[lukevanoort]

Okay here goes, the field is about the same size as this year's, same carpet, so on. I'm going to just describe half of the field for simplicity, but it's symmetric. In the middle of the half field is a raised HDPE covered platform with a 30 degree ramp all around, made out of diamond plate, like this year. There are these rolling PVC goal, but they're different from previous ones. These are about 1.5 feet tall cubes with snow fencing on the sides and bottom to keep balls in, and a green LED (for the camera) on each side, the cubes are mounted on casters for mobility. Three of these line the walls on each long side. (Twelve total for the whole field) In the middle against the operator station are two robot starting spots, but they are of different alliances. The remaining starting spots for the other two robots on each alliance are in a similar location to this year, straddling the centre line. In the dead centre of the entire field is a post about 9 feet tall with another light on it. Maybe pink or yellow, or orange, or something else that the camera can easily pick out. The post could even use an IR signal, and IR sensors returned to the KOP. Surrounding this post are several hundred racquet balls in a circle. (the field reset team would use a metal ring to make the circle, sort of like the triangle in pool) There would also be a new light for robots that is on a rod not dissimilar to the flag this year, but it would be attached securely to robots via latching thingy. Again this would be for the camera. Scoring would be 5 points for every goal on your alliance's platform, plus one point for every ball in a goal on your alliance's platform. A robot on a platform is also worth 5 pts. A goal counts as "on the platform" if it is either in contact and supported fully by the HDPE, or supported by something that is being supported fully by the HDPE. A goal 8 feet higher or more than the platform surface has the value of its balls doubled, but it still has to count as "on the platform." Robots have the same starting dimensions as this year, as well as starting weights, bumpers stay, but the robots can exceed their starting size after the beginning of the match. The match would be 135 seconds long, 15 for autonomous, 120 for operator play. A big challenge in this game would be the need to either sense everything or choose what to sense carefully, since so many things are there to sense. And sensing would be very good to have because for every 10 seconds a team chooses to stay in autonomous after the set auto period ends, they get five bonus points, to a maximum of 50 per alliance. This game would give teams a lot number of points if they manage to make such an integrated sensing system so that they can leave their robots in auto and still score many points, (or at least prepare to score a lot when they switch to operator control) but it also allows teams that aren't quite that good to be competitive. The excitement factor of the game would also be high, since you'd have robots jetting around in hundreds of balls, lifting goals, and climbing ramps. (with the inevitable tips)

EDIT: Forgot to include the human players. Each alliance has an additional 30 balls to shoot into the goals, and more can be passed to them via a hole in the wall like the corner goals of this year.