2006 Official Game Hint Discussion

[Bill Moore]

Originally Posted by jjack

Last years discussion did get very close to money... As a result I think over the off-season (when they weren't designing the game) the GDC worked on their hint-making skills. Or this years hint has absolutly nothing to do with the game. Or... Dave and Lil'Lavery have switched things up a bit by telling/showing us things that are true, knowing that we wouldn't believe them due to years of mis-guidence and mis-direction... hmm... curling robots anyone?

Actually, this discussion is a very carefully planned strategy of FIRST to get everyone thinking creatively. This gets the "brainstorming" process started before you get the game. This strategy is typical of many groups trying to get into the process; "Begin brainstorming on something non-critical to break down mental barriers, and open up the ideas and creativity. Once that is accomplished, move onto the topic that truly needs to be analyzed."
Whether you realize it or not, you have already begun "playing the game".

[Adam Richards]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

I'll have a more definitive guess later on, but to all you who get the reference, a Dumpling is a type of pasta.

Think about that, and then replace pasta with that in the first line.

If you don't get the reference, search here on CD for the word dumpling, and see what you find.

So the game piece for 2006 is going to be an inflatable Dean Kamen?

[DCA Fan]

Random thoughts from looking through this thread:

- Green "buttes" plateaus that game pieces will have to be put on...5 of them perhaps?
- While it would be interesting to do a 5 robot match, we aren't due for a brand new IFI field control until next year (if I remember correctly, this might not even make a difference)
- Way out there thought: Shovel implies digging. Perhaps a large base filled with game pieces and you have to dig out your side's to earn points?
- While foam noodles sound good, I don't think they'll be game pieces because they break so easily, especially with all the bashing on the field. I kind of liked EddieD's idea of footballs.

[Nuttyman54]

<off topic>hmmm, kind of odd....the most activity was DURING Christmas...and now that it's over, the rate of posting has slowed down significantly. unfortunately, there's no way to tell if that's b/c we've analyzed it to death, or something else.</off topic>

[EddieMcD]

Originally Posted by Eagle Master

No one has said anything about the prime symbol ( ' )being in the first line of the clue.
"five 'bots tangling with pasta"

Five is a prime number. Meaning it's two natural divisors are 1 and 5.
Five Prime could mean 6 or 5 + 1.

Wow... good call. Especially since you'd figure if it wasn't part of a clue, they'd have just said the actual word "robot". Props to you on that one.

Okay, so I still have footballs as game pieces (as does half the thread). I wouldn't be suprised if passing (the shovel reference) is a feature as well. I also have my circular hill and possible field goal. And then we have the newly discovered "five' bots", meaning it'll most likely be 3 vs. 3 again. All that's left to do is figure out the pasta clue.

[EricH]

Time for some assimilation, broken into categories as follows:

Robots/alliances: Highly divided. Many figure 1v1v1v1v1 (going off the "five 'bots), but that is highly unlikely. 3v2 is also unlikely. 5v0? Possible, but unlikely, so the discussion has switched more to 6 robots on two alliances, but "how does 5=6?" is the hot item. There is some talk of a placebo bot, but who knows (other than the GDC, that is.)

Playing field: The general consensus is that there will be a ramp/elevated surface in the field, probably in the middle. It will have some form of green on it, and will be where material other than carpet is placed (if there is any).

Scoring objects: General consensus: pool noodles, footballs, or batons of some form. However, as people have pointed out, pool noodles won't wear very well. I personally suspect that the only pool noodles on the field will be used as bumpers on robots. Footballs are (possibly) supported by at least two portions of the hint. Batons are (possibly)supported mainly by one portion and one of Dave's hints.

Miscellaneous: CMUcam will be back, much to the delight of a few and annoyance of many. There has been talk of moveable goals, holes (likely location: ramp--maybe '03 style with the copper grate?) and bars for hanging.

Some of us have made predictions further up, I'm just putting the general consensus together. Maybe between Art, skimoose, and some of the other intelligent folks on CD (most of us), we can force a redesign of the game....

[Pat McCarthy]

A thought just popped into my brain, but I do not have the knowledge in this area to get any farther.

I noticed the odd structure of the hint. Then I though of poetry. Then I thought that maybe the type of poetic structure could be part of the clue.
Does anybody know if this has any merit?
What got me thinking about this was the word " 'bot ", which may have been shortened to fit the poetic structure.
For example, Haiku format or Iambic Pentameter...?

[Joe J.]

This was posted back on page 7 of this thread:

Originally Posted by Mme.Miscellania

It's interesting that the clue is in the form of an extended haiku (8-10-8).
Now, haiku are normally 5-7-5 patterns, so maybe this year's competition has an alternating number of robots on the field - maybe one robot out of six is chosen to sit out a round, and get put in the next round.

[John Gutmann]

Just a guess even though I am jumping into the thread a little late. Green Foam noodles that you have to shovel up and load onto somehting and the human player can throw them too or laod the robot with them. Kinda like a big game of ring toss without the throwing. and there may be different levels of the goals you hneed to get like having the about the field like 2005 or having a medal stand sort of thing in the middle.

Or instead of foam pool noodles they can be like the tubular pasta that you have to load into somekinda thing that goes into the middle of it.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Adam Richards

So the game piece for 2006 is going to be an inflatable Dean Kamen?

Not quite.. lol Although, I'm sure an inflatable Dean Kamen action figure would be quite the sight around the home. lol

I meant replace the word pasta with the word dumpling, or more ideally, "Lord Dumpling" for that matter, and it's simple (sort of) to see what the "five" means.

But, like I said before, my more in depth answer is coming soon.

Stay tuned.

side note: I nominate this thread for the one with the most quotes of other users.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by Steve Howland

Sam Spade was a detective on a radio show in the mid-40's. The show revolved around Sam Spade who solved various crimes and so forth. Spade is clearly another word for shovel, so this could be a big piece of the puzzle (or a very misleading coincidence!)

Almost all of the shows had the word "caper" in the title, which may be an important aspect, or maybe because it was a radio show there is something about radios or their frequencies involved. Maybe others who actually heard the show would know about any common themes and could enlighten us.

Sorry, I wasn't around then, so I can't help. Ask Baker.

-dave

p.s. This is not a hint. But people won't believe it is not a hint, even when they are told that it is not. So go ahead and analyze the heck out of it. Let me know if you figure anything out...

[The Breeze]

Montana's green heights could refer to the Sanfransisco 49er's (Joe Montana's team) five super bowl wins ("green" is five in the color code). Maybe we have to fill up five bowl-shaped goals with something? Noodles? Sand? Something else to be shoveled?

[ctshirk7]

k so i dont know about all of it but im thinking that the shovels of show, well a spade is a fancy shovel, and so im thinking that it might have something to do with spades of some sort...cards, or shovelish...anyway the cameras coming back thats for shure

Good Luck
see ya in mineapolis
-curtis

[Rafi Ahmed]

Originally Posted by Arkorobotics

Has anyone thought of screwing around with the word order?

like:

five 'bots obsessed with a shovel's show
a game piece green heights
and seeing Montana's tangling with pasta

that would be an example.

Not only that check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:M...state_flag.png

SHOVELS, WATER, MOUNTAINS on the flag.. hmmmm

Hmmm. so the flag of the state thats in the hint has a shovel and mountains... hm i think that has something to do with this. And where is the human player in all of this??? is there not going to be one next year?? And i find it weird that FIRST didnt write out the whole robots instead they put 'bots so idk it just weird.

[dez250]

bot Pronunciation Key (bt)
n. A software program that imitates the behavior of a human, as by querying search engines or participating in chatroom or IRC discussions.