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#16
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
I think a whole alliance that works together well, and has done a lot of pre-match planning is key. From what I've seen, almost any combination of robots has a chance of beating almost any other combination of robots with a very detailed and well thought out and played out strategy.
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#17
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
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Too bad FIRST can't do anything about it now...or can they? ![]() |
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#18
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
It cracks me up hearing people complaining that the ramp points are worth too much this far into the game. The GDC did a great job designing a game with two different scoring options and weight constraints that make it hard to do both well. My hats off to them.
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#19
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
If they do, I'd suggest FIRST prepare for a rampbot assault on their HQ.
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#20
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
I don't see the big problem with how many points you get for being lifted. If you hate it that much then you should have built a ramp bot. There was 6 weeks for you to make a decision.
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#21
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
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In that situation...If three ramp-only robots got paired with each other during qualifying matches, they automatically have lost. |
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#22
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
Ramps are really a difficult feat to do well, as we found out, and watched... I mean, just look at the photo titled "Whoops!" in CD Media. That scenario came up either exactly or close to coming up for every round ramps were attempted.
I sort of compare it to hanging back in 2004... that proved to be difficult for some teams to master, but if done, 50pts to them. It became a deciding factor along with the 2x multipliers. Thus: 2004's hanging == This year's lifting 2004's 2x multiplier removal == This year's spoilers placement. Last edited by JoeXIII'007 : 11-03-2007 at 16:24. |
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#23
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
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Looking forward to Buckeye! |
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#24
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
I believe the game started maturing to show its full potential this week. Attending GLR, i saw great changes happening from Thursday to Saturday.
In the beginning, the game was merely a race to the rack and whoever could put the most ringers on it would win. Ramp and spoilers were ignored, and the closest teams got to "strategizing" together was some alliance's coordination to put all their ringers at the same level. Saturday saw a great deal of changes: two matches in particular illustrate that point. Quarter finals 1, match 1 (alliance 1 with the two best scorers of the competition, a.k.a. 67 and 1114) saw the 8th alliance almost beat those everybody already saw as the winners of the competition. How did they do it? they placed their ringers in an intelligent fashion so that they prevented any 6, 7 or 8 rows and hoped their ramp would be enough to win. Why didn't they win? One of their robot fell of the ramp at the last minute and their spoiler attempts was unsuccessful. Either of those attempts succeeding would have guaranteed a win. Perhaps more interesting is Finals - match 3. Team 503 and their alliance were clearly less efficient at scoring ringers (no offense), and i believe they realized that. To counter balance this, they put together a great strategy. All three of their bot scattered ringers, preventing anything but rows of 4. Although they were successfully spoiled, it did not really matter as they were not relying on ringers but on a final lift. This lift did occur, and a penalty due to 1503 entering the home zone for a fraction of a second brought the score to 4 - 72 for the alliance everybody thought would lose. |
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#25
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
I'd also like to add that after seeing this game played out live, my opinions completely changed. When it was released, I thought it was fairly simple, almost too simple, and that the whole rack would be at least half full by the end of the match. I thought that ramps would be thought of as too difficult and not considered at all, so it wouldn't be a major factor in the game at all. Boy was I wrong!
Now, after watching a few matches again and reflecting on experiences this weekend, I can safely say that Rack N' Roll is hard! Especially once defense comes into play. We all knew that strategy would be key, but there were some strategies that I was amazed with, like putting tubes on someone else's ramps. The ramps were a big shocker too! I expected it to not make much difference with the full rack that I expected, but it ended up being the determining factor of the game. I'm ready for Vegas in Week 5 now...lets see what else changes. |
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#26
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
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#27
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
Few Points about this years game that I saw (Sorry Pavan, I paved my own way)
1. It is a lot more exciting then I first thought it would be. I originally felt that it would be like Triple Play, but the more I watch the more I am falling in love with it. 2. Spoiling is helpful and is now no longer needed. Watching the way the winning alliance at GLR played, I saw a gameplan that eliminates the need for spoilers as well as scores points. 3. This is a team game, and the best alliance will win, it doesn't matter who your partners are as long as you have a great strategy and execute. 4. Ramps just win. Without ramps you have very little chance of winning an event. Last edited by JackN : 12-03-2007 at 20:12. |
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#28
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
I do agree that the thirty points for using a ramp might seem somewhat excessive to a team who is an excellent scorer. However, think of the excitement that this creates. If you have 3 ramp bots against three tube-handling bots in a round, those ramp bots will go back to get their 60 points no matter what since they have no other way to score. This means that if those three tube handlers can score 6 ringers , they win. They may even be undefended for as long as 30 seconds. While the 30 points may seem unfair, keep in mind how tough it would be to hold a great scorer to only one or two tubes. Every single ramp robot has to do just that and THEN hope that their opposing alliance doesn't score much more.
Now think that you are a ramp-only alliance. Imagine you're going against two top scorers and another mediocre one in the elimination rounds. You held them to only 4 tubes in a row in 1:45. Then you go back and get 2 robots up on your ramp in only 10 seconds. You're psyched because you think you just won. Then you look and see that those two great scorers needed only 10 seconds of undefended scoring time to put on two more ringers, give them a row of 6 and the match win. The GDC did an amazing job assigning point values for this game. The score can go from a blowout 128-0 to a close win the other way 30-16 in an instant with some strategic spoiler placement by one bot, and a 12 inch lift performed by the other 2. Everyone can argue that the way that they chose not to score is awarded too many points. If you are in elimination matches and you get beaten, there is a strategy in this game that can allow you to win. That's what I love about this game. As long as you have some way to score, you can win, no matter who you're up against. just my ¥2.35 (as of today) |
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#29
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
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I still say that the finals in Georgia will consist of cappers vs. cappers UNLESS one of the cappers is a ramp with good capping ability. The real problem is that statistically, there is almost always at least one ramp in an alliance which cannot cap. This means that many alliances during the qualifying rounds must rely on a ramp bot to win and this will ensure that MANY OF THE TOP 8 SEEDED TEAMS WILL BE RAMP BOTS. This will make it difficult to have three cappers on an elimination alliance, UNLESS A CAPPER IS ONE OF THE TOP 8 AND HAS THE GUTS TO ONLY SELECT CAPPERS! That is where strategy and intestinal fortitude comes in!!!!!! |
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#30
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Re: Week 2 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll
human players can score too
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