2006 game hints?

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Bharat Nain

I would be disappointed too because I believe hard core coding is the way to go.

As great as hard core command line programming is, it is not for everyone. If you can understand it - you have a major advantage. But not everyone can easily understand that stuff. That is why most modern computers use use a GUI instead of command line to access programs. Apple realized that in the 1980s, that in order for computers to be bought by the masses, they had to be easy to use. They figured that ordinary people didn't care if their OS took up more memory space. Sure, the GUI isn't as powerful or as efficient as command line can be, but the GUI's are more user friendly - which means more people can use them.

Another reason why a GUI-based application for programming the FRC robots is greatly needed is that everyone learns and comprehends things differently. Some people can be geniuses, but if you lectured them all day, they wouldn't remember a thing. Other people need to be able to "see" things to comprehend them. I have to be able to "see" things to comprehend them, which is why I am great at the mechanical end of things, because I can "see" all the parts in my head and "see" how they move and interact. EasyC for Vex comes very easy to me, because I can look at the icons and "see" exactly what it does.

Right now, lets consider everyone's robot. How many this year had noteworthy autonomous programs? Not a whole lot, which is why GUI-based software for programming robots is such a great idea. This helps to balance the playing field. Now, even though it may not be as powerful, the average sophistication of the programming will dramatically increase, because now a wider variety of people can use this software.

Because of all this, for the 2006 game - expect to see a harder, longer, and more sophisticated autonomous mode with multiple tasks of varying difficulty levels.