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Unread 09-05-2005, 18:42
Alex Golec Alex Golec is offline
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Re: [OCCRA]: 2005 OCCRA Game

The game should allow for creative strategy in the actual use of the objects themselves. This year's FIRST game was one of the most boring to watch: robot pick up tetra, robot put tetra on goal. Repeat steps one and two for two minutes. All you could do with the tetra was put it on top of a goal or underneath- sure, where you put it mattered, but rarely did the audience se something amazing (Here I'll put in my good word for 67's awesome drive system). In short it got boring. Personally the tubie game was interesting because there were plenty of variations on how to use the tubies, such as the methods of collecting, grabbing, and scoring- placement in a hole or on tope of a revolving arrow.

Another critical element of the game is to have reasonably sized game pieces. The size of the tetras was plain ridiculous: the hazard posed by the games reached new heights in this year. I can deal with a playground ball to my head. 9 pounds of PVC is absolutely outrageous in the manner FIRST used it. To summarize before I go off on a tangent on the lack of safety this year, game pieces must be manageable and kept as far away from the humans as possible.

However, I would like the occasional use of balls: these items are economical ($~10 for a 13", as compared to just $15 for tetra connectors alone) and easy to find. They are also ready-made items that require no assembly. Personally, an item I would like to use some day is the plastic grate crate. Cheap, stackable, and full of holes and ways to pick it up. Even the return of the orange jugs (CDI two-thousand-something) would be plenty interesting.

Three keys I would love to see are:
-Safety (proper field protection and inherent in the game design)
-Creativity (items, field set up, competition style)
-Funity for all (designers, builders, drivers, judges, and audience)

_Alex
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