Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Baseball would be interesting, but they might stay away from that since this year's FTC had a little to do with baseball. (well they made it seem that way from the Demo Vid)

I think the might do something non-sports based since they've sort of gone through all of the practical sport already... well at least the sports I can think of.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I know one thing for sure............. it will NOT be a water game

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

How can you be sure it won't be a water game?

I, for one, think that a water game is very feasible (sorry if i did not spell that right). It would prove to be a tough challenge and very interesting to play in.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

water games might be interesting for older teams but rookie teams and less experienced teams might have trouble waterproofing. not to mention the safety issues that might come up with a water field.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

This idea gets beaten to death every year. The main reasons...
-Cost (pump the water in, make some sort of tank to contain the water, etc)
-Venue availability (no high school gym floor - at the very least - can take hundreds of pounds of water sitting on it for three days straight, and pools aren't exactly spectator-friendly)
-While teams would KNOW how crucial it would be to protect their electronics, there is SUCH a huge chance that something will spark and kill everything.
-Spectator viewing pleasure (or lack thereof)

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I think the might do something non-sports based since they've sort of gone through all of the practical sport already... well at least the sports I can think of.[/quote]

we're bringing back the regolith and the robots are going to curl. I'm calling it :cool:

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I LOVE the idea of dodge-ball.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I'm gonna start a new Movement

Maize Craize 2011 !!!!:cool:




And if you think I'm joking about wanting a new version of this back, your wrong.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Maize Craze 2011: Robots must complete a randomly generated corn maze, on a bed of maize.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Do you mean 2010?

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I think he meant 2011 since the game would be coming out in 2011. (no sarcasm intended)

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

aw I am sorry, for some reason I thought that next year would be the 2010 game, my fault.


maybe some day I will learn to tell time!

(it is 2010 now, so next year's game will be 2010+1 :confused: )

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Lol it's ok. sounds like you just had a brain fart. I do it all the time xD

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I have a feeling the GDC wouldn't go for a remake of a previous game; Dean's too creative for that! :p

I would like the see a new field design though. Although the rectangular field has been very effective for previous games, it would be nice to have an "out-of-the-box" design!

Spirals and multi-dimensioned?

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

1) I would think the main reason the field is rectangular is because it is easy to work with, and allows for countless possibilities. Whilst a different shaped field would be interesting, I doubt it will be changed.

2) Elaborate on the spiral and multi-dimension idea. These sound interesting, but I'm having difficulty understanding what they are exactly. =/

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Just throwing vague ideas out there! :p

Inspiration?

Oh, I agree that is easy to work with, but wouldn't it be a nice challenge for the GDC?

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Definitely an interesting idea I like the idea of multi-dimensional fields that would be a challenge. It would also require better communication skills. Ooo and maybe 4 team alliances and 3 minute matches instead of 2 *o*

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I can see it now, rooster tails of corn kernals ... and exploding gearboxes as the kernals jam the gears :ahh:

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

....ROBOT TENNIS!!!!! :D

It's not a bad idea, team with the least balls on their side wins.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Maize Craze was played with Tenis Balls! :D

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

See i do win.......I'm still for the robo-Golf thing it would be slightly different.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

The field design would be cool if you had it digitally printed on the normal rectangle field. And I seriously doubt the game time will be extended because it already takes forever to get one match done, any longer would take too long. At a regional with 34 teams, 63 qualifying matches took a day and a half. with an added minute to the matches, you would add over an hour to the qualifying matches, which already end really late. Also, with a longer game we can expect a more complex game, which will probably result in a longer reset time, which could add 1+ more hours to the qualifiers time.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I just had an amazing idea: multi level laser tag. The robots would be armed with lasers of some sort, and sensors for the lasers. The GDC would have to design a field with a lot of hiding places and make sure everyone had a working camera, but with a little bit of work this would be a really fun game.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

One thing I do want (If we have Maize Craze or not next year :P) is a 30 second Autonomous. FTC gets it, so why cant we. I feel that those extra 15 seconds could allow Autonomous to become even more important then it already is.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I would like to see this as well. Many teams this year had no autonomous, sadly :\

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I agree, It was about the only main-stream job I had for the entire build season (I was constantly helping solve problems with other programmers) and many on the team never took it as sirusly as i wish they did (It was considered something to take care off when all else was said and done :( ) to go to regionals and too see whole teams just ignoring it made me pretty sad.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I third that. A longer autonomous mode makes it seem more like a robot and less like a giant radio controlled car.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Whatever the game is, it will have a semi-easy to build field (I don't want to be the one to cut out spirals) and the game pieces will be readily available to all teams. That has kinda been a theme the last two years... Walmart just sucks at holding up their end:p For next year I have a feeling we will see the return of robot to robot end game bonus. It was kinda there this year, and it was definatly there in 2007. Maybe a game piece that is in an area that two robots have to work together to get at for the end game bonus?
I agree about the auton, the past few years there really hasn't been any benefit to doing it.
I'd love to see the return of steps, or a pit that is impossible to cross other than by another robot turns into a ramp and you climb over.
Definatly the return of bigger robots and extending outside of the start configuration during the match.
No more games where if you control one postition on the field you control the whole game!!! please!!!

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Ok, so, our team actually has had a few jokes about a laser-tag robot. Metal Mustangs did a few team bonding games of laser-tag and each time we come, we've always wanted to make a robot to play too. Maybe it's not such a bad off-season project after all...

And also, I really like the idea of a multi-leveled field. It would almost add a requirement of a camera, as well as a small athletic portion (running up and down to follow and get a good view of where your robot is).

Just a Frosh $0.02

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

we can't have lasertag robots...we dont want this competition to end up looking like this

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

That was my inspiration for the entire idea. jk

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

First ask ourselves what worked and didn't work with this years game, and build from that.

This years game had a great autonomous and end of game bonus. Splitting the field into three was interesting and it worked well with this game, but the game wouldn't have been much better or worse if the bumps were removed. In fact, I'd like to see the game with no humps and more robot movement around the field. I haven't seen a real soccer field with two big humps in it? Simplicity is a big virtue with the casual spectator that shows up just for the Saturday and doesn't know all the rules (sponsors!). There was a clear offense and defense to the game, and that's good because it fits with most peoples idea of what a competitive game is. The ball return dookickey was interesting, in that it ensured that returned balls were further away from the scorers goal and it was a kind of alliance equalizer.

Assessing the elevation/suspension bonus needed to take some time, and the added drama there wasn't necessarily a bad thing but it could maybe have been automated e.g. have the robots climb a pole and push a big red Bonus button.

The whole penalty situation has got to be fixed. Finding out two minutes after the match is over that a team lost 2 points for stepping out of bounds and changed from a win to a loss, that's pathetic. Either assess and score the penalty as it happens, or don't bother.

This years game gets a high grade from me. It was easy to understand. A good autonomous mode was a real advantage. The end of game bonus was just right, not enough points to negate the previous 2 minutes but it could make a difference. Visually the game was always moving and because "soccer" is low scoring, each goal scored had large significance.

Next years game - 3 on 3 basketball. NBA regulation ball, backboard and hoop (except scored balls get directed to the drivers station). 2 points for a basket. Each alliance has to position at least one robot in defense, one in offense. Balls enter the field overhead to the middle. Autonomous mode is shooting free throws. End of game bonus - slam dunk! (ha ha, not really, needs to be a bit easier). Or, no defense in the last 20 seconds and bonus score for hoops shot from a 3 point line. (maybe 5 points to make it worthwhile). The refs have handheld devices that instantly transmit penalties to the scoreboard.

I didn't think it all through, but there's a good basis there.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

It's already been done......

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

though i would like to see robots doing this

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I'm not familiar with FRC games prior to 2007. Which one is like that?

2010: Breakaway
2009: Lunacy
2008: FIRST Overdrive
2007: Rack 'n Roll
2006: Aim High
2005: Triple Play
2004: FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar
2003: Stack Attack
2002: Zone Zeal
2001: Diabolical Dynamics
2000: Co-Opertition FIRST
1999: Double Trouble
1998: Ladder Logic
1997: Toroid Terror
1996: Hexagon Havoc
1995: Ramp 'n Roll
1994: Tower Power
1993: Rug Rage
1992: Maize Craze

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Aim high was a basketball type game.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

FRC is definitely getting bolder. This year we used REAL soccer balls, not foam balls or some other compromise. A REAL basketball based game would be awesome and present plenty of challenges. There would need to be easier scoring opportunites than only the 10 foot high hoop, etc..

There are other real games to emulate. What about the luge or dressage or rythmic dancing or roller derby? Those are stupid ideas. That's it then, dodgeball it is!

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Everyone seems to have a lot of great ideas but the GDC is running out of options as far as sports go. After reading throught the posts I think the GDC will probably do some sort of non-sports based game. If not that then they are going to have to start partially recycling some games. But hey, who am I to say what they can and can't come up with. Maybe they'll blow our minds :D

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I really hope that we won't get a sports-themed game again next year. While 2007 was based off of Tic-Tac-Toe (to my understanding), Overdrive in 2008 was a really unique twist (and it's not something typically thought of as a sport), and 2009 wasn't sports-based at all...it still feels like we've been putting a spin on typical sports for a longgg time.

I'm still all for a recycling-themed game. Cardboard-glass-plastic-paper recycling. Just throwing that out there again.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

2007 was a revamped version of an earlier game toroid terror, I don't remember the year, but the concept was the same. I wouldn't be suprised if we see more of this in the next few years, but with a circe de sole person on the GDC who knows. The possiblities are endles... sort of.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

A little more like robot volleyball than tennis, but http://www.vexforum.com/wiki/index.php/Clean_Sweep

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

dang its already been done :/ lol

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Its not the first time they used soccer balls.

I still want to see a dodge ball game where you can get points by hitting a robot or catching a ball thrown at you by another robot(but you can only hold one ball). If you get hit you get disabled for a certain amount of time. If you catch a ball your teammates get re-enabled.

Either that or some sort of capture the flag game.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I'm trying to picture it but I cant see how dodge ball would work out. The picking up and throwing part would be easy, but the catching would be a whole different story. Not to mention, compared to humans, FRC robots aren't all that agile.

Capture the flag on the other hand is really intriguing. Robots would have to travel to the other alliances side of the field capture the flag and travel back, all while overcoming various obstacles. Maybe something like a tunnel so the robot would have to dip the flag that they're holding in order pass through. or bumps and steps. Another idea is that robots would have to help each other to get the flag. For example, robots are only allowed to extend to 5 feet, but the flags are on top of a 7 foot platform.

Capture the flag is one of those games that the GDC could really let the imaginations run wild with. Which we all know they're good for...

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Well, I'm sure some teams can make some very agile robots!

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Two words: ROBOT PONG!!! Autonomous mode of hitting hockey pucks across the field, whoever wins autonomous gets to kick the other alliance back and forth across the field, kicked alliance scores by touching the walls at the end of the field. Switches halfway through :D

I have a few ideas for an interesting game. I'd like to see a return of regolith, but in a much more...evil fashion. Instead of an entire field of regolith, we have a "mixed" field, where part of it is regolith and the rest of it is regular carpet. Not sure how scoring would fit in.

Also, I'd love to see some sort of dynamic field, where the scoring method literally changes the placement of a field element. For example, what if there was a moveable ball rack (like in 04) that could be dropped into some place on the field which blocks off that part of the field, such as filling a gap between 2 walls. Any robots which happen to be in that area are trapped until the block is cleared. It can be cleared by doing some difficult task like pulling a high-up lever, or an alliance may opt to send a human player to clear it, which any team can do easily but it uses the pressure pad system from '05 where if you leave the pad (to clear the goal) your robot is disabled until you return to the pad. A nice tradeoff to keep from sacrificing a robot while trying to free another, creating a 1v3 (or hopefully 2v4 :P) situation.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Why disable the brushes? Keep the floor clean.

What ever it is, lets keep the game simple so it is easy for the audience to understand. I like the volleyball idea. I would also like to be able to play a portion of the game using only the camera, perhaps instead of autonomous.

Also, going to 4v4 would allow for more playing time for each team. Multiple alliances, however, would tend to cause the alliances to gang up two on one. Better to stay with only two alliances but add more players to each alliance.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I'd prefer finale turning into a blind mode instead of autonomous. Perhaps 2x points for finale scores with camera only?

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Well, as cool of an idea as that sounds, I think there are some downsides to a blind mode, and the autonomous (for some teams) may be more eventful (good or bad), and because of that, its always stayed. For instance, at this year's Philly Regional, after our first semi-final match, and a timeout due to some issues, we did not top off our pneumatics system, and because of that, during autonomous, we did not score (1 ball scored from the far zone in most attempts), and the game came down to a 8-7 loss for us, and we were eliminated. The autonomous is a big portion of the game, getting rid of it would make teams more reliant on their drivers, and the programmers whom spend time making a autonomous, lose the opportunity to show what they can do in the with code, and only code.

So I don't exactly hate on the idea of a blind finale instead of an autonomous, but this blind period, although something some teams may be already used to, may be a fear to other teams. It would definitely be a challenge if ever put in a game, but also, it would be a portion were some teams may just forget about. I overall think that an autonomous period is very important, and also shows the ability of a robot on its own. Today's real world is more about creating autonomous robots on their own, not people with cameras attached to robots standing 50ft away.

And as of next year's game, can anyone think of any big leaps in man-kind that have happened 5, 10, 15, 20... years ago, think about Lunacy and the Moon landing.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

When thinking about autonomous ideas, people also have to consider that autonomous is really boring.

If you make autonomous longer, it will make the game boring for longer.

If you put it at the end, it's a really boring finish, plus people will just drive their robots to exactly where they'd need to be for the end game anyway.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I really hate to rain on parades and shut down ideas quickly, but the possibilities of a blind portion of a game are very slim to none. This idea comes up every year, and the main reasons why it probably won't happen (taking into account the multiple ways that the effect could be achieved, such as curtains over the driver station, over the field, etc.) are:

1. Safety. Safety safety safety. Two robots get entangled and nobody can see it? Sounds like a great way to pull some wires and create smoke (magic or otherwise). Blinding the drivers doesn't enable them to see their robot, so they couldn't see if anything were to begin malfunctioning.
2. Spectators. Probably close to 75% of the people at FIRST events are in the crowd. If they can't see part of the field, then they probably won't be too excited to watch the matches. Also, if the scouts couldn't see the robots, then they can't scout the robots for that portion, and that would be a HUGE blow to a lot of strategy teams.

I like the idea of a blind mode involving robots, but I just don't think that it's right for FIRST.

>.<

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I understand that and agree, to some level. If you think about it though, its code controlling the robot, not the driver, and if you think about it, code controlling a robot without live guidance from a driver, is neat, and it shows what robots can do, when you have good code and a good robot. And if your realized it, there are becoming more semi-autonomous ways to score, using a robot and code, and the help of a driver. I don't think autonomous is boring, and maybe the people who think that it is, don't see some of the challenges teams have to face to accomplish this.

And Karibou, I think you're right. One wrong move and one or multiple teams dreams can be ruined

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

In light of a recent thread, how about a game where wheels and treads are at a disadvantage to legs? What that would be who knows, but it would be cool. That way advantageous teams could build the legs and the rest could build the wheels. Who knows might open up new doorways for FIRST.

On the note of programming, what about a section where the bots have to lneup and grab something and they have to be really accurate. Then a dotted tape line could be sensed for the robot to line up right. It takes a real world project (cars that automatically stay in their lanes) and turns it into FIRST. Sounds like a win win to me.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

What about limiting transmissions from the drivers station to the robots to once every 2 (or 5) seconds, it would not impede line of sight, it would create the same necessity for autonomous and it would still give beginners a chance to compete, although with less maneuverability.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I'm not for it, that would just make things way over complicated - as I often tell my fellow programmers

"Yes you can do it the complicated way and make your self look better, or you can do it the simpler way, and keep your life easy".

Maybe I'm wrong and it could work but its just my $0.02

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

i think they should create a battle bot challenge one year to get it out of everyones systems!!

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I'd like to see a challenge where it's more like a race, but without actually limiting speed like in Overdrive (there were penalties for excessive speed :( ). It would just be a mad dash around the track, maybe with some bumps or obstacles, at top speed, so that the team that puts effort into creating the most efficient, frictionless design would win. Of course, extra bumpers on the edges would be needed for safety.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

There were? That's news to this referee.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

And to this memorizer-of-rulebooks. I think that the penalties in question were the ones for excessive ramming rather than speed.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Then the camera's have to have a higher video quality then they are now, so the drivers can see what they are doing and not get DQ or penalties.

If they have a game like this its going to be hard on the drivers. And the control systems will be very complex to be able to move around on the field and teams are going to be needing more parts (who knows). But the it's going to take more time trying to figure out how to drive it with only the camera.

I'm guessing it's going to based around hockey, or some water sport.

-If it explodes, you know it was a techainal error- :eek:

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

They should, it would be cool to see the different designs that teams come up with it. Then maybe some more of the teams schools would come to the competitions and support their team. -daydreams if only LO* would do this-

-If it explodes, you know it was a techainal error- :eek:

* LO= Lake Orion High School

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Technically, autonomous is challenging and worthwhile. From a spectators point of view, maybe it was boring in 2010. If someone walked in off the street and watched a game, they wouldn't necessarily even know that the robot is doing it's own thing for the first 20 seconds. The end of game bonus this year was exciting. Autonomous was not so much, it was just the regular game played by a program. The GDC could make autonomous more visually appealing but they don't need to make it so difficult that few teams can be successful.

As an example to make it more exciting, in this years game, replace the end of game elevation/suspension bonus with a high mounted momentary switch that has to be hit for points, and let the robots go for the switch in autonomous too. If they screw up and fall over, so sad, too bad, better luck next time. I have no clue if the GDC are satisfied with autonomous or have motivation to change it significantly. I like it but I can see why a spectator might not.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I disagree with your assessments here and I'll answer each of your reasons:
1> Safety -- Just because the driver(s) cannot directly see does not mean that they cannot get information about the robots. Camera feedback and human players (looking around the curtain ... lets call them spotters) could easily give feedback to the drivers.

2> Spectators/crowds -- In most arenas the crowd sees from the side of the field, so you would lose less than 10% seating visibility. You could also tap into the teams video feed (if they have one ... it's IP is known) and feed that to the big board, giving the crowd (and possibly human players) a robots eye view (something that would make the game MORE exciting ... if you ask me).


Are there issues to overcome in driving without seeing the robot? Absolutely.
Are they impossible to overcome? not at all.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

You must be pretty eager to start up for next season!

for as much as it would rock to know the game this early in advance,
i think if we did, my team would get no fundraising done over the summer.

but, wouldn't it be great if the game was entirely dancing robots??

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

The DS could forward the camera to the FMS, however the FMS has no direct connection to the robot (everything is through the classmate), so this wouldn't work without breaking the alternate-language dashboards in the process

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

i think if somehow there were walls used in next years game it would bring it to a whole new level!
anyone every play indoor soccer? well,the ball is allowed to bounce off the wall and still be in play. something like that would be so awesome i think!

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Going off of one of the reasons to take a Break away from break away heres my idea. The reason was (correct me if I'm wrong) "You wonder if soccer was played with 12 balls americans would actually watch it." What I say to that is "You wonder if FIRST was played with 12 footballs the general public would actually watch it."

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Because it's FIRST 20th year, my guess is that the game will combine all three elements of the first logo (circle, square and triangle) I have no idea how though... =\

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Actually, I doubt it. They tried that in the FTC (don't remember when, could be in the FVC days) and from what I've read on these fourms (seeing as there is no FTC in Israel) it was a failure of sorts... forcing something like the logo onto gameplay would be just that: forced and unnatural. I doubt the correct way to design a game is by what kind of signs you'd have in it and adding those signs into the game would make it even worse. At the most I can see them doing something like that with Vision targets, where one is circular (like this year's), one triangular and one squared. It would give the programmers a challenge though...

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Anyone else think we're (including me) a little obsessed? The seasons over and were already onto the next one.
There are ceirtain elements of each game that I'm 99% sure won't change:
Autonomous period
Bonus round
Same shape of field (other then the corners which tend to change)
2 alliances of 3 teams each
There will be human players
Bumpers are needed on the robot at specified hights

Thats about all I'm sure about untill the game is released.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Hey, the GDC starts planning for the next year as soon as the new game is out. We're actually a little slow, by their standards.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Kara's right. I think a goal we should have is, as a collective, come up with a rulebook of our own before kickoff. We should be able to do it ;)

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I hope next year bumpers are only mandatory on the corners or something like that

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I say we have a scuba-bot game! The would seriously be epic :D
Or possibly ice hockey/field hockey/lacrosse mix?

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Its early, but is anyone else thinking the 2012 game will involve some element of the field/world falling apart, and we're simply trying to make the robots survive/remain mobile for 2 minutes?

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Just a thought, wouldn't giving us really small game pieces such as marbles be really hard? Trying to grab and fire thouse things would be a fun chalenge. Also not letting them get swept up into unwanted parts of the bot would be bad.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

This made me laugh. Very hard. I like it!

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

love the 2012 game!!!!! they better to that lmao

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Considering that most teams can barely stay together *now*. I don't know how much more FIRST would have to do before everyone starts falling apart. :P

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

YES!!!!!!!! after two minutes, three feet of water floods the field, but that would be messy and hard to control. I would feel sorry if your robot got a little wet...

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

WATERGAME

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Dunno if it's been mentioned already... (Not searching 12 pages :p)....But I'd like to think that the GDC is going to keep with the modified sports motif, like soccer this past season. Dean himself at Kickoff said that he was "not afraid to do what's been proven to work already". I'm probably misquoting that, but you get the picture.

Considering that FRC keeps pushing for camera aided gameplay, I have a feeling we will be aiming at a target again in 2011, much the same way as 2010. Obviously, older games used the camera, but not quite in the same way. Bearing this in mind, the obvious sports that come to mind would probably be Hockey, Baseball, Football.

Or, the GDC could surprise us and go to something not-so-related to sports. It would follow a pattern... 2006 was basketball, 2007 was tic-tac-toe, 2008 was NASCAR, 2009 was...lunar exploration?, 2010 was soccer. According to this, it would seem that games that are similar to professional sports occur every other year. If that means anything at all, we're going to something different in 2011, and in that case, I have no idea.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Perhaps just one giant maze, with a load of obstacles/objects and holes in the way, with highground at the other end? Winner is the first one there? Hey, maybe even make it multi-level.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Maybe a Putt-putt/Golf theme - ramps, obstacles, etc... it could be a 3D game with multiple levels - you could either shoot the balls into the holes, or push them in. The more difficult the hole, the more the points - of course it would be full contact golf!

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

FOOTBALLS ! !

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shu...urn=nfl,235226

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Don't have guess on game but on field piece-- an arch.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

We have a camera on our robot, fed to the Dashboard at 120x160. We only use the camera for dashboard feedback, and the framerate is good (although there is lag). During a practice session at CTC, the driver was able to drive down the indoor street from the shop, turn a corner into hallway, and drive the practice robot into the CAD room (standard-size door, no bumpers on the robot), with only the camera.

When the robot got back, I had a little tuning to do on the ride height, so I setup the controls on a bench in the shop. After fixing the ride height problem and flashing the code, I drove it out the doors and into the street (there are streets at CTC indoors), and drove around without any possibility of seeing the robot. I was semi-able to collect balls (the largest problem was blind spot directly in front of the robot), aim at people around 15 feet away, and kick. It was fun. I was then able to get the robot up to its full speed of 13.2 ft/sec in high gear, something we had never measured before on this robot (we measured 11.5 on the practice bot), driving by camera. The lag isn't that bad, only about 1s behind reality, so with enough practice you can account for that and follow, say, a line down the side of the road (something we did)

We did not train our drivers to drive by camera; we only use the camera on-field to give the coach feedback on balls hidden out of sight. But in the ~hour and two batteries of practice bot driving we had, we found it quite easy to drive by camera (even in high gear), although the lag time made it difficult to collect balls and perform accurate tasks quickly.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Alrighty==>

Arch + Putt_Putt = CROQUET ! !

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Ok, a game with very little rules, just the standard no intent to destroy. The field is littered with balls, like Nerf balls, a combination of basketballs (like aim high), footballs, and the footballs with tails.

basketballs 1 point
footballs 2 points
tailed footballs 2x multiplier

Each team has a normal 8 foot table or 2 directly in front of the alliance wall. fully above the table at the end of the game counts, whether in your robot, on top of a robot, or directly on the table.

Maybe change the table in a way so balls stay on, or fall off. Or make zones in which prohibit defenders or more than 1 defender, or whatever the GDC can come up with to mess with our minds.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I think a golf game would be interesting, and the maze idea is a good one.

but im secretly hoping for a watergame.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

.....Jai-ali WOULD BE A WIN

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I would love to see some ramps come back either be it climbing on top of other robots or on a stationary ramp. :p

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

maybe no auto mode next year, maybe there will be a drop down cover screen in front of the driver stations for the first 15 sec forcing teams to use the camera feed to the DS to navigate

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

I don't think that can happen, seeing as how easily the field breaks already. What if one teams curtain doesn't retract?

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Weren't the bumps ramp-like enough for you this year?
And there were some ramp-bots this year, to get others on the platform.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

What about a game forcing a low profile.

The challenge would be to get small (6 inchish) balls into a hopper on the back of the opposing robot. The balls could come from a netted area where the net is 2ft above the ground. They could be kicked out to the other robots who could then attempt to score. To incorporate the human player, the balls could be dumped during a 10sec period occurring twice per minute into a ball return. The humans would then feed the balls through a chute back into the netted area.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Hate to suppress any creativity, but this is pretty much just a combination of Lunacy and Breakaway.

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

Sounds like '04 (dumping balls) plus '09 (goals pulled by robots) plus '10 (kicking)

Maybe the balls could be above the net and the robots under it, the biggest issue seems to be driver visibility and entanglement

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

What happens if marbles get in the robots? how would you keep track of all of them?

sry about the double post

Re: anyone have any ideas about next years game?
 

It could be a test at making a robot marble proof... soon to lead into water proof.