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Unread 04-02-2015, 12:28
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Re: Best FIRST game...

I can't really comment on 2011 or 2012 as I wasn't involved with FIRST at all during those 2 years... but my rankings since 2005 would be:

2007 - Love placing games. good strategy and climbing onto alliance partners was awesome
2014 - excellent strategy game and fun to watch with teams who knew what they were doing
2005 - Lifting heavy game pieces well over 10' was pretty cool, especially as a rookie; crowds had no idea what was going on or what the final score would be
2013 - fun fast paced game with a difficult and exciting end game
2006 - was fun at the time but compared to more recent games there really wasn't much to it
2010 - soccer ew...but really, i liked the end game and the bumps made things entertaining
2008 - unless you were driving it was pretty boring
2009 - ...
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Unread 04-02-2015, 12:15
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Re: Best FIRST game...

I think my personal favorite is probably 2012. It was fun to play and easy for observers to understand. For exciting match play, 2005 ranks pretty high. It was so easy for their to be big score changes really fast. (You complete one or two rows and take one or two away from you opponents.) On second thought, I think 2006 was probably just as good (and accessible to observers) a game as 2012, it's just that our robot was not as good in 2006 as in 2012.

The great thing is I have never gone to an FRC competition and not had fun. There have been plenty of times when I was frustrated and had fun, was elated and hand fun, was annoyed and had fun... but I have always had fun. Already some people have identified my least favorite game (Lunacy) as their favorite. Which is part of what makes FIRST cool. My initial reaction to the game this year was a resounding "meh" or something like close to it. But I have still been happy, entertained and engaged through the build season. Every time I have been underwhelmed by a game on kickoff day the reality has been an improvement.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 15:20
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Re: Best FIRST game...

I've been in FRC since 2009, and coached FTC for the last few years. I've looked into past games, but my favorite has to be....

2013-14 FTC Block party

This game (from my viewpoint) was perfect.
Rookies could contribute to winning alliances by driving forward (onto the ramp) in autonmous, and then spin the flag in the endgame. Easy points that impact the game, but don't break it.

Teams that could do more could hang for a few more points than spinning the flag, but that still could be outscored by a team that scored a lot of blocks. And just scoring blocks wouldn't be enough to beat an alliance that did a combination of tasks. Autonomous modes could be as simple as scoring into a container and parking on the ramp, or going for the IR container and juking the opposing robots from blocking you from the ramp.

Matches at the highest level of competition were really exciting. Both teams had to score as many blocks as they could or they'd lose. If they missed the flag or a hang they lost. The division finals in the Iowa super regional had two double hangs in a match.

TL;DR
This game was just as hard for rookies as it was for veterans. Most importantly, EVERY PART OF THE GAME WAS IMPORTANT. I have yet to see a game as well balanced as Block party.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 15:23
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Re: Best FIRST game...

I like games where we dont kill ourselves during the build season.
2013 and 2014 were fairly easier for us compared to many other years.

2006 Aim High, by far my most favorite game.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 15:37
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Re: Best FIRST game...

I agree with Glenn, Aim High was a great game. Especially when played at IRI -- oh, the carnage in that final! I enjoyed the trip my team (931) made to Waterloo that year. Great regional with outstanding volunteers.

I also liked the drama of Toriod Terror (1997), when robots could topple at any moment while attempting insanely high lifts.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 16:09
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Re: Best FIRST game...

My favorite game would probably be 2011's Logomotion, although the endgame was unbelievably unbalanced and usually accounted for more than half a teams total score the concept of the game and the variety of robots that were shown made it a true spectacle to watch and truly achieved FIRST's goal of using STEM to creatively solve problems. It's really unfortunate when a game lends itself to one static design and doesn't allow for much creativity.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 16:32
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Re: Best FIRST game...

Here's my ranked list of the top 4 games:
For me, there are three main goals for each game. In no particular order, they are excitement to watch/play, quality of game (variety of robots, balanced scoring, no really dumb rules), and easy to understand/explain quickly.

1). 2013- Ultimate Ascent
This game was the second most exciting game I have ever watched and had a huge variety of roles for teams to fill. Only a small minority of teams could actually do everything, and almost everybody had to make tradeoff decisions. Teams could be cyclers, floor loaders, full court shooters, 30 point climbers, dumpers, 10 point climbers, defense, blockers, or any combination of the roles. The game itself was very simple - frisbees in goals give you points with more points for the higher goal and climbing the tower gives you points. Defense was a little risky to play due to safe zones and strict climb interference penalties, so many teams focused on scoring points.

2). 2014- Aerial Assist
This was really one of the best games that FIRST has come up with. It's super simple, has tons of strategy, and was incredible to watch in St. Louis. I spent a ton of time just watching matches this year. Every weekend, I watched events, and you wouldn't have been able to pull me away from watching the matches in St. Louis. It's so far ahead of all the other games in many ways, but sadly had three huge flaws - it was not well refereed, had ridiculous penalties, and did not play very well with lower tier teams.

3). 2012- Rebound Rumble
Einstein was terrible this year, but the Archimedes finals with the Canadian alliance and 67's alliance was incredible to watch. This game just worked. It's hard to explain why exactly, but I felt that the GDC spent many hours working through how the game would be played at each level of competition and adjusted point values, the difficulty of balancing, the difficulty of crossing the field, and the number of balls so that every event would be exciting.

4). 2006- Aim High
This ranks below Rebound Rumble simply because it didn't have as good of flow. The game periods and weird offense/defense rules weren't my favorite, but I really liked the idea of shooting balls.

This year's game isn't a favorite of mine yet. I haven't seen it played yet, but the seniors on our team aren't too happy with it yet. They've been anxious to get a game that doesn't include collecting round things from the floor and throwing them into to hole located above the opposing teams alliance station, but this was not the arm/stacking game they were looking for.

However, I'd love to be proved wrong about this year, but robot to robot interaction just seems like such a critical part of FIRST that I can't imagine a game without it!
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Unread 04-02-2015, 16:39
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Re: Best FIRST game...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Damiaen_Florian View Post
My favorite game would probably be 2011's Logomotion, although the endgame was unbelievably unbalanced and usually accounted for more than half a teams total score the concept of the game and the variety of robots that were shown made it a true spectacle to watch and truly achieved FIRST's goal of using STEM to creatively solve problems. It's really unfortunate when a game lends itself to one static design and doesn't allow for much creativity.
Logomotion is a posterchild of one or two designs being superior to all others. Roller claw + elevator/single jointed arm + direct drive minibot (preferably deployed via ramp) was by far the most effective combination.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 17:43
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Re: Best FIRST game...

My favorite is 2013 pretty closely followed by 2014. What made them both great is that it was easier to design basic robots that were still competitive. This meant that there were more functioning (competitive) robots on the field which is a huge improvement over other years games. (i'm a little worried about this year in this respect)

2014 had the best auto and endgame of any recent year. The only reason it doesn't have the best actual matches was because of roughness and weird foul rules.

2013 had some of the best robot design and was also really fun to watch. It's also one of the only years where a robot can accomplish a task better than a human could (full court).

It's nice having a game where the best alliance isn't the one made up of the most functional robots.

Throwing stuff is also pretty cool to watch.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 17:48
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Re: Best FIRST game...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Kozutsky View Post

2014 had the best auto and endgame of any recent year. The only reason it doesn't have the best actual matches was because of roughness and weird foul rules.
I don't think 2014 had an endgame. Just a clarification.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 18:11
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Re: Best FIRST game...

I am torn between 2012 Rebound Rumble and last year Aerial Assist as my favorite...both had outstanding competition which made it fun to watch and compete.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 18:15
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Re: Best FIRST game...

Looking past some of the more popular recent games, my vote goes to 2006, Aim High. For games I haven't participated in, this is the most entertaining to watch.

And hey, the A-Bomb was pretty awesome too.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 18:51
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Re: Best FIRST game...

Hmm....For games i haven't participated in but I was a spectator for the entire season my vote goes to AIM HIGH. Honestly, it was awesome to watch each match. But for games I have participated in, i have to go with Rebound Rumble. For me that one sticks out at being fun to watch as well as being very unique.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 19:07
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Re: Best FIRST game...

Quote:
Originally Posted by bobjones227 View Post
I don't think 2014 had an endgame. Just a clarification.
IMO no endgame was best endgame. The last second scoring or truss was a great way to add urgency to the end of the game.
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Unread 04-02-2015, 19:08
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Re: Best FIRST game...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Kozutsky View Post
IMO no endgame was best endgame.
Ah. I don't really have an opinion on endgames myself.
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