Best Arrangement of Bots

[Mtg Ruler]

As our team decides what route to take, its become necessary to start to see what kind of configuration of teams works the best. Ive been crudely messing around with step by step images of games to try to figure it out... so far, i havent messed around with robots wanting the same position.

I have 4 positions in this:
______________
Red|1 |2 3| 4 |Blue
2 and 3 are positioned near the two ball return areas to collect those

Sadly, I havent really collected a whole lot of good info. I have concluded that its best to have 1 robot in each zone (of course that is if everyone agrees on positions, with they wont)

Anyhow, hopefully i can get this alot farther the next few days, and possibly have a little better understanding of the game that i can share.
Anyone else doing anything like this?

[kirtar]

I think it's really situation dependent. If the opposing alliance goes off of the "balanced" arrangement, it may be to your advantage to go off it accordingly. It may also not be advantageous.

[SamMullen]

Actually, I would say that if you have two robots that can shoot from the middle, there is no reason to have a robot in the zone with your own goals. This would allow you to keep one man on defense and monopolize the balls coming out of either of the chutes.

On the other hand, with the one per area idea, the one robot per area idea would require either the robot in the zone closest to you to herd balls from the middle zone to shoot (necessitating it being able to fit through the tunnel, as herding over the bumps seems nigh on impossible) or to have the robot in the middle pass him balls, reducing the number of bots you have free to shoot.

[Mtg Ruler]

my idea on the middle bot is that they would attempt to make goals by shooting the ball, then if they miss, then the other bot kicks those into position.

now of course, that is assuming that you have two decent kicking robots on your alliance...

[kirtar]

Originally Posted by SamMullen

On the other hand, with the one per area idea, the one robot per area idea would require either the robot in the zone closest to you to herd balls from the middle zone to shoot (necessitating it being able to fit through the tunnel, as herding over the bumps seems nigh on impossible) or to have the robot in the middle pass him balls, reducing the number of bots you have free to shoot.

Not everybody will be able to shoot, and so there is no single "best" configuration. However, in my opinion the arrangement in which one robot is in each zone the one that will offer the most balance regardless of a robot's ability to shoot or its lack thereof.

Also realize that if the ball shot from the middle misses, you want somebody to track it down so it isn't shot to the other side. It could even potentially be scored. The other thing that could happen is that that robot can prevent the defender from attempting to block the shooter.

[SamMullen]

While it is true that my plan relies upon both of the robots being able to shoot, with one in each zone I would be worried that the other team would gather most of the balls in the middle, making it so that the robot in the front would not be able to get any of the balls.

[kirtar]

then just have a good bot in the middle. I didn't say that one in each was necessarily the best arrangement. I just said that it's the most balanced for any scenario. Balance in ability does not necessarily imply that it is always the best for a situation (if you need more in the middle, then do it).

[OneUnderAll]

One bot in each section could easily be countered if two or more robots gang up at mid and keep that bot from feeding into their goal.

I feel like the only arrangement that is near unbeatable, along with totally improbable, is two robots near their goals and an AMAZING defensive robot that can chip the ball from the opponents side all the way across the field, and to supplement that one of the robots in the goal section could drive to the middle to herd balls if necessary. But again... that is tough to do since it is hard to imagine that one robot can handle three.

Also if all three robots go to the middle to steal away balls and cause havoc on the other team will be maybe not unbeatable but just funny. Actually, if all three robots can score from the middle, it might be a better strategy than if two stayed at their goal and one at their opponents goal...