Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

does anyone else see ripples in the blue background? maybe we must float five manhole covers across a pool or something...

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Would you like me to tell that to my sister?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Float?!? that'd be quite a feat . . .:rolleyes: :)

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I can guarantee it's nothing to do with water. I got an account for this just because of something I noticed in the picture that I don't think anyone has mentioned and thought you would all want to know. Maximize the picture after clicking on it and look very closely and look at the background very closely at the far right side near the center. What do you see? That's right, faces. Cartoon faces in a crowd, which points out many things. This is most likely a screenshot from the instructional video they are going to show saturday, whatever this object is it is upright and see-through, as well as quite large and circular judging from the size and distortion of the faces. You can also spot faces faintly in the top left corner suggesting that the object is towards the middle of the field since it is visible from such different angles. The rest is just speculation, but I'm guessing it is a large hollow goal or basket of some sort as opposed to an inner tube because i doubt an inner tube or anything inflatable would have diamond plate holstered to it. Another guess is that this is one of five near identical objects, or that there are a different number of these and the five is a point value. Does most of this sound at least somewhat plausible?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Yeah that actually does. Rep Points if you hit the nail on the head - only one way to find out T-1 Day 21 Hours 20 Minutes

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Has anyone thought about 5 vs 5? The field would have to be really big or really empty but someone mentioned basketball and thats what made me think of this.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

This kind of looks like a banana.
http://www.bluefinrobotics.com/index.htm

Ya know.. just saying. :eek:

Ok that was a joke..

But.. I'm not giving up on my volcano idea.
In fact, I had a crazy thought.

Who remembers the tv show American Gladiators?
What about the game Atlasphere?
See what the goal of it is??
It was to seat a large ball in a volcano type platform for points.
Sounds good to me.

http://images.google.com/images?q=tb...atlasphere.jpg
http://images.google.com/images?q=tb...diatorball.gif



Get what I'm saying?? :D

Ya know.. kinda like a large Golden Ball inspired by Google?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

well dave is at it again....

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

what's in the clue?
I've attached 2 pictures one of the original clue with the tone levels adjusted.
three areas of the picture were processed differently :
the "5" was lightened to bring out the diamond pate bumps showing through
the diamond plate was left original
the background was enhanced to bring the rather compressed range of data on the three (RGB) channels to full scale
A) in the original it look like we're looking through a blue filter that has been distorted by the diamond plate
what we see behind the diamond plate looks like
B) a large ball in the center foreground
C)in the lower left it looks like a smaller ball ( this could be a head but I think that is just jpg aliasing with the filter warp )
D)on the right hand side it looks like the edge of the playing field with another line for the edge of the crowd seating
E) above the ball there are three bands that could be large rings or hanging slings
F) between the bands we can see heads of the crowd on the right they are oriented vertically but in the upper left they are distorted to be tilted counter-clockwise whereas in the upper right they are distorted to be tilted clockwise

the second jpg is a guess of the picture with the diamond plate and the blue of the filter removed

What about the Diamond plate? First likes obscure clues. Others
have suggested a baseball theme. I will push that a little further.
diamond plate - diamond could both suggest baseball but also more specifically the diamondbacks - a 5 covering the plate would suggest the catcher
#5 for the Arizona Diamondbacks is Robbie Hammock who's historical contribution to the history of baseball is that he caught #51 - Randy Johnson's (the Big Unit) Perfect Game ( the 17th in MLB ) in Atlanta on 5/18/2004

odds and ends: the 12 diamond repeats across the circle => 18" circle
the "5" font is bold arial

What's it mean?
Game Name - "the Perfect Game"
Game pieces - large and small balls
Goals - rings or hanging slings ( Hammocks )
field - 4 goals at center of each side + one center of field ( 3 line up as in picture) center of field raised diamond plate platform ( pitchers mound )
BLUE and RED Lights above goals to say which are active for scoring for either team ( from Blue filter )
other - if the diamond plate - "manhole cover" is hanging vertically as in the picture it could be used to toggle the lights on the goals

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I haven't read through all of these comments but I am really agreeing with the few people that suggest that it relates to the home plate in baseball. Baseball diamond...5 sided home plate. I think this is key when you consider how previous clues relate to sports. I.E. the triple play clue.

I also have been waiting for FIRST to use smaller balls in the baseball or tennis ball size range. I don't know if they have used them in the past but in my history they haven't. I think this would be a neat eliment. I am tired of the kickball sized balls.

I also think people are looking way to deeply into the colors and background. Past clues are usually tricky but easy to figure out by simply typing in the clue in to google.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I am just throwing this out in the open but what if the shape of the field maybe changes this year maybe a circle, or a triangle?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Here's what i am thinking, since a water game could present expensive problems, what if FIRST decided to use a gamefield wall made out of some sort of light distorting material, kind of like a funhouse mirror. When you look thru it you would see what would resemble looking into water; a distorted, wavy image. This would hinge on the game being water based and this is just a guess, looks like we will find out come Saturday ;)

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Aerogel! That's it! The entire field will be covered in a thick mat of the stuff!

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

American Galdiator styled game would be awsome.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Hey guys... Quick thing I just found out... I was just trying to be dumb but I actually found something. And it rgards the fish.

I was on google, and I was looking at diamondbacks and all that came up was about the MLB league. Then to be an idiot I searched diamondfish (not knowing that there was actually a diamond fish). Well I came across a Monodactylus argenteus or diamond fish, and I came across something else. It also "supposedly" shines a bunch of colors of the rainbow (not like that matters). But then what are some colors of the rainbow? Blue, Yellow, Red,Green, and maybe purple? But I just found it ironic that this search turned out to be the two team colors, the color all the robots go after, and I suppose the yellow that I have read on some posts they have seen as well. I wouldn't be so sure about the purple though.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I can vouch for purple, it is a very nice color.:D

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I have given up guessing at this point it is such a vague clue the challenge could be almost anything. I'm content waiting till saturday, though if dave wanted to give us a little clearer hint I wouldn't mind taking a look.

Oh well.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Just joined Chief Delphi.

I have been reading through this thread and discussing things with my Coworker. (We are both mentors for the local team here in Pocatello, Idaho. Team 1569)

Here is our SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guess) at what the clue is: The picture is a clip out of a digital video presentation. We (the viewers) are looking straight down on a scoring platform that is worth 5 points. Guessing on the "diamond" spacing, the plate appears to be about 20 some-odd inches in diameter. The swirled colored background is simply an artifact of the FIRST video show background.

Conclusions:
1) I would agree with the "Gimme 5" title.
2) The picture is of an actual scoring platform. Which makes it too small for robots to climb on.
3) This is one of many platforms at various heights and diameters for which scoring objects are placed upon. Lower, larger platforms are worth less points.
4) In keeping with FIRST symbols, the square is due this year - so the game pieces are likely cubic in nature.
5) Also, in keeping with FIRST, the 5 point platform may be the most elevated - 6 or 7 feet.
6) Game pieces are relatively small and must be widely available. My guess here is a little mini-milk crate organizer sold at WalMart. Other small cubic organizer containers would probably work too. Two colors would be used - one for each alliance.
7) The contest is to load as many square storage containers onto a platform as possible. The higher and more difficult platforms are the most difficult.
8) The playing field has traditionally been quite simple in its construction, so I bet this year's contest will not be exotic in the field elements.

Or - Maybe the clue is the "lid" of a cone shaped bin. Different heights of cones have different points. There are ports just underneath the lids that allow small cubic storage containers to be placed inside. Each opening is surrounded by a "target" color for the cameras to home in on.

Just my thoughts

EJ

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

isn't this FIRST 15th year? 1992-2007... maybe the game will be a 15th year special.. with 5 different ways to score. thats why they didn't give us and an advance BOM. so what have the best 5 game pieces been?
Tetra from triple play, bin from stack attack, floppie?, inner tube?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

My (very) conservative guesses about this year's game:

- 3 vs. 3
- Playing field is rectangular and approximately the same size as usual
- Camera is here to stay, possibly tracking multiple colors
- Game element is something you build (i.e., tetras), not something you buy (poof balls). Great for us international teams ;)

Confidence level: 87,5% :p

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

If you look at the background you can see pictures.

You might have to invert the color in Paint first.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Possibly 5 is the number of rotations a robot must do before/after scoring or to score. Or, and I'm just throwing ideas out here, the number five on the diamond plate disc may mean that there are five areas in which a team/robot can score from and instead of the traditional flooring the "scoring areas" are diamond plated. But this is my first year on a FIRST team so I don't have any great information to base it on. :D

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Hmmm... Here are my thoughts on the matter of the game.

1) I believe there will be 2 platforms, one for each alliance. Each alliance consisting of 3 teams.

2) Each platform has 5 diamond plated "steps" that lead up to a rather large tube. The tube extends from the top of the platform to the bottom.

3) The game piece I feel will be either something made from PVC maybe like a capsule of some sort, or poof balls like Aim High. The game piece will be 2 colors, red and blue.

4) Each capsule dropped through the tube from the top of the platform will be worth 3 points. For each "opposing alliance" game piece is in the tube or in the corner goals are maybe a subtraction of points?

5) The human player is able to load the robots with the game piece. Or even shoot into the tube possibly to score some points or even take away.

6) To score 1 point you need to put the game piece in a different area other than the tube at the top of the platform. Maybe these will be located at the corners of the field?

7) For bonus points at the end is maybe dependant on the placement of robots on the "steps"? Maybe the first step is worth 5 the second 10 the third 15, etc. etc.

8) I can't figure out autonomous mode...

I don't know, I just spewed out some thoughts. I just got a headache from thinking and decided to say what I was thinking.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Can anyone tell me for sure where the whole 'squish meets squash' quote originated, because I'm having some trouble finding information to back it up...
If it has any merit, I think I might have found something possibly (emphasis on the possibly) relevent. On the TV show Numb3rs (which I've never seen) they used something called a squish-squash algorithm which makes me very scared, lest the same concept be used in the game...:eek:

-Adam N. Rosenberg on his website
Here's the link to the page where the quote came from: http://the-adam.dyndns.org:2069/adam/numb3rs/two.htm

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I can really tell that this game clue is driving everyone here crazy because 1 year ago today there less then 600 posts in the 2006 Game hint thread and as of right now there are over 720 in this one.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

What I think is hilarious is people don't decide to read the posts before they post, so we're right back at the beginning! YEAY!!!:yikes:

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Maybe there is 5 human players this year that have to stand on diamond plated sensors, I don't know why that would be true or for what type of game but I can't wait to find out.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Anybody see the four different colored lights in the background of the video?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

5 stands for the number of places a team can score.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I did, although it might just be irrelevant.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

i dont c lights but ive seen alot of other things in the pic like faces a fish ripples from the steal plate. of course the number five any relavance there?:ahh:

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Twenty-two posts left until this year's thread has more than last year's clue discussion. And we have all day tomorrow yet! ;)

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Yea, and there are 4 of them...
Red, Blue. Green and Yellow
Meaning that in different voulmes of each color it can actually create avery colo(u)r, and that Yellow is just used to lighten it up, and spot on a specif person every one and then...


ButTo be honest, it really has nothing to do with the game...i'd bet my Victor 884 on that...



Hey' dont forget the 200 posts after the kick-off that will try to explain what the clue was hinting about in this game...
There still is no good explanation for "5 bots tangling in pasta", and i am not happy with the one saying there are 5 bots playing not including the back bot...cause back bot beeing a backbot plays to, and its very important to collect poofs or whatever...

so...i wanna get till 1000 posts, and the 1000 post, is MINE.
muhahahahahaha

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

OK!

Here is a concept!

5 circular pools of water with a diamond plate in the middle. Think of a duck tank at the fair Fishing with nets for floating fishes that must be picked up and placed on the center diamond plate for points. Different colored lights will highlight scoring rings or maybe the fishing objects themselves will have lights on them. Pick up the wrong objects, your opponents will score.

Just one more abstract opinion. Come on Saturday!

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

==

5 robots (3 offensive, 2 defensive) bumping pool noodles (i.e. bumpers)

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

There most likely not be water in the game so quit thinking that there will be water people. water could damage robots and the buildings that the events are held in.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

umm maybe im just hallucinating but twhen the clue is maximized i definitely see a outline forming from the wrinkles in blue. looks sort of liek the outrline of a butterfly.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

i still think that one thing i can say fairly positively is that there will be steps this year. The outlines in the blue around the diamond clearly suggest something like that, and FIRST likes steps and we have had relatively flat fields the last two years. i think we are overdue for steps, and if we dont have them this year we should definitely have them next year so some time in that 4 year cycle the team has the challenge of steps.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Possibly...five steps? In a pyramid? With a platform on top where you score round, relatively flat scoring objects?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

didnt read the whole thread, but did anyone think it might be checkers?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Anything's possible.......care to share your reasoning though?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Ok heres my idea, actually partially my fathers.

It could possibly be around chinese checkers. Heres why. On a chinese checkers board thers a five point star surounded by a circle (each point with their own area or goal). This could suggest that there are five areas to store (put, throw, roll, slide,) game peices into. As for the amount of robots on the feild that has to be 4 robots in a two on two match style with red and blue teams. There will be five goals, 2 on each side with one in the center, and the two teams will fight for surpremacy of the feild (just like tetra attack). This is suggested by they diamonds in the pucture (a four sided figure). The team with the most game peices in a single goal wins supremacy of the goal.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I think it is a 6 point star in chinese checkers
see the link
http://www.woodentoys-uk.co.uk/image...kers_small.jpg

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

You are talking about a David Shield here...
I knew DAve would show his jewsih roots on FRC too =]

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

5 in french is cinq, and in spanish is cinco, which sound kind of like sink and sank respectively. Maybe there will be a pool with a floating diamond plate platform that we have to place something on to make it sink to score points.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

water is bad please don't think of water. if any electrons get wet you would end up shortcircuting your robot witch could hurt someone who doesn't know that it has shortcircuted.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

look in the bottom right, i circled what looks to be a butterfly or something.....i have no idea what the gome is but i found this cool
/forest

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

look in the black circle there are faces!:eek:

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Hmm.. original thought:
Kinda like 5 a day?? (with a banana) lol

New thought:

http://www.apsltd.com/Tree/d87000/e84969.asp

Kind of looks like some of the shapes in the animation frame.
I wonder if they can take custom orders for blue ones? ;)

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I do thing the backround is a distorted picture of the playing field... or at least that is what it looks like to me

Cole's Prediction
 

The follow long explanation was created entirely by me at 2 AM tonight. Therefore, it might not all be in the regular english and grammar (or spelling) that you're used to. I have attached a zip file containing edited versions of the clue. I have way too much free time when I'm not at VT.

The image is a render from the (future) 2007 kickoff animation video.

The 5 is painted or overlayed onto the diamond plate. The overlay could be from the 5 on something clear infront of the diamond plate. The latter explanation is supported by the fact that the 5 is not perfectly centered on the plate. This is further supported by the higher vertice count of the outer edge of the diamond plate.

The plate could be mounted to a field element at the top or bottom of the picture.

On the right side and the top left corner, you can find faces of the crowd. Adjusting the image shows more faces in the top left corner as well. These faces are comparatively larger than the other features in the picture. I think the faces are behind the camera and are reflections on a curved surface. I can't decide what shape the curve is. The distortion of the camera also affects the faces.

The lighter region in the top right corner seems to block the faces on the right side. This may clue to the shape of the curve.

In the top left corner, the people are being block by what looks like a smooth but steep hill. I think this may indicate a hill on the field. If those are lines painted on the hill, then scaling it in autonomous may be beneficial.

Reflections of red and blue lights can be seen in the diamond plate in the lower left. The blue and red appear to be seperate (i.e. not from a white light source). In the lower right, a red light seems to be on an edge of the field. I think a light (that turns red) is mounted above the drivers' area. The lower portion of the diamond plate is also illuminated by a green light source.

The shape on the right side edge may be one of the example-bots that populate the animations. It looks too delicate to be a field element, but it could also be a game piece.

The only mystery I can't even guess at is the wavey shape on the right below the audience. My only thought is some oddly painted platform or another bot.

I won't lie. The shape in the bottom right looks suspiciously like a fish. I hope is a bot, but it looks like it has eyes, fins, gills, and a tail.

Goodnight and goodluck

-Cole Hasson
-chillaxn@vt.edu

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

In the unmodified hi-res image I thought that looked like a hand.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Is anyone else seeing a fish instead of butterfly? It looks like Dory to me...

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I don't see a butterfly, I do see a fish, I don't know what/who Dory is...

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

i see a fish as well

dory is a characther in Finding Nemo

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

the number 5 represents the third baseman's position in baseball. The 3rd baseman is 90-120 feet from home. The 3rd base is known as the "Hot Corner" as it is where most balls are hit to.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

i see a hnad, not a fish. It could be one of the kickoff animation bots since at least one of the blue ones always has a hand/arm.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I think it is a covered and distorted field shot. You can even see the crowd of smiling faces!

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

MUAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

I'VE FIGURED IT OUT!!! NOT REALLY!!!!!!! I'M LYING!!!! SERIOUSLY, DON'T TRY THIS!!!!!!

"5" is the password for the encrypted Game Manual files!!!!!!!

You all thought the GDC gave out a wussy game hint, when in fact, they divulged the whole enchilada a few days ahead of schedule!!!!!!!

Those sly dogs.....Plastic fish as game pieces....Cooked ramen noodles for a playing field surface?? Trained chimpanzees to replace the human players......what will they ever think of next?

:yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

it didnt work, was that a joke?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

short answer, yes, that is a joke.

I'll come back with an edited longer answer in a minute.
Jane

Edit: This is a long thread now and not everyone is reading the thread in its entirety or, I suspect, any of it - perhaps the posts on the last page. If posters have not read the thread, it might be helpful to read the first few pages to get a sense of what it is and also to see that a lot of the suggestions already made are continuing to be thought about. This thread will probably grow a lot longer before tomorrow and within it, the humor and silliness of the members of our community will be evident.
It is a thread of guessing, anticipation, and excitement.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Yes. :rolleyes:

Trained chimpanzees???? I'd hope it's a joke (although with all the talk of bananas, who knows). And the robots sloshing around through cooked Ramen noodles would make me hungry all day, so I hope that's not true, either.....

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

oh wow, haha i didnt realy understand it when i read it all i realy got was that the password was that, but i shoudl have figured they wouldnt do that, well i feel pretty stupid

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Trust me on this, when Travis starts with the MUAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!
- don't believe a word he says. You're not stupid, he is just silly.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

i just noticed the background could be clear reflective balls, there is one at the bottom that is easy to see and if you look closely you can see its possible the rest of the backgorund is more of them.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Just a few thoughts, most combining things that have been already mentioned:

1) The hint is a picture -> the camera will be important again(and probably even more so)

2) No water or anything similar - safety hazard, bad for electronics, hard to setup.

3) There may be 5 different scoring pieces -> someone mentioned earlier that there have only been 5 unique scoring pieces in all ofthe games and the GDC said teams would buy more materials then they needed if they saw the materials list.

4) First is not likely to reduce the number of teams in each match - there are more teams this year and the competitions still need to fit inside of two days.

5) Well I can't come up with a decent fifth comment that hasn't been beaten to death but I wanted to keep with the 5 things theme.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

on another fourm where people sugested game ideas, some body sugested the idea of a merry go round like the ones that they have at playgrounds, just without the railings. they also attached a picture. the diamond plate circle on the clue looks exactly like the picture from the merry go round. i dont know what the five has to do with.

EGADS! I've Got It!
 

I think I may have deciphered the clue. Think about this:

In the computer language leet (1337), the number 5 = S

Mounted on a diamond plate

Blue background


and you get:


or



On the superman logo -
it is a letter S (5 in leet)
mounted on a diamond shape
with a blue background

The game has something to do with superman - what goes from there is anyone's guess - flying, moving heavy objects, heat vision (camera?), super speed, the list goes on.

Ian Jones
Project Manager, BraughtWurst Robotics, team 1571

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

This e-mail blast was sent out a few hours ago:


How to purchase the 2007 game piece? Do they send out an e-mail like this every year, or does this mean the game piece is something not commonly available or easy to get? "Game-specific" pieces...that makes me think it's a variation on something we could normally get easily, but it has to be a specific type, like industrial-grade...whatever it is.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

It might mean that the game pieces will be unique. However, it might mean that FIRST decided to buy large quantities of the game pieces to reduce the cost and increase the quantity for us. FIRST received a lot of heat from teams for last years poof supply crisis.

For those that weren't around last year...the game piece was a round foam ball made by the poof company. You couldn't find them anywhere except direct from the manufacturer. The manufacturer would only sell them in bulk for a lot of money.

PS: I really want to see this thread over 1,000 posts before kickoff tomorrow :D

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

The plot thickens! :ahh:

This is beginning to make the Jello-filled, inflatable clowns wielding Tammy Trimble's batons seem ever more so likely! :p

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

That's a definate possibility, as well. I remember how hard it was to find poof balls last year.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

The phrase "game-specific pieces" is a hard one to decipher here. There are two possibilities that first come to mind:

1. FIRST has designed unique piece created for the game, similar to the floppies of 1999.
2. FIRST has chosen a specific object as the game piece and has special channels from which to purchase them.

One conclusion that is supported by this statement is that the game piece is not one of the more available pieces of previous years like a kickball, fitness ball, etc.

Maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

If this were to be the case, then this could be helpful to all of the teams, including the international teams who have the same 6 weeks everyone else does.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

thoughts -

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I think that the game will involve squares because they have not had squares since 2003 and they have used to circle and 1 triangle games since 2003.

Just will have to wait till tomorrow

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I think we're all going to go "Oh, duh" tomorrow when we see this picture in the game animation and figure out what all those little distorted shapes in the background are.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Or perhaps it is a commonly-available piece, and that only a few will be in play in the game? If they released the info on the piece before we know what the game is, many teams would go out and buy as many as they could find, wasting time and money in the process.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I was looking around on the FIRST site while I was there to get the encrypted game manual, and I found something interesting about the game pieces. I clicked on the FIRST Store link and this is what it says:

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

What if they add a 5th division?

This would allow less teams per game but still finish the competition in 2 days.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

What if 5 minutes is the length of each whole match?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I sure hope not, I can't stand five minutes of that much excitement at a time.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

B/C there are so many teams and so little days to play the matches I highly doubt they would up the match time to 5 minutes, However I wouldn't be surprised if they reduced the match time to 1 1/2 minutes with a 15 - 30 second auto period. We shall see as I said before if there was more days to play each regional then 5 minutes can be done but since your limited to only 1 1/2 days (excluding the final rounds & awards) it would be very hard to make a 5 minute match.

Oh the Scoring Chaos :ahh:

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Chaos? What is this chaos you speak of? FIRST isn't chaotic; the rest of the world just moves in slow motion!

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I've been giving this some thought. Forget all the water and such. Water and electronics don't mix. The diamond plate represents a baseball field. Diamond as in the field itself and plate being home. Maybe they are throwing balls at us instead of us throwing them. We have to catch the balls that are being thrown at us. 5 means 3rd base in baseball after we catch so many balls we have to run for home.
Remember the KISS factor Keep It Simple Stupid.
Me thinks some peeps read to much into things.. flying fish and monkeys and such!!!!!:yikes: I will never get some sleep tonight

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

hello is anyone in there respective minds today

diamondplate is what the platform was made up of last year, am i right? of course

my guess is that it is either a feild item or the rondevous point for the game

i.e. the platform from 06
the bar from 04

the five however would suggest a scoring item maybe a target to shoot at and it would be worth five points like the center(high) goal last year.


anyway lets stop with all this flying monkey/fish and water with robots stuff
it's funny but still way too far from the point

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

There was a point? *looks up* Oh, there it goes.



The diamond plate could be literal or metaphoric; either a field object/game piece or a pointer to something else. If the clue picture is actually from the animation, I'd say it was literal.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

More likely 5 periods of play.

1) Pre-Autonomous
2) Offensive Red
3) Offensive Blue
4) Offensive Both
5) Post-Autonomous

The green cathode could be used for the first four periods, and Red and Blue ones can be used for the Post-Auto over their respective goals.

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

yup, I'm Confused - but could it be a moving target? like 1- 10 targets and are moving? target hit and relative point scored? Offense and defense positions? Hmmmm...:confused: :confused: :confused: :eek:

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I'v got Dave's Bannana clue!!!
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/badgerphone.php

and...
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/banana.php

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Either way I know our team is fired up (WOOHOO!!!), Ready and able !:) :) :)

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

Just wanted to get my official last-minute predictions on record so that if any of them play out, I can prove it later.

0. Straight 3v3. I don't forsee a change in the number of 'bots and I don't think the "backbot" concept will make a return.

1. Game pieces will be rings of some type. My original though was dive rings, but after the most recent email, they may be custom-made rings.

2. While there will be no actual water, there will be a water theme, such as fishing for dive rings. Maybe they will have magnets or metal attached to them.

3. The most interesting field elements will be five circular, diamond plate-covered "islands," large enough for one robot only and maybe one foot in height. (Basically going with a literal interpretation of the hint.) I think four will be mobile (on casters), with the intention of one robot riding the island as another one pushes or pulls it across a body of "water" to another raised platform where scoring will occur (nearly impossible to score from in the "water"). The fifth island will be special somehow. Ending the game on these islands will net an alliance extra points.

4. Rings will be scored on pegs (the hard way) or in bins (the easy way) located well "inland" on the scoring platform. They may be of varying heights/point values, and marked by different color lights. De-scoring will not be allowed, but stealing mobile islands to strand opponents on the scoring platform will be a valid defensive strategy.

Very strange, and many interesting problems (lots of flipping, for one). But, that is my final prediction and I am sticking to it. Now I can sleep in peace...

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

You were all looking for the wrong food type (bananas). With the 5 and the so-called smiley crowd, there's really nothing else left for the game to be other than this:



Less than a day, my friends, less than a day... ;)

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I like this idea...do you have insider information, by any chance?

Re: 2007 Official FRC Game Hint / Email Blast
 

I like the idea, but I don't know if they would start an autonomous period with random positioning (as would happen in a post autonomous). Imagine what would happen if a robot had a go straight RAM! RAM! RAM!! autonomous and they were positioned in an area that would lead to them shouldering and flying over the field barrier. :ahh:

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.