Does anyone else think this game will be awesome?

[Billfred]

Well, there's a negatives thread, so there might as well be a positives thread.

I LOVE this game. Triple Play was a fun game to play, but this one seems to have worked out all the things that held back Triple Play. Here, in particular is what I love:

-EIGHTY balls in play. The only game I can think of with more scoring objects on the field is Maize Craze.
-A vision system that has been improved on.
-Autonomous is no longer an option. If you want to be successful, you're moving and doing something.
-Real-time scoring. Spectators will no longer have to rely on that goofball from South Carolina with his PDA to track the field--it's on the screen. Done deal. (And it removes the need for RTS, which frees up two volunteers for other things.)
-So many ways to play the game. Fast, slow, anywhere in between.

What else do you love about this game?

[Alex829]

I like the game. It looks like they took 04's ball game, you know with the corrals and shooting and stuff, and combined it with 03's king of the hill thing, which I loved. However I wont be able to go go comp. . ( I'll be in the NAVY so get me some good videos. I wanna see it played out. i.e. ill be checking random FIRST sites looking for good stuff.

oh and I cant wait to program that shooting device. Looks like fun.

[Greg Marra]

The sheer amount of real-time strategy is going to be amazing. It's going to be like watching a sport with plays. There will be blocks, fakes, double teaming; it will be amazing.

[MrBlack298]

Originally Posted by Greg Marra

The sheer amount of real-time strategy is going to be amazing. It's going to be like watching a sport with plays. There will be blocks, fakes, double teaming; it will be amazing.

Greg, i think this can be summed up in 2 words. TRIPLE THREAT!!!!

[generalbrando]

I'm only disappointed in that in the past, explaining the basic premis of the game has always yielded a reaction from the non-FIRST person like this: "Oh, so it plays basketball?" And now, thanks to this year's game, I have to say "yes"

And really, that's a great thing. It's a simple game the way a sports game is simple - you have simple goals. And like sports, complex strategies evolve out of those simple goals.

I think it's bold of the GDC to have another game where everyone has to manipulate one scoring object (last time was the Tetra). You can't make a bot that just works with one part of the game and hope to be picked by a complimentry team. This isn't necessarily better, but it ads something to the design challenge: how do you make your robot better at picking up the ball/tetra and scoring it?

[Josh Murphy]

This years game is going to have its ups and downs but it is going to be very competitive and interesting but it is going to be a good game.(not as exciting as the last 2-3 years) well let me stop myself and i will tell you when i see the First FIRST match of this season played i can't judge it until i see it played.

[Joe J.]

My first impression is that this game looks great.

I like how you can score in different ways as opposed to Triple Play where you either caped Tetras or not. (though I don't remember seeing many robots not capping)

It looks like it will be a faster paced game as well which is great.

Its really easy to understand great for spectators, only thing is the switching of offence and defence might be tricky to follow at first. But not that tricky.

This game is absolutely everything I hoped for. We have untethered projectiles, many robots on a much larger field, and the scoring has been made easier and better.

One of the coolest parts of the game though, is the wide variety of strategies available to teams. Last years the only real strategy was to cap, yet for this year... There's tons.

[fnsnet]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Spectators will no longer have to rely on that goofball from South Carolina with his PDA to track the fiel

HEY! I have been that goofball with his PDA counting the balls on the field... (though I'm not from South Carolina..)

Heh, really though, that will help out the volunteers A LOT!
More than that, we don't have to do "up down drills" checking to see if "they are on the loading zone" or not.. ugh. Glad that's over with.

I do love the fact that the height limit is enforced throughout the game, as to prevent teams from blocking the middle goal all together. That's going to make them think of more interesting ways of preventing other teams from making shots.


Did anyone else notice that these balls can travel a max velocity of 26Miles/Hour? WOW! I'm likely going to be doing Field Control this year... that table is CLOSE to the field... I'm going to have to watch hard for some stray balls this year, liable to knock my head off.

Matt

[AmyPrib]

There may be some talk of netting or some manner of "containing" the balls and protecting everyone outside and near the field. I hope they can do something of the sort, or there will need to be volunteer nazis in the stands retrieving misfired balls from the spectators.

I think this game will be a lot of fun. The field looks extremely bare, but they have kept the "last second, edge of the seat" type of element with the ramp. There's essentially unlimited scoring, (big numbers people), and there are certain restrictions that will really bring in a lot of strategy. And who doesn't love colorful projectiles? And, I mentioned before, the rules are VERY WELL WRITTEN in my opinion. They have obviously taken into account confusions discussed in the past.

[Arkorobotics]

I think it will be exciting to see what others strategies will be. Because this game is more stratgie than function. It's all fun, the FIRST design team did a GREAT job. Kudos!

[varcsscotty]

this going to be INTENSE!! just coming up with a strategy today was fun! I can't even imagine all the possibilties that we'll see this year. We are going to see a very wide array of strategies on the field which makes teamwork all that more important within the alliances.
GREAT JOB FIRST!

[jimfortytwo]

I was a little worried about how spectators were going to react to the robots rushing back and fourth switching offense and defense. Upon further reflection, though, I think its going to work great. Spectators are going to see something familiar to them-- two teams rushing up and down the field-- just like basketball. I think this will break up the mid-match stagnation some of the past games have seen.

[MissInformation]

I think the game is going to be very photogenic, what, with all those colorful balls flying through the air and everything...

I love the height limit. If there wasn't a height limit, I think it would be too easy for someone to block the center goal, so I think the limit is going to bring about some very creative ways of preventing robots from scoring that goal. Maybe.

And I find the offense/defense switch completely intriguing!

Heidi

[Chase]

I love how simple it is, not quite as confusing as Triple Play was. I still don't completely understand the scoring for Triple Play. I also like how open the field is, not only is this easir for the drivers, but as the team photographer this means it'll be easier to get shots during all the action.