2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!

[Tetraman]

Here is what I have so far.

The base of the three goals contain a scale that weighs the number of smaller dodgeballs that have been scored, and the weight will be how automatic scoring is applied.

Similar to 2004, Human Players will attempt to throw their dodgeballs into the middle goals. However, the yellow Stopper Balls could be in the way.

You see, when a robot dumps off a bunch of balls to a human player on the left side of the field, that will give the opponents an incentive to "cork" the goal.

Because the yellow Stopper Balls are worth zero points at the end of the game - no matter they be on a goal or on the floor.

Picture Link: http://i47.tinypic.com/34hbgag.jpg

[drewditz]

I have been looking at the cipher for bit and I am not sure that the current translation is correct:

A rose, kissed
singer great
A dinner, missed
holding weight

There are many other possible translations. Try writing out the numbered pairs and see if you can come up with something different. It doesn't make sense that both g and t are represented by the number 97 when they could have used any other number (not already used) between 10 and 99.

What do you guys think?

[Grim Tuesday]

Originally Posted by KevinGoneNuts

I still think that we will have three alliances, but only 2v2v2. We can keep the field set up, but it does create something of a challenge. Your alliance partner is on the other side of the field. Sounds like a FIRST challenge to me!

There are a number of reasons why this can never happen, primarily because, while a 2v2v2 is very interesting to play strategically (in real time strategy games), 90% of the time it ends up being 4v2 with the worse two alliances ganging up on the strongest. This always creates a nasty dynamic with wheeling and dealing in the pre-match phase and I hope the GDC foresaw this if they were thinking of modifying 3v3.

I have no evidence for this but what if they changed the robot sizes to be smaller and made alliances have 4 teams on them, and increased match time to 3 minutes. This would keep approximately the same or more matches per team while shaking up strategy significantly.

[Bryce Paputa]

Originally Posted by Tetraman

Here is what I have so far.

The base of the three goals contain a scale that weighs the number of smaller dodgeballs that have been scored, and the weight will be how automatic scoring is applied.

Similar to 2004, Human Players will attempt to throw their dodgeballs into the middle goals. However, the yellow Stopper Balls could be in the way.

You see, when a robot dumps off a bunch of balls to a human player on the left side of the field, that will give the opponents an incentive to "cork" the goal.

Because the yellow Stopper Balls are worth zero points at the end of the game - no matter they be on a goal or on the floor.

Picture Link: http://i47.tinypic.com/34hbgag.jpg

How would the automatic live scoring detect the weight from robots on the scales, and from the stoppers in the goals?

[Anthony Galea]

Everyone's making connections to the number 3, but I think it is connections to pi. The game hint hint said it might have to do with the Mesoamerican Long Calendar ending. The Mayan Calendar was a circle, and circles have to do with pi. Someone said something about the numbers in the hint adding to 31, which are the first digits in pi. The hint was also decoded using pi. I think we have a circular game piece, possibly a forced circular robot, or, as strange as it seems, a circular field.

Also, our coach said the SINGER GREAT might have to do with will.i.am, as in 2011 he was at kickoff.

Just some speculation...

[jtechau]

I think a couple of you are missing the point on the challenge of building a robot with a smaller frame size. For one thing, many teams practice designing and building the "standard" size frame in the off season (or, even though it's against the rules, intentionally or unintentionally copy a reference design they built in the off season or past years), and so they'll have to re-think the design if a new size is announced.

But more importantly, you're thinking only of the robot base and drive train. For example, the control system is not shrinking, and will have to fit within a smaller frame. Same goes for motors, gearboxes, compressors, and anything else you've had to squeeze into your available space. If the game calls for a complex mechanism internal to the robot, a smaller frame would definitely by a challenge.

[Clinton Bolinger]

Looking at the 3 modes of the game.

Stage 1 = Autonomous
Stage 2 = Teleoperated
Stage 3 = Kinect Mode (or Hybrid Mode)

-Clinton-

[AceLucky]

Could be

[Doug G]

Originally Posted by Clinton Bolinger

Looking at the 3 modes of the game.

Stage 1 = Autonomous
Stage 2 = Teleoperated
Stage 3 = Kinect Mode (or Hybrid Mode)

-Clinton-

Now that's sounds like a realistic way to interpret the hint... In my experience, the hints are never about the game or game objects, usually it's something more obscure where even if you figured it out, it gives no advantage.

I would think the Kinect must play a bigger role in the game than last year. If I were FIRST, I'd be really disappointed if a major sponsor like Microsoft donated an item to each team, only to have it not used by 99% of teams.

I just can't envision 6 teams trying to use it at the same time, perhaps like Clinton says, there will be a Kinect mode this year and one robot from each alliance battle for some final bonus points at the end.

[Grim Tuesday]

I'm just going to leave this here...

http://www.andymark.com/ToughBox-p/am-2388.htm

A 3 motor gearbox. Generally, Toughboxes are used with CIM's. So are we going to get 6 CIM drive trains this year? Are we going to need something that requires 3 CIMs in one gearbox worth of lifting? Holding weight? Game Title: Do You Even Lift, Bro

[Dominator1619]

Originally Posted by Grim Tuesday

I'm just going to leave this here...

http://www.andymark.com/ToughBox-p/am-2388.htm

A 3 motor gearbox. Generally, Toughboxes are used with CIM's. So are we going to get 6 CIM drive trains this year? Are we going to need something that requires 3 CIMs in one gearbox worth of lifting? Holding weight? Game Title: Do You Even Lift, Bro

http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexpro/ge...reduction.html

kinda makes those threes keep coming up

[Secretspy97]

A 3 motor gearbox. Generally, Toughboxes are used with CIM's. So are we going to get 6 CIM drive trains this year? Are we going to need something that requires 3 CIMs in one gearbox worth of lifting? Holding weight? Game Title: Do You Even Lift, Bro

Rick Astley:
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you

[Kevin Sevcik]

I just thought I'd remind/inform everyone in the thread about how stupendously complicated it is to do a 3 "alliance" elimination. So I'll link to the elimination brackets from '98 Nationals, a 1v1v1 game:
98 Nationals Bracket 1
98 Nationals Bracket 2a
98 Nationals Bracket 2b

Yes, that's made extra complicated by the sheer number of teams that were in elims, but it honestly doesn't get that much simpler even at a regional:

98 New England Bracket

[CrazyHorse]

I've been thinking this and holding off just so I could develope it.

Everybody is flipping out about three alliances and saying its not possible for two reasons:
1. No yellow bumper material in the KoP.
2. The field won't support 3 alliances.

Well, to solve problem one, as stated, veteran teams would need yellow/white bumper material too, so it wouldn't be listed as a diference.

Secondly, what if we have been taking the Rick Astley hint all wrong and the pushpins tell us more than we have been seeing? That picture is a rectangle, the field is a rectangle. Maybe the GDC was telling us how they would lay out the driver's stations on the field. Red on one side, blue and yellow/white on the other with a barrier between. That means they wouldn't have to change the field anymore than the typical year-to-year changes.

Feedback on this is much appreciated. Thanks

[billylo]

Borrowing a page from http://www.sugobot.com ? Would be fun to have a autonomous or kinect driven end game like this...

Billy.