Best Stragtey
 

Hey just a poll for what people think is the best strategy they have found through practice or observation.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

Stay out of the trouble spots on the field. You should be able to win most of your matches if you pick your scoring opportunities, scout your oposition, and play smart.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

Ive got to agree, keeping your trailer empty, even if it means you wont score as much is just as important as outscoring your opponents, unless you have a disabled bot on your team, or a liability.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

Just making sure your partners understand the basics of the game (what the PS can and cannot do, and that they shouldn't drive into the opposing corners without good reason) is enough to help you win a lot of matches during qualifications.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

Make sure you and your partners show up for your matches and know the rules.
You'd be amazed how many team struggle to do just that.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

Other:

Be prepared for alliance selections. This would mean that you have a list that has been prepared carefully and with forethought, written legibly and in an orderly fashion. Scribbles on scraps does not make for a list of potential alliance partners.

Edit: I realize this thread is for game play strategy. I think this list is a part of that.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

What is my bot? Who are my partners? Who am I playing against?
I can't answer any strategy questions until I know those.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

good point...

I was trying to get a good picture of the thoughts of others since I am the only veteran drive on the team and might not even be driving this year, I wanted to get a plan together before next week and VCU

Re: Best Stragtey
 

I'm a little shocked by the current survey. It seems people still think shooters are "better" than the high speed dumpers. I can't say why, since I'm not aware of any shooter that's played so far that has been consistent from more than a foot or two away (dumping) except on very very limited occasions (read as luck).

I'm in no way biased - we made a shooter as well. However, unless the shooters in the field drastically improve, it seems that dumpers are currently the way to go, as long as they have sufficient ball capacity and a good floor pickup.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

In the absence of separate "shooter" and "dumper" poll options, I'm assuming that people from both camps are voting for the "robot shooter" option on the assumption that it covers both cases.

But yes, I agree - there is no question that short range, high volume scoring (call it what you may) has been the most effective design/strategy thus far this season.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

Strategy wise, there's no difference between a "shooter" scoring at close range and a "dumper." Look at the success that 148 and 1771 are having today, both of which could be classified "shooters." I agree with the post above me, "short range, high volume" scoring is great, but it doesn't always matter the design of the robot.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

Similarly, who are we playing with?

Certainly 3 robots will never win if all three of their strategies is defense... And if that is the case, then you are relying on human player scoring as a second strategy.:p

We had a lot of success in dc utilizing all of those strategies: 1 robot picking up and scoring, 1 robot running empty cells, 1 robot defending the top scorer, and all 3 human players putting moon rocks and super cells in the trailers when it counts! (we lost in the finals because we just couldn't evade the other alliance quite well enough)

Re: Best Stragtey
 

Strategy wise, perhaps they are the same. Shooters can score at close range, but dumpers can outperform them in terms of ball volume and rate of fire, since a "shooter" is generally constrained by firing 1 ball at a time.

By that measure, I'm not sure why people would pick a shooter over a dumper. All data points to dumpers currently being the best choice.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

You are basing your logic still on the terminology of "shooter" versus "dumper". From the beginning of the season, we designed our robot to be a short range "shooter" just calling it that to simplify terminology. We only shoot 1 ball at a time, but we shoot 5 balls/sec. There aren't many robots, either "shooter" or "dumper" that can expel as many balls as us in a given time. I can think of possibly 5. With us having a turret and the ability to adjust distance while maintaining the same rate of fire, we have more scoring opportunities than a non turreted short range system.

This whole debate of shooters vs. dumpers has gotten ridiculous. The winning robot will be a very high throughput robot that has a strong and reliable drive team and strong alliance selection and strategy. The method of delivering balls, either in a single line or 2 or 3 wide will not matter if the robot fulfills these requirements.

Re: Best Stragtey
 

win?