Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I think that it would add an interesting challenge for the robots... You would have to be able to determine your position at the start of the autonomous period.

In the case of last year's competition, you would have had to find the green light at the start of autonomous. I think that FIRST may want to move towards this, because it prevents some of the defensive autonomous programs that were based on scouting the path that other teams took to reach their firing position.

If this is the case, I think it would make for a very exciting finish to every match!

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

That would all depend on the length of the post match autonomous period. With a 10-15 second period, assuming you were facing away from the light, you would most likely not be able to do anything. However, this would make for an interesting strategy where position at the end of the match was really important.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

This picture could mean so many things... but I think that some of these ideas seem to click together:

• Obviously the number 5
• A diamond plate. That could refer to the home base on a baseball field (5 sides) or the actual baseball diamond itself
• If it is relevant to baseball, then the number 5 could refer to the thrid baseman. Some other people have found (through wikipedia) that the number 5, in baseball, refers to the thrid baseman.
• The thrid baseman has to have great reflexes and an ability to throw long distances (as well as short of course). Could this describe the characteristics that our robots might need to have???

So maybe this year's game will gave something to do with baseball? someone else mentioned that last year's was kind of a combo of basketball and soccer, which is true...

The only problem is that it doesnt fit in with the "squish meets squash, rise and wash". any ideas??

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

i think there wouldnt be much of a problem with the autonomous at the end of the game, because the drivers would already be over the line and at the controls, so if the robot was gonna do something stupid you can disable it before it hurts someone and you dont miss out on the rest of the match. the random position at the start thing is a nice idea i think because it gives an advantage to those teams that can do the camera and encourages research into the camera and creative thought/programing. $0.02

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

It might not be random if you make sure you're in a preset spot before autonomous mode kicks on.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

54 pages. Definitely one of the longer threads I've seen. Anyway...

Five sided game piece. I would say it be made of plate but that is pricey unless it's a critical piece (Similar to vision tetras.)

Anyways, I think it will be something good.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

No.

Interesting quote from Dave in 2004:

Found it here.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=19

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

No friggin' way is it a water game. It would take double the 6 weeks to make something completely nautical. Plus, not every team could duplicate the field for practice. Third, imagine the cleanup and setup that would have to happen at the competition. The blue background looks like a computer-drafted image as it has artificial lighting and perfect curves.

I speculate that this year is going to be something that is as complicated as anything. Remember, these clues are notorious for being throw-offs. I think last year's unofficial clue was "the fox is in the hen-house" and that had nothing to do with Aim-High.

Logically, they have had us push, stack, shoot. What more can they do? I am betting it is something where we have to transfer objects with master precision.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Okay, I've just skimmed the thread (I'm not crazy enough to thoroughly read the whole thing), so I've probably got the same opinions about the game as a zillion other people by now. That being said, I believe that much like Triple Play of 2005 bieng all about the number 3, this year's game is all about the number 5. I saw a post suggesting the game's name bing "High Five", and I wouldn't be shocked if it were true. I also wouldn't be suprised if it was 3 versus 3, with a backbot similar to last year. That also means the field would have to be split in half, with offensive and defensive portions, and possibly a neutral portion.

The main feature of that picture seems to be the number 5 on a circular piece of diamond-plated steel. The first thing I was thinking of is the five of diamonds, and from my skimming of this thread, I know I am nowhere near the first person to think of that. So my prediction is that the field will have five diamond-shaped goals (or scoring areas), arranged in such a way that from overhead, the field looks like a five of diamonds. There will be two goals in the red zone, two goals in the blue zone, and a neutral zone comprising the center goal. The periods will be similar to last year, with one backbot being unable to go beyond the neutral zone during their alliances' offensive period (making it 3 vs 2 in the defense's favor). The center goal will be ginormous (yes, I said ginormous; the tallest structure in FIRST history), and at the end of the match, all robots will attempt to get as high as possible on said goal. The highest robot gets extra points, then the next highest gets fewer points, and so on. The scoring pieces will be flat and circular, a la the '97 toroids, or everybody's favorite sleeping implement, the '99 floppies (with an outside chance of soccer balls, due to the pentagons soccer balls have).

Now for some ideas completely from the middle of nowhere. There are two things I've always hoped for in a FIRST game; a pentagonal field, and a truly vertical game (where the robots go vertical themselves; keep in mind I'm still reasonably convinced that High Five has a good chance of being this year's game name). While my ginormous structure from the previous paragraph is only a simple tower, imagine a structure 25 feet tall with floors at five-foot intervals and ramps to take them there, all spiraling out from the five sides of the playing field. Goals and scoring areas could be perched at the edges, and the higher goals are worth more points, and the higher levels are worth more when you're there at the end of the game. Imagine using decahedrons as a game piece. Yes, I know how ludicrous that all is, but I can dream, can't I?

Another idea I saw earlier on was for a spining goal(s), and that'd add an interesting dynamic that we haven't seen in a decade. Maybe there's a circular puck similar to Double Trouble. Perhaps we're looking at five-point frisbees being the main game piece this year. Maybe there are five different scoring pieces. Maybe Dave Lavery is sitting in his office reading all our posts and laughing at how wrong we all are. The possibilities are endless.

And BTW, props to Mr. Lavery for somehow outdoing "green heights of Montana" in terms of cryptic game hints.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

how bout this well find out the game withing the NEXT TWELVE HOURS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH so exciteing cant wait:ahh:

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

we find out in 5!!!!!......for us on the east code!!!

whoever said water game. It is time for a timeout. Go sit in the corner and think about what you said!

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

It is about 2 hours to kickoff and im posting this. :p

Well, last year the hint was:

Now, one had to refer to each word seperately for one to analyze the meaning, such as "spade" being another word for "shovel", and therefore refering to David Spade's sitcom, "Just Shoot Me." Once this had been analyzed, we knew the second line referred to a game feature that involved shooting an object. (Poof Balls).

That was just an example. How does this relate to this year's clue? Well I decided to analyze the picture and wrote down all the words that came to my head, much like what had to be done last year. They were:

• Circle
• Diamond
• Plate
• Blue
• Light
• Five
• Black
• Number

After thinking about it and reading over responses on this forum, I saw that some members mentioned the clues have a history of referring to baseball. So I thought some more, and figured something out. The words "Diamond" (as in Baseball Diamond), "Plate" (as in Home Plate), and Circle (can be interpreted as running around the bases) all refer to baseball in some way, as you can see. So, i decided the game may be played on grass this year instead of carpet. It's also possible that the object of the game may resemble Baseball in some way, possibly having 5 bases instead of 4 (that includes Home).

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Yup.. innertubes. Bah. Alot of people figured it out, I guess that's good.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Not too bad, took us until pg. 8 to figure it out :)

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Wow. That's dead on (on page 8). Wonder how Dave reacted when he saw it.