IRI Rule Changes for 2011

[Craig Roys]

Does ubertube have to be BEHIND tube to be a doubler or could it be placed overtop of a tube already hung? Not sure this will even be an issue as I would think that the number 1 priority will be to make sure your 3 ubertubes are scored so you don't lose them, making it unlikely that any other tubes will be hung yet.

[Molten]

Originally Posted by Craig Roys

Does ubertube have to be BEHIND tube to be a doubler or could it be placed overtop of a tube already hung? Not sure this will even be an issue as I would think that the number 1 priority will be to make sure your 3 ubertubes are scored so you don't lose them, making it unlikely that any other tubes will be hung yet.

It definitely could be if there is tube starvation going on. Saving it until you are sure that you'll have the logo completed might be good. This of course only really applies to teams that won't score them during autonomous.

Jason

[MagiChau]

Originally Posted by Jared341

Awesome changes. Thanks for giving me back my July which would have otherwise been spent building deployment ramps!

Do it for science! Even if minibot race positions have been lowered in their valuability in the game its still cool finishing #1

[Nick Lawrence]

Thank you for maximizing our practice time instead of reducing it by fixing the race point values. These rule changes are awesome, it will actually make Logomotion a lot more fun to play.

*stands up and applauds and cheers*

-Nick

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by Nick Lawrence

Thank you for maximizing our practice time instead of reducing it by fixing the race point values. These rule changes are awesome, it will actually make Logomotion a lot more fun to play.

*stands up and applauds and cheers*

-Nick

The rule changes that end up not working well are the ones that were thought of by Chris Fultz, Jeff Smith, and Stu Bloom. Heh. Just kiddin'.

Seriously, the credit for these rule changes go to the CD posters who gave great input in this thread. We just listened.

Sincerely,
Andy B.

[GCentola]

I really like the minibot changes from a gameplay perspective! It really balances things out. Instead of a 25 point difference, there is only a 10 point difference between getting 1&2 and 3&4, which can be made up from logos. It is also helpful that we don't have to spend out time trying to make the min-bot ridiculously fast and design in a ramp-deployment system! As long as you have an alliance partner that can guarantee first (or even second), the points balance themselves out and each allaince can get the same number of points.

I also like how the bottom row is now the same as the middle. And the new uber rules. I definitely look forward to seeing how the game changes (coming up qwith new strategies is always fun!) and playing in the company of teams who I respect highly!

In the words of Dave Lavery "Good Luck, and we'll see you aty the competitions"

[IKE]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

The rule changes that end up not working well are the ones that were thought of by Chris Fultz, Jeff Smith, and Stu Bloom. Heh. Just kiddin'.

Seriously, the credit for these rule changes go to the CD posters who gave great input in this thread. We just listened.

Sincerely,
Andy B.

Thanks for listening. I think you guys did a really good job of filtering the collective to come up with a great set of rules. I hadn't thought beforehand how fun it will be to possibly "steal" an ubertube at the beginning of the match. This will add some exciting strategies relative to specific opponents. Very cool.

Incidentally any comments on minibots that hit the top but fail to trigger the tower?
I<3IRI

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by IKE

I hadn't thought beforehand how fun it will be to possibly "steal" an ubertube at the beginning of the match. This will add some exciting strategies relative to specific opponents. Very cool.

I never really bothered to look at this much during the season, but wouldn't most missed ubertubes fall into the other alliance's safe zone, where they cannot be stolen? Imagine if you made it legal to go anywhere - including safe zones - to pick up ubertubes...scrum!

If you want to talk about stealing - suspend the penalty for crossing the midfield line in auton - steal ubertubes from would-be 2/3 tube scorers. That would lead to too many robot collisions and bad juju due to misaligned robots going off who knows where. But it would be a fun dynamic when it worked.

[Duke461]

I do like the decrease in minibot points, but i wish that all places still had different point values. it removes some of the suspense. However, i guess that suspense is made up for by teams still scoring tubes. maybe 20-17-14-11. But obviously its a little late for that.
Good luck to all the teams,
See you there,
-duke

[robodude03]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

I never really bothered to look at this much during the season, but wouldn't most missed ubertubes fall into the other alliance's safe zone, where they cannot be stolen? Imagine if you made it legal to go anywhere - including safe zones - to pick up ubertubes...scrum!

This was my thought as well, until I remembered that some robots do not have an autonomous or shut it off due to another robot having a double tube auton. I think its safe to say that IRI will have most robots with at least a single tube auton, but I am wondering whether it's worth the risk to leave a tube on the ground "in front" of the robot so that it can be placed on the same row as the others. Obviously the ideal method would be to have each robot to place a tube on the same side of the grid, but that gets crowded and increases the risk of dropping a tube into the opposing alliance lane. It will be interesting to see which method is preferred at IRI.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

I never really bothered to look at this much during the season, but wouldn't most missed ubertubes fall into the other alliance's safe zone, where they cannot be stolen? Imagine if you made it legal to go anywhere - including safe zones - to pick up ubertubes...scrum!

If you want to talk about stealing - suspend the penalty for crossing the midfield line in auton - steal ubertubes from would-be 2/3 tube scorers. That would lead to too many robot collisions and bad juju due to misaligned robots going off who knows where. But it would be a fun dynamic when it worked.

Since Ubertubes can be scored in teleop, you wouldn't have to steal them in auton. And if one fell into the opponent's Zone ... well, what's a 3-point penalty compared to scoring another Ubertube?

[Craig Roys]

I'd be surprised to see very many stolen ubertubes - as I said previously, I believe the number one priority of teams will be to hang any ubertubes that they were unable to hang in auton.

Another interesting dynamic - would it be worth it to take a 3 pt penalty crossing the center line to try and break up a 2-tube auton and attempt to steal an ubertube? Might be some interesting play early in matches.

[P.J.]

No, because crossing the center line during auton and contacting an opponents robot gets you a red card, not just a penalty

[Jared Russell]

Originally Posted by P.J.

No, because crossing the center line during auton and contacting an opponents robot gets you a red card, not just a penalty

Can you cite a rule? As long as you don't touch a robot or tube in the ZONE, a 3 point penalty is all that should be called. The finals at the New Jersey Regional featured a team crossing the line and interfering with the other alliance's autonomous mode (albeit unintentionally), and there was no red card.

I had a "kamikaze" autonomous mode in our back pocket at Champs, just in case we were paired with a double tube scorer and we would have been freed up.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by Jared341

Can you cite a rule? As long as you don't touch a robot or tube in the ZONE, a 3 point penalty is all that should be called. The finals at the New Jersey Regional featured a team crossing the line and interfering with the other alliance's autonomous mode (albeit unintentionally), and there was no red card.

I had a "kamikaze" autonomous mode in our back pocket at Champs, just in case we were paired with a double tube scorer and we would have been freed up.

Pretty sure G11 is the only rule that references crossing the line in autonomous mode.

<G11> ROBOTS may not break the plane of the CENTER LINE.
Violation: PENALTY

I couldn't find any mention of contacting an opponent or tube in Autonomous, so as far as I can tell crossing to pickup a tube or block an opponent would be legal, aside from breaking G11. (In no way am I telling anyone to get a penalty on purpose to gain a competitive advantage.)