2013 Game?

[sand500]

so um, what do you think will be the 2014 game? maybe integration with android or google glasses.
I think a game where the alliance has to work together to assemble a structure would be good.

[lorem3k]

Call me a doubting Thomas, but I don't really think Google Glass is really going to take off.

[coalhot]

We should go back to the basics. 1992 game, tennis balls on a sand surface. T'would be fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-m1Q...feature=relmfu


*totally wastes too much time on Andy Baker's youtube channel*

[lorem3k]

It would be pretty interesting to do a field with a non-uniform surface like sand or gravel... or water

[gyroscopeRaptor]

One item I'd like to see addressed is with the bridges. Don't get me wrong, the bridges were an incredible endgame. The problem I have is that the "cheap field" schematics that 98% of teams use in their practice spaces had bridges nowhere near the same properties as the official field bridges. I'm going to request and hope that the next field to use any sort of "dynamic" field elements have the cheap field versions be much closer to the real field's properties.

[lorem3k]

Originally Posted by gyroscopeRaptor

One item I'd like to see addressed is with the bridges. Don't get me wrong, the bridges were an incredible endgame. The problem I have is that the "cheap field" schematics that 98% of teams use in their practice spaces had bridges nowhere near the same properties as the official field bridges. I'm going to request and hope that the next field to use any sort of "dynamic" field elements have the cheap field versions be much closer to the real field's properties.

I agree with this. This difference kind of screwed us over for balancing, we had no troubles balancing the plywood bridge, but the heavy plastic ones at competition were a different story.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by lorem3k

It would be pretty interesting to do a field with a non-uniform surface like sand or gravel...

I'd say no comment... but to say "interesting" is a massive understatment.

Trust me on this--my senior design project is competing on regolith simulant at the end of the month. And I don't mean the FRP from 2009, I mean BP-1 lunar regolith simulant.

For motion, wheels with paddles attached. We've used treads in the past.

[PAR_WIG1350]

Originally Posted by TimSchley

Next year it'll start during build season.

I thought the 2012 thread did start during the 2011 build season. Does anybody want to check?

[rainbowdash]

Originally Posted by rainbowdash

I really hope one year, we'll have water games or something.
Make a robot that's like a dolphin, does tricks, has camera tracking to retrieve things underwater. Sounds like an idea for the 2050's lol.

ehem.. so field related games...
I once had the idea of laser tag bots after me and a group of my robotics teammates went laser- tagging.

The objective could be to get to the other side of the field and shoot down the opponent's base before the opponent does to your team's base.

the field could include obstacles like a laser wall that only robots could pass only with another robot (thus the robot requires speed and precision once both robots are past the laser wall). there could be coop points given to teams of different sides that go through the barrier together. another obstacle could be a noodle wall that will require a lot of strength to push through, but not as hard to get through as the laser wall... the robot will have to compromise strength and agility. In layman's terms, build a heavier, more fortified bot, your bot will be slower, but it will get through the mid- field barrier faster.

there should be a 5-10 second penalty on any bot that is shot. during those 5 seconds, that robot will not be able to shoot any other robot, but other robots from the opposing team will be allowed to shoot that robot.. etc.

..just a thought...

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

Whatever the game, I'm hoping next year we're allowed a little more contact AKA no restricted zones. Something where the robots get to push each other around a little bit more, where having a powerful transmission really pays off.

I'd also like to see a game where defense-specific robots are really important. So I'd go for either a football game (alliances take turns on offense like in 2006) where you have to transport a football from one side of the field to the other during the offense-specific time (you could even have field goals!), or a hockey/broomball game where each alliance has a goalie and you have to score on the other alliance (you could use the 2009 anti-traction floor to simulate ice and make the goalie zones carpet so the goalies have more traction/pushing ability).
In either of these games, I feel like there'd be alot more ties though.

I also feel like either of these games would be really fun to play, and you'd give the teams alot more of a chance for their robots to interact with each other.

Rebuttal:
I already stated that water games prob won't be a reality until later in the future.

Next year, hopefully, will have a more open field. I agree with SuperNerd256...

The more open the field, the more interesting the game gets... the more intricate strategies.

[iPenguin]

Originally Posted by Kit-kat2936

I think it could have something that has to do with this years FTC game. Last years FTC had balancing, and this year had balancing.

Safety issue. I personally do NOT want to see giant, 120 pound robots that rise 20 feet or more into the air and have the potential to fall outside the field, potentially causing harm to the drivers/volunteers/spectators. As an FTAA on Franklin this year, I had to dodge two robots while trying to figure out why another one wasn't moving.

I like the more open field idea as well as the stacking red bots on blue bots and vice versa for co-op points idea. I'd like to see them take a page out of FLL, make it somewhat biology themed, and have Double Helix game pieces.

[Anupam Goli]

Let's get back to the basics.

Playground balls. mobile goals. large balls to cap goals. Stationary goals. End game bonus of placing all mobile goals into the home zone. Mash up of 2004 and 2002, and something no one has seen in a while.

[rocknthehawk]

Originally Posted by Wing

Let's get back to the basics.

Playground balls. mobile goals. large balls to cap goals. Stationary goals. End game bonus of placing all mobile goals into the home zone. Mash up of 2004 and 2002, and something no one has seen in a while.

2004 was a fun spectator game. I enjoyed watching robots climb the bar, and seeing 190's bot hang from the start, and swing their massive arm back and forth. I personally enjoy human players having the ability to score, not just feed game pieces. (when was the last time you saw defense like this? http://youtu.be/Q5nnGGRi-94). I understand why FIRST took it away, but the robot on robot contact made for some intense action.

A return of tetras could be fun. I'm trying to imagine how the game could change, so it wasn't a simple replay of 2005. I really liked this years game, up until CMP this year, 2005 was a landslide favorite for me.

A return of tote bins would be miserable. Tupperware Tossdown was my least favorite game.

[sand500]

If it is sand, I know what we are gonna do
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/234/5...d86069b56d.jpg

[Pauline Tasci]

stacking game! a stacking water game

[Tom Ore]

2013 Game: Skee Ball

The game field has four giant skee ball tables. There will be one in each corner of the field – two for red and two for blue. The skee ball tables use maybe 5 or 6 inch diameter balls. In the center of the field is a ball pit which is initially empty. Above the ball pit is a ball bin which stores the balls at the start of the match. There will be 50 or 60 balls – half of them red and half blue. In autonomous mode, the robots deploy minibots into the empty ball pit. At the end of autonomous, the ball bin opens and all the balls fall into the ball pit. The minibots spend the entire match driving under the balls trying to find balls of the correct color and tossing them onto the field in the correct direction. The human players move the balls to a rail similar to Breakaway that rolls the balls back to the ball pit. For the endgame, there is some sort of mechanism that requires the two alliances to work together to move the balls back into the ball bin. The human players can toss balls directly into the ball bin during the endgame. The win is worth 9 points and the coopertition score is proportionate to how many balls get moved back to the ball bin (maybe 0, 3, 6, or 9.) The endgame helps field reset.