Favorite FRC Game?

[Peter Matteson]

Hands down 2004 nothing is even close.

2 different size balls, 30" and 13".

Game object can be released by a good autonomous otherwise you wait 45 seconds.

Mobile and stationary goals.

Human player can directly score.

A bar to hang from as a finale.

No other game has offered as many design choices/tradeoffs and as varied play since. This was the last game where you had to truely make trade offs because with what we had at the time for motors/actuators and parts usage rules it was difficult to do it all.

[Agentarrow]

My first year was 2009, so my experience with FRC games is fairly limited. I have seen match footage of earlier games and I can say that my favorite game to watch has been Rebound Rumble. Compared to week 1 of previous years it's been a bit slower but seeing game pieces in constant motion and a very flashy finale makes even a slower start interesting. Logomotion wasn't bad, but I wasn't fond of the endgame drag race because it was over so quickly unless someone failed. Breakaway was cool to watch because rules and scoring were simple to follow (except DOGMA) and it was pretty cool to have such a drastically different robot. and style of play.

I can also say, from what I've seen, that Lunacy and Overdrive were the worst games to watch because of slow-paced game play and restricted robot movement (Lunacy) and redundant, simple robot actions (Overdrive).

I joined FRC in the fall of 2010. That means I was in a Breakaway offseason, the Logomotion season, a Logomotion offseason, and this year's Rebound Rumble. From those three games, this year's Rebound Rumble has got to be my favorite. With the exciting gameplay, and fast start in week one, I think this game will only get better.

Plus, this game is very fun for spectators to watch. Even new people to FIRST see this kind of game, and want more.

I congratulate the GDC for making one of your best* games in FIRST history!

*Not including the game manual and lack of definitions

[Chris Hibner]

2000 has always been my favorite game.

However, Rebound Rumble might challenge it.

Finals match 1 at Kettering may have been the most exciting FIRST match I have ever witnessed. Absolutely incredible. My brother (who has never been to a FIRST competition before) was standing, cheering, and making exclamations (like, "wow!", "OMG!", "holy carp!", etc) during the final 30 seconds of that match. If a non-FIRSTer can get that excited about a match, that's a great thing.

My second point is that I found the qualifying matches to be doubly exciting this year. Not only do you have to worry about the win/loss, but you also have the coopertition bridge. Even in a blow-out, the match can be exciting down to the end because of the coopertition bridge. It really affected how I watched each match.

Congratulations to the GDC, this game is a big winner so far. We'll see if it holds up as the year goes on.

[Squeakypig]

I have never met anyone who has agreed with me, but my favorite game was 2009 Lunacy. I loved the supercell end game, watching the different strategies of defending verses outscoring verses a combination of the 2. Mind you, this was my rookie year, the first year our team was established, I was a driver, and I got to watch HOT and the Thunderchickens at all of our tournaments.

From the archived videos, I really like the 2002 game as well...I love the Beatty Beast! (Go Flyers for helping them out! FRC#66)

[TeamSpyder1622]

[quote=Squeakypig;1139356]I have never met anyone who has agreed with me, but my favorite game was 2009 Lunacy. I loved the supercell end game, watching the different strategies of defending verses outscoring verses a combination of the 2. Mind you, this was my rookie year, the first year our team was established, I was a driver, and I got to watch HOT and the Thunderchickens at all of our tournaments.


I agree. I really enjoyed 2009 Lunacy. I enjoyed the high scoring and lack of control. I also really liked how important the human player was that year. This opinion might be influenced a little though because this was by far our best robot

[StevenB]

1996: Hexagon Havoc.

To be honest, I really don't remember that much of it. But it provided my six-year-old mind with countless hours of inspiration. I drew robots in school, and planned strategies, and dreamed of the day I could compete in FRC. And although I've enjoyed most of the games since, Hexagon Havoc will always be special.

[engunneer]

Originally Posted by StevenB

1996: Hexagon Havoc.

To be honest, I really don't remember that much of it. But it provided my six-year-old mind with countless hours of inspiration. I drew robots in school, and planned strategies, and dreamed of the day I could compete in FRC. And although I've enjoyed most of the games since, Hexagon Havoc will always be special.

I think we have to have different classes of favorites. '96 was my favorite for the 1v1v1 era, while '99 was my favorite for the 2v2 era (Floppies!, and climbing onto a moving platform).

The 3v3 era has quite a few good choices. I enjoyed Lunacy ('09), but it should have had a better end-game (7th trailer with no robot that you have to put in a starting square or something). If I had to pic a favorite for the 3v3 era, it would probably be Rebound Rumble. I felt that Rack and Roll was a bit flat, as was Breakaway.

[Jared Russell]

Top 5:

2012? - It has the potential to be a great one
2006 - Can you tell I like games that involve shooting balls into goals?
2010 - I loved the number and diversity of technical challenges in this game
2004 - The last game that actually required really tough tradeoffs
2003 - Sentimental pick; the first time we had auto mode!

Bottom 3:

2009 - Horrible to watch
2001 - I hope we never go back to 4 vs. 0 (or 6 vs. 0)
2002 - Push, push, push, match over

I was not around for 2000, but from what I have heard and seen in videos, I think I would have liked it very much.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by Jared341

Top 5:

2012? - It has the potential to be a great one
2006 - Can you tell I like games that involve shooting balls into goals?
2010 - I loved the number and diversity of technical challenges in this game
2004 - The last game that actually required really tough tradeoffs
2003 - Sentimental pick; the first time we had auto mode!

Bottom 3:

2009 - Horrible to watch
2001 - I hope we never go back to 4 vs. 0 (or 6 vs. 0)
2002 - Push, push, push, match over

I was not around for 2000, but from what I have heard and seen in videos, I think I would have liked it very much.

What happened to 2007 and 2008?

[Jared Russell]

Originally Posted by dodar

What happened to 2007 and 2008?

Middle of the pack, along with 2011 and 2005.

[JamesCH95]

2004 is my favorite , seeing as few if any robots could do everything in the game. Alliance selection became geared towards matching your capabilities with your partners. I liked mobile and stationary goals. I liked two different game pieces. I liked a high-impact human player role, i.e. actually scoring, not just returning game pieces to the playing field or handing game pieces to the robot, both of which struck me as somewhat menial. There was no game-breaker strategy, and interference with end-game was allowed, which we used to great effect!

[Nemo]

I only go back to 2009, but I think Rebound Rumble is the best of the four games I've been involved in. The fact that it is already fairly exciting to watch in week 1 bodes well.

My least favorite thing about 2011 Logomotion was that the GDC told us exactly what we had to do and in what order, and there was relatively little we could do to choose an innovative strategy. I also didn't like the diminishing returns for achieving excellence in tube hanging. I think this year is better than last year on both counts.

If 2004 was as much of a trade-off fest as people are saying, I'd like to play a game like that.

[remulasce]

Of my years:
#1 2010
#2 2011
#2 2008
#3 2009

2012 looks to be taking the new #2.

Of past years, I'm partial to 2001. I watched the 71 highscore match on Youtube, one of the few I could find, and was mindblown at the sheer amount of coordination required. For reference, it was the only 4v0 game, all robots worked together and shared the total team score.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THGPS...eature=related

Of course I might be a little biased in all this. See team number.

2004 of course was good, along with 2006. 2003 is pretty entertaining for about 2 seconds within the first 10 seconds and then is pretty meh.

[Greg Leighton]

I can't comment much on games I never personally spectated so from 2008-2012 my favorite would be Rebound Rumble, thought about it for a long time and came to the conclusion this game has done it the best. 2008 has sentimental value for me being that it was my only year as a student in FIRST and also because our robot just had such a unique way of playing the game it was always fun to watch, but all things considered it was a very simple game and didn't get exciting unless you had high levels of competition.

But back to Rebound Rumble, why is it such a great spectator game?

• Its Basketball! Kind of.. One way or another its easy for people to understand what scores points
• Hybrid mode is just as exciting as any in recent memory, I thought last year was exciting but with this year being less predictable in the way of game pieces, you don't know if that robot that has made all of his hybrid baskets thus far will continue the trend or miss a crucial game deciding shot.
• Coopertition bridge. This bridge can put you ahead of the competition in qualifying rounds or it can take you from losing a match to winning the qualification points you would get for the win. Nice job from the GDC to rework the idea of coopertition and make it something people will cheer for.
• Just like in basketball, you will have clutch game winning shots. This game has the potential for more of these exciting moments than any other game I can think of.
• The bridge balance. Watching three robots or even two trying to balance on these bridges is infinitely entertaining regardless of whether or not they actually do succeed. Add the large number of points these bridges are worth and they are definitely something to watch.
• The last minute shots. Watching a human player make a basket in the last seconds is just as exciting as a robot. Not too many games have the element of a last second human player influence