I feel this year’s competition is more complex that last year and i feel it will be hard on rookie teams, we were a rookie team last year so we had recycle rush and that was not that complex and we still had some problems.
Anyways how do you feel?
I feel that the game is so complex that rookie teams are going to be hard pressed to find a task they cannot do. Even if all they do is cross one or two defenses, it’s still a contribution to the alliance.
Pneumatics
Well, even a rookie team with just a drivetrain could be useful in this game. If they can get through some of the defenses, that can still be quite beneficial.
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The game itself will be difficult for some new teams to understand. However, the robots for this year will be relatively simple for young teams to build, there have been many years worth of examples on how to shoot balls and climb things. It should be relatively easy for some newer teams to accomplish the basic goals of the game. Even a good amount of the defenses can be somewhat easily traversed with some simple trial and error of how to get over them.
I think this will be somewhat like 2013, where young teams had a chance to contribute well with shooting frisbees, but they were unable to do some of the more complex portions of that game, such as climbing the tower or consistently scoring in the more difficult goals.
[quote=Chito;1519651][/quote]
Why?
Rookie teams always have it tough.
I would say that the GDC did a pretty good job of having tasks that rookie teams can accomplish.
auto: drive forward and you get 2 points.
tele-operated:
low goal/ high goal: Low goal allows for balls to essentially be pushed into the goal to score.
defenses:
There are several defenses which should be able to be just driven over without much problem, OR if opened from the other side with help from an alliance partner just driven over with a standard drive train.
I like the diversity of challenges, it makes us think!
depends what you try to do. like any other game, attempting all aspects is unrealistic for a rookie team to try to do. This year though i think is a very good year for rookies. Typically defensive bots(not all rookies focus on defensive bots but that is the norm) aren’t that useful and and can usually only do interfere with the other team but they don’t tend to contribute to pointage usually. However this year, just a well made moving chasis has a huge potential by breaching defenses and passing balls to the scoring bots and that’s a huge points contribution which will make them very desirable.
Attempting to have a scoring bot(which will be very difficult in itself and probably requires vision) and a defense navigation bot is most likely too much for a rookie team to realistically do but you don’t have to. just having one or the other is sufficient to do very well in this game
I am pumped for this year’s competition. I am going to use my new found pneumatics skills and knowledge to the test.
As a 15 year veteran mentor, my thoughts can best be summed up with the following observations:
- The newest members of the team (mostly freshman, but some of all years) were suitably awed by the intricate complexities and wonderful possibilities of the game.
- The 2nd year members (newbies last year) were also awed by the intricate complexities and wonderful possibilities of the game, especially considering last year’s game.
- The 3rd and 4th year members were overjoyed that we have an unbelievably exciting game again.
Thanks, GDC, this year is going to be GREAT!! 
I think that this years game is a bit overwhelming, but when you start to break it down, there is a lot that you can do with some very simple mechanisms that I feel a rookie team could accomplish with not much effort. with the construction of one mechanism you can traverse all of the opsticuls.
Yes, this year’s game is quite complex. Even mature teams will get tripped up by this.
If you analyze (not just read) the rules and stick by Karthik’s “Golden Rules”, your team can be a valuable addition to a strong alliance. It may be helpful for your team to find some stronger teams in your area and ask them to evaluate the strategies that your team develops. They should not feel threatened by your team and should welcome a younger team trying to be in a position where they can make a contribution on the playing field.
Edit: I totally agree with what Ginger posted above.
Personally, I’m in love with this team from a strategy perspective. Tons of valid options for diverse robots, the ability to get RP beyond winning matches, playing just as much against the environment as your opponents’ robots, opportunities for dynamic cooperation between robots, rules that give the top lots to do but also give teams with low resources lots of options (compared to previous games)… I could go on. Plus it’s visually interesting and this was the best kickoff broadcast I’ve ever seen.
As a competitor: AWESOME!
As a volunteer: @#$@. $%(^*$%(. !@($&@!(. This is not going to be fun…
This is going to be a ton of fun for everybody involved except field reset. SO many possibilities, and so many variations. I love the theme, I think it works well this year. Some of the terms (Embrasure, Portcullis, lots of other big words) may be confusing for some initially, but on a whole, it will be glorious!
I’ve been looking at the field element diagrams and some of them like the rough terrain look pretty heavy with no easy grasping points. At least they all have wheels so once they have been lifted out of their current location they can be wheeled about.
But I expect that between pretty much every match there will be six elements moving because the way it’s set up the team in Queue position 2 must make a selection so their opponents can see the defenses while they are in position 1 and with 48 potential arrangements the odds of things not moving are pretty low.
Is FIRST trying to expand beyond just STEM in to history, foreign languages an Monty Python?
This game should be really fun for spectators.
HOLY CRAP! GDC definitely out did themselves this year!
This game is going to really develop over the competition season. There is a never ending supply of strategies that will lead to great competition all the way through Championships. No regional will be played the same and every team can add their own unique talent/skill! This will be a great game for rookies and veterans alike!
Completely dumbfounded by Stronghold - I cannot wait to see what my students come up with!
I believe lots of teams will bite off way more than they can chew and the field will be pretty full of robots who try to do lots of things but can’t do anything very effectively
I also believe field reset will be pretty long; I haven’t read how the defenses are attached to the field, but I hope its robustly; for safety sake, which means it will take a decent amount of time to rearrange defense elements.
These factors make the game less exciting for audiences.
My relatively simple design idea for a team who wants to avoid biting off more than they can chew is a drivebase which can get under the low bar . This is 15 pts(drive forward under bar in auto) and go through again in teleop and its 1/4 of a breach. It can play defense the rest of the time, and if its got a torquey, efficient drivetrain(put at least 4 CIMS in it), and driver practice, it could be a very effective defender. It could also challenge the tower in the endgame for an additional 5 pts (you have 20 seconds at the end where you can’t touch opponents anyway).