Week 1 Impressions of Rack 'N Roll

[Frinkahedron]

Originally Posted by Neo3One3

I agree greatly with this. During the BAE Regional we faced one of our opponents four times throughout qualifiers, and another three times. Truly, something needs to be done about this scheduling.

612 played 611 in every single qualification match at VCU on Friday and early Saturday.

[Render]

1885 played 1895 in every qualifying match as well...

[Athleticgirl389]

Originally Posted by Alex Cormier

The game is lame.

I am in total agreement with you Alex. There is no excitment in watchin this game WHAT SO EVER. There is some in playing it, but it is dull. Unlike last year, you did not know who won until the very end; this year you know when that fianl buzzer goes off. Suspense is good and it is deffinately missing this year.

[(Click_Here)]

It was simply the exact opposite of what I expected!

[Mike Starke]

Let's just say I'm super excited for FLR this weekend!

[VanMan]

At first the game seemed silly because teams were not scoring too much, but this year defense is key. Our robot was a crazy defense bot. We could stop any team from scoring ringers. According to the stats the ramps gave the most points for the rounds. We also had incredible ramps that did not fail. Currently we are trying to get the money to go to Championship. So overall I really like this years game.

[Ben Piecuch]

This is week 1 of a very dynamic game, where the robots (and their drivers) need a bit of practice, and a better understanding of the game. The Thursday practice rounds practically put me to sleep, saved only by the slew of ringers thrown around the field. I was shocked by the 2-0, 0-0 scores in Friday's rounds. But Saturday and the eliminations, whoa! If anyone thinks that this is a one-dimensional game, I suggest you watch the QF rounds at BAE. Seeing the #1 seed alliance play the game perfectly, made me a believer!

I'm now excited for this game, and can't wait for our chance to play during week 3. By then, autonomous will be much more prominent, rack scoring will be a vital part of the game, and 2x 12" lifters should have all their bugs worked out. History has shown that week 1 is always a low-scoring, defensive stand-off. But by the end of the regionals and the championship event, the game has played out as it was designed, with plenty of offense, defense, and amazing plays.

My prediction for the finals in Atlanta: 2 opposing 2x 12" lifters, and a shoot-out around the rack with 4 bots who can each place 5-7 tubes (be it keepers, ringers, or spoilers.) This will require the use of all 3 levels of the rack and tubes from both sides of the field. You can count on a lot of scoring, and the most excitement we've seen since FIRST Frenzy. Get ready!

BEN

[razor95kds]

i see this game as starting slow but will definitely pick up at nationals, just like triple play. Tube scoring will be important as the rack will be filled and ramps will be less important and will seperate the good from the great alliances.

[dbell]

i see this game as starting slow but will definitely pick up at nationals, just like triple play. Tube scoring will be important as the rack will be filled and ramps will be less important and will seperate the good from the great alliances.
Reply With Quote

I agree that the game will pick up at nationals. but when the rack is full that sometimes means that the ramps will make all the difference.

[T3_1565]

I will be shocked to see a full rack. I mean it might be done if there were no defence, but from what I have seen defence is becoming very important. It seems fairly easy to stop a bot from scoring all round and winning through that method. But Week 1 has had some nice matches, but expect so better ones to come for sure!

[dangerousdave]

It was a little disappointing to see a few robots that just unfolded in their alliance zone without even playing a little defense.

Concerning the on-screen scoring and timing; I would like to see a return of the actual number of seconds left in the match instead of or in addition to, the little green line indicator. Granted the announcer usually told us how many seconds were left but it would be nice to see the actual time.

As others have said here, the lack of autonomous mode scoring was disappointing.

However, the game was exciting especially in the playoff rounds.

Dave

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by dangerousdave

Concerning the on-screen scoring and timing; I would like to see a return of the actual number of seconds left in the match instead of or in addition to, the little green line indicator. Granted the announcer usually told us how many seconds were left but it would be nice to see the actual time.

I wholeheartedly second this request. I'm surprised it wasn't a natural part of the original scoring software design.

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by T. Hoffman

I wholeheartedly second this request. I'm surprised it wasn't a natural part of the original scoring software design.

There was a count down during each match. It was posted in the middle team's control area for each alliance. It counted down the two different periods of each match. Now if you are only talking about the big screen, then you are correct.

[Noah Kleinberg]

To the people who think autonomous mode isn't very important this year, don't think of it as two points, scoring is exponential. especially if more than one robot on your alliance scores during autonomous, you're at a pretty big advantage for the human control part of the match.
I also noticed several times in autonomous that teams would position their robot perfectly to score, but not release the keeper; it's not too hard to use a timer and just make sure that at the end of autonomous mode you drop your keeper no matter what.

Also, while the game can be boring during qualification matches, I thought it got pretty exciting during eliminations. One tube can change the score by a lot, compared to for example one ball last year.

[Duke_of_Hazard]

Well, from my point of view, the outcome of matches is not going to be decided from robot design as much as from driver skill. This game demands coordinated drive teams and precise movements. If you watch, the really dominant teams not only had a good robot, but

1- the base driver was in a class above, out-maneuvering the opposition with ease (and also didnt fall off of ramp-bots as much)
2- the operator had a good sense of timing to release the tube and score
3- both drivers new what each other was about to do, and were able to change tactics on the fly

Last year it wasnt as obvious, with the balls *literally* flying, but in nearly all the games from FIRST, if you look in the background, and not the pretty robots(though its hard not to!), its the more skilled and coordinated alliances that win.