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Tournament Archives / BBEANS6 Brackets&Videos

« on: May 23, 2010, 07:17:31 PM »

SPLASH


BRACKETS AND VIDEOS


RANKINGS

Bot With MOVING Spikes vs. Bot with spinny thingy:



Power Surge vs. Power Surge 3:



Reier's Avatar 3 vs. S Cargo:



Acornia 3 vs. ReActive:



Terrible Sight vs. AtaxiA:



That Spike Thing... vs. Bot with spinny thingy:

FINAL:



Infection 4 vs. Death of Angels 2
Two popups.  One has only been defeated once in a 2-1 victory--all its other matches were 3-0.  The other has shattered almost every BBEANS record in its meteoric rise up the loser's bracket--but has also been defeated more times.  One is fast and wide, the other is less fast and narrow.  And one of them has a better wedge.  But as with all good popup battles, just because one bot easily gets under the other early on, doesn't necessarily guarantee that bot the win.

Death of Angels wins the first match 3-0 with 3 KO's.  It easily slides under Infection and doesn't give Pwnator any chance to strike back.  But because Infection 4 has only lost once at this point, it gets another chance in the "loser's bracket"...
But Death of Angels wins the second match 2-1 with 1 KO and 1 TKO; Infection 4 gets 1 KO.  The first round goes like the other three.  But in the second round, Infection manages to slide over DoA and turn around quickly enough to flank it.  Then Infection pins DoA against the wall, hitting it whenever it gets in range of the weapons, until DoA is KO'd.  Even though DoA has four wins at this point, if Infection can win 2-1 in this last match, it can still be champion.  It looks like Infection might pull it off at first, as it nearly flanks DoA again several times in the last round, but it can't quite do it and DoA ends up flipping Infection on top of the wall.  When Infection tries to self-right, it flips itself over and OOTA.


(Don't tell nobody, I switched around the last two rounds in order to make it more exciting.  It actually happened that DoA won the first 5 rounds and Infection just got a spite kill at the end.  But I figure it's the finals, a little artificial suspense never hurt anybody.)

REMATCH: Death of Angels 2 vs. Resentful Princess 2 ***
It's like something out of a movie script.  Early in the tournament, Resentful Princess crushed Death of Angels' hopes of conquering the winner's bracket, sending it down to the loser's bracket in round 2.  The chances of Death of Angels making it into the finals from that far down the loser's bracket were exceedingly slim--it seemed that Sage was out of the running for Champion.  But against all odds, Death of Angels has defeated opponent after opponent and made it all the way up to the semifinals, where it will once again clash with its archnemesis--but this time with a record-breaking 25 KO's to its name, and more importantly, a slight adjustment to its smart zone that might allow it to get in more hits.  It's going to be another close match to decide who is going on to the final with Infection 4.

Death of Angels 2 wins 2-1 with 1 KO and 1 TKO; Resentful Princess 2 gets 1 KO.  The first round is over quickly as DoA flips Princess just high enough to land on top of the wall, after which Princess slowly drifts over the wrong side and lands OOTA.  The second round gets a little tense when DoA accidentally flips itself upside-down and Princess starts grinding at its underside while it self-rights, but DoA recovers quickly enough to avoid any major damage and proceeds to KO Princess.  In the third round, DoA has trouble getting Princess far enough up its wedge to hit it, much as it did back in round 2.  It isn't long before one of DoA's front armor panels breaks, which leaves the chassis wide open to Princess' flails, and then it isn't long before DoA is destroyed.

Resentful Princess 2 vs. Infection 4 ***
With two popups already having fallen victim to Resentful Princess, Infection 4 definitely has cause for concern here.  But it's also the fastest and the widest popup, so if any bot is going to beat the Princess, it's Infection.  Whoever wins this fight is going on to the grand final, there to become either champion or runner-up.  With the stakes so high, both bots will have to be at their best if they hope to advance.

Infection 4 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  Resentful Princess didn't stand much of a chance here.  It did all right in the first round, depleting a good chunk of HP from Infection's chassis, and then getting flipped upside-down after it was one hit away from death (which is actually helpful, as the top of the shell then acts as bottom armor).  But Resentful Princess barely scratched Infection in the last two rounds, and Infection has no trouble getting KO's on the exposed chassis underneath.

Missile Test vs. Death of Angels 2 ***
This is the first wedge Missile Test has run into, so how good its own wedge is is completely unknown.  That's got to make Sage a little nervous.  But even if Missile Test's wedge is unbeatable, Death of Angels still has the edge in speed, so it can try flanking Missile Test.  Jonzu better hope his wedge is very good and he can keep it pointed straight at Death of Angels, or else Missile Test will be tossed around like a beach ball.

Death of Angels 2 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  Looks like Missile Test's wedge isn't good enough.  In the first round, DoA flips Missile Test over the center wall and into the blade, which takes a big chunk out of its health.  Then, one hit away from death and both drive motors smoking, Missile Test is easily finished off by DoA.  The second and third rounds are more conventional victories: DoA gets under, hits Missile Test a few times, and then KO's it.

Final Z vs. Missile Test ****
This is the first time Final Z has had to fight a popup out of 9 total fights, if you can believe it.  And the battle is INTENSE.  Final Z's design has one more important advantage over most shell spinners that I haven't noticed until now: that chassis is a very small target.  With Popup AI, that means Missile Test could waste a lot of time trying to line up a chassis shot while Final Z freely flails away at it, and even after the no-chassis time expires, Missile Test risks breaking all its weapons by firing too early.  It's tough for Missile Test to strike a balance between being too careful or too reckless.  But if it manages to fire at just the right time, the results could be disastrous for Final Z.

Missile Test wins 2-1 with 1 KO and 1 Havok forfeit; Final Z gets 1 TKO.  The first round is the closest, as Missile Test takes the most damage sitting around doing nothing while it waits to get a shot at Final Z's chassis.  This causes Missile Test's front armor to break, but the battle is still just getting started.  Final Z starts gyro-dancing, giving Missile Test a perfect opportunity to hit the chassis, which it does, bringing Final Z one hit away from death.  But the last hit doesn't reach the chassis; instead, Missile Test's two remaining razors break off as they pass through Final Z's weapon.  Then the flipper activates and flips both bots upside-down.  Final Z is invertible, of course, but Missile Test can't self-right without its razors.  Final Z brings Missile Test one hit away from death (so both bots are in the red zone) before the immobility countdown starts and Missile Test is counted out.  The secound round starts with Missile Test destroying Final Z's Magmotor and then taking off all those plastic extenders, but with the vast majority of its weight gone, Final Z promptly vanishes in a puff of Havok, giving it another chance.  The restarted round 2 goes even worse for Final Z, though--Missile Test one-hit KO's it as soon as it gets a shot at the chassis (which takes less than 10 seconds).  Missile Test has some initial trouble getting good hits in round 3, creating a lot of suspense, but as soon as Final Z loses a drive motor, everything goes downhill.  The weapon motor soon follows, and then the extenders, causing another Havok explosion.

Death of Angels 2 vs. 1.8 ***
I think we all know what's bound to happen in this fight--especially after 1.8's last battle with Infection 4--so I'm not even going to bother about avoiding spoilers here.  However, I still won't say who wins, just to torment somestrangeguy with the tiny, irrational flicker of hope that perhaps a miracle will happen and 1.8 will win.  Because as long as you don't know the results, there's a little bit of hope, however much logic tells you that there's not.

Death of Angels 2 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  Pretty self-explanatory.  DoA gets under.  DoA fires weapons.  1.8 dies.  And that's the end of the last non-popup, non-flail HS.  I would have liked to see something other than a popup or a flail HS win, because both those designs are overused, overpowered, and questionably realistic, but 4-2 is already a very good run for a wedgeless rammer.

Final Z vs. AntonYYYm ****
Final Z may have some serious shortcomings when you compare it to a shell spinner like Stanley 2, but it actually may be a tougher opponent for AntonYYYm than any shell spinner.  For one thing, it's invertible, so AntonYYYm will have to stay on top of its game even when Final Z is flipped--lloop D lloop won't be able to rest easy until Final Z is safely OOTA.  And for another thing, Final Z's behavior in air is a lot more erratic than shell spinners.  Sheck spinners tend to stay level and fly sort of like a Frisbee when flipped, but Final Z sort of twists and flops all over the place, which may or may not make it easier to land outside the arena.  On the other hand, Final Z is a lot easier to scoop up and flip than any shell spinner.  You can bet that Final Z won't pull off a win without surviving several perilous flips first.  As you might expect, this is a very close match, and there's a ton of flipping action.

Final Z wins 2-1 with 2 KO's; AntonYYYm gets 1 TKO.  AntonYYYm easily throws Final Z OOTA in the first round, but things start to fall apart in round 2.  Final Z gets tossed repeatedly, a couple times almost to the ceiling, but its gyro-dancing makes it difficult for AntonYYYm to get it over the walls.  When Final Z is balanced on its rear (as it often is while gyro-dancing), it tends to fly straight up rather than forward when flipped.  Eventually, AntonYYYm's flippers take one too many hits and it loses its weapon, at which point it is nothing more than fodder for Final Z.  AntonYYYm almost gets Final Z OOTA at the start of round 3 (Final Z hits the top of the wall, but falls back in the arena), but after that it is very reminiscent of round 2.  Lots of flips with big vertical distance, but not enough horizontal distance to get a win.

Bane X vs. Death of Angels 2 ***
Death of Angels very nearly beat Resentful Princess 2 early in the tournament, and that was with a less-than-optimal smartzone placement.  Statistically, Bane X is tougher than RP2, so Sage had better hope that a slight smartzone adjustment gives DoA a big advantage.  Either that, or perhaps Havok will come into play as it did in Bane's fight with Missile Test.  There's some good damage as well as, surprisingly, some good flips in this fight.

Death of Angels 2 wins 3-0 with 1 KO, 1 TKO, and 1 Havok forfeit.  In the first round, DoA flips Bane just high enough to get over the arena wall.  Bane balances on the top of the wall for a surprising length of time, but eventually drifts over the (wrong) side.  DoA flips Bane OOTA again in the second round, but this is probably because Bane was Havoking at the time, and the match is restarted.  Then DoA gets a good old-fashioned KO on Bane.  Bane does Havok upside-down, but I don't count it as affecting the match because it takes very little damage while it is upside-down, and DoA scores the KO after it flips Bane upright again.  In round 3, Bane Havoks and lands smack on top of DoA's weapon.  The result is a near-one-hit-KO that puts Bane over the center wall and onto the blade.  Bane is basically crippled at this point, so I count it as a Havok forfeiture when DoA finishes off Bane.  Also, it's amusing to note that Bane's chassis is about twice as tall as normal by the end of round 3.

Final Z vs. Predator ***
Predator has theoretically better weapons than Final Z... but they also have normals.  And JoeBlo originally meant to enter a different version of Predator.  Which means Final Z has a good chance of out-weaponing Predator, but it also has that exposed rear that Predator could hit if it isn't careful.  The only thing that's clear here is that a lot of parts are going to fly.

Final Z wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  It easily outweapons Predator, and Predator is too slow to hit Final Z's rear any more than a few times.  Final Z reduces Predator down to a pusher, at which point Predator is quickly KO'd.

REMATCH: AntonYYYm vs. Stanley 2 ****
AntonYYYm has crawled far up the loser's bracket in order to get another shot at Stanley 2.  Stanley 2 won 3-0 the last time these bots clashed, but I think AntonYYYm was rather unlucky in that fight and it should have been closer.  And it seems I was right; this fight IS closer.  The only question is, can AntonYYYm bring it close enough to reverse the previous results?

AntonYYYm wins 2-1 with 2 TKO's; Stanley 2 gets 1 KO.  AntonYYYm does a lot of sloppy driving in the first round as it tries (unsuccessfully) to get under Stanley, and it looks like Stanley will soon win, but then AntonYYYm finally manages to flip Stanley.  One more flip gets it OOTA.  The second round is a cleaner win for AntonYYYm; it takes two flips to get Stanley upside-down and two more to get it OOTA, and meanwhile Stanley can't do a thing.  In the third round AntonYYYm misses its one chance at a flip before Stanley takes off one of the flippers.  From there, AntonYYYm falls apart very quickly and Stanley gets a nice spite KO.

Minifridge 4 vs. Bane X ***
Let's see here... Bane X has 1.5 times as many weapons as Minifridge, and it is much more stable.  The only thing that MIGHT help Minifridge win here is its relatively fast melty brain movement.  Maybe it can push Bane into some hazards, you never know.  Bane is all but sessile, so in theory it shouldn't be too hard.

Bane X wins 3-0 with 2 TKO's and 1 WBP.  In the first round, Minifridge loses all its weapons, does a small Havok onto its side, rolls around for a bit and eventually gets stuck on one of its axles and immobilized.  (I debated whether or not this should be a Havok restart, but decided not to because Minifridge had almost no chance of winning at that point anyway, it was already unbalanced and could have done a Mauler dance anyway, and it was still mobile after the Havok until Bane took off another axle.)  In the second round, Minifridge loses all its weapons, does a small Havok onto its side, rolls around for a bit and eventually gets flipped OOTA by the flipper.  (This also isn't a Havok restart for the same reasons.  Looking back on it now I'm starting to have second thoughts, but too late to change it now... plus no way was Minifridge going to win that.)  In the third round, Minifridge loses all its weapons and most of its shell, then spends a lot of time tumbling around the arena until time runs out, at which point Bane wins by points.

Death of Angels 2 vs. ReActive ***
ReActive specializes in slow kills, which is not the best strategy to take with fast popups.  One slip that lets Death of Angels escape could undo all of ReActive's work up to that point.  If ReActive's wedge is good enough though, and it can keep DoA out from under it, it has a chance.  DoA has yet to be out-wedged though.  And this fight is really hard to avoid spoiling... in fact, it will almost certainly be spoiled as soon as you click on it and you see how big the file is.

Death of Angels 2 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  DoA out-wedges ReActive with little trouble, so ReActive doesn't even get a chance to try to win.  It quickly succumbs to DoA's popup spikes.  And thus the last original bot leaves this tournament, along with the #1 seed... 'tis a shame, though I'm interested to see how far DoA can climb out of the loser's bracket.

Resentful Princess 2 vs. Missile Test ***
Missile Test has already beaten Bane X fairly easily, which many would say is the most dangerous shell spinner in the tournament, so it should be capable of beating Resentful Princess as well.  However, RP2 has a few things working in its favor.  It is more stable than Bane (in fact, it is the only shell spinner I have never seen Havok), and it uses melty brain AI.  Most of this fight involves both bots futilely trying to damage the other... but when things change, they change quickly.

Resentful Princess 2 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  Missile Test can occasionally get under RP2 and hit it, but it is unable to do enough damage fast enough to make a difference.  The repeated beatings RP2 gives that Ti sheet eventually prove too much, at which point RP2 makes short work of Missile Test's chassis.  It's worth noting that in round 2, Missile Test flips itself and has trouble self-righting because RP2 keeps hitting it.  It eventually self rights, but then RP2 KO's it anyway right through the front armor.  Seems Resentful Princess has some ninja skills...

1.8 vs. Infection 4 ***
1.8 has gone impressively far for a rammer... but much of that has to do with the fact that it hasn't run into any popups, and both shell spinners that it fought Havoked.  How well can it do against a popup?  I think we all know the answer to that, but don't underestimate somestrangeguy's bot either.  It's deadly if you let it hit you.

Infection 4 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  Not even a rammer good enough to make it to the quarterfinals is good enough to beat a popup, it seems.  Infection takes off 1.8's weak drive motors and then makes short work of the chassis in all fights.  1.8 does survive for a little while, but because Infection is nearly as fast as 1.8, 1.8 is unable to find room to ram.

Star Dust vs. Final Z ****
This one was a lot closer than I expected.  After the similar S Cargo was thoroughly destroyed by Final Z (its one KO was mainly by luck), I thought that Star Dust didn't stand a chance here.  However, for whatever reason (perhaps it's luck), Star Dust is repeatedly able to pick up Final Z and hit its vulnerable underside.  Final Z still has time on its side, though--it's not by luck alone that it's already beaten two excellent vertical spinners.  Any win by Star Dust will have to be done quickly.

Final Z wins 2-1 with 2 KO's; Star Dust gets 1 KO.  Final Z totally dominates the first round like I expected.  However, in the second round Star Dust flips Final Z and scores a KO before you even know what's happening.  In the third round, Star Dust flips Final Z again and almost KO's it, but somehow Final Z settles back on its wheels.  At that point, Star Dust is unable to flip it again and it turns into a repeat of round 1.

AntonYYYm vs. AtaxiA ***
If AtaxiA gets under AntonYYYm, it's pretty much over for lloop D lloop.  And if AntonYYYm gets under AtaxiA, it's... perhaps not over for R0B0.  If AntonYYYm can't flip AtaxiA OOTA quickly, AtaxiA can tear up AntonYYYm's flippers while it is upside-down.  That's a big IF there though--AntonYYYm has proven quite adept at getting bots OOTA.  And both bots have good wedges, so it's really hard to predict who wins this, and really hard to say much more without spoiling anything.

AntonYYYm wins 2-1 with 2 TKO's; AtaxiA gets 1 KO.  Looks like R0B0 isn't getting in that third BBEANS championship after all.  4-2 is still a pretty good run though, perhaps good enough for him to keep his #2 rank.  In round 1, AntonYYYm gets under AtaxiA, but it loses a flipper after trying to flip an inverted AtaxiA.  AtaxiA is flipped upright, and proceeds to get under AntonYYYm and KO it.  In the second and third rounds, AntonYYYm manages to flip AtaxiA OOTA straightaway without any messing around beforehand, giving AtaxiA no chance for a comeback.

Minifridge 4 vs. Deinonychus ***
Deinonychus pretty much has to rely on Havok to win here.  Minifridge outweapons it and Deinonychus is too slow to easily pick it up and gut-rip.  Fortunately for Wings, Minifridge is a very Havoky bot.  It's been reasonably stable for a while now, but how long can that last?  Yes, there is Havok in this match and yes, there is serious destruction as well.

Minifridge 4 wins 3-0 with 2 KO's and 1 TKO.  In the first and third rounds, Minifridge takes off Deinonychus' right drum and right wheel, then destroys the chassis.  The second round is a little different as Minifridge Havoks upside-down after taking off one of Deinonychus' wheels.  However, Deinonychus ends up being immobilized so it can't take advantage of the Havok.  Minifridge also throws itself OOTA in round 3 and uses up its free restart, but manages to avoid Havoking a second time.

Death of Angels 2 vs. Terrible Sight ***
Popup battle--may the best wedge win.  Naryar's controversial armor won't do any good here, but perhaps Terrible Sight's slightly faster drive will give it an edge over Death of Angels.  Or perhaps DoA's awesome skin (which is clearly ripped from some image on Deviant Art or something, but is at least custom, which is more than most other bots can say) will make Terrible Sight hesitant to fire its weapon for fear of ruining the paint job.  But more likely it will just come down to wedges.

Death of Angels 2 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  DoA has a better wedge and that's all there is to it.  Terrible Sight only takes a few hits before being KO'd, and is unable to find any opportunities to make a comeback.

ReActive vs. Resentful Princess 2 ***
ReActive is at a slight disadvantage in terms of pure weapon weight, so it must rely on its flipping ability to hit Resentful Princess' vulnerable bottom, or perhaps immobilize it.  Of all the shell spinners in this tournament, though, Resentful Princess seems to be the most stable, so it's not going to be easy--but it can be done.

Resentful Princess 2 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  ReActive is unable to flip Resentful Princess for the first two rounds, and Resentful Princess always ends up hitting ReActive's hex plates, disarming it even more quickly than would happen normally.  In the third round ReActive manages to flip RP onto its side and get a decent hit on the chassis, but RP quickly lands back on its wheels and ReActive is unable to repeat its feat.

Missile Test vs. Bane X ***
Missile Test has the most armor of any popup, and it's going to need every kg of it against Bane X, the most powerful shell spinner of all the shell spinners.  The steep incline of Missile Test's armor makes it difficult to slide under Bane and line up a good chassis hit, but if it can ram Bane hard enough, the incline can possibly cause Bane to become unstable and Havok.  This is a close match that might have gone either way.

Missile Test wins 2-1 with 2 Havok forfeits; Bane X gets 1 TKO.  Early on, it becomes clear that Missile Test is too slow and too steep to have any chance of getting under Bane.  However, if Bane hits Missile Test's wedge just right, it does a minor Havok which allows Missile Test to drive under and score a KO.  This happens in all fights except round 2, in which Missile Test somehow gets stuck on its side and counted out.  The Havoks in this fight were really hard to call--it doesn't look like Bane is Havoking at first glance, more like it is simply Mauler dancing.  However, a frame-by-frame inspection reveals that all of Bane's axles are popping out of their sockets and twisting the chassis, throwing the bot in a way it would not normally behave.  Since it's clear from when Bane isn't Havoking that Missile Test is too slow to get under it normally, the Havok explosions affect the outcome and Bane X forfeits.

1.8 vs. Stanley 2 ***
1.8 only barely squeaked by Minifridge 4 thanks to some fortuitous Havok explosions.  Now it must face a shell spinner that is not only more stable, but has more razors as well.  Relying on Havok seems a doubtful strategy, but perhaps Stanley has another weakness 1.8 can exploit--it only has four razors mounted low, while the other six are high.  If 1.8 can stay low enough to avoid being hit by those upper six razors, it might outweapon Stanley's lower half and be able to start working on the chassis.  And while Havok isn't as big of a deal as it was with Minifridge, it still plays a role...

1.8 wins 2-1 with 2 Havok forfeits; Stanley 2 gets 1 TKO.  Strangely reminiscent of Missile Test vs. Bane X.  1.8 does quite well in the first round, until some unfortunate wheel contact with the wall causes it to flip over right into Stanley's shell, losing a drive motor in the process.  From there it's a short road to immobility.  In the second round, 1.8 pops a wheelie as it drives into Stanley, causing it to become damaged enough to start on fire.  But it still manages to hold on to life, at least until one of Stanley's loose axles throws it OOTA, and the match is restarted.  Then Stanley Havoks upside-down and 1.8 quickly removes the carbon fiber extender on top, causing it to be immobilized.   In the last round, Stanley does a small Havok and it looks like it's going to be OK, but then 1.8 rams it mid-Havok and sends it tumbling over the fence.  Again all of these Havoks were hard to call; they look like ordinary shell spinner behavior at first, but a frame-by-frame inspection shows that it is indeed Havok affecting the match.

Predator vs. Infection 4 ***
Predator already beat Terrible Sight, which has theoretically impenetrable skirt hinge armor, so what chance does Infection 4 have with its aluminum armor?  Well for one thing, it's faster, and also wider and flatter.  Predator won't sweep Infection to the side as easily as it did to Terrible Sight.  However, if Infection has as hard a time actually KO'ing Predator as Terrible Sight did, Predator has a chance here to actually get KO's once Infection's front armor is gone (that's a big IF there though).

Infection 4 wins 3-0 with 2 KO's and 1 TKO.  The first round is over fast as Infection flips Predator into the air, then catches it on its still-upraised razors as it falls back down for a one hit KO.  In the second round, Infection takes off enough bear claws to cause Predator to Mauler dance, then flips it over the wall.  And in the third round Infection KO's Predator after much toying around.

Star Dust vs. What Sheck Spinner? ***
What Sheck Spinner has lucked out so far--it hasn't fought any bots that can hit its vulnerable 1mm plastic-armored chassis, except for Elle Driver, which was too wide to actually hit WSS with its drum.  But now it's got another, tougher vertical spinner... which also happens to be rather wide.  Both bots will struggle to hurt the other in this fight, until one of two critical events happens: Star Dust loses teeth and becomes unbalanced, or Star Dust manages to flip What Sheck Spinner.

Star Dust wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  What Sheck Spinner does good at first, keeping out of reach of Star Dust's disc while slowly damaging its side supports, but since both bots have the same drive, eventually one of them will start to be counted out.  One of the bots will drive away, and then the two will collide again at high speed--high enough speed for Star Dust to get the necessary momentum to flip WSS.  At that point, Star Dust has an easy time destroying WSS's chassis.  In the third round, Star Dust actually loses teeth and becomes unbalanced, allowing WSS to knock off its weapon motor and then pin it against the wall.  However, since Star Dust is still capable of controlled movement, it gets a free restart, and WSS isn't able to repeat its performance.

Final Z vs. Power Surge *
Not as bad as Elle Driver vs. What Sheck Spinner?... but close.  Very close.  And as for Stanley 2 vs. Ice Tornado, that looks like the BBEANS5 final compared to this.  I mean, in one round, there's not a single component that breaks on either bot.  And in the other two, nothing happens until the last 20 seconds.  Needless to say, this match all comes down to points.

Final Z wins 3-0 with 3 WBP.  It just gets more points, that's all there is to it.  In the first round it breaks both of Power Surge's sledgehammers at the very end, and in the third it breaks one sledgehammer and a drive motor, and almost gets a KO due to a small driving mistake by Power Surge.  And that's everything that happens.

AntonYYYm vs. Guardian Angels ***
Guardian Angels has a good wedge, and although it's not very powerful, AntonYYYm's armor is so weak that any damage at all can be crippling.  It also has a surprising two wins under its metaphorical belt, including a victory over Minor Launch Platform MK2.  On the other hand, AntonYYYm is fast and its wedge is nothing to sneeze at either, and you can bet that if it gets to flip Guardian Angels, Guardian Angels will need some guardian angels of its own to keep it from going OOTA.  Expect a fast fight with, as always, some good flipping action.

AntonYYYm wins 3-0 with 3 TKO's.  Guardian Angels might actually have the better wedge, but it's hard to tell because AntonYYYm always finds a way to sneak around to the side or something.  Once AntonYYYm is under Guardian Angels, it's only a matter of time before the Angels return to the Heaven from whence they came.

AtaxiA vs. New Ruin ***
It's a rematch of the BBEANS5 final, only this time Firebeetle has an invertible horizontal spinner while R0B0SH4RK has a juggler.  Will R0B0 get his revenge, or will Firebeetle hold on to his crown?  Unfortunately this fight isn't as spectacularly close as Seism 13 vs. R4... but you know it's going to be good.

AtaxiA wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  Again, New Ruin does OK as long as it's facing AtaxiA, but as soon as AtaxiA gets behind New Ruin, it tends to stay there until New Ruin is KO'd.  The best New Ruin does is break off half of AtaxiA's razors in round 3.

Minifridge 4 vs. Reier's Avatar 3 **
Reier's Avatar 3 didn't stand a chance against Stanley 2, but perhaps it will do better against Minifridge, which has less razors and none at floor level.  However, Minifridge still has two more razors than RA3, so expect a close battle full of broken razors and Havok explosions (however, since there was no way to determine which bot was responsible for any Havok explosions with axles from both bots everywhere, I just restarted and didn't include those fights in the video.)

Minifridge 4 wins 2-1 with 2 WBP; Reier's Avatar 3 gets 1 WBP.  Reier's Avatar 3 loses a wheel and Minifridge flips itself in round 1, so the bots pretty much don't come in contact for most of the match, and RA3 is ahead in points.  Minifridge gets a lucky hit on one of RA3's extenders in round 2, taking out a whole half of the bot in one fell swoop, then spending a lot of time upside down, and finally taking out the other half at the very end, but not in time for a KO.  RA3 loses all its razors in round 3, but again Minifridge flips itself and RA3 loses a wheel, so the bots have no more contact but this time it's Minifridge that is ahead in points.

Kurt Rambis vs. Deinonychus ***
Wedgy VS's typically pose a problem for rammers, but Deinonychus already lost to 1.8 (if only barely), and Kurt Rambis defeated Blood Orange and Your Final Moment, so with some good driving and a little luck, Kurt Rambis could very well continue its surprising winning streak.  This is another close fight (, only one of Kurt's battles WASN'T close).

Deinonychus wins 3-0 with 1 KO, 1 TKO, and 1 WBP.  In the first round Deinonychus loses all of its teeth, but Kurt is so beat up by that point that it can't ram Deinonychus hard enough or often enough to pull ahead in points.  In the second round Deinonychus loses most of its teeth, but Kurt loses both drive motors, and Deinonychus sits on top of Kurt's carcass like a triumphant gladiator while Kurt is counted out.  In the third round Deinonychus loses hardly any teeth and quickly KO's Kurt.

Death of Angels 2 vs. The Mini Warrior ***
The Mini Warrior actually has a better wedge than Infection 4; it just lost because Infection is faster and has a much wider wedge.  Might it do better against the slightly slower and narrower Death of Angels?  The Mini Warrior already has an unexpected two wins; how hard can a third one be?  And will I actually say anything about the fight, rather than posing rhetorical questions?  No, because anything I say will spoil it.

Death of Angels 2 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  There's no way to know if The Mini Warrior could have gotten under DoA, as DoA always hits TMW a little to the side, avoiding the wedge.  Then it's only a matter of time before DoA gets enough shots at TMW's chassis for a KO.

Flux vs. Terrible Sight ****
This fight is very much like Flux's last fight with Hredder 6.6.  Reminds me again of the BBEANS4 final, except this time Naryar has Enfilad3 and he's against Hazardous Contraption... it's like Naryar is fighting himself.     Flux has an excellent wedge, but it's not powerful enough to fully capitalize on that, giving its popup opponents plenty of opportunities to make a comeback and creating a very intense back-and-forth battle.  Also, the arena hazards play a very pivotal role here; don't assume you know who wins until the announcer says "Great match!".

Terrible Sight wins 3-0 with 2 TKO's and 1 WBP.  Flux really gets royally screwed over by the flippers here.  It dominates the first round, taking off one of Terrible Sight's wheels and staying ahead in points, but then the flippers activate while the bots are sitting on them, and Flux gets stuck on its rear end, the one position from which it can't self right, and is counted out with 2 seconds left on the clock.  Flux struggles more in the second round, suffering a control board hit from Terrible Sight, but it is still far ahead in points when Terrible Sight pushes it onto the flipper, which sends Flux OOTA with about 30 seconds left.  Terrible Sight controls the third round, staying under Flux enough of the time to get ahead in points, although not long enough to get enough hits for a KO.

The Strike of a Ninja vs. Star Dust ***
There are a lot of clashes of weapon on weapon in this fight; both bots' weapons are perfectly positioned to hit the other.  Star Dust easily outweapons TSOAN, but it is also more crippled by instability when it loses teeth.  Either TSOAN is going to get under and take off Star Dust's motors and supports after both bots lose a few teeth, or TSOAN will lose all its teeth and Star Dust will chew it up from above.

Star Dust wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  In the first two rounds, The Strike of a Ninja loses all its teeth and Star Dust proceeds to leisurely KO it.  In the third round, Star Dust simply cuts to the chase and KO's TSOAN without taking off all its teeth first.

Moving Violation vs. Final Z ***
Final Z sure has drawn a lot of vertical spinners so far.  Every one of those battles has been close, and this is no exception.  Final Z has more than enough power to tear Moving Violation limb from limb (or nut from bolt... whatever), but if Moving Violation hits it just right, it could start a fatal gyro dance for Final Z.  And no, Moving Violation's weak flipper segment doesn't come into play here--Final Z's weapon spins clockwise, into MV's disc rather than the motor.

Final Z wins 2-1 with 2 KO's; Moving Violation gets 1 KO.  It looks good for Moving Violation in the first round as it gets under Final Z and starts hitting those polycarbonate extenders, but somehow Final Z stabilizes again, traps Moving Violation between its wheel and Panic Attack skirt, and tears it up.  The second round is all Final Z as Moving Violation gets trapped again on the side of Final Z.  In the third round Moving Violation finally gets under Final Z and stays under, quickly scoring a KO as Final Z starts gyro-dancing.

AntonYYYm vs. Bisector ***
AntonYYYm is guaranteed to get several flips in here, as Bisector has no wedge, but getting Bisector OOTA is another story.  It's big and it's spread out, making it somewhat difficult to get the necessary leverage for a winning flip.  (That's not to say there's no good flips here though; in fact the fight is filled with them.)  Bisector has an even harder time landing a hit on AntonYYYm before getting flipped, but if it does land a hit, AntonYYYm isn't going to last long with 1mm plastic armor.

AntonYYYm wins 2-1 with 2 TKO's; Bisector gets 1 KO.  Bisector can't do anything in the first two rounds and it's only a matter of time before AntonYYYm gets it OOTA.  Bisector finally gets some hits in in the last round after AntonYYYm accidentally flips itself, then AntonYYYm recovers and flips Bisector around a bit more, but then flips itself again and Bisector is able to finish it off.  So I'm out now... but I don't mind seeing AntonYYYm advance further, as it's the best flipper in this tournament and one of the few non-popup bots capable of taking out shell spinners.  (So is Bisector, but whatever.)

Blaze Line vs. AtaxiA ****
It's a war of the wedges... whoever gets under the other bot here is going to win.  However, don't think that because one bot gets under the other, that it will stay under.  Astounding comebacks can and do happen here.  There's also a lot of debris flying, which is always cool.

AtaxiA wins 2-1 with 2 KO's; Blaze Line gets 1 TKO.  In the first round, AtaxiA gets under Blaze Line and chews up its wedges before moving on to the chassis for dessert.  The second round starts out the same way, but then an immobility warning causes Blaze Line to escape to the corner while AtaxiA sits still.  AtaxiA charges at the cornered Blaze Line, but amazingly, it bounces off Blaze Line's wedge, and even more amazingly, Blaze Line sneaks under it and flips it OOTA.  With half its wedge missing, no less.  The third round starts with AtaxiA bouncing off Blaze Line again and flipping itself, but as soon as Blaze Line attacks AtaxiA, AtaxiA recovers and starts winning again until a Havok explosion forces a restart.  In the final round AtaxiA gets under Blaze Line and stays under for another KO.

Trance Hazard vs. Minifridge 4 ***
Minifridge 4 outweapons Trance Hazard and can hit its vulnerable motors, so the only way for Trance Hazard to win is to rely on Havok explosions.  1.8 beat Minifridge this way, but Minifridge has been much more stable so far in the loser's bracket.  And... that's about all I can say without spoilers.

Minifridge 4 wins 3-0 with 2 TKO's and 1 WBP.  The first round is really boring as Minifridge leaves Trance Hazard with 1 wheel attached and nothing else, then decides to Havok itself upside-down and wait for time to run out.  Be glad I cut out the 90% of it where absolutely nothing happens.  The next two rounds are a bit more interesting as Minifridge rips off ALL of Trance Hazard's motors before Mauler dancing, causing Trance Hazard to be immobilized.

Kurt Rambis vs. Ice Tornado **
It's 116 kgs of weapons versus 80 kgs of weapons, with neither bot having any reliable way to get under the other or otherwise bypass the weapons, so the winner is pretty obvious.  However, that's failing to take the 2-minute time limit into account.  Ice Tornado won't have enough time to break all of Kurt Rambis' iron spikes, so the result will come down to points, which is a much closer battle than weapon weight.  Being able to hit something other than the opponent's weapons becomes of the utmost importance in this long and not very exciting, but very close battle.

Kurt Rambis wins 2-1 with 2 WBP; Ice Tornado gets 1 WBP.  In the first two rounds Kurt Rambis never gives Ice Tornado the chance to hit anything but the iron spikes, while Kurt is fast enough to get through Ice Tornado's thwacking arms and occasionally hit the wheels.  Those wheel hits, which don't give Ice Tornado any points, ultimately clinch the win for Kurt Rambis.  It's hard to be certain, but the skirt hinges might have helped Kurt too.  In the third round, Ice Tornado gets a lucky hit on one of Kurt's drive motors, causing it to drive crooked.  Kurt then becomes caught in a deadly cycle of not being able to hit Ice Tornado's wheels while Ice Tornado can graze Kurt's side, and Ice Tornado wins by a large point margin.

Bot With MOVING Spikes vs. Death of Angels 2 ***
It's another wedge battle, may the best wedge win.  Both bots get under the other at some point; it's only a question of who can get under the most and do the most damage.

Death of Angels 2 wins 3-0 with 2 KO's and 1 TKO.  The first two rounds are no contest as DoA easily KO's BWMS and then flips it OOTA.  In the third round, BWMS gets under DoA and gets in two hits before DoA half-gets under it.  The two bots stay in wedge-lock until they go in the blade.  Then DoA gets fully under BWMS and scores another KO.

Flux vs. Hredder 6.6 ****
Wow, this was a tight battle.  Reminds me a bit of the BBEANS4 final, and not just because one of the bots has a probably-not-coincidental resemblance to Hazardous Contraption.  There's parts breaking off, tons of hazard action, and more plot twists than a mystery novel.  There could stand to be a few more KO's... but it's still an excellent fight.

Flux wins 2-1 with 1 KO and 1 WBP; Hredder 6.6 gets 1 WBP.  Flux dominates the first round, only losing one of its titanium skirts just before landing the final hit on Hredder.  The second round is where things get interesting.  Hredder gets under Flux and gets a few hits, but then flips itself and it's Flux's turn to be the aggressor.  But even being juggled by Flux, Hredder isn't helpless; it breaks one of Flux's Ti skirts while upside down and also gets Flux's control board in the yellow.  After some arena flipper intervention, Hredder (with only half a wedge by this time) gets under Flux again (also with only half a wedge) and takes it on a tour of the arena hazards.  Hredder gets Flux's control board in the red, but is unable to get the KO before time runs out, although it still wins by points.  Flux gets under Hredder in the third round and stays under for most of the match.  Hredder eventually makes a comeback when Flux flips itself, but then some arena flipper intervention lets Flux get back under Hredder.  Then more flipper intervention sets Flux balanced on its rear, but there's not enough time left either for Flux to be immobilized, or for Hredder to pull ahead in points, so Flux wins by points.

ReActive vs. Power Surge ***
ReActive didn't have any trouble out-weaponing Sawzal and winning by points, but Power Surge carries a lot more kinetic energy and has more weapon weight.  It's also less stable.  ReActive will need to use a different strategy here--simply ramming Power Surge and hoping to knock off a hammer will likely result in Power Surge hitting ReActive's axles first.  Rather, it will need to rely on Power Surge's instability to keep it from getting up to speed and becoming dangerous.  This is an exciting battle with a lot of good hits--by far ReActive's most interesting battle so far.  There WILL be KO's.

ReActive wins 3-0 with 1 KO, 1 TKO, and 1 WBP.  In the first round, Power Surge becomes very unstable after hitting ReActive's spikes, and ReActive is able to drive under it and score a KO as Power Surge flops around.  In the second round, Power Surge hits ReActive's spikes and flings itself OOTA for a very fast TKO.  The third round goes much like the first, and ReActive gets Power Surge's control board in the yellow, but then a small Havok flips it over and ReActive spends the rest of the match upside-down.  Power Surge breaks off one of ReActive's axles holding on the spikes at the very end, but it's too late and ReActive wins by points.

Resentful Princess 2 vs. What Sheck Spinner? ***
In case you can't tell by the name, What Sheck Spinner is designed to kill shell spinners.  Or at least outweapon them and win by points.  That being the case, I was impressed at how well Resentful Princess did here.  If you think shell spinners don't have a chance against H@zm47's bot just because it's named "What Sheck Spinner?", then think again.  It's a small chance, but still a chance.

Resentful Princess 2 wins 2-1 with 2 KO's; What Sheck Spinner? gets 1 WBP.  What Sheck Spinner?  THAT shell spinner!  Man, this was close.  WSS was winning for the entire first round, and Resentful Princess was down to just 2 iron spikes and no razors, but then with 5 seconds left on the clock, Resentful Princess took off WSS's right Firestorm flipper, exposing the chassis and giving Princess a last-second KO.  (Had WSS survived for just 5 more seconds, it would have beaten Princess 2-1.)  Resentful Princess breaks WSS's right Firestorm flipper again in round 2, but much sooner and while Princess still has some razors left, and WSS goes down easily.  WSS survives for the entire last round and wins by points, although Princess does break that Firestorm flipper again just as time runs out.  (A couple more seconds and Princess would have won 3-0.)

New Ruin vs. Missile Test ***
Missile Test has the edge here because that ridiculously strong front armor can sponge up hits from New Ruin's weapon, and it can hit New Ruin's vulnerable chassis.  But you can bet the reigning champion won't go down without a fight; if Missile Test gets caught on New Ruin's side skirt, New Ruin can hit around that armor plate.

Missile Test wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  New Ruin can survive well enough as long as it can keep its weapon towards Missile Test, but as soon as Missile Test gets behind New Ruin it's all over.  New Ruin can't turn fast enough to prevent Missile Test from repeatedly hitting its chassis.

Guardian Angels vs. Bane X **
Looks like ANOTHER easy opponent for Urjak... or is it?  Guardian Angels has done surprisingly well so far; might it be on a razor guy run?  If this was a round 1 match, I would say Bane X wins for sure, but now I'm not willing to assume anything about Guardian Angels.

Bane X wins 3-0 with 1 KO and 2 Havok forfeits.  Nope, no razor guy run for you.  Bane X gets a fast KO in round 1, but after that it's not so fast.  Once everything is broken off the hinges on Guardian Angels, it's only a short time until it will explode (annoyingly freezing the game in the process), and Bane X isn't fast enough to get a KO before that happens.

Deinonychus vs. 1.8 ***
Another very close battle.  1.8, if it can survive long enough, can break off all of Deinonychus' teeth.  But if Deinonychus ever gets under 1.8, it can do a lot of damage--enough to score a KO very quickly, or at least break a drive motor.  The fight is slow-paced, but the epic closeness of it makes up for that.

1.8 wins 2-1 with 2 WBP; Deinonychus gets 1 KO.  1.8 rams Deinonychus repeatedly and backs off before it can be gut-ripped in the first round, eventually breaking Deinonychus' weapons and winning by points.  1.8 isn't so lucky in the second round, though.  Deinonychus gets under it and KO's it in two hits.  Things are looking really bad for 1.8 in the third round after Deinonychus hits its control board into the red, and then takes off a drive motor, but somehow 1.8 is able to keep its front pointing toward Deinonychus so that Deinonychus breaks its teeth on the razors.  Then all 1.8 has to do is avoid being counted out (which it does, in part thanks to the arena flipper activating just in time) to win by points.

Reier's Avatar 3 vs. Stanley 2 ***
Stanley 2 has 4 more razors than Reier's Avatar, but Reier's Avatar has that chewing action going on.  While shell spinners like to knock bots to the side and stay generally far away, Reier's Avatar likes to get up close and personal.  That means it's more likely to get lucky hits on axles and side panels.  Stanley still has an advantage, of course, but this fight will not be decided by number of razors alone.

Stanley 2 wins 3-0 with 2 KO's and 1 TKO.  In the first two rounds, Reier's Avatar crawls on top of Stanley and loses a few razors, which it can ill afford, and ends up losing because Stanley outweapons it.  But in the third round, Reier's Avatar gets several lucky hits on Stanley's vulnerable axles and actually gets it down to 2 razors while RA3 still has 1.  In fact, if RA3 didn't lose a wheel early in the match, it probably would have won this.  But instead, it drives onto the flipper while trying to get close to the highly unstable Stanley, is flipped into the blade, and then flung OOTA by the blade.

Terrible Sight vs. Predator ****
Yet ANOTHER epically (is that even a word?) close match.  I thought at first that Predator didn't stand a chance here... I mean, Terrible Sight has that invincible "narmor", and Predator has nothing protecting its bottom.  But... well you just have to see it.  It's worth it.  One fight is even decided in the last fraction of a second (eerily reminiscent of JoeBlo's fight against SandStorm in BBEANS5.)

Predator wins 2-1 with 1 TKO and 1 WBP; Terrible Sight gets 1 KO.  The fight goes pretty much as expected in round 1, with Terrible Sight getting a quick KO and sustaining no damage itself.  Round 2 is where it gets interesting.  Somehow, for some reason, Predator isn't able to damage Terrible Sight's chassis through the skirt hinges, but it IS able to hit Terrible Sight's razors.  Don't ask how that works; it seems to defy all laws of physics, real and RA2.  Terrible Sight also has a hard time keeping Predator on its wedge, allowing Predator to eventually outweapon it and turn Terrible Sight into a pusher.  Even so, Terrible Sight is ahead in points.  But then it accidentally gets flipped by the arena flipper as it tries to push Predator, giving Predator the chance to hit something other than the skirt hinges.  Predator takes off both wheels, but is still behind in points with 1 second left on the clock.  But then, at 0:00, it gets one last hit on Terrible Sight's wedges, pushing it a mere 84 points ahead of Terrible Sight and giving it the win.  In the third round, Terrible Sight takes off a wheel and several bear claws from Predator, but is unable to hit the chassis before losing its razors, although it's still far ahead in points.  Predator is unbalanced and turns into a top for the rest of the match.  It seems it will lose because it can't score many points, but then Terrible Sight flips itself as the remaining multi-extenders on the burst motor rupt.  It is unable to self-right and is counted out at 0:06.  If that's not the closest match ever, I don't know what is.  CAN ANYTHING STOP THESE SHELL SPINNERS DOMINATING THE WINNER'S BRACKET???

The Mini Warrior vs. Infection 4 ***
The Mini Warrior can actually get under Infection 4, and it can do some serious damage with that axe.  (Infection 4 isn't built to take hits.)  The problem is staying under, as Infection is much faster and can push The Mini Warrior around even in wedge-lock.  Still, if you were expecting a clean sweep by Infection, you'll be disappointed.  The Mini Warrior is tougher than it looks.

Infection 4 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  The first two rounds are in fact a clean sweep.  The Mini Warrior doesn't land a single hit on Infection.  But in the third round, The Mini Warrior gets under Infection long enough to get a few hits on the chassis, bringing it down to about half health.  But then Infection sneaks under The Mini Warrior and gets another KO.

Trance Hazard vs. Blabber-mouth ***
This is a tight, pitched battle that probably could have gone the other way with a bit of luck.  Trance Hazard is the better-built bot here, with faster drive, invertibility, and a more powerful weapon, but its external motors are a major weakness that can be exploited by Blabber-mouth's long drill.  Both bots end up inflicting a lot of damage on each other; in fact this is one of the more destructive matches I've seen.  The last round is especially entertaining.

Trance Hazard wins 3-0 with 2 KO's and 1 WBP.  In the first round, Trance Hazard loses both its drive motors but manages to KO Blabber-mouth as it flops around on its weapon.  In the second round, it only loses one drive motor while Blabber-mouth loses all its weapons, resulting in a drawn-out struggle just to hit the other bot.  Trance Hazard ends up winning with more points.  In the third round, Trance Hazard manages to keep all of its motors intact, and as a result is able to tear up Blabber-mouth something fierce before knocking it into the blade, which scores the final hit.

Minifridge 4 vs. Minor Launch Platform MK2 ***
In general, popups have the advantage against shell spinners (in fact, outside of specialized wedge-killers, they're good against pretty much everything).  As if Minifridge's Havok troubles weren't already enough for it to deal with.  There are two things that work in Minifridge's favor, however.  One, MLP MK2's weapon fires forward, making it slightly more difficult to hit the chassis.  And two, MLP MK2 only has two razors, which it can quickly lose if it fires its weapon at the wrong moment.  That is, if Minifridge can avoid Havoking out of control...

Minifridge 4 wins 3-0 with 3 KO's.  It is surprisingly stable throughout this battle--it seems it Havoks more against some bots than against others.  There is one Havok explosion in the second round, where Minifridge flies up and lands on top of MLP to KO it, which I deemed significant enough for a restart.  Otherwise, Minifridge only does little jumps.  Minor Launch Platform, meanwhile, has a really hard time getting far enough under Minifridge in order to hit the chassis--it has more of a tendency to pu

1942

DSL TC Showcases / Re: Condor's showcase

« on: May 23, 2010, 02:12:50 AM »

Well the gyro dancing is easy, just use long skirts and extenders instead of DSL bars, and angle them down to the ground a bit.


Hypno teeth have really small collision, so using something else like iron spikes or beater bars might help protect the disc.


And I have no idea on the wedges; they look like they should be good.

1943

DSL TC Showcases / Re: Battle Shots

« on: May 23, 2010, 02:01:20 AM »

=O klone


(Somebody had to say it.)


Looks like four Vlad spikes... your bot won't be as effective against wedges since those have normals 


But dissecting out Matilda's chassis is a pretty cool accomplishment.  With everything else intact too.  It looks like you just ripped off the wheels, until you see the chassis by your bot.

1944

Tournament Archives / Re: Rust In Pieces 2 - Signups

« on: May 23, 2010, 01:51:32 AM »

lol Nar has half the alphabet next to him :P

I will have mine by monday :D

It might be full by then... I just sent Craaig my bot.


This lagfest err... tournament is shaping up to be a big event.


(Craaig better have a fast computer since SHW's can already be laggy and the Electric Arena 2 isn't the most poly-efficient arena out there.)

1945

Modifications / Re: CFZ to unhide 140 cm extender

« on: May 23, 2010, 01:44:39 AM »

I can see sidehammer, hammer and trapper bots abusig the 140cm square extender due to its weight to lenght ratio.

That's what you would think, but a lot of times you want something shorter than 140cm, and that extender only comes in one size.  I've found that there's actually very few applications where it's really useful.  Hammer bots is one, and ultralong wedges is another.  But in both cases you can just as effectively use shorter, regular extenders.


And I haven't tried it, but I'm sure it would be useful for Flying Guillotine-type bots as well...

1946

DSL TC Showcases / Re: Clickbeetle's bots

« on: May 22, 2010, 09:37:27 PM »

Muhahahaha....





Would've liked to get the BBEANS splash done first and then finish up Timber II, but RIP 2 was filling up fast.


This bot is an improvement over the original Timber in every possible way.  It's more durable, more powerful, faster, wedgier, and more stable.  Using 2 large JX bursts for the weapon instead of 4 doesn't seem to affect its power much--just possibly makes it slower to retract.


Some fun facts:
- The multiextenders are attached to the baseplate, so they're invincible.  The only part of the hammer that can break off is the weapons (and the hex plates, but those never get hit).
- It can knock off a 250cm filled shell disc in 3 hits.
- It can often win by points even if it can't hit the chassis for a KO.


Still can't self right though.     But as long as it can avoid Havok bombs, shell spinners don't stand a chance.

1947

Tournament Archives / Re: BBEANS6 Registration

« on: May 22, 2010, 04:46:00 PM »

Well I've got 55 bots AI'd now--not quite going to be finished before I leave next week, but I'll be mostly done with AI'ing.


I'll start working on the splash now.  I might have it done by tonight, probably by tomorrow, and definitely by Monday.

1948

Tournament Archives / Re: NAR AI Wars v1 Signups

« on: May 22, 2010, 04:24:55 PM »

Mighty Click entered. You guys better enter or suffer his wrath :P

that doesn't make sense.... if we enter we will also feel his wrath :P

He admitted his bot isn't very good AIed.

And you don't want your lord and master to enter for nothing, no ?

Yeah, anyone else who enters will probably get an easy win against me, unless I can improve the AI in the meantime (it's a fairly good bot if I'm driving it).


But I hope I'm not anybody's lord and master here.  That's going a bit far.  *looks for smiley to make previous statement more lighthearted, fails, so just puts this here instead*

1949

Modifications / Re: [WIP] Oldies Pack [WIP]

« on: May 22, 2010, 04:13:48 PM »

Firebeetle did all of that for the Keznorg IGC, but it didn't sound too difficult as long as you know what you're doing.  The trickier part is, at least for the Keznorg IGC, hunting down the skins that don't work and fixing them.  (There's still one skin that I couldn't fix in the final Keznorg release, but it's hard to notice.)

1950

Modifications / Re: [WIP] Oldies Pack [WIP]

« on: May 22, 2010, 04:06:21 PM »

Hehe.  I could BE the dev team, since (correct me if I'm wrong) the only things you can port from RA1 into RA2 are the Keznorg IGC (which is done) and the Rodari-Shipka Battlezone.  None of the other arenas or components are portable, because they don't have decompiled gmf's included with the game.  The only reason the two arenas I mentioned are portable is because the game comes with both compiled and decompiled versions of the gmf, which makes it possible to convert the gmf's into a format that RA2 recognizes (done by hand) and re-compile them.


Now if somebody *cough*serge,buthealreadyhasalotonhisplate*cough* made a decompiler for the RA1 gmf's, that would be a different story... maybe.  The amount of manual copy-paste labor involved in converting all those gmf's would be astronomical.


Note that if anyone else wants to take a crack at the Rodari-Shipka Battlezone while I'm busy with BBEANS, feel free.  You just have to know your way around the gmf in Notepad, so you know what to delete and what to add or change to make it work in RA2.  Also, you need to switch the Y and Z coordinates on everything, and also shrink everything by a factor of about 300, and possibly fix a few skins that don't transfer accurately.

1951

Modifications / Re: CFZ to unhide 140 cm extender

« on: May 22, 2010, 03:50:58 PM »

I see Modifying parts = custom

either let them be of dont use them

My thoughts as well.  The 140cm round extender needs to be left as is, 35kg, and the 140cm square extender also needs to be left as is, 5kg.  And the unfinished redbird definitely shouldn't be allowed as a stock part, since you need to make a .txt file for it.


Imma gonna use big bold letters to make this next point.


THE POINT OF STOCK PARTS IS THAT YOU CAN EXCHANGE BOTS WITH OTHER PEOPLE AND THEY WILL WORK ON ANY COMPUTER.


Well, not the only point of stock parts, but it's an important one.


The Snapper II works on any computer, even if it isn't unlocked.  So do the 140cm extenders.  The prototype Redbird doesn't work on other computers if it isn't "unlocked", and neither do the 140cm extenders if you edit their stats (well they'll technically work, but the bot's weight will be wrong).


Since we already allow the Snapper II, which is also an unfinished, unbalanced part like the 140cm extenders, I say we allow the 140cm extenders unless they ("they" here meaning "the square one") prove to be too good, in which case they can be banned by mutual agreement.

1952

Stock Showcases / Re: Pwnator's Stock Showcase

« on: May 20, 2010, 09:26:29 PM »

That looks like my prototype Drumblebee 6 that failed because it was unstable and bouncy.  I wonder why yours has good wedges.


Ah well, doesn't matter much if it can't do damage...


Now if only we could combine Drumblebee 6 with Core Trencher and get 2 new bots, one of which is stable and powerful (and the other would fail in every possible aspect).

1953

Tournament Archives / Re: Rust In Pieces 2 - Signups

« on: May 20, 2010, 08:54:24 PM »

I had a really awesome idea.. but 1 of the rules prevented that :P

Let me guess... Rule #2?

1954

Real Robotics Discussion / Re: Wall-E vs Terrorists

« on: May 18, 2010, 09:17:39 PM »

So that's where Gigafrost got the name for his tournament from.


That bot has a cool tread system.

1955

Modifications / Re: [WIP] Oldies Pack [WIP]

« on: May 18, 2010, 08:43:58 PM »

Bringing back as much as we (assuming i get a team) can back of RA1 into RA2.

Incidentally, bringing the Rodari-Shipka Battlezone into RA2 is one of the things on my RA-2-do list.  (That's the asteroid arena in RA1.)  Perhaps with low gravity to make things interesting (it's in space, after all).


But obviously it will have to wait until after BBEANS.

1956

Stock Showcases / Re: NFX.showcase/stock

« on: May 18, 2010, 03:40:20 PM »

That kind of reminds me of a MW Chernobyl.  Nice job.


Also, when you look at it upside down, the name on top says HS. 

1957

Stock Showcases / Re: Pwnator's Stock Showcase

« on: May 18, 2010, 03:33:15 PM »

Kheper's design only works in DSL for several reasons, but a big one is this: armor.  It's a lot harder to protect your bottom in stock, and even harder to protect your top, both of which are essential for popups.  Plus the front is a lot weaker, even with 4 plows, so you can't trap spinners as easily.  Bottom line, this design needs to be resilient, which just isn't possible in stock.


You might be able to do it on a HW with wedges and lots of ramming spikes in a V-shape.  Also, you usually need a counterweight on the servo in order to lift the weapon.  But I don't think it can be done on a MW.


That said, that bot does look pretty cool.  Too bad it's not very effective.

1958

General Support / Re: DSL install problem

« on: May 16, 2010, 11:32:36 PM »

No, not if he's using the official download.


If you're having trouble installing DSL, you might try the ready-to-play full game which has links scattered about the forum (I know one is in Sage's sig).  It's a bigger download, but the installation is foolproof.


Otherwise, if you want help with patching your stock RA2 to DSL, you should explain more details (like how is it not working.)

1959

Tournament Archives / Re: RAW 2 Brackets and Videos

« on: May 16, 2010, 10:03:19 PM »

Oooh, nice candy in the video Sage.  Nice match as well.

Loving the end of round 1, where the weaponless Error slowly nudges Ammonia toward the claw, then drives away to let it be TKO'd.  That's some expert driving for the AI right there.

1960

Tournament Archives / Re: Could the Tourney Section be split?

« on: May 16, 2010, 09:43:09 PM »

I also am leaning toward Joe's opinion... this forum already has plenty of subforums.