Ok, I think the game is cool, but I think it's kind of against the spirit of FIRST/CD to parody a thread like that... it's pretty obvious

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

OK, so that's what it is. I forgot about that, and now I feel like a ditz. I'm going to guess that that means the balls will actually go that fast even though they're not very dense as in a crumpled ball of paper, having such low density, isn't capable of moving too fast. This really doesn't matter too much, since we saw that the balls have no problem making it to goals. I wonder why they use a 30º angle as an example when 45º maximizes the distance a projectile travels.

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

45º only gets maximum distance when you don't include air resistance. once you factor that in, the angle is closer to 30º

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

this year's game seems pretty awesome to me :D

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

I think it will be awesome as long as it does not become another stack attack where there isn't much scoring on the center goal. This is by far the most strategy intensive game i have seen in my FIRST career.

Re: Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?
 

I love it... we're playing basketball.

Schools understand it.
Newspapers understand it.
Television will like it.
This is a good media-friendly game.

I can see off-season demonstrations where the robotics team challenges the star basketball player to s shooting contest: 40 poof balls - the most scored in 2 minutes wins. How cool would that be?

This calls for some lyrics:

(sung to the tune of "Basketball Jones")

Basketball Robot, I got a Basketball Robot
Got a Basketball Robot, oh baby, oo-oo-ooo
(spoken)
Yes, I am the inventor of a Basketball Robot
Ever since I was a little baby, I always be designin'
In fac', I was de baddest designer in the whole neighborhood
Then one day, my mama bought me a basketball
And I loved that basketball
I took that basketball with me everywhere I went
That robot was like a basketball to me
I even put that basketball underneath my pillow
Maybe that's why I can't sleep at night

Andy B.