2014 Game

[Justin Shelley]

One thing seems for certain to me though, FIRST will keep an easy scoring system and a spectator friendly design. If FIRST is truly trying to be the varsity sport of the mind, which I fully think they are, then they will follow in the steps of varsity sports in which spectators are a huge part!
I'm not trying to say this is a bad thing because I actually think that this is an awesome thing!!

[Orion.DeYoe]

Originally Posted by Justin Shelley

One thing seems for certain to me though, FIRST will keep an easy scoring system and a spectator friendly design. If FIRST is truly trying to be the varsity sport of the mind, which I fully think they are, then they will follow in the steps of varsity sports in which spectators are a huge part!
I'm not trying to say this is a bad thing because I actually think that this is an awesome thing!!

For sure!! I like to invite as many of my friends to watch our regionals as possible. Every year that goes by it get's easier for them to do so as well as more entertaining. I think it's great!

[Bryce2471]

I really want to see a game in witch the robots can't touch an important game piece. Something like a large multiplier ball that must be moved by throwing smaller game pieces at it.

[Rynocorn]

Originally Posted by Orion.DeYoe

Well, I've put it off as long as I can (this is going to be long).


The other popular game is some sort of stacking. FIRST had a REALLY bad experience with this in 2003 so they seem to be really shying away from it. They’re going to have to face it some year but if that year is 2014? We’ll have to see.
They don’t have to use cubes for stacking, but I really think they should. I don’t want to see those stupid tubs that when tipped over don’t stack! They also need to really get the scoring right. Forget all this crap about multiplier stacks. Do it right. My team hosts a summer VEX day camp every year. This year we had them stack wooden blocks. Our scoring was that each cube (when stacked in a special zone) was worth two more points than the one below it. So a stack of 1 is 1 point, a stack of 2 is 1 + (1+2) = 4, a stack of 4 is 1 + (1+2) + (1+2+2) + (1+2+2+2) = 16. Strangely this also means that a stack is worth its height (in cubes) squared. I didn’t notice it until after the fact.

I think the chances of another shooting game are slim. It could happen, but I don’t want it to.

A unique endgame that I would like to see implemented is climbing to the top of a rectangular pillar. They would just be robust boxes (with no lips, grooves, bars or any other place to grip) anchored to the floor. There would be several heights available with different point values associated.

Another thing I would like to see is several hundred tennis balls on the field which have to be launched/dumped in huge quantities into horizontal goals (like the hoops from 2012). This would be quite amazing to watch I think.

Tell me what you think!

This sounds like the game I proposed earlier in the thread!! I'm glad we are on the same page, (does that mean we are right?)

[strangestat]

For those thinking water game and sealed talons... I present a new product andymark is selling: http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2521.htm

[cad321]

Originally Posted by strangestat

For those thinking water game and sealed talons... I present a new product andymark is selling: http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2521.htm

Looks interesting. Hopefully FIRST will make this legal in future years. It would be good for teams that find it difficult to afford to put more motors on their bot because they cant afford the speed controllers to go with them.

[mdiradoorian]

Originally Posted by strangestat

For those thinking water game and sealed talons... I present a new product andymark is selling: http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-2521.htm

In my opinion Andymark can sell anything they want to for the general publc to purchase and it has nothing to do with FIRST. I am completely against the water game idea because think seriously, many teams have a great difficulty with robots on land, majority of teams will fail miserably with a water game. If you want a water game with robots join a MATE team. A water game would be to costly to put on and set up for six weeks of competition, plus Championships and many offseason events like Battlecry, IRI, Texas Round Up or Battle at the Border.

[R2D2DOC]

More stuff: some viable, mostly outrageous as thought starters. . . .

SIMULATE water like a ball pit. It provides “viscosity”, and you don’t want “water” in your mechanism so you should make your robot “waterproof”. But how do you manage all of that “water”?

CURLING: with recent Canadian domination, the rest of the world should rise to the challenge. AND taa-daa, the return or REGOLITH ! ! !

Think of carney games: like hoops on a post (turn 2011 by pi/2 radians); landing a game object on an elevated platform (similar to the 2013 top of the pyramid).

Something like “Score-Four” with a 2007 spoiler for fun. Enter at top or sides. . . . Multiple scoring sites, different from 2007. Or, just stack tubes and “Score-Four’.

Think of traditional birthday games: drop clothespins into a bottle; pin the tail on the donkey (no camera guidance—dead reckoning)?

Transport a stack of something like wait staff racing with trays of filled glasses. The taller the stack to the objective, the more points are awarded. So a stack of height one still gets a point. Now for unrelated things to stack: fribee on a track ball. Wait . . . . . TRACK BALL on a FRISBEE. . . .

Not sure anything from a rodeo would apply. . . .

Feather bowling: at least the game piece is somewhat irregular. Bocce ball? At least no regolith.

Tiddlywinks? Pitchin’ pennies (or some other disk). Marbles?

[mdiradoorian]

In my opinion the game for next year should be themed off of the Olympics. Maybe one event off the olympics, like hockey and I know Canadian teams love that idea.

[Mitchell1714]

It's been 4 years so breakaway 2.0. The new scoring system is much more complex. Balls from the middle and far zone are counted as more points(2 and 3 points). There could also be a third goal on a side that is well off the ground as a double score goal. For the end game each Alliance throws in one uber ball that's worth 3x a normal . there's a lot of ways to update well known games. And it's just an idea

[evanperryg]

Originally Posted by c.shu

Curling and the endgame is stacking robots

Can't see curling working well (sounds like 2010 with rocks instead of balls) but stacking robots would be cool. Big challenge for mechanical team (and electrical; I can see mass graves of motor controllers)

Originally Posted by orangemoore

Overdrive on regolith with Hills

Originally Posted by ehfeinberg

Last year at Champs they said that they started planing games 2 years in advance to insure they have enough time to get game pieces. However, they also said because how well received Rebound Rumble was that they completely redid the 2013 game. So unless they are going to redo the 2014 game, they should be planing the 2015 game after Champs.

As far as I can tell, 2013 was even better received. It seems like the biggest difference between 2012/2013 and previous games was the integration of the endgame into the rest of the gameplay. (example: Instead of just being there during auto, the pyramids dictated how many discs your bot could start with and defined a very structured set of starting bot positions)

[Justin Shelley]

For 2014 I hope to see another game that is easy to follow and will be exciting to the general public. I would also like to see a major change to something that would make everyone on the same playing level again instead of teams that have had years to master certain traits that carry over to each game. Maybe a slick floor Maybe someone can help me understand but a "water game" is confusing and why is there such a huge push for one??

[Alpha Beta]

Originally Posted by Justin Shelley

Maybe someone can help me understand but a "water game" is confusing and why is there such a huge push for one??

Just a running joke on Chief Delphi. Here's a video highlighting that and a few other things from Exploding Bacon.

[mdituri]

http://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Sport...+the+dark+ball

hmmmm.......

there is also a glow in the dark bocce ball.....

[Garrett.d.w]

Originally Posted by mdituri

http://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Sport...+the+dark+ball

hmmmm.......

there is also a glow in the dark bocce ball.....

We almost bought these for bunnybots this year (ping pong ball hoarding game)