Does anyone else think this game will not be as good as I imagine it might be?

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by mechanicalbrain

...Just because you disagree with an opinion doesn't make the person wrong or a object of aggresion....

The original title was not helpful nor constructive. I can honestly say that I really don't mind folks that don't like this game. I myself am still making up my mind. BUT... ...it was not constructively possed. It was little more than asking folks to join in a name calling festival.

I and others are just plain not going to accept that this year on ChiefDelphi.com

Read this post.

Have all the concerns you want, talk about improvements all you want, but name calling and negativity for the purposes of venting is out of bounds.

Joe J.

[KenWittlief]

there have been several games over the years in which the robots got to 'shoot things'

the Xcats had a ball shooter a few years back when we had to put the soccer balls in the goals. I remember because I got shot in the face by the robot point-blank while we were working on the ball trajectory

the year with the inner tubes on the tree-like frame (1997), the kodak team built a robot that could fling the inner tubes through the air

and if you go way back, there were other games with balls that were shot, launched or tossed by the bots.

[MARK]

I firmly believe that this year's game will be excellent, enjoyable to watch, and exhilarating to play.

I strongly view the game as robotic lacrosse with the possible simplicity of soccer, ie the raise center goal, and the lower goals. also the offense/ defense aspect will be very similar to 'real' sports, which everyone can understand.

I'm really excited

[Arefin Bari]

Here is my opinion I would like to share, every year when the game is announced, my first thought is "whaaaaat?" By the time I am done reading the manual and going through all the rules, the game gets exciting and exciting. Personally I love this game and I am looking forward to this season.

[killerofkiller]

no, this game looks great, it seems like it will be alot more even on the fields this year than last. I'm sure alot of Veteran teams will design a device taht makes shooting the 3 point ball accurate and easy, but then again less advance robots can easily defend them by pushing them out of the way. It is alot more even than last years game.

[team222badbrad]

True, but this is the first year FIRST is forcing us to actually throw stuff besides the corner goals!
All that arm/manipulator experience/knowledge is somewhat thrown away this year.

[killerofkiller]

lol true, i bet pink (233) will be able to incorporate their infamous Sprocket Arm into this game :-p

[devicenull]

This game is the only one in 4 years that I've been really excited about. It seems to be the first one I've seen wehere you are going to need solid sensor + programming. Its the first time I've gotten into arguments about what I think the robot should do

[Salik Syed]

at first i was like... wow the field is so empty it looks boring... but the defense/offense switches really do play alot into the strategy aspect ... and it will be a challenge shooting balls in the goals etc... so i think it will be pretty cool, LIVE scoring is also a plus.

I think we'll just have to wait and see... and btw I don't think he posted anything in a "bad" fashion, It was all respectful... he just posted that certain aspects of the game lead him to think it will be confusing... its just an opinion.

[J Flex 188]

Thanks for posting that Ed, everyone who reminds everyone else about not posting opinions without necessarily backing them up also needs to be reminded of the fact that CD isnt their own personal gracious fiefdom that is closed off to anyone with a different opinion or anyone who doesnt know the rules yet.

That being said! To the topic of the thread at hand. This year's game involves just as much if not more strategy than last year's. A couple interesting points of comparision, similar scoring systems based around manipulation of only one element. Tetras Vs. Balls. Scoring Under vs. Corner Goals. Stacking tetras vs. Centre Goal Shots (obviously the disparity here will be much bigger) and of course, the end zone bonuses. Altogether, I think FIRST has done the best job they can in terms of levelling the playing field again for new teams and veteran teams. There is a lot of damage a single push defensive bot can do versus the same amount of damage a highly effective and mobile shooter can do.

In terms of crowd excitement, while there will be contact, I get the distinct feeling there will be some initial confusion for the first few totally new audience goers to the game, mostly due to the offensive/defensive periods (everyone understands to shoot the ball into the big target) but then again nothing can compare to the excitement and simplicity of 2003.

Overall for a team point of view, this game offers up a well-rounded avenue of strategies to build with enough variation on how to score or prevent others from scoring that it represents a decent effort by the GDC. They are hard pressed every year to come up with a game and really no one can tell at this stage how well it will be received. Nevertheless, they did their job and came up with a game that I think will be just as good as the games of the past, but at this point in the season, I dont see it as being any better either.

It is just a FIRST game that can leave you with that feeling one hour or two into build season

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Hey everybody.
I see NeedMoreEngines is taking quite a hit to his rep. I think he got the point there no need to pile on him and drive him from the site.
How about we let up on the guy, OK?

[MattB703]

I have to say that I am initially not a fan of the offensive period/defensive period thing. I think that for FIRST to be as successful as I want it to be long term, outsiders need to "get" the game in 30 seconds. The whole thing about "you can't score in this period" is going to be confusing I think.

That said, it looks like it will be a blast to play.

[Ryan Meador]

Wow, I'm totally shocked to see so many people who support this game. I don't like this year's game for the same reasons I didn't like last year's game. At both kickoffs, I remember sitting there thinking "there's only one way to score". The hallmark of nearly all FIRST games except the past two has been multiple ways to score - not just multiple places, but multiple objects or tasks. Also, having robots unfold to more than their starting height has always been a key feature of every game, including last year. I believe that games that virtually require teams to make robots that get taller incite a lot more clever engineering than one where the robot not only is the height it starts at, but also can't tip over on its side to drive. Another thing FIRST has done well in the past but seems to be lacking this year is autonomous tasks. There's really only one autonomous goal this year: score the most points. Also, it strikes me as very much not in the spirit of FIRST to limit what tasks (offense vs defense) a robot can do and which robots can perform them (only two over the line) basically at random points during the game. It seems to play like the ball changing possession in a "standard sport", yet nothing like that happens in this game.

This is just my take based on my first read-through of the rules. Maybe when we start brainstorming my opinion will change.

On the upside, I'm really looking forward to making an autonomous ball shooter...

[Koko Ed]

One thing that is better this year is there are no 30 point penalties to basically tilt the outcome of the match one way or the other.

[MattB703]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

One thing that is better this year is there are no 30 point penalties to basically tilt the outcome of the match one way or the other.

It does seam like there are a lot of opportunities for 5 point penalties though.

[Joker[eS]]

This is going to be more like a football game. It's going to be fun for anyone to watch. It's the year where you could watch this, and it's like watching one of the best games of soccer you've ever seen. It's constant action, and fun, and I see nothing wrong with it. This is so logically done, and so simple, there is going to be so many different designs, there is no one truly perfect designs. The game design team did a great job with this... You could design any way you want, and the robot will have some larger function at least during some point in the game. I don't think there will be as much confusion with this game as with last years, because it's much simpler, even with the offensive and defensive periods.