2008 Game- Overdrive

[fordchrist675]

Yea no cims is what they say i like how spheres have been the game for 3 years in a row haha.

[Éowyn]

Originally Posted by fordchrist675

Yea no cims is what they say i like how spheres have been the game for 3 years in a row haha.

Toroids aren't spheres.

[finaldark]

What? I can't believe some of you think that the Defense last year was a bad idea. I personally thought lasts years game was awesome, it was more like a real sport. You got to see robots really going at each other, breaking some parts, which led to fun frustration in the Pits later

If you ask me, I like this years game, but i wanted to see something more "head-to-head". Maybe its because i play hockey.. Good ol' checks.

[VoX]

I am confused about rule <G36> which states that "HOME STRETCH Height Restriction – ROBOTS in the HOME STRETCH of the opposing
ALLIANCE can not be more than 6 feet tall. A PENALTY will be assigned for each
infraction." This would make it impossible to get your trackball from the overpass (which is 6.5 feet tall!) which runs over the other teams HOME STRETCH, can you please tell me what I am missing here?

[Diriye]

Originally Posted by VoX

I am confused about rule <G36> which states that "HOME STRETCH Height Restriction – ROBOTS in the HOME STRETCH of the opposing
ALLIANCE can not be more than 6 feet tall. A PENALTY will be assigned for each
infraction." This would make it impossible to get your trackball from the overpass (which is 6.5 feet tall!) which runs over the other teams HOME STRETCH, can you please tell me what I am missing here?

You don't get points for putting it over your opponents' overpass, only your own. So, there shouldn't be a need to be over 6ft tall in their homestretch.

[skimoose]

Originally Posted by VoX

I am confused about rule <G36> which states that "HOME STRETCH Height Restriction – ROBOTS in the HOME STRETCH of the opposing
ALLIANCE can not be more than 6 feet tall. A PENALTY will be assigned for each
infraction." This would make it impossible to get your trackball from the overpass (which is 6.5 feet tall!) which runs over the other teams HOME STRETCH, can you please tell me what I am missing here?

This is most likely a game rule error which will be corrected in the game forum soon. Since the game starts with a ball from each alliance on each side of the field a robot MUST be able to reach over 6' to get their own ball off the bridge. Also, the game animation clearly showed that descoring a ball from the bridge was a legal move. Again, robots will need the reach to descore.

I'm sure you'll see a correction in update #1.

If you listened to Woody's game introduction and you think this game is one dimensional, stiffling of creativity, or lacking strategy or defense, you're on the wrong side of fulfillment. Go back and reread the rules and really think about it.

Not to get off topic, but going back to Woody's speech. Did anyone else catch at least a dozen references to myth busting? Could it be that Adam and Jamie (and Tory, Grant & Kari) might grace us with an appearance in Atlanta?!?!?

[Lawry Goldstein]

I have to say that I feel the overall game is very good with many different levels of complexity for all skill levels.
-Drive around
-Drive around with ball
-Drive around with ball and hurdle
Personally, I kind of wish that one of the balls was on the ground, one in the air incase rookies ever end together or no-one can get a ball off that round, it will be very boring since there isn't going to be any difference and they will just have to sit there and lose.

Other then, I am happy with everything but the 'hybrid' mode. I feel like it does nothing over autonomous and will be abused by teams hoping to make it act like a teli-operated period. I am also slightly worried that these remotes will be unreliable during competition, and teams will be tricked into counting on something that doesn't work. 1 remote well aimed in a workshop will be much different then 6 remote during a competition.

P.S. Doesn't Plexiglas block IR light, meaning that remotes wouldn't work behind the safety shields?

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by Lawry Goldstein

I have to say that I feel the overall game is very good with many different levels of complexity for all skill levels.
-Drive around
-Drive around with ball
-Drive around with ball and hurdle
Personally, I kind of wish that one of the balls was on the ground, one in the air incase rookies ever end together or no-one can get a ball off that round, it will be very boring since there isn't going to be any difference and they will just have to sit there and lose.

Other then, I am happy with everything but the 'hybrid' mode. I feel like it does nothing over autonomous and will be abused by teams hoping to make it act like a teli-operated period. I am also slightly worried that these remotes will be unreliable during competition, and teams will be tricked into counting on something that doesn't work. 1 remote well aimed in a workshop will be much different then 6 remote during a competition.

P.S. Doesn't Plexiglas block IR light, meaning that remotes wouldn't work behind the safety shields?

The RoboCoach is operating it, and they have to stand in the RoboCoach stations... which I believe are fenced, not plexiglas.

[663.keith]

Originally Posted by Lawry Goldstein

Personally, I kind of wish that one of the balls was on the ground, one in the air incase rookies ever end together or no-one can get a ball off that round, it will be very boring since there isn't going to be any difference and they will just have to sit there and lose.

P.S. Doesn't Plexiglas block IR light, meaning that remotes wouldn't work behind the safety shields?

by my interpretation of the rules, a team that doesn't knock their trackballs off during the entire game will actually get 24 points for both of the balls being at the top of the structure at the end of the match. this gives them time to just race around the track and rack up 6 points every lap. Even still, it seems very unlikely that the trackballs will remain on top for the entire game even if no person on one alliance can get them down, this is FIRST, we aren't known for being very docile competitors, and that structure can wiggle!

in response to the P.S: the robocoach stations have a sort of playground grating instead of plexi so that IR can transmit

[Mike@1023]

Originally Posted by vivek16

I downloaded the manual yesterday...

NO CIMS!?!?!?!?!?! arrgh.... the world has gone mad.

-vivek

EDIT: no cims in the kop but apparently the robot parts says the kop has the chalupas...

The manual says there are 2 sims. arent there any in the kop?

[smurfgirl]

So... our team's connection dropped as Woodie was introducing the game. We heard "the 2008 game, FIRST..." and it went black and silent. It came back at "good luck!" That was a major disappointment, and we were so confused when "Who Wants to be an Engineer?" came on, because we hadn't seen anything. Besides the initial confusion, here's my reaction to the game (though I'm sure I'll grow to love it more than I can imagine right now) :

Things I don't like:
- no real defensive opportunities (who doesn't love our famous New England defense? I'm going to miss it at the Connecticut Regional this year)
- can only drive counter-clockwise; I feel like the tracklike structure and the rules about obstructions limit your movement and your motion a lot
- game pieces are hard to manipulate- I can't lift the trackball myself because it's too large and slippery for me to wrap my arms around, so how can I expect it to be realistic for the robots to do?
- game pieces are heavy and bouncy; they hit with a lot of force (knocked a team member over earlier) and can potentially cause a lot of damage to a robot if they crash into it
- only four signal choices for the remote in hybrid period- we had sixteen autonomous modes last year, so even though we can now control it as we go, four options feels limiting
- return of weight classes? I saw this one in the inspection sheet, but I haven't seen it in section 8 yet
- success in hybrid period doesn't seem to carry that much weight relative to the scoring in teleoperated period
- you have to drive around in circles so much to be able to score...
- it seems like a lot of potential strategies involve working with the alliance partners, but you never know if that will be possible (what their capabilities are)
- the field is still taller than me... so I can't remove game pieces from the top )':

Things I do like:
- hybrid period instead of autonomous
- spherical playing pieces- I told my team so!
- it's very different from past games, so it should be a real challenge
- it seems like it will foster a lot of teamwork within the alliance
- trained referees! so they will make more fair and more consistent calls... and I won't have to break the rules and start arguing with the head ref (I'm the drive Coach)
- doesn't incorporate a green target light and a camera- the remote control should be pretty cool
- offers a lot of opportunities for changing strategies, and on-the-fly math while I'm coaching

The funny thing is, the list of things I like weighs a lot more heavily with me, even though it's much shorter

[Vikesrock]

I've uploaded a zipped copy of the decrypted manual to Rapidshare for anyone having trouble getting it off the FIRST site.

EDIT: I have been informed that the manual is copyrighted and those hosting it last year were asked to remove it. After being informed of this I decided to take down my mirror of the file.

[dantheflipman]

Originally Posted by Vikesrock

I've uploaded a zipped copy of the decrypted manual to Rapidshare for anyone having trouble getting it off the FIRST site.

2008 FRC Manual

Dang, i tried to download it then remembered that our school blocks all major download sites... someone should have torrented it

[Nate Smith]

In the past, FIRST has given a release for copies of the manual to be made for team use. I'd look around and see if this is still the case somewhere in one of the PDF files, if so, that would give you clearance to mirror it in my opinion...

[neoshaakti]

I wish there was more interaction with the other alliance... I liked rack n roll because there was so much defense...
Im not too fond of the track idea...but my focus on strategy keeps my mind away from dwelling over my disappointment