Anybody have recommendations for rule changes for Lunacy for an offseason? We’re going to have a lot of people watching that aren’t familiar with the game and simplifying would be nice. Thanks!
Check for the IRI rule changes. Most of the time, they’re adopted at most (if not all) offseasons after they come out.
Of course, <G14> will probably be one of the rules that disappears. [speculation] There might also be some changes to the EC entry rules; imagine how the game would change if you could throw them to your Fueling Stations without feeding them one at a time to a robot…[/speculation]
Lunacy is already really simple: Put those orange and purple balls into the trailers that aren’t your color. Trade blue and orange for green and purple, and score green and purple for lots of points.
Allow supercells to come into play at any time (as long as the empty cells have been exchanged).
Allow robots to carry more than one empty cell at a time.
Adopt a 1-8 1-8 draft order
There will probably be much discussion about dropping <G14>, but I think it creates interesting gameplay and allows you to discuss the strategies and methodologies to the robotics layperson. Having said that, if the drive teams don’t have access to real time scoring, <G14> may need to go.
You mean blue and orange? 
I’d think about changing <G14> (though think about it, it does keep matches closer and adds an element of startegy to the game, but on the same token no one really enjoys it and it does punish good defense).
I think the maximum preload and point values are perfect as is right now, I wouldn’t change any of those.
I personally don’t really like this. It makes defending against them almost impossible, as you have to stay away from half of the field (or a robot if you’re named ThunderChickens) for nearly a whole match. From a spectator position, the suspense of the supercell was one of the best parts of the game according to the non-FIRST people I knew watching the events.
It kind of messes up the “balance” the GDC worked on with regular to supercells too.
I wouldn’t want to see the 1-8 1-8 draft order, but maybe a way for the higher ranked teams getting a choice to choose where they draft, and then no picking in the top 8.
For example the Top seed would get to say, “we would like to be the 8th alliance captain”, if they believe that they can make the best alliance that way. Then the 2nd seed would say “we would like to be the 1st alliance captain.” etc. But assuming that this happened it would get incredibly complicated if they could pick within themselves.
I think it would give an interesting strategy twist. Something we don’t see in the normal Regional/District competition.
After watching how the game played out I have to add one minor problem with G14, Real time scoring is not reliable. This is of course, in addition to my other concerns with the rule.
Perhaps instead of allowing SC to be played only in the last 20 seconds we allow them to be loaded into robots at any time but not scored until the last 20 seconds. This would encourage teams to use their robots to score the SCs because they can get a lot closer.
Also, 1-8 1-8. No more serpentine!
Autonomous Bonuses, maybe moon rocks are worth 6 points if scored by a robot in autonomous, it would be hard to tell wit human players firing away at the same time, so maybe if you are attempting an autonomous bonus you must announce before the match and then your teams human players cannot shoot until teleop. So then all shots scored in the opponents trailer at the end of auton count as auton bonus, even if the other team helped out.
Alliance selections 1-8 1-8 but not allowed to pick other alliance captains would be interesting.
Perhaps a better implementation of this would be to make a different ball for autonomous scoring similar in concept to the Keeper from 2007. Maybe autonomous balls could be a normal moon rock with some sort of markings or colored tape on it. At the end of auto, the refs could check the trailers for any of these balls that have been scored and then the scoring alliance could receive a bonus, (10pts, 1 empty cell pre-delivered, etc…) but if these balls are not scored in auto then they would just count as regular moon rocks when scored during the rest of the game.
On the field side of things, I’d love to see them go to a MSC style field (whether it was a mistake or not) with more carpet on the edges.
Edit*
I thought about this a little bit more and I’d like to see the payload specialist rules relaxed. At most off-seasons the Drive Teams are usually composed of underclassmen or younger members that aren’t familiar with the rules, or at least not to the extent that a driver would be going into their second event. I’d say if the rules stayed as they were you’d have at least two penalties in every three matches, similar to what we saw early on at some week one and week two regionals. I’d Suggest:
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Eliminate the tongs for picking balls up off of the floor Unless the ball is past the plane of the driver’s station wall.
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Allow the Emptycell to be thrown over the outpost shield, but - it must touch the floor of the playing field or a robot before it can be converted into a Supercell. I.E. you can’t throw it directly into the airlock.
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Re-Write the rules on Supercells so that they may be handled any time after an Emptycell is exchanged but they still can only be introduced during the last 20 seconds of the match.
Changes for BC10 (http://www.wpi.edu/News/Events/BattleCry/rules.html)
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<G11> Modification: MOON ROCK Starting Positions – Each TEAM is provided with ten (10) MOON ROCKS prior to the MATCH. The TEAM may place up to ten (10) of the MOON ROCKS in or on the TEAM ROBOT prior to the MATCH. These MOON ROCKS must be completely supported by the ROBOT – they can not be placed on the CRATER floor. The remaining MOON ROCKS are retained by the PAYLOAD SPECIALIST for that TEAM, to be used during the MATCH (containers will be provided at each PAYLOAD SPECIALIST location to temporarily store GAME PIECES). At the conclusion of AUTONOMOUS MODE, each PAYLOAD SPECIALIST will be provided with a bin of ten (10) additional MOON ROCKS for use during the remainder of the MATCH.
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Bonus Circle (“BCX”) Autonomous & End Game Opportunity: There will be four 12 inch diameter circular areas designated on the playing field by “X” marks on the regolith. These BCX’s will be centered 10 feet from each crater side border and 12 feet in front of each alliance base station wall. Robot coverage of a BCX is defined by any portion of the outer “belt line” of the robot (including its bumpers, but not its trailer) overlapping a portion or all of the actual “X” mark.
[LIST]
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IN AUTONOMOUS: Robots will be awarded four (4) bonus points for covering any part of a BCX at the end of autonomous mode.
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AT THE END OF THE MATCH: Robots will be awarded bonus points for completely covering the BCX. The end of the match is when time is out and all robots come to a rest on the field. Alliance points distribution is as follows: 4 points for a single BCX, 8 points for two BCXs, and 15 points for three BCXs.
[/LIST]
I hate ranking points, always have. I wish the tie breaker was points scored.
Extend the super cell time to at least 30 seconds.
Allow the outpost player to throw empty cells over the wall.
I vote for these:
No G14
Only robots can score Super Cells AND extend the Super Cell Period to 30 seconds…
No Human player scoring/interactions with moon rocks during autonomous
Bonus for Moonrocks scored during autonomous… 2 points each…
Moonrocks would stay in the trailers and would count again at the end as regular score.
Pinning limited to 15 seconds…
Well…
I might be the only one, but I would LOVE to see this game played on carpet and any wheels. I didnt like how the floor made everything so balanced and it would make teams think about making a more durable robot, maybe even if the weight allowance was changed for an off season
Also, I would like to see humans have less of an impact, and instead the balls start on the field, would give auto mode a cool twist
Along the same lines, maybe moon rocks should be worth 3 or 4 points in auto…
It would be cool to see robots getting a empty on the run, led by a throw from the outpost, as long as something like an empty cell had to be touched by a robot before the (standing human, sorry but forgot the name 
) could receive it.
I would like to see more super cells scored by robots, maybe they were worth 20 points that way…
Thats about it, but I think Luncay with these changes would feel more impressive and be a bit more entertaining for observers. :]
The floor surface change would make this game a rougher version of the 2006 game. (the roughest to date) Many of the robots built for the current state of driving wouldn’t be in one piece after a few matches let alone mobile if we changed back to carpet. It would be an incredible game to watch, but its just too much to ask of the trailers and the robots. It would be battle bots.
“Autonomous Period” should be robots only, no human interaction, and moon rocks scored during autonomous should be worth 4 points each.
I would definitely like to see robot scored autonomous points really be worth something. Something considerably more than 2 points per ball.
At the Davis regional this year, I saw only one robot score during autonomous. Once they proved they could score, they turned that feature off. There was no advantage to scoring in autonomous and they weren’t quite as efficient doing it, so they disabled the feature. To me that is a crying shame. Scoring autonomously should be highly rewarded!
I like the Battle Cry X marks the spot in Autonomous, it will make it easier for us to score on them a robot stops on the X.
I would like to see different colored balls to give 4 points for a robot scored ball in auto.
Depending on area teams, I would add in a vote to the non serpentine alliance selection.
If there’s more young teams in the area attending the event I’d personally stick with serpentine, otherwise, 1-8 1-8 ftw.
I’d carefully consider rule changes about autonomous scoring. I know a lot of teams specifically didn’t do that because they saw no advantage to it, so changing the rules would end up rewarding the teams without the foresight to figure out that autonomous scoring isn’t all that viable.
I also generally don’t like rules changes that override design challenges. This is why I wouldn’t support the throwing the empty cell over rule; a big part of the challenge was building an EC mechanism and this way it’s basically saying all of your work engineering an EC solution was for naught.
It would be cool if you added a bonus to the alliance with the most points at the end of autonomous, and NO G14.
It also would be interesting if you gave a 5 point bonus if the robot scores the super cell instead of the payload specialists.