Re: Next Year's Game?
 

[Compleatly_off_but_entirely_necissary] Water Game? :D
Battle Bots?
Allowence to put speakers on robot's?
[Compleatly_off_but_entirely_necissary]

I'd like a 25-30 second autonomous where there is a bonus or multiplier for scoring.
Also, Less focus on the human players, A LOT less focus.
Longer lasting batteries
No bumpers(I mean, it'd make matches a bit more fun to watch)
Non-Round shaped Game objects(Inflatable cube?)

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

Overall I liked the basic concept of the game but it had several flaws.
A few things I enjoyed from this year:
1. A return of defense. Though most of the big elimination alliaces didn't rely on this much, many matches were won with defense.
2. Way less robot penalties. I hated all of the touchy penalties in 2008. (Although HPs cost many teams this year wins due to simple mistakes).

Things that need to be changed:
1. Way less HP importace. As a HP I cosistantly scored 1/4-1/3 of my alliaces score and I'm only average. Also HPs had way too much importance with the end of the game bonus.
2. More attonomous please.
3. Optional bumpers.
4. Please don't limit our drive train again. This takes away so much diversity between teams.
5 Just stick to carpet. Our team had no way to test our robot on a comparable surface this year because there was no way we could afford the flooring.

Heres what I think would be a good game.
Have a game field with a 5 ft. wid ramp run across the middle. On each side of the field there are 2 bins for each alliace. The robots would try to collect an assortment of game pieces such as round nerf balls, nerf footballs, and some sort of cube object and deposit them in thier bins for points. At the end of the match robots could try to move the bins across the field for extra points along with battling for a position on the ramp.

Just my thoughts

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking. Game objects are on side A, scoring spots are on side B, there is a substantial barrier in the middle. I was thinking of a 4x8 on edge, but 12 inches is OK too.

Or, a wall across the field three feet tall, with a steep ramp/bridge over it on both ends, and a tunnel through it right in the middle. Either go short or climb well -- either will do.

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

Autonomous mode: Robot opens bag of ice
Tele op: Put ice yogurt and fruits into blender and make smoothie
End Game: Deliver smoothie to human player

Whoever downs the smoothie first wins.

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

I would like to see:

- multi-level & multi-surface playing field
- multi-object scoring
- moving goals
- less human player
- robot being used to gain access to different levels/heights (2007 end game)

last and the one that most likely won't happen:

- robot interaction that drivers won't know about that determines something in auto that goes into effect in end game (roulette scoring bonus/multiplier)

This would make it harder to tell who is really going to win. This past year if a team was wining by an outrageous amount (100-20) you could kind of guess they were going to win but but with closer scores at the end of a match (70-60) with human error in real time scoring teams could have pulled ahead which makes the win more exciting.

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

Game Piece: Construction Cones
Game Field Elements: Jersey Barriers

Bring back the rules from 04 (no bumpers, and wedges were allowed)

prety much the opposite of the things i listed in the lessons learned, the genitives thread

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

There's another competition for that. Let's stay on dry land. (Preferably carpet.)

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

what if they set it up so you couldnt actually see the field and you used the camera to see where you're driving? it would be an interesting challenge and something that FIRST hasnt done before.

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

This is a fun idea. Bring full teleoperation to the competition -- control delay built in, operators have limited vision, and random changes are made to the environment. For example, have opaque control stations and a field that contains field elements that are moved around randomly just before the match starts. Almost any game could work, but I think something skilled and intricate (Triple Play) would be better than a skill and volume game (Aim High, Lunacy).

Having a control delay built in, especially a variable control delay, would put a premium on autonomous robot routines outside the autonomous period. It would also take sensor use to a new level. Interesting approach.

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

I think there is something to take from this year in terms of designing the "perfect" game as well as things to never bring back again. I'd like to see..

1) Never penalize a team/alliance for doing well (G14)

2) Allow human players to introduce game pieces and in some cases do it strategically, but don't allow them to score. This is a ROBOT competition.

3)Strategy this year was huge and I think it's necessary for a good game. Avoid creating a simple dominant strategy, give teams flexibility.

4) Auton bonus. Simple as that

5) Probably unrealistic, but look into a bigger field. The massive tie-ups this year and in '08 brought the games down.

I'm looking forward to '10 already.

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

Hmmmm...sounds a lot like a water game! (check out team 17)

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

I dont know about ya'll but I loved the Robo Coach........... mostly because that was my old team's (145 at the time) strong point. Plus it never had a huge chance of teams getting it to work, I mean the CMU Cams (or whatever they where) got what a 3 or 4 year run before being replaced.

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

i second the "- non spherical game pieces" mentioned at the beginning. It would bring out a lot more creativity then we had this year, with many dumpers and shooters.

Just my $0.02

--Philip

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

They're going to keep the playing field "leveled" somehow. Probably not Regolith again, but something like that in terms of making the veteran teams skip a beat.

I can guarantee you with the economic climate there's not going to be a huge expensive game piece like 2007. Simple will be the name of the game, and inexpensive ramps and goals will be used over giant spider things.

Re: Next Year's Game?
 

Sorry if someone wrote this already, but all me have to do is scan the market for toys that are no longer produced and we will find the game piece for next year.