dlavery game hint
 

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ght=game+hints

So i woke up this moring and desided why not do something thing stupid and look a dlaverys game hint. It is kinda like saying let me hit my finger with this hammer, you know, for fun. It was a fish that caught my eye. I am not sure what the name of the fish was, but it has a lure, a light that sticks out in front of its mouth to attract its dinner. I wonder if this years game will have other lights to make the robots deside which light to go to and the color you need to go to changes each round. IF you are wrong i guess your robot gets eaton.

Re: dlavery game hint
 

Interesting idea. I think the camera will be critical to this year. And there will be more lights and difrent colors than last year.

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That is the Viper fish.

Key words- light organs, photophores, bioluminescence, etc.
:)

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What are the other 2 smaller fish?

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dinner

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We found Nemo!!

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Don't forget that there is also a banana on the robot :ahh: ! The banana might be a critical game piece! Either that or the lights (AKA the "lures") will be yellow... Like a smiley face. :)

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Dave said that we would know what the banana was all about in april. So i do not think it is a game piece

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I can't help but think one of the yellow eyebrows on the robot looks like a pipe fish.

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They hinted at nats the lights next year would be red then blue then green. Well our led lights on the robots are red and blue and so are the player station lights. So maybe its going to distract our robots from the real light unless you program it right.

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http://www.seasky.org/monsters/sea7a1d.html
Edit: I don't think this guy looks like the fish in the hint - he is banded with a different kind of mouth.

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Maybe the banana is just lunch....

we have to sort play a game of keep away...I dono

Only thing I would be worried about is water and possibility of moving field components (by their own power).

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Rather, the angler fish found Nemo. ;)

This concern was also discussed in this thread. However, when FIRST does use multi-colored lights, I'm sure that they will find a way around this, and it won't be too much of a problem [hopefully].

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Eureka!

I've finally figured out what this game hint means! What it really means is... [static]

"Attention, people of Earth. I regret to inform you that in order to make way for the new hyperspace express route, your planet has been scheduled for demolition. Have a nice day."

Sigh. I never quite got the hang of Thursdays...

Re: dlavery game hint
 

look above

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$@#$@#$@#$@#$@#$@# Shaun- I didnt want to be drawn into this !!

OK- the fish may or may not be an angler fish. I cant make out a lure but no angler fish I know of has broad bands. I kind of doubt that the species is identifiable from the picture

However one of the other two fish (the banded one) is identifiable as a species of angelfish. If anyone thinks it is critical I guess I can look up the species in my monograph on Pomacentrids. The third fish ( the cream colored one) is nondescript and could be a Butterfish or any of a variety of other species.

The eye missing is interesting- of course that may be a FISH EYE lens we need to deal with or some similar optical distortion. And the broad bands might be the spectral bands we need to deal with.

Barrels came up somewhere in the past-
maybe we are shooting fish in a barrel (with a camera with a fisheye lens)


Or maybe the robots are playing Canasta. At this point I dont want to think about it any more.

WC :cool:


btw- the banana means the game has a-peel

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Or maybe they are all herrings.

But then again, maybe not.

-dave


.

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Dave- they look like red snappers. Are these clues fishy or just scaled down? I wont take the bait......

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What about the fourth fish-like thing?

Daisy

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Mr. Cokely, when you said this, I looked up and saw a ceiling.

If you ever try to help Dave with clues, we are in big trouble.
Jane

Re: dlavery game hint
 

Nice with the photoshoping! But, not nice enough! :p

Also, i wonder if like the fish are robots controlled by someone on another team (the human player) and to get rid of them, you have to feed them the banana. That could get interesting! Also, what if the field is blocked off from the drivers and they can only see through a fish eyed camera, now that would be cool to see!

EDIT:After watching the Aim High animation, if you notice it is done by HavaBanana Productions. So the question is, Is the banana a game piece, or an advertisement?

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Here is my guess for the water game part.

http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/c...2&pr odid=77&

Now if i can only figure out how to get the fish out of the ball.

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I think when the going gets tough over at mission control, Dave just pulls up one of these threads and cozy's up to a box of butter fried KK's for some comic relief...:p

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SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Don't give out all of his secrets! ;)

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I'm not sure if you are talking about the pipefish reference but this is a pipefish.
http://www.sheddaquarium.org/sea/fac...int.cfm?id=107

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Hmmm....
I see only three fishes and a banana (representing low hanging fruit?) on top of a blue robot which is behind the blue line or blue starter box.

It looks like the robot is about to start a match and the fishes or game components are ready to take the banana (token?) from the blue robot. Or have to feed the "viperfish."

Two types of fish may represent to types of game pieces; one predator and one prey.

(Some crazy idea when I'm tired!) :yikes:

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Daisy

Re: dlavery game hint
 

wait!- fish travel in schools and students travel with schools. Maybe the students will be on the field and be operated by the robots......

fish on a plane- Dave's favorite movie

the significance of the banana- Havabanana productions- the makers of the game videos (aka Dave's alter ego)

of course the banana might symbolize the destruction of the rainforests for banana production resulting in the loss of coral reefs and fishes due to sedimentation and an allusion to the FRC playing an Ocean Odyssey game like the FLL kids played last year.

The missing eye in the fish symbolizes our blindness to these important global issues. The haziness of the entire scene might mean that fog generators will make clouds all over the playing field to blind the robot cameras and baffle the drivers.

Or I might just be wading deep in a noxious brown material....

WC :cool:

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aha.... yellow eyebrows?
or special sensors to detect the yellow fishies?
:)

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Well Dave is pulling another trick on us with the banana (if you know Dave well enough, he loves to play with our minds)... he will have the other dave say during the einstein finals...

... so now we are going to have both alliance compete on a special field. The field is full of sand, instead of the traditional carpet. Robots will have to run around in the sand, hence it will be hard to control but we believe you have the ability to pull it off. so here we go...

... oops, I was just kidding you know...

p.s.- Dave... I am still not falling for it. 3 more months...

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I see it!

I was looking at the picture vertically, rather than horizontally, because I assumed that if the fish did not take the properties of refraction of light through a substance, neither would anything else. But there is definitely a blue robot there.

Daisy

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I'm very attached to the pipefish...even if it is probably silly.

If we have to deal with this water stuff, pipefish are way cooler than vipers or angler things. Those are just nasty. uck.

Mr. Cokely - please don't give up your day job.(j/k) :)

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As far as the pipe fish go, if you look at last year's animation, the blue robot has the exact same ones.

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I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before,
but that robot and the banana have been used before in the 2005 game animation, the robot was the "defense bot" in the video and the banana came at the end with the credits. The banana was the last thing that showed up on the screen before it ended. And it said "Another Havabanana Production". Maybe the Banana and the robot are just signs that it is a Dave Lavery Production. And they may have no relevancy to the 2007 game.

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Hey, I just hope one of my new coolness drive train ideas will be viable in the 07 game! (no slick ramps.. no slick ramps!) (but stairs are OK!)

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The banana means that yellow is the fourth color.

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Just a though, but when you look threw water, things get distorted.

Maybe a type of glass on the drivers station that will make the field very distorted?

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Ugh, I hope not. I had enough trouble seeing the field last year over our drivers' shoulders...darn tall people.

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Why does the picture look like this robot from the video they relased?
the bananna looks like it could be the robots eyebows.

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I have a theory... Dave just felt like putting a picture of fish with a robot on CD so he could see the 300 comment thread it started...


:D

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Well then let's not let him down!

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Because it's a photoshopped screen image from last year's animation. Also most of the same animation bots were used in 2004's animation.

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Well the last time we had four different color lights on the field was in 2002 when it was four teams against the clock. Are we going to do that again? Dave's fish picture does have four fish in it.

I would also be ready for the game changing at the Championship this year. Nothing major just something to scramble the field a little. A test of our agility!

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That would be pretty interesting...

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I don't know about you guys, but the most amusing thing to do is come back to hint threads in June and just laugh at how close/far we were.

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I am not sure they will do this because FIRST wants to inspire teamwork and co-opition(spelled it wrong!) also if you had 4 teams against each other/clock you could have 3 teams gang up on the 1 team and it just wouldn't be GP. If they do they may be testing our internal-FIRST-installed-GP-meters :D or then again maybe i am bored in my study hall at school :rolleyes:

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So I guess the robot is going to have to search for different color lights. This will make the camera very important.

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After reading this thread I only have 1 thing to say.... I'm drowning throw me a lifesaver

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Well, what you need to do is put on some good rock and roll and do the Swim.
Great dance.

Just make sure that you don't
- break anything
- knock anything over
.. esp. in a public place
..like a busy restaurant
*cough* *innocent eyes*

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Hmmm..
this has been bugging me for a while now. But wouldnt it be interesting if the driver station glass was shaped like a thin fishtank about an inch wide and they filled it with water so its distorted?
Just an idea, because the picture never said it was the robot underwater, it could be that your just looking through a fishtank :ahh:

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This thought also crossed my mind...this would make the robots more dependent on sensors.

However, the safety aspect again comes into play. If they did something like this then there would definitely be more disabled robots and less intense gameplay.

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if they are going to distort the driver's vision i would think they would have accounted for safety. after reading the above couple posts maybe the human players will be out of harms way this year making it harder to be disabled.

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spearmint or wintergreen?

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Maybe the four lights represent four robots competing seperatly on the same field during qualifying, but will go head-to-head in teams of two just like in VEX. It would simplify the RP system, which some people consider broken right now.

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I don't know if anyone has seen this yet but if you look on the back of the blue robot up near the top left corner you can see a silver box with 3 colored circles in them, red, blue, and green, which gives some hint to the three colored lights. Also I saw this mentioned by someone else on the original post, the angler fish has a light at the tip of the thing that comes off the top of his head while the other two fish don't. This my represent three ways to score one camera based and the other two not. also the angler fish has a missing eye maybe suggesting that you must rely on the camera completely to score. As for the banana it is either for HavaBanana Production or to represent something will be slippery such as a ramp or maybe the scoring section. That is what I believe. :D

Re: dlavery game hint
 

So how about this take on things: Dave's hints are generally rather subtle, so I think you are thinking too much into some of the hint objects. Clearly the banana and fish represent something slippery. The juggling herrings is a further illustration of this.

Here is my guess: Either the entire floor, or a prominent surface feature will be slick - like the HDPE in years past. The trick will be that you will no longer be able to suction yourself onto the surface due to a new rule or restriction (hence the banana). Additionally, at least one of the game pieces will be difficult to manipulate - possibly hard plastic balls or similar (hence the juggling herrings).

Enjoy.

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there looks to be more to that reflexion then just the light box in fact there looks like there are to rows of lights(with the banana Between them) six in each row parallel to each other
but there a light colored shape maybe a cube near the silver light boxes

Re: dlavery game hint
 

Upon further investigation (that makes me feel important saying that), I found that the pattern of the three colors repeats across the screen. You can see it repeat through the entire "ripple". Also, I found the second banana in that ripple. So there are actually too bananas and a row of lights.


I highlighted these spots for you, click on the image for a larger view.

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look to the right of the banana and you will see the secon light row

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is it just me, or does anyone else NOT see these, i have been looking for 3 days now and do not see them.

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Clearly these items exist inside the picture. If you can't see them, then you are have allowed the aliens to hide them from you. Add a tin-foil body suit and everything becomes clear!

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Ive been telling people the aliens have been out to get me. They are going to make me the last person in FIRST to get the clue. I KNEW IT, THE ALIENS ARE OUT THERE!

Re: dlavery game hint
 

I just happen to have my handy dandy little white paper 3 D glasses sitting here at the computer and other than looking swell, I'm here to tell you they did nothing, said nothing, gave nothing away.

- you are not alone - question is, why do I feel normal sharing this? :)

Re: dlavery game hint
 

Jane, it is gratifying to know that you have not gone bananas. ;)

Re: dlavery game hint
 

Rows of lights, hmm. Disco anyone? :rolleyes:

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If you look at the space in between the top and bottom fish there seems to be a depression in the carpet. I don't know if it's a coincidence but it may mean something. I don't know a placebo, or something crazy like that.

Ya know what I've been looking at the pic so long I'll just wait till January. Or at least till the next clue comes out.

Re: dlavery game hint
 

I think you're looking way too deeply...if his hints are so subtle he wouldn't spend so much time on it.

I'm looking at the fish. They have patterns...like...stripes. As bad an outcome that would make, I'm throwing a guess that we're having our cameras look at patterns.

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During ramp riot I saw Dave walking around with a banana in his pocket. I was standing there thinking hmm...
Bananas
Bananas come in bunches
Grapes come in bunches
Grapes grow on vines
(A)
Vines can climb up walls
Next years game involves climbing up a wall or a very steep incline
Or
(B)
Kudzu is a type of vine
Kudzu "overtakes" anything in its way
Overtake means to catch up and pass something
(B1)
Next years game will also be high scoring
(B2)
Automode next year will also be a very important part of the game and who ever wins has a large point advantage

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Maybe there's just going to be a blue line on the carpet, and the bot needs to follow it or even avoid it.
if you think about it they get a Velcro line with blue on it and move it every match.

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Guys, we're making the worst connexions since when I linked fat people to Hurricane Katrina.

For the conspiracy fans, I've posted a color enhanced picture so you don't have to squint into the darkness for so long. Levels and color balance have been adjusted. There's also a super saturated version just in case you're really looking for the little things.

Re: dlavery game hint
 

Hey out there,
I notices something on another thread on Team 488 (Xbot's) Holonomic drive that piqued my interest. Dave Lavery was commenting on the drive and asked if it could climb stairs. :ahh: So maybe this year we'll be playing around with stairs.

There's my conspiracy theory for the day.

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And his Red Herring. :D

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I have a feeling, that this is going to be a pointless thread around the end of december.
Dont get me wrong, i love people throwing out ideas and getting their imagination flowing, thats what i LOVE to do. Makes me think of off the wall things and things that i dont need to be thinking about.
But i bet 10/1 that there is only 1 thing in this picture that has to do with the game. And all oif these theorys about a conspiracy with the water and the rings and every other thing. the thing that this picture was meant to do, was to keep peoples minds going on FIRST thru the off season. And it worked. good job dave :)
*But i still keep looking for more things on this picture dispite the fact i think its futile*

Re: dlavery game hint
 

At least 4 things, not 1.



.

Re: dlavery game hint
 

4 things in the greatly enhance picture

1. The blue moat (a barrier to stop the robot)
2. The fish ( objects you have to fish out on the other side of barrier )
3. Eye ball (sensor on the robot to see the fish )
4. YELLOW Banana Like this year green light (one YELLOW is brighter
indicating whose turn)

Re: dlavery game hint
 

I am fairly confident that the robot will be involved atleast to some extent.

I would start with
1.) Robot
2.) Carpet
3.) field lines

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QUICK! SCRUTINIZE EVERY SINGLE PIXEL!!!!!

Ha ha... I prefer this hint over last year's (tangling with pasta, yada yada yada...) b/c the hints are there (see quote), we just have to find them... not like last year where we actually had to come up with them- and yes, I'm lazy at solving riddles (probably because when I get nowhere with them, I get frustrated and give up)... CURSE DAVE AND HIS TRICKERY!!!

The clock is ticking towards kickoff... YAY!!!! :D

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Don't worry, I am sure we can expect a wonderful official hint at the end of december/begining of january

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Our official game hint/nights of sleeplessness should begin in about 3 weeks, right?

If we're getting this much speculation over this picture, I can't wait to see how long this year's game hint thread will be.

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WAIT WAIT WAIT

It's steganography!!!!

Quick! Somebody decode it!

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Okay, that was so obscure I actually had to wiki it. :ahh:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography

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WOOHOO, i did it on purpose to get dave to comment on it and give us an idea....


well maybe not, but hey, whatever works.

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Ok, this is what I - think - I see in our future:

a. a boatload of humor
b. a rules manual that can not be watered down
c. non-slip strategies
d. a whale of a good time building a robust robot

:)

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I dunno. a game where only one side is on the offensive would make an interesting game. i should stop staring at this picture for hours.

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I just looked at this "enhanced picture.." am I the only one that sees a hand reaching for the banana?

You know, at the 2005 kickoff, Woodie Flowers mentioned that he wished the robots could shoot the tetras somewhere, but there was a safety issue involved, then boom, we are shooting balls in 2006. Last year, Dave L. talked about trying to get a water game going, but found there to be a lack of feasibility, due to the infrastructure required. Maybe some water-esque game is coming our way..

I also can't stop thinking about the stop/go red light green light hint he gave in one of his posts.

(scurries off to watch 2006 kickoff again)

Re: dlavery game hint
 

Actually, 2001.
They tried it already--probably won't go there again.
It was against the clock, and they had to work together, then stop the robot for extra points.

I doubt that they'll do that type of game again. The finals took way too long. (4 minutes of playing time to settle one match of finals, 8 to have someone advance--not counting reset times.)

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I see it, thought of it, and decided not to talk about it. It doesn't look right is all.

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I don't see it.

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I see it.

And this probably indicates a few things

1) The game is a grabbing game (where you have to grab something)
2) Bumpers are going to be used again (probably just like the bananas)
3) They will be picking up fish and doing something with the fish.
4) Time trial? 4 or 5 vs. 0.

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OK we got 88 responses compared to 753 last year!
I'm very dissapointed in all of you!
You got two weeks to get cracking!

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1. Next Years game will have robots
2. There will be a blue alliance
3. There will be three team Alliances
4. The animation will be created by Havabanana productions

There that is it that is what there is to this picture, so lets just ignore it until we get the official hint ok :) .

Re: dlavery game hint
 

nevertheless, we press on undeterred!:D

Does anybody else see an eye and a wheelchair wheel near the banana? I'll bet that's significant.

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Are you sure there will be three team Alliances?
Some regional’s look a little skimpy and barely fill the bracket system
Det just recently reached 30.
Maybe a repeat of 2001 co-operation (4 teams one goal):D

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Then maybe everyone will be able to participate in the finals?

I dont think the number of teams matter as long as there are enough for 8 alliances in the eliminations.

I just hope there will be a simple game that doesnt require me to put in thousands of hours at GM :yikes:

Re: dlavery game hint
 

my first impression of thie year's game:

there will be at least one blue alliance robot that will use the banana as a lure to catch fish.
another possibility is that the picture is a diversion from the real game. it can't mean this year is going to be underwater.
if the picture isn't just feint, then what is the angler fish and those two yellow fish for?

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I bet the majority of those posts came in the last week. I distinctly remember refreshing my browser every minute for the last week....

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Even that's not necessary; Toronto had 10 or 12 alliances for the finals last year, and I believe another regional (I think Pittsburgh or Waterloo?) only had 6.

If we're getting this much discussion for an unofficial game hint, I can't wait to see the response to the official one.

Re: dlavery game hint
 

Looking at this picture

I am thinking that it will be a capture the flag-king of the hill type mission. Looking at it since there are three eyes and three fish I am thinking that the three fish are attacking (because they seem moving), over the boundary (the river), onto or near the eyes, which are guarding the banana which is the flag or what they are protecting. This is far fetched but maybe this will open some other minds up into thinking about different possibilities. And maybe, just maybe, the water under the banana symbolizes or signifies some sort of platform or some change in either terrain or either elevation or something to where your robot must overcome the obstacle and get. I am thinking that although this idea of mine is one sided, as soon as the buzzard rings, the banana is mirrored on the other side and the tables turn the other way. Also I am thinking you may have to replace the banana with something else for more points, like successfully replace the yellow banana with maybe a green or blue one and the banana's will be different colors for different points and maybe more than one in many locations, similar to the tetra theme, but also very different with the style this game is played.

For autonomy I am also thinking that maybe, just maybe you will have to capture the banana and that is just basic thought at the moment.

Pavan.

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Anyone know where I can find copies of the game animations from previous years. I am trying to verify a theory I developed.

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Pittsburgh had 7 last year due to a need for back-up teams.