FIRST Game Survivor: Round 9

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Did this many people really not like Overdrive? I thought it was pretty fun to watch with good robots out on the field like on Einstein and in the divisions.

I like overdrive but not for the boring matches. The game was kind of boring if you knew what was going on. To the everyday Joe who just walked into the stadium that day the game was very exciting, but not to me.

I liked the game because it had a unique challenge for the robots and made people really think about how they wanted to get the ball over the overpass.

[Ian Curtis]

I wrote a note to the GDC immediately after my first (and only ) regional in 2008. I thought 2008 was the most audience accessible game in my 6 years of FRC.

Originally Posted by Immediately after 2008 Regional

I just returned from our first and only regional. And I'd like to thank the GDC for the amazing work all of you did on this year's game. Out of the 5 games I've played, this one was the most balanced and exciting to watch. It provided the right level of difficulty for teams to build good robots, the level of average competition was above what we usually see. Additionally, the alliances were so close in both machine and driver skill that elimination matches were literally down to the wire every time. Due to the fact that every hurdle was worth so much, the crowd reacted visibly and audibly every time a ball went over, and it was VERY exciting to watch teams desperately try for that last hurdle, place or knockdown as the clock counted down.

Additionally, we felt hybrid was right on the money. It was worth so much you simply had to do it, and I felt this year's hybrid mode was more exciting than 2006's autonomous mode. Additionally, the RoboCoach could be used with great effect. Several teams at our regional used it, and 175 used it extremely well to avoid other robots as they traversed the field. Hybrid allowed teams with limited resources but a bit of ingenuity to make it farther than has ever been possible before. I know the rookie team we've been in contact with made it to the elimination tournament due to their hybrid, and they were ecstatic! They had a tough time raising the money they needed to compete, and plan to use this in their fund raising activities for the upcoming year, as they definitely caught the bug!

Additionally, despite the limited number of scoring options, the robots were all so different! Overall a very, very impressive, balanced, and just plain fun and exciting game.

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Did this many people really not like Overdrive? I thought it was pretty fun to watch with good robots out on the field like on Einstein and in the divisions.

It was okay... but it was pretty lacking in the strategy department. Game play itself tended to be fairly repetitive from match to match, making things generally more boring than other games. I did like Overdrive, and I did not vote against it this round, but there are definitely better games out there.


Edit: In response to the post below me (apparently I'm not allowed to post again, is the "ensuring equal participation" message new?)- Eric, I find it funny that you liked eliminations strategy better because I felt we didn't get to put our strategy into action until the finals on Archimedes. Every other match we played or watched before then involved a pretty typical combination of the two stronger offensive teams driving around, picking up the ball, hurdling, lather-rinse-and-repeat while the third alliance partner either drove in circles or played some sort of "prevent the other alliance from getting the ball/scoring the ball" defense. In the Archimedes finals, we kept switching our offensive players during the match which was somewhat interesting to watch, confused the other alliance to no end, and is the only reason we came back after losing the first match. And then we got decimated in semis on Einstein. But yeah... not too much dynamic strategy overall like we've seen in other games.

[Ericgehrken]

I liked the strategy aspect of Overdrive in the Qualification Rounds because you had a new alliance every time with different abilities. But once the Eliminations came along the strategy was definitely repetitive and really predictable.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Did this many people really not like Overdrive? I thought it was pretty fun to watch with good robots out on the field like on Einstein and in the divisions.

That can be said about game though, can it not? I know the Einstein match-ups in 2007 didn't turn out the most exciting, but the divisions (and IRI) were tremendous.