Game Hint #1

[kevin.li.rit]

I think it means the game will be some sort of fishing game where there will be a wall and you have to go over and pull another robot or object over it... Just guessing.

[njamietech]

agggg!

all the possibilities are making my head explode!

but if I had to guess:

id choose water game because its cool

but realistically:

Id like to go with this idea:

the field resembles that of previous years except it is raised on stilts. it i raised because there are holes in the playing field holding pieces in them. but heres the kicker: the driver's station windows are blacked out so only the audience can see without the use of a camera. the goal: to score as many points as possible by collecting the pieces from the holes (each with differing point values).

thats my idea.

feel free to correct me or build on my idea.

sincerely,

Neal Jamieson

[Jonathan Norris]

Originally Posted by Kaushal.K

One of the guys on my team mentioned that some Fish only see certain wavelengths of light... Based on that my bet is that there maybe locations on the field with IR emitters at certain locations, where teams must reach (overcome difficult terrain and/or tetter-totter) to obtain game pieces. It could also involve the camera, as previously mentioned, where the game pieces (or the IR emitter where the game pieces are located) are out of the drivers line of sight, and thus rely on the camera to obtain game pieces.

Just my 2 cents.

Out of all the posts so far in this thread, you may have actually found something that could be applicable in the game design from this hint. If it is true that fish can only see certain wavelengths of light, someone figure out what wavelengths... You know FIRST is going to want to show off the capabilities of its new control system this year, and that fancy new camera has some new tricks it can do. If someone more familiar with the new camera could let us know what it capabilities are (multiple colour tracking??), we could make a better guess on how it could be applied to a game.

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by njamietech

but realistically:

Id like to go with this idea:

the field resembles that of previous years except it is raised on stilts. it i raised because there are holes in the playing field holding pieces in them. but heres the kicker: the driver's station windows are blacked out so only the audience can see without the use of a camera. the goal: to score as many points as possible by collecting the pieces from the holes (each with differing point values).

thats my idea.

feel free to correct me or build on my idea.

That's actually a very cool idea, I think I'd enjoy playing a game like that.
However, I think it would be hard to pull off... if the field is raised, how do you get the robots on to it? You would need some sort of ramps leading up to it, which would take up even more space, and soem regional venues are packed in enough as is. Also, the field would be much harder to build, because it would need all sorts of supports underneath. And wouldn't the robots get stuck in the holes if they drove over them? Or how big are we thinking for the holes? Still, a very creative idea. I wouldn't mind playing it.

My thoughts about what the hint could mean:
- As mentioned, opahs are hard to catch, but highly valued. I'm thinking there is going to be either a high-value game piece or multiplier which is limited in supply (maybe only one?), and hard to obtain... but if you can get it, you'll get lots of points.
- The interpretation of "levels" people have suggested (one fish behind the other, fish dive deep in the sea, moon/sun far from Earth, king= a high ranking) is also quite plausible. There are a lot of things that levels could mean... ramps, platforms, different height goals, different levels with multipliers...

[NBurek]

First off I'd just like to say that I think everyone is reading into this way to much. I doubt that there is any hidden message in the picture or that it has anything to do with the text that was on the reverse page of the book. I also doubt that it is a water based game because the field for that would just be to hard to build.

I think that the idea about the terrain being similar to the moon is practical, but the idea of it being a slick surface just screams lawsuit after some kid slips and breaks something while trying to get the robot on/off the field.

I also think that it could have something to do with the dot pattern on the fish. As mentioned before, the new camera this year is going to have a lot of capabilities and I think one of those is shape/pattern recognition. I also like the aforementioned idea of having the drivers windows painted black so that they can't see and must navigate using the camera.

Does anyone else get the feeling that they don't even design the game and that they just randomly release a clue and let the FIRST community come up with the ideas and then base them off of that?

I also think that there should be a prize at the end of the season for whomever had the closest guess, based off the hints, as to what the game was.

[ATannahill]

What if the hint has to do with human players? Do they fish for the batteries in a hole then you put them in the robot and play the main game? They play Go Fish for tools/parts? In the '03 kickoff the question of who should be more important HP or robots was mentioned, What if the levels mean HP drop things onto opposing robots? The robots might need to find the HP with the camera to get the game object.

[MaddyTheHatter]

I haven't had time to read more than 8 pages of this thread, but I have my own ideas, and I agree with much of what I've read. Ideas I think are viable are:
- the idea of two levels to the playing surface
- the idea where drivers cannot see the field for a portion of time, maybe the Plexiglas is blacked out or something?
- having to reach into some sort of 'fish' tank to get out game pieces, thus going 'fishing'

Also, the name of the fish, when translated, is
The genus Lampris is derived from the Greek lampros meaning radi-
ant, while the species guttatus is likely derived from
the Latin word for spot, guttat.

So "Radiant Spot." Coincides with the idea of dark and light contrast to find game pieces, way around, etc.

[ATannahill]

Originally Posted by synth3tk

Attached are the numbers I tried. No go.....

Try the numbers

777
1777
7177
7717
7771

The number of posts made on Bill's Blog each month, although the post about the hint was posted after it was released so it may not be included.

[GGCO]

Nothing again. Not a thing... Anyone else want to take a guess at what the password is?

[DMetalKong]

Originally Posted by GGCO

Nothing again. Not a thing... Anyone else want to take a guess at what the password is?

was opah already tried?

[NBurek]

Has someone scanned the original image as well as the image provided by FIRST to see if the original image contains this "encrypted" message as well? Because if it does it would mean that FIRST didn't put it in there in the first place.

As for trying to crack the password on this thing, I don't think that FIRST would promote brute force (or any other sort) cracking techniques. It just seems to go against their nature and I don't think they'd release a clue that required you to use it.

[Mew187]

Maybe we don't know the password yet, and the next clue (if there is one) will hint at the password.

[braisinchef]

Perhaps it has something to do with scales

[ATannahill]

Originally Posted by DJW

I've analyzed the picture and I've determined that there really is no clue in the background, it is just a picture of another fish and of its description from another page in a book. I'd have to go with the clue relating the description of the fish. To see the picture, look at my signature.

A. it is not in your sig, you should check it in your control panel
B. all that you said has been posted, please search before you post

[EricH]

Originally Posted by MaddyTheHatter

So "Radiant Spot." Coincides with the idea of dark and light contrast to find game pieces, way around, etc.

The return of the green cathode lights? After all, there is a camera in the control system kit. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a task for it, and the green lights are pretty good at being targets. Interesting...