**IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Game Tip and 2004 Competition Manual Information!!

[Jedi Padawan]

Ok through the combined intuitive powers of 3 years experience I derive the following clues from the BOM and the Hints.

First (no pun intended) there will be stairs and probably an obstacle of some sort that will force you to use them. (say in this case a long ramp with a gate on it (3 casters would be about right for that)) and the stairs would be the shorter way around. (what else are we doing with that insane amount of PVC and 2x12's??) I also derive that there will probably either be a lengthened autonomous or a complete autonomous with competitive edge design so that you press a go button and you can take over. This makes too much sense to ignore, It would challenge the older teams (program wise as well as mechanically) and give the younger teams a fair shot. All the older teams have pretty much figured out a universal base or some sort of method to speed up the process whereas the younger ones still need alot of time to figure this out each year and consequently don't have as much time to devote to fully programming in an autonomous mode.

oh well thats my 2% confidence


P.S. by the way my team as an idea submitted the idea of a spinning octagon in the center of the field last year, go figure if it's a spinning item with stairs I can see this suddenly becoming problematic...