FRC Simulators (That still work)

[Chris is me]

I've gotten 5th Gear to work as recently as a few months ago. Let me give it another try in a couple of days and I'll try and help out.

Once you do get it working, it's not without a few bugs and problems. 2009 and 2011 are not all that playable. Luckily, the 2011 version implements 2008 and 2010, but not the same as it used to (most notably, objects that leave the playing field stay off the field). Still fun for the occasional game or two when you want to kill time driving a robot.

Other than that, the only simulators still working are Catalyst 2012 if you have an Xbox 360 with it installed, or team-made simulators from 2014 to 2016 (granted, many of these are fun, I just have trouble consistently finding them). I think the 3539 simulator for 2016 was the most fun, and 4481 had a cool one for 2015 as well.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

...
Once you do get it working, it's not without a few bugs and problems.
...

Chris is being kind.

There were plenty of bugs, and twitchy behaviors in each version.

If I am able to create new versions, I plan to use 20/20 hindsight to emphasize drive-ability (and a few openness features) in the Physics from day one. In Fifth Gear, some early compromises (made for good reasons at the time) plagued us throughout the life of the project

Also, to add some background, fun was only one of our goals. I first proposed creating a simulator in order to help teams better understand the how matches would play out in real life (To help answer questions like, "How much time does it take to do task X when a defender is in your way?" Etc.). That we were also producing a little entertainment was a nice bonus.

And, if it turned out along the way that most of our users were looking for entertainment, that would be OK. It would simply be a reminder of the difference between ivory tower opinions about how the world should work, and the way the real world actually works.

Blake