Thoughts on Overdrive

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by AndyB

The fact that there was really only one objective in the game was a large turnoff to me. However, this simple game really did help non-FIRST spectators understand and enjoy the event.

Overdrive wasn't as good as 07, 06, or 04.

Only one objective? I can count four completely different ways to score in Overdrive, as compared to '07 (one and a half), '06 (two and a half) or '05 (three and a half) [I consider climbing a ramp or simply driving your robot to a certain location at the end of the game as halves]. The variation in robot design is far greater than last year's game, and I would argue the drive trains/manipulators used in OD are the most elegant across the board, as compared to past years' designs.

The pits seemed to be a much friendlier place - a horde of workers fixing a broken robot was not nearly as commonplace as it has been in the past. People could walk around, check out different designs, and ask questions without fear of getting in the way or impeding progress. I think this was due largely to the monodirectional and mostly offensive-minded flow of the game. While defense did play a large part in the game (moreso than most people realize), the damage inflicted was not nearly as destructive as in the past.

One thing I think could be improved was the Hybrid mode. While the concept was cool (controlling the robot with a TV remote), the physical size of the game and arena made it so the majority of spectators missed out on that feature. Also, depending on the robot's orientation, sometimes the lap counters interfered with the IR receiver. I understand that's all part of the game challenge and there are ways around it, but when trying to make the non-teleoperated period rookie-friendly, there's no need to throw in extra difficulties.