Game Hint #1

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As has already been well established, this hint is a photo of a "moonfish", with the operative words here being "moon" and "fish". Of these, I feel that "moon" is probably the more significant. In fact, the second half of the clue, "fish", is most likely a "red herring" (pun definitely intended) designed solely (pun again, not really intended) to draw allusions to the fabled "water game".

That's why I'd like to see more discussion about how "moon" could be a relevant clue. Many people have suggested a "lunar surface" for the gamefield. But why stop there? There countless other aspects about moons as well. For example:

1) Moons are "satellites". They travel in elliptical orbits around a central object.
2) Moons exert a gravitational tug on the body they orbit. Our moon effects the oceans, causing the tides. (Ooh! More allusions to a "water game"!)
3) Moons pass through multiple phases (waxing/waning, gibbous/crescent, full/half/quarter, etc.).
3) The etymology of the term "moon" shares the same root as the word "month".
4) The length of a lunar month is 29.53 days, or roughly 29 or 30 days.
5) Moons are integral components of eclipses (both lunar eclipses and solar eclipses) in which the view of one object is obscured by the alignment with another.
6) The goal of NASA's "Apollo" program was to land a man on the moon.
7) Many lunar dieties exist, such as Selene, Diana, Luna, etc.
8) Our moon has many features known as "lunar maria" (Latin for "seas"), such as the "Mare Tranquillitatis" or "Sea of Tranquility". (Whattayaknow? More "water game" clues!)
9) Folklore says lycanthropes (werewolves) transform from human into a wolf-like creature during a full moon.
10) Many expressions involve the word "moon", such as "Once in a blue moon", "The man in the moon", etc.
11) The moon is made of green cheese. Or so I'm told.
12) And the list goes on and on...

Personally, for this clue, I like the significance of item #4 above the best. Firstly, news of this Hint #1 broke on Thursday 12/4 and it was officially released on Friday 12/5. Exactly 1 lunar cycle before kick-off. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. But very convenient, nonetheless.

Secondly, consider the idea that our moon's lunar month is roughly 30 days. Or better still, "30 units of time". Now, instead of "days", think "seconds". "30 seconds". Could this clue be a hint that this year's autonomous period will be extended to "30 seconds"? What better way to show off the capabilities of the new controller and LabView software than to put greater emphasis on the autonomous operation of the robots?

In fact, this summer I and a group of other FIRST competitors had the opportunity to meet Woodie Flowers at a National Instruments conference. One of the first questions he asked the group was if we would like to see more time given to the autonomous portion of the competition. In light of the above speculation about the clue, that question now seems a bit more prescient.

But then again, what do I know? This is all pure speculation and wild, baseless conjecture. Maybe the clue just means that "moons travel in orbits" and "fish travel together in schools" and that the competition will be various schools teaming up and driving in circles around the playing field. Nah. That's just silly. Surely, FIRST would never think of creating ridiculous a competition where everybody just drives around the arena like it was a race track, now would they?