2012 Game?
 

Now that the World Championships are over, I think it would be fun to speculate what the next game could be. Will it be something like Lunacy (Moon Landing Anniversary) or Breakaway (World Cup) or something completely out there? My personal opinion is some sort of shooter game, as games usually go in some sort of cycle (shooter, misc. hang/moving). Thoughts?

Re: 2012 Game?
 

The game might get more complicated in electronic features next year if the GDC can meet their goal of finalizing the game by August. Bill acknowledges on his blog that they need to make the game much earlier so there is more time for testing e.g. make the minibot towers work week 1 as an example.

Imagine how much agonizing game hints he could deliver if that happens.

Gamewise I think one based off chemistry would be neat. Maybe 2012 honors the element Carbon. Not really sure where to go with this but its an idea.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I dunno...they've run out of mainstream sports to do.
ie. 2006 - Aim High (Basketball)
2007 - Rack 'n Roll (Not a sport)
2008 - Overdrive (NASCAR)
2009 - Lunacy (Not a sport)
2010 - Breakaway (Soccer)
2011 - Logomotion (Not a sport)

2012 - Sport?

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Discussing next year's game already?

Please save it for another month or so, otherwise Dave will make my head hurt.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I think one thing is for sure, guessing isn't going to do anything, we can all sit here and speculate, but by January no-one will have gotten it, not even with the game hints. There is one thing that does seem to be a sure thing, which is the minibot aspect. From what they said at the beginning of the season, at kickoff, this will be the endgame/part of the game for FIRST for a while. I think that after the season, most people actually liked the minibots/minibot race. However, I think this alternate would have been better for actually using Tetrix control components...

in reply to the sport theme, there is still hockey and football... i would LOVE to see a hockey game with that, the possibilities are outstanding. like maybe a unified game manipulator (not like the lunacy wheels of death) and then you get into some really cool designs to manipulate it to scoring points... idk how the new minibot idea would fit in

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Sorry to break it to you man, but Dave is no longer on the GDC.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Oh. Oops.

I'm sure he'll entice most of us with a red/blue/yellow/green/purple/teal/white/orange/grey/brown/red-purple/and the list goes on.... herring when Chief Delphi forget he's not at GDC at some point.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

:(

My guess is a game similar to aim high but with footballs. And then, of course, some sort of minibot endgame

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Common guys, we all know next years game got something with water involved in it :P

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Hockey involves frozen water! But the last time they tried something other than carpet....well.....we know what happened there.... lol

Isnt it a bit early to start speculating? No matter how much you think you can figure out, we will all know at the same time come kickoff.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Bill did say this on FRC live, WATER MINI BOTS!?!!

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This would be something to see....

Re: 2012 Game?
 

My guess would be another hopper game, 2009 is the only one in recent history (2006 before that) lots of small game pieces again would be fun. Minibots will most likely return but with the need of logic and tetrix parts.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I would guess a storing/hording game. There hasn't been one of those since 2009.

I would also wager that balls will be the gamepiece, but other interesting things to play with could be:

Footballs, hockey pucks, batons, small rectangular shapes, etc...

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Bring back the Tetrahedra! Or the Bins from Stack Attack!

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For future endgames, I think it would be interesting for minibots to have to navigate through a maze the fastest.

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While were on the topic of older games why not bring back the corn field from 'Maize Craze' . And I believe we already did (american)Football...'Ramp N’ Roll'?

I did like '09 having the goals be trailers attatched to the robots.

'11 wasn't bad either:D

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That would be pretty neat. I agree with somehow having programming being in future minibot containing games since this year most teams didn't really need it.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Frisbees. That is all.





Seriously, they would be interesting to use because of their shape and tendency to fly. maybe have to shoot Frisbees into a goal.

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How about a combination of most of the games where your robot drives on a plastic floor covered in corn dragging a spiders rack with a hole in the center for moon rocks all the while driving laps over see-saws and shooting soccer balls into holes above the drivers stations.....or not. I'm somewhat interested in another game like 2001 where teams of 4 set the bar for other teams.

On a side note, a really cool end game would be robots that had to climb this years minibot poles without the towers tipping over...

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I thought that Idea would had been strange but interested to see but I see now why they didn't do it because of the same reason lots of teams decided against the end game to easy to overset the points with scoring. I would like to see a game like 2008 it was fun! but I think that games with high point values and robots only doing offense is what they want. Hockey would be out of the box with end game being 5 on 4 lol.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Maybe minibots have to do something (like a maze/corn-filled obstacle course) during the match (before the end game) for a special scoring object (multiplier, etc) to be released for that team or alliance (Like the super cell in Lunacy which could only be used if an empty cell was delivered to the refueling station). The minibots would be on the field borders and off of the actual field, and the scoring would still have to be done by the full-sized robots/human players so matches won't be decided by minibots alone.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I have no idea what the 2012 game will be, but all I can say is I want an original game. Logomotion was somewhat a copy of Rack 'N' Roll, and though it was fun, it wasn't very fun seeing all of the good robots with the same elevators and roller claws. Every team already knew what worked for Rack 'N' Roll, so all they had to do is copy the designs of the best robots from Rack 'N' Roll. Speaking of copying, the endgame for the minibots wasn't very exciting in the end. All minibots were essentially the same, and all went up around the same time. So, GDC, if by some random and crazy chance you're reading this, please have the 2012 FRC game be original! Also, make there be less penalties.

And with all the talk of a sports-themed game, I think it would be interesting to see a game similar to Lacrosse. Like, the whole idea of passing a game piece to an alliance member via throwing it, without having the pass intercepted by an opponent. Just an idea, seeing as no-one has mentioned Lacrosse yet. Also, I'm rooting for a Parkour game!

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Laser tag. Minibots could be deployed at any time onto an elevated plane that rims the field, and would autonomously drive around and shoot at opponents and/or other minibots. Robots could maybe place rods into a grid on the field (between various poles on the field?) to make fiberoptic connections. (or something like that) If a robot drives into or is caught by the opposing alliance's fiberoptic 'net' then that net's alliance gains points. If a robot was too tall, they might also be literally 'caught', and unable to drive underneath the rods. Each alliance would have a limited number of rods, not enough to fill the entire grid, that they could rearrange whenever they like (but only their own rods). During the endgame they could try to place a special rod that, if hung, grants bonus points proportional to the number of consecutive rods that form a single chain through that rod. At the end of the game each alliance gains points for the number of grid spaces that are completely bordered by their own rods.

Kind of like that old paper game where you take turns drawing lines in a grid of dots trying to be the one who completes each square.

That was probably clear as mud.

How much in advance to they plan each year's game?

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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned an "end of the world" theme yet :rolleyes:

I would like to see a game that involves robots working together more. Such as requiring two robots to do a specific task (like picking up a box).

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Most games they always have one type of game piece (ex: 2011 - tubes, 2010 - balls), so maybe next year...they will have a variety?

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The GDC has a very nice tradition of game pieces. Every second year is a balls year:
(I don't remember the game before off the top of my head)
2004-balls
2005-tetras
2006-balls
2007-tubes
2008-balls
2009-orbit balls (Although they weren't ballish exactly because they deformed a lot)
2010-balls
2011-tubes
2012-balls?

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do you remember some sort of test tube which kids used to have ants in it?
I don't remember its name but it would be great to have a bigger size of this in the field and the minibots are in it like ants. there will be a driver to the minibots and all what the minibots will do is to launch game pieces into the game (to their alliance).

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That comes up every year, and every year we've counted 2009 as balls (I agree with you, most of the rest of the community doesn't), disproving that. Just saying.

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Why is everyone saying there will be minibots in next year's game?

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Football?

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Chexposito posted a re-link to bills blog making references to them liking it. they also seem to like the tubes shape tubes shape idea I wouldn't mind it switching as long as its something that's extremely similar but after teams doing this for 20 years they always will be able to make reference to games. ie 2011 to 2007s game. I would love a game like 08 or 06 it would be fun.

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As mentioned in previous posts, I would like to see hockey or football if it is a sport. However, both games would be similar to breakaway...at least in my mind...

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Until they actually use them, I'm sticking with Cones as the game piece. They're cheap, durable, come in a WIDE VARIETY, and darn hard to manipulate in some cases.

Cones that float on water, used for water polo.

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I think a game that involves the field shooting balls out, and the robots hitting them them into long bins across the field without the other alliance catching them, just like baseball. Frisbees would also be pretty cool game pieces.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Nobody has mentioned baseball I don't think, Football is another type of ball game, and i have noticed the games have been getting a lot less rough. I would be all for a Parkour game hahaha, that would be both exciting and fun to play since it would involve many obstacles. Isn't 2012 the year of the summer Olympic games? They may also try to base it off of something like that? Who knows. I also noticed Dean hinted in on Logomotion last year in ATL with the description of the FIRST logo, so if anyone else caught any hints this year, that would be great to know

Re: 2012 Game?
 

If I remember correctly I think it is, from Dean saying they are trying to integrate the FIRST programs (FRC, FTC, FLL, etc.). At least get them to work together more. Plus the Minibots did add an interesting element to gameplay


A maze game would be interesting, where a host bot(FRC) releases a minibot(FTC) into a maze that sits above or next to the main playing field. All along the way knocking something off of a ledge to the host bot which is then used to score.


Dean also put a lot of emphasis on how boeing had an unlimited KOP, no restrictions to what a minibot can be made out of next year?

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Everyone seems to have forgot the last 3 years themes...
2009 Moon landing anniversary
2010 World Cup
2011 First 20th anniversary
Whats happening in 2012?
-Leap year
-Destruction of Earth
-Summer Olympics in London
-any others?

Re: 2012 Game?
 

personally i would like to see a game that somewhat resembles Breakaway, especially since FIRST is trying to show that robotics is a sport too. Breakaway, I thought, simplified the entire aspect of robotics. Breakaway made the game more of a sport rather than a task that was done by robots. It had easy to follow scoring, a simple, exciting endgame, and allowed for simple robots to be useful which created more successful teams. (ex. a kit bot in 2011 couldn't do anything in the game resulting in a 2v3 match while in 2010 a kit bot could be a great defensive robot to the alliance)

So I'm in favor of a sport-like game for next year :)

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Summer Olympics => water sports => WATER GAME!

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My thoughts exactly!! :p

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Though I highly doubt a water game, I am looking forward to a sports-themed game. I completely agree with DSM33's post on how Breakaway brought FRC this much closer to being an actual sport. Our team has been trying to make robotics more popular by building robots that can play sports (to a point). We are currently in the process of making a bot that will have a large hopper in the back to catch footballs, and have a launcher, either pneumatic-powered or surgical tubing-powered (tell me which one we should use). We will then bring the robot out to games and catch footballs and launch them, as if we were playing a real game. It would all be controlled, but we were thinking of later on adding sensors so it could aim towards the field-goals and avoid opponents.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

2012=100 year anniversary of the Titanic = water game

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World Popluation is 7 billion(Technicaly late 2011 but thats still 2012 season).
Flying car reaches market.
100 year aniversery of Titanic sinking.
etc...

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I personally saw lunacy as a hockey type sport because of the floor and wheels. and logomotion was taken out of context because of the 20th anniversary. Hmm what sport would come after hockey and soccer?

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Golf? Ugh. I shiver at the sight of a golf-based game. Polo? Doesn't necessarily need to mean water polo. Polo can be played outside of water, where it's just called Polo. For those of you who don't know what polo is, click here to find out.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

IM TELLING YALL!!!!! THE MINI BOTS WILL BE IN A WATER ENVIRONMENT

my 0.02$

Re: 2012 Game?
 

2012 is the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate bridge.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I'm tired to death, and I for some reason read "Breakaway" as "Broadway." It would be cool to have a music game...anyone up for hanging music note tubes on a staff to make a song? Bonus points for chords ;P

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Full score if you make it play the Super Mario Bros. Theme Song!

Silliness aside, it seems like it would be the same idea of this year: Hanging up game pieces. And no offense to those who want to play another Logomotion, I think the premise is starting to get boring. We need something original!

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2012 Summer Olympics + Leap Year = Hurdles?!?! It could be Overdrive with hurdles so the robots would have to jump.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Oh my. This is something that I didn't notice before. The Championship ended two days ago, we're only on page four of this thread, and already ideas are being repeated...


I think that I'll place my bet on some kind of bridge game. I like hurdles, but not for FRC (field is too small and robots are too big). I think that the closest FRC will get to hurdles was last year's bumps.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Well I think with a different type of texture/ field to try and move on would be very great new game. Football/Hockey/Lacross haven't been done yet. Something thats challenging enough for the teams but easy to understand for the newcomers/fans would be the best type of game. Breakaway and overdrive captured that type of action and simplicity very easily. To me If it was a football type game It would be cool to implement passing to other robots then that robot scores would be pretty cool and unique.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Instead of fueling more speculation, I'm going to ask a simple question:

What would you like to see in the 2012 game? Specific elements, general ideas, and all that. This is just to get your ideas flowing for whenever the GDC asks for ideas.

--I like the no-cross line in autonomous that Breakaway and Logomotion had. 2012 should keep that if at all possible.
--Minibot challenge would be great--but let's restrict it to LEGOs this time (or open up the motor selection a little bit). I'll also let someone else come up with the details.
--Personally, I'd love it if the defensive restrictions were relaxed a bit. Keep the no-pinning, no-tipping, and other similar rules, but allow defense more than just "get in the way or hope you can push hard enough".
--Fewer cards. Enough said.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Please make a separate thread for that. I think it's gonna have A LOT of replies.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I think that a game that requires all three alliance robots to do separate tasks to score would be fun. As an example of the concept, but not the actual game idea, think about the part of Majora's Mask where you have to switch between Kafei and Link to advance through a timed dungeon - separate tasks, but working together to keep advancing.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

That sounds like fun, but the tasks can't be too different from each other. Then we'd have a lot of robots who could do one task, and not another, and the teams who do everything every year will have some kind of arm, kicker, and ball hopper on their robot, which would we way too hard to control, set up, and may go well over the weight limit. If there is gonna be a game like that, then the three tasks have to be somewhat similar so teams could make an attachment that could at least do 2 of the 3.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

The game so good it will cause the world to end...

Actually though, I'm more worried about making it through the end of the semester right now than next year's game. We still have the offseason!

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Amen to that! I'm nearing the end of the only Math class that's ever been an actual challenge to me. If you ever have the chance to take Non-Linear Systems ... seriously think about going to a shrink if you want to take it... Actually it would only be 'difficult' if they hadn't added in weeks of stochastic crap. I'm fairly certain that probability has always baffled me, and it probably always will...

The Titanic was an engineering feat in its time. It celebrated engineering in many ways. Good catch on that one.

The 'destruction of the world' could have more to do with a Mayan theme. They were master architects in their time.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

How about having the minibot release the scoring objects? It can be deployed during autonomous and releases 1/3 of the scoring objects for your alliance. If all three minibots are successful, all of your scoring objects are released. If it cannot be deployed during autonomous, it can be deployed during teleop. The advantage of the autonomous is that you have more time to score. Perhaps 1/2 way through teleop the remaining objects that, for whatever reason, were not released, are released. Small penalty for minibot failure, but not completely devestating. Just a thought.;)

Re: 2012 Game?
 

It's really interesting how everyone is suspecting a minibot portion in next years game. I know Dean is trying to bring together all 4 parts of FIRST, but as someone mentioned before, maybe only LEGO parts could be used this time. I think it would add an interesting competition if there's a minibot but only LEGO parts could be used since many FRC members have come out from FLL.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Here's a thought: What if minibots WERE the scoring pieces, and the bots are responsible for moving themselves to a reloading position?

Re: 2012 Game?
 

I like the idea of having something (not necessarily minibots) deployed during autonomous, that could release some kind of game piece when pressed. It could be like a cycle, where when something like a minibot goes through this small tunnel, a few game pieces are released, and then the minibot-like object comes out to a spot where the hostbots can retrieve it, and restart to get more game pieces in auto mode. I can imagine a small tunnel the loops a bit out of the playing field, and releases game pieces when a minibot comes by, and then the minibot comes out, and the hostbot gets the minibot. I bet we'd see a lot of robots who would send out multiple minibots, then.

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I have an idea for a awesome endgame:

Giant arch made of 1.75" steel tubing (used for the towers of '10 and the minibot towers '11).

This giant arch spans the width of the playing field in the middle of the field reaching at least 12 ft high. robots get points for hanging off of the arch and not touching the ground. However, more points are awarded for being higher on the arch. One could go about it like the minibots this year with point values for being the highest to lowest or just have markings on the arch with "zones" which have certain hanging values.

Either way, it would be an amazing endgame to watch. Robots battling for the center position... 2004 but better?

Eh, thats all I've got for now, Bryan

Re: 2012 Game?
 

That would be fun for the prepared teams, and hilarious for the audience, especially when the unprepared teams don't have a hanger that can grip onto the arch. Watching those slippery, low fraction hangers hang those heavy robots, and having the robots slip down the slope would be hilarious! I bet we'd see teams who'd have wheels on their hangers so they could scoot towards the middle, and push other robots down the arc.

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I'd suspect those wheeled-slider teams of being 237, 1266, 868, and 330 (2004's "slider" class of robots--64 isn't around, except as a full-on rookie). I'd also suspect that 190 (another bar-blocker) would come up with another way of making sure that other teams don't stay up. If, of course, the payout was big enough.

Actually, I think it looks like some folks want some modifications to 2004!

For those that weren't there: knocking a pair of (10-point) balls off of stands at the side of the field in automode released a flood of 5-point balls from over the driver's station. The bar to hang on was 50 points, per robot. (Any remaining balls also flooded down at the 30-second mark of the match.)

So, let's have some fun with this. I'll just use 2004 as a base and add devilish twists:

Minibots have separate tracks on the outside of the field. They knock down the 10-point balls. The catch? Minibots must be deployed autonomously.

The bar is replaced by an arch. The catch? Top spot is not worth the most points; the spots next to it are. Oh, and you're judged by the lowest point value that you're in contact with. (I'd also say that the lowest spots are not worth the least. Just to keep life interesting.)

Stationary goals are replaced by mobile goals. Mobile goals remain as well (4 total, not assigned to either alliance). Possession of a goal at the end of a match gives 5 points plus whatever's inside that goal. (Possession can be dealt with later--I'm thinking something like the 2002 possession rules, maybe 1999.) The platform is replaced by a low ramp all across the field.

Robots are now allowed to fill the goals, but balls must be out of the robot's possession below the 4' mark. Humans may also fill the goals.

As for the doubler ball, it just got bigger--the trackballs from 2008 should work quite well (or throw in a tetra or bin just to be different).

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It was only a matter of time, at least this year the thread popped up after champs!:eek:

As for right now what I can guess on,

1. Ball time, as for what type, who knows? Anything from Ping Pongs to the Overdrive balls could be used. Now yes this could be the year this pattern is broken, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was some sort of ball.

As for what I want:

A form of king of the hill to return! I've been a big fan of Stack Attack being revived in one form or another, and preferably this aspect.

Besides that, it's really time to sit and wait until a hereing or hint gets thrown out.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Since I'm new at this, does anyone know when the first hints are actually released? Is it sooner to kickoff, like November/December, or spread apart, like every few months?

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Well if I did this math right 2011 is the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. 2012 would be 26 years but with the recent nuclear crisis in Japan, perhaps the 2012 game would be removing "fuel rods" from a "reactor."

The game pieces could be PVC pipes as "fuel rods" and the "reactors" would look like the 2002 or 2004 goals or the 2009 trailers. The pipes would have to be dumped into a "cooling pool," essentially a bin.

I think it would be cool because robots do these jobs in real life.

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I like the idea of connecting all 4 parts of FIRST, but as was said, the minibus were too alike. There should be a size, weight, and supply battery, after that, there should be very limited rules. A game for next year should involve something as a capture and control game. Every 15 seconds or so, a game piece is released that an alliance must control. Each piece is worth different, and more as the game goes on, because there is less time to control it. The end would be great for a minibot. It could possibly climb a pole or do some small task and release random pieces, stored above the tower or such. The minibot that released the piece gets credit for the points. This would make a human player again important as an analyst. The autonomous mode would be a sort of race for 6 pieces around the field. Each piece would do like this years and double a score. It could possibly double the first shape the team controls. An alliance with 2 human players could have the chance to release a game piece early, putting it out for any team to get, such as the throwing of tubes this year. The pieces would randomly come out 4 or such places, giving the game a new strategy. This would be different for each match. There would be a small safe zone that other bots can't go in, and pieces would score, and an area around it where pieces could score and robots could go into. There would be designated spots around the field for each alliance. If anyone would like to support this idea, email FIRST to look at this thread and post, or just give me feedback on what you would think this kind of game would be like.

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Official hints typically show up in December. Unofficial hints, on the other hand, may show up at any time.

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With Dave no longer apart of the GDC, good luck getting unofficial hints.

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Bill Miller. Did you forget about that character?

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There's always Bill's Blog...anyone up for Haagen-Dazs?

Edit: Eric is sneaky. My Haagen-Dazs comment still stands.

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Bill isn't subtle enough. You can tell when his "hints" aren't hints.

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2012 Winter Olympics

2012 FIRST Game = Hockey + Curling

If this is true, which I hope it isnt, this would bring back the dreaded REGOLITH! :yikes: :eek: :ahh:

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You know the more I see it discussed in this thread, the more I think having something based on the Olympics is possible? We did it with the World Cup just last year, so anything is possible.

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So we need to gather all of the sports played in the olympics next year, and see which ones would be viable FIRST games, and which ones would involve regolith!

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Aim High with some sort of minibot challenge.

And it will be called Aim Higher.

(Remember Dean saying that they were getting to work on the 2014 game at kickoff? And that survey about your favorite FRC game at the beginning of the season? I'm just calling it as I see it - any maybe hoping, a little, too)

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Shooting minibots into a goal?

I dig it.

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If by "goal" you mean "trash bin".

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I like the 'fuel rod' idea. They could even implement the 'magnetic fuel rod' like they did in this year's FTC game (though I have no idea how many teams actually performed based upon trying to get a magnetic baton...).

The minibot concept was an ingenious idea, I think.

Perhaps in future years they could force us to 'deploy' the minibot during autonomous to a specified location that had some parameters teams had to design for. Then at a specified time, all of the locations would activate their minibots independent of the drive teams' actions. Teams would then have to decide: deploy minibot in autonomous, or deploy the game piece in autonomous? What a mind boggle that season's strategy would be!

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flying, ice, walking, multi level, camera only navigation, etc...

make it very different so that it levels the playing field for newer teams

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Image from http://www.exploratorium.edu/books/bernoulli/

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Looks like we'll have to discuss our polar opposite opinions soon, JJ! :p

Leveled playing field = worst thing you can do. IMO

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Can someone get this guy on the GDC, ASAP.

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I started a thread for actual game ideas, leaving this thread for rumors and speculation on the 2012 game.

Post all your ideas and concepts for possible game play ideas/mechanics you would like to see in the 2012 or future games in this thead: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh....php?p=1059122

I'm trying to get there man, I'm trying.

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That's GENIUS! A leveled playing field is boring, but un UNLEVELED field would be awesome! I'm not saying level as in skill, I'm saying an actual field with bumps, slopes, some sides higher/lower than others, and maybe even a kind of second floor pathway that extends outside the field for robots to travel on! There would be walls, of course, but a 15 foot drop may hurt a team pretty badly!

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no way, resets mix things up and drive innovation. I would really love multi level with climbing. Or a hockey rink with the same rules as power wheel chair hockey.

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If regalith makes a come back I may cry! think if you have the minibots running at the same time as the robots it would create an interesting problem. I honestly think the next thing they would do might be with push sensors or something that the nxt can do to keep it intertwine because they seemed to like that.

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In 2009 FIRST made an attempt to level the playing field by using an ice-like surface (CoF of .06/.07) on the playing field.

Dominant teams were still dominant, and those who struggled in the past - still struggled.

That being said, let's bring back the regolith. ;)

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I want a divided field. It would simultaneously end the "drivetrain wars" and present an interesting challenge for teams.

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As in Red alliance stays on one side of the field for the entire match and blue alliance on the other?

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That would be interesting play (VEX Clean Sweep used this concept). But more interesting, put the robots on the other end of the field (I.E. in front of the opposing alliance station).

Re: 2012 Game?
 

God please no. It's hard enough to drive, and coach drivers, when you can SEE.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

You've got a point. I was thinking more from a "what-if" perspective. It would be odd, and extremely annoying.

Another segmented field idea I came up with; a 4 team alliance that works together to score maximum points?

Each team can only go in a certain section of the field and have to ferry game pieces across the field to be scored. In that vein, scoring would be based off points scored in the game time. If an alliance scores every single game piece, they get 1 additional point for every second left on the clock? Max score (and by extension, fastest time) is the objective.

Re: 2012 Game?
 

Were you around in 2001? ::rtm:: :)

Re: 2012 Game?
 

This would be a fantastic game for the rookie team I am getting started for next year. Our mentors come from AREVA NP and B&W, two nuclear contractors/operators, almost all of the engineering mentors currently work on robots that do service or inspection of nuclear reactors (including robots currently at Fukishima). The more realistic that the GDC made it the better.