2015 HINT DISCUSSION

[Wyatt Jordan]

We've been over this 5 times now. We believe that was a sarcastic "whoops" more like a "whoops, hint hint, you're getting warmer" there is no way they did that on accident! the GDC spent some time making this, if you don't think the GDC spends time making the hints look at the solution to the 2013 hint!!!!

Also it's currently our only solid lead, so we're running with it.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by evand4567

Was on the blog post and noticed this:
Is it actually an error?

To everyone thinking of posting on this thread -
Yes, it might be over 300 posts already, but if people refuse to go back and read the previous pages before posting, new posts are just going to keep going in circles.

Originally Posted by Wyatt Jordan

We've been over this 5 times now. We believe that was a sarcastic "whoops" more like a "whoops, hint hint, you're getting warmer" there is no way they did that on accident! the GDC spent some time making this, if you don't think the GDC spends time making the hints look at the solution to the 2013 hint!!!!

Also it's currently our only solid lead, so we're running with it.

Or, as I have pointed out, there is just as much (perhaps more so) chance that it actually WAS an accident, and the 'whoops' is simply just a 'whoops'...

Usually when I hear/see someone say 'Whoops', it means they made a mistake.

How could it be a complete accident? Most likely whoever made the video has not been working at FIRST for over 15 years. They probably had no clue what the 1997 game looked like versus what the 1999 game looked like (Would you?). They were probably just given a bunch of files with clips from the different games to use for this montage, and accidentally clicked on the file for the 1997 game instead of the one for the 1999 game, and never noticed his/her mistake. It's as simple as that.

[tindleroot]

There is only one game hint that I can remember (other than the 2013 one mentioned above) that actually gave teams a possible advantage with robot design: 2009 Game Hint #2, which was a cryptic riddle including cities in the US, and teams figured out sooner or later that it referred to ice. Now, more people on the forum were worried about how the competitions were going to freeze and maintain ice (obviously they used regolith instead), but teams could have feasibly worked out the physics behind low-friction surfaces. But that's it.

All other game hints that I recall only hinted at the name or other vague clues that are never any actual help to teams.

[Duffy509]

Originally Posted by BenBraun3090

1993: robots increase in size and go wireless
1996: robot weight increases
1999: robot alliances begin
2001: robots race against the clock
2003: autonomous mode introduced
2005: 3 vs. 3 introduced
2009: primary field surface isn't carpet for the first time since 1992
2013: field perimeter changes

Those are all the changes listed in the video

3-3-2-2-2-4-4. I have a feeling these numbers are important. Game hints have always had numbers and some of these changes seem forced as if they were trying to get these numbers.

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by Frank on usfirst

Something New – The 2015 FRC Game

Wait. Isn’t the new game always, well, new? Yes, but that’s the point of this note. Every year we try to do a little something different. Sometimes a lot of something different. No one should look at any rules from prior years and think “They would never change that”, because we may. Number of teams on an alliance, number of alliances in a match, match length, bumper rules, field surfaces, robot size, every element from prior year games is carefully considered anew every year. You should make no assumptions. This is all we can say, and all we plan to say on this. All will be revealed on January 3, 2015!*

Frank

*Looking at this, if I were a team, and knew nothing about the 2015 game, I might be nervous. Knowing the game, though, I think there’s nothing to be nervous about. OK, almost nothing.

The last two sentences above Frank's name say that the hint revealed this week is to be taken at face value; don't try to read more into it. That said, I would be a bit surprised if the name of the game doesn't include "change".

GeeTwo

[NHoffmann]

I think that this year is going to have multiple gamepieces with different geometry. Earlier, FIRST tweeted a picture of a gamepiece from Lunacy, then something about Lunacy itself. A major element to Lunacy was exchanging those empty cells for super cells, or "changing" one gamepiece into another. After that, there's this hint. Bill flips to the page of the 2014 manual that's about cycles. Then he says "Change is coming." Probably referring to cycles. Then he tosses the paper into a recycling bin where it will be changed into something else. I think that this year's game will involve exchanging one gamepiece for a different one, with different geometry. It would also be a significant change, because, from what I can gather, every FIRST game so far has had only one geometry type for their gamepiece.

[*Rachelle*]

Originally Posted by Duffy509

3-3-2-2-2-4-4. I have a feeling these numbers are important. Game hints have always had numbers and some of these changes seem forced as if they were trying to get these numbers.

A search of these numbers on Google brings up this Wikipedia Article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formati...on_football%29
Football related game?

EDIT: A CTRL F of the Wiki page does not specifically show a 3-3-2-2-2-4-4 sequence.

[SpaceBiz]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

The last two sentences above Frank's name say that the hint revealed this week is to be taken at face value; don't try to read more into it. That said, I would be a bit surprised if the name of the game doesn't include "change".

GeeTwo

as stated somewhere in the middle of the 350 some odd posts, many recent games have two words that start with similar sounds.

If the hint is "to be taken at face value" than

Assuming like many hints, It has a reference to the name.

Unless "change" means currency in the form of coins, I would expect "Changeup or exchange (as mentioned earlier)" or some other form of the word "change" to be part of the name.

I am thinking "(insert word starting with CH sound) (Word with "change" as root)"

The word starting with CH (or maybe c sound) would refer to the "change that is coming" or maybe the sport that is the theme of this years game

[JimWright949]

I'm hoping for Tetras again. After 2005 I thought to myself, 'these things are nifty, FIRST will use them again.' So I have a corner of my garage full of them.

-Jim
P.S. 2005 was ten years ago, and ten is such a well rounded number.

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by EricH

Remove "picture"--it was physically sent to teams. You could have up to 4 commands.

Ah, yeah, that's right. It's been a while.

[peronis]

Originally Posted by NHoffmann

I think that this year is going to have multiple gamepieces with different geometry. Earlier, FIRST tweeted a picture of a gamepiece from Lunacy, then something about Lunacy itself. A major element to Lunacy was exchanging those empty cells for super cells, or "changing" one gamepiece into another. After that, there's this hint. Bill flips to the page of the 2014 manual that's about cycles. Then he says "Change is coming." Probably referring to cycles. Then he tosses the paper into a recycling bin where it will be changed into something else. I think that this year's game will involve exchanging one gamepiece for a different one, with different geometry. It would also be a significant change, because, from what I can gather, every FIRST game so far has had only one geometry type for their gamepiece.

I agree with this. Your logic is sound, and it seems like different geometry would be an interesting, fun, and hard challenge.

[Chief Hedgehog]

Thank you Frank and the rest of FIRST GDC - even though I too get wrapped up in the fracas that is the game hint - the fallout is entertaining!

[MissRaptor]

I was in a living room full of people when I watched the game hint video, I needed a fan afterwards or something because all I could get out was (literally almost word for word "Oh my god, oh my god, how could they, this is to much, ahhh, i'm so excited, oh my god, did they just, of course they did, did he throw it away I CANNOT believe he threw it away" I didn't have much success explaining the reaction to those around me, the bewildered expression on their faces stayed. I do hope some serious spice in thrown in this year, always fun for a new challenge. My first year since starting not being a student, hopefully I can find places and time to help out between classes

[lokistormbringe]

so after reading through all 375 posts, the 2v2v2 idea using the 60" object seems legitimate. If the object was a team indicator light, it would be relatively easy to "change" the teams from 3v3 to 2v2v2. First already requires us to have a few mandatory lights so a new one wouldn't be so surprising. Also seeing as how the rules from 2014 were just terrible, we should see a significant change regardless of the other mechanics.

And of course for the random speculation: some game involving one team chasing the next, kind of like the arrows on the recycle sign. Would also tie in with the cycle idea that he flipped to.

[pabeekm]

The whole emphasis on recycling and the use of past video made me go hunting through the video of last year's championships on the FRC teams global youtube page... What's with the video from galileo SF 1 - 2? It has a short clip at the start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzoN...YQ9&ind ex=63