Ok, so YOU design the 2003 game...

[hurdler544]

What if there were two competitions at the regional. One for the younger and inexperinced teams which would be easier and one for the more experinced teams that have been doing this for a few years. Even though it would be harder to organize and develop, i know it would have been great for us because we still would have had the experience, just not with teams that were going to destroy us. Also, i think that there should be a limit on how far a team can go to be at a regional. i now there are other conflicts that do not allow for this, but it would be cool to see happen. Finally, whatever the game is going to be, there should be a budget on how much you are allowed to spend on everything. This includes everything brought to regionals and nationals.

[Joe Matt]

Here it is.

[MattB703]

I would like to see a gridwork of low obstacles across the floor of the playing field (I am visualizing 2.5" PVC pipes). The bots could either cross over the grid or go through the "maze" to cross the field. I like the idea of some type of smooth flooring. Maybe there is a cheap form of industrial tile that would stand up to our pounding.

I would also really like to see a game that emphasises precision in the scoring. The scoring goals (whatever they are) could have retroreflective tape so that the control guys could use their automation skills.

ps
The idea of frisbees is cool

[WakeZero]

Here is a simple game that would be challenging, yet easy for the audience to observe:

2 robots vs 2 robots: This has just worked best

Like this year, there are scoring zones. They are round and are elevated slightly off the ground by maybe like an inch or two (so you have to drive/climb up on them). There would be 5 of them, two on each side and one in the middle like this:

X X

X

X X

The middle scoring zone would add 20 pts to whatever team has a goal or robot (or both) completely on the zone (no part touching ground) and the other four would just be worth 10 pts.

Now, you may have noticed I mentioned goal. There are two of them, one located on each side of the middle zone. Unlike this year, they are a constant red and blue. So any balls put in the red goal, count for the red team etc.

Balls would be placed on each side of the field, and some would also be in the player stations.

-----------------------------------------

I like the setup of this game because it combines several aspects from previous years that I love, they are:

1. Putting balls in goal
2. Having obstacles to drive/climb on
3. Moveable goals
4. The incentive to be in more than one place at once

Of course, during qual matches the winner gets three times the loser’s score etc.

This is the type of game I would like to see next year =)

[WakeZero]

Hmmm, weird spacing... The X in the center should be centered between the other two sets of X.

[Joe Matt]

Here is a side photo.

[dlavery]

OK, I asked for it, and I'm getting it!

There are some great ideas in this thread! Keep 'em coming! Every one of these is being read and reviewed, and the right people will be extracting some of the central concepts for more consideration. Thanks to everyone for your input (and don't stop now!).

-dave lavery
FIRST Executive Advisory Board

[Pamela]

I didn't want to post until i had a complete game but after getting really sick and not being able to think much I decided to at least post what I had thought of so here it is:

*same size playing feild, FIRST invested in these fields, lets put them to work!
*Carpet, but with a "sandtrap" in the middle of the field. There will be three zones, the middle or no mans zone will be full of packing peanuts to act as a less messy sandtrap. The two end zones ( red and blue) will be home to teams.
*4 teams at a time in a 2v2 setup, causes teamwork with fastthinking strategizing!
*To cross from one zone to another you must go through no man land by means of the packing peanuts or shaky bridge made out of pvc.
*Playing objects will be suspended on the outsides of the bridge, you must dislodge and recover these to your respective goals, playing objects will be plastic rings lined with retroreflective tape along with the bottom of the bridge, so you can "sense" the objects when they are hard to see.
*You have two goals, one in your starting zone that is low to the ground and one in your opponents zone that is high above the ground, overshadowing their goal.


This is where my brain stopped functioning and fevers kicked in.... If nothing else mayeb I triggered a better idea in someone elses head...

[Digo]

I don't have a complete game yet, but sometimes I think about parts of it.

What if there is a "door" where robots can easily pass through but they can't come back? There could be a more difficult way to come back, and different things on each side of the door, so the teams would have to strategy about when crossing the door. There are thousands of way to build such mechanism. My simple idea is attached in a gif file.

Anyone like it and want to build a complete game using it?

[Joel Glidden]

I think it would be fun to see a playing field that was lower in the center than at either end. The slope would be great enough that goals would roll to center field (a position of lesser or no point value) if left alone. Also, I'd like to see goals that are not latchable. It's not entertaining to watch a robot lock up a goal (or three) and sit on it.

One last bit, I really liked the Wacky Warehouse game that was proposed in an earlier post. =)

-Joel

[Kris Verdeyen]

I also am a fan of Wacky Warehouse.

Can I change my answer?

I just like the idea of having rubbermaid tubs stacked up to the ceiling. It's so simple, yet there can be so many great robots built for it.

[GregT]

I agree with the wearhouse... maybe use box's or some other sort of cube thats regularly shaped (easier to deal with and such). As long as they are at least 2ft by 2ft (i would like to see robots stacking 4X4 foot boxes). Having the stacking mod would make strategys worth thinking through- 2 stacked boxes are worth 2 points, 3 stacked boxes are worth 4, 4 stacked boxes are worth 6, 5 worth 10, 6 worth 15

i can imagine a robot stacking something 50 feet high they might have to make the nats tents bigger with a game like that.

[Brett W]

this is my second addition to this thread but this addition is much beter tan my frist.

My idea for a game is relativly simple. i really like the idea of suspended objects. so i thought of instead of having suspended robots why not suspend some type of goal 4-5 feet in the air on some zip lines. these zip lines are sloped upward towards the center of the field where they might be 9-10 feet. the mission would be to put some type of object into these suspended goals wether it be a ball or bean bag something like that. you can then slide the goal along the zip line to different points. there are different coloured areas of the zip line which would multiply your score depending on which coloured zone the goal is in at the end of the match the goals would be almost frictionless on the zip line so iif you were to let them go they would fall part way back down the line. to add a bit of difficulty there could be obsatcles of incresing dificulty as you approach the center of the field these could even be incorperated as a secondary scoring possibilty according to how many obstacles you can navigate through or over. the only thing i couldn't think of was incorperating a human player.

some smaller details of the game are:
1) same size field and robot starting locations as this year.
2) the control zones be moved to the center of the long side of the field.
3)surface be carpet to stick with tradition.
4)same # of people allowed in the control zone.

[Stephen Kowski]

Thought I'd throw my two cents in here goes:

balls(worth 2 points a piece in a goal), about twice the size of this past year

goals - 5 points if on the respective alliance sides. 20 points if on the floor of the respective end zone.

robot end zone -10 points if they are on the floor of the endzone at the end of the match

there three poles one to get from platform 1 to platform 2 and two to get into respective end zones

a picture would help
Field overview
side view including the light(wieght) goal

[Andrew]

Another game idea:

2x2 robots (red and blue alliances)

Two minute matches

Playing field: 22'x44' (same as this year)

In the center of the field, a perimeter made from 4x6 boards, 15' square. Around the top of this perimeter, aluminum tubing, with about a 12" gap between. (This is the same "wall" as the barrier in 2001.) Call this "no man's land."

In the center of "no man's land," a movable goal. The goal cannot be moved outside the fence.

At each of the two edges of "no man's land," on the short side of the field, a teeter totter bridge, about 32"-36" wide. Initially, one bridge is tottered "red's" way and the other is tottered "blue's" way.

The area in front of the blue alliance station is the blue zone. The area in front of the red alliance station is the red zone.

Also in the blue zone are several red "balls" and a blue "flag." In the red zone are several blue "balls" and the red "flag." The flag would be a movable object, perhaps a heavy one. (A "ball" could be a soccer ball, a football, a traffic cone, a frisbee, a rubbermaid container...)

If you want a human player, you could put several blue balls in blue's player station and several red balls in red's player station.

Scoring:
At the end of two minutes, after everything has settled, the score would be:
Red Alliance:
1 point for each red "ball" in the goal
15 points for the blue flag in the red zone
5 points for each blue robot in the red zone

Blue Alliance:
1 point for each blue "ball" in the goal
15 points for the red flag in the blue zone
5 points for each red robot in the blue zone

Note: robots and flags do not count for either team when on the bridges or in no man's land.

Overview:
All points for either team are held in the opponents' zone. In order to score anything, you have to go to the opponents' zone and either get your "balls" or capture your opponents' flag. But, when you are over there, you count for them.

Another diabolical idea:
It would be great if the balls were in a dispenser and the robot had to toggle the dispenser in order to get a ball.

Rough drawing of playing field

............................................|----------------------|
b = blue robot.......................|.b...b..............F F.........................|
FF = blue flag........................|..................... ..............................|
............................................|..... ..............................................|
............................................|xx... ............................................|
x = red balls..........................|xx................ ...............................|
............................................|..... ..............................................|
............................................|..... ..............................................|
............................................|..... .........||============||.............|
............................................|BBB.. .....||....................||.......bbb|
............................................|BBB.. .....||.......GG........||.......bbb|G = goal
bridge - toggled to red........|bbb........||.......GG........||...... BBB| bridge - toggled to blue
............................................|bbb.. ......||....................||......BBB|
............................................|..... .........||============||.............|
............................................|..... ..............................................|
............................................|..... ..............................................|
............................................|..... ..........................................xx|
............................................|..... ..........................................xx|
............................................|..... ..............................................|
............................................|..... ..............................................|
............................................|..... ..................FF................r....r.|
............................................|----------------------|