Mech Madness is now looking for new applicants for Season 3! After a wild Season 2 successfully wrapped up under a new format, I made the announcement that entries will be accepted for next season right up until a TBA due-date. I am currently making some technical changes to how the MM edit of the RoboGames arena functions with OotAs and multibots; once this is complete, an end date for signups will officially be announced. But definitely start sending your robot design files & any AI to me as soon as you please!
ENTRY DETAILS:- The large field format returns for Season 3 of Mech Madness!
EVERY ROBOT FROM SEASON 2 IS AUTOMATICALLY CONSIDERED ENTERED, UNLESS IT VIOLATES NEW BUILD RULE CHANGES OR THE BUILDER TELLS ME OTHERWISE. Any participating builder is allowed to send me as many entrants as they wish. Up to 6 robots will be included in the season's field per builder! The restrictions on fresh entries have been lifted. However, for returning builders, I require that at least 1 of your submissions be one of your robots from Mech Madness 2 (rebuilds are acceptable but not required) AND 1 must be a brand new design that hasn't seen tournament time before. For new builders, at least 1 of your entries must be a creation that has not fought in a tournament before. This should go without saying, but it's highly frowned upon to enter anything that's not your own build. I reserve the right to reject anything that doesn't fit the spirit of the tournament.
You may PM me your .bot file here (or on Discord) or direct me to an upload on the Exchange if you prefer. Any friends of yours who don't have a GTM account are more than welcome to email me a .bot file as well, just let me know and I'll get you the appropriate contact info!
Accepted robots will make the cut based on an even combination of originality and effectiveness. Obviously, returning contenders that meet the new standards for MM2 and were fan favorites or had a deep run last season will have priority as the field is determined.
Keep the name of your bots pronounceable and realistic (ie: appropriate) as well. This is a case-by-case rule, and I'll ask for revisions before accepting any bots with names I don't feel comfortable reading repeatedly on mic, for obvious reasons. I'm still undecided about commentary, but just in case...
SIGNUPS BEGIN NOW. DEADLINE TO BE ANNOUNCED.
BUILD RULES:- Tourney will be run in the Mech Madness build of DSL that I utilized last season. All components are the same as a base copy of DSL 2.2, with the exception of custom-skinned components that were submitted to me last season.
Strict IRL build rules. I'm pretty ok with breaking Co7 and intersecting some components in the name of more realistic appearance, just NO INTERSECTING BATTERIES AND MOTORS. Use common sense, obviously. Weapons need adequate support. Tribar spinners will require support bars, vertical discs require triangular support structures. Please don't hesitate to ask me to explain these guidelines further to you if there are any questions as to whether your entry is IRL legal by my standards. :)
Heavyweight (800KGs)
All IRL packs, Component Freedom, and OBJRA2 are allowed and encouraged to allow a pretty dense amount of design creativity. I'll be looking for personality in the designs!
I can AI decently, but I encourage you to send me bindings and AI your controls for best performance, especially if you're building a more complex control bot. I want to ensure that your robot performs up to your expectations for it!
Active Weapon Rule (see Battlebots). Flamethrowers DO NOT count as sole active weapons. OVERHEAD BODY THWACKS ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTED, "sit & spin" thwackbots are not accepted.
No weapon spam: NO MORE THAN 1 MINION DISC OR MECHAVORE DISC, 2 PREMADE SAWBLADES, 2 FRENZY HAMMERS, 4 LARGE TEETH, 6 SMALL TEETH, OR 6 TOTAL TEETH on a bot. Limit 3 Burst Motors. SKIRTS CANNOT BE USED AS A PRIMARY WEAPON ARM. Shell spinners can be analyzed on a case-by-case basis for tooth spam and I reserve the right to ask for modifications if needed.
SKIRTS FOR DUSTPANS OR WEDGES MUST HAVE SIMULATED SUPPORT ON AT LEAST 3 SIDES (THE ATTACHMENT POINT MAY COUNT AS 1 SIDE OF SUPPORT, THEN A PANEL, EXTENDER, OR ADDITIONAL SKIRT THAT TOUCHES A SIDE OF SAID SKIRT CAN COUNT AS A SECOND, ETC...)
CB2 parts are NOT allowed, with the exception of Flatmotors and the O-Servos.
Multibots allowed (max 2 able to fight at 1 time, but a Grubs-esque modular entry would be acceptable). 50% OF WEIGHT DISABLED IS CONSIDERED A KO. Active weapon rule applies for the entry as a whole, so only one bot of the 2 needs to have an active weapon in battle.
No drones.
Walkers/unorthodox drive trains are allowed as long as the bot can show directional movement, though no weight bonuses will be given.
Modularity allowed (up to 4 configurations) without major changes to the base robot.
TOURNAMENT RULES:- Fights will be held in the Mech Madness Court (a reskin of the RoboGames Arena)
3 minute fights before judge's decision, or until one bot is KOed.
IMPORTANT - KO, in this tournament, is defined as when a robot loses directional movement or when any part of that robot touches the Out-of-Bounds area. So if one side of drive is disabled (all wheels/treads removed from left or right side), the robot will be considered KOed at the point it was immobilized.
I'll restart on pins due to wonky AI/crashes, but if a bot is consistently crashing the game via havok, I reserve the right to disqualify (hopefully, the screening process will prevent this from being a problem ahead of time).
A 20 second countdown will begin if a robot that cannot drive while inverted is flipped. Thus, a shell spinner that stays careening around the arena upside-down for 20 seconds will be considered KOed.
Judge's decision will be based on the standard 3 criteria of Damage, Control, and Aggression. Instead of splitting points, each bot will be graded from 1-10 in each of the 3 categories post-match.
To simulate the concept of a sports season (and not at all rip off Battlebots Season 3 >.>), every accepted robot will be placed in a group (or "Conference"). Each Conference will then host it's own exciting, 15-fight long episode, where the 6 bots in that Conference will face off against each other in a 1-v-1 Round Robin style. Thus, each robot will be guaranteed 5 fights before a Conference Champion is determined by record. That Champion will earn an automatic bid to the single-elimination Postseason Tournament. Other robots will be considered for "at-large" bids based on their performance in their conference. By the end of the regular season, there should be a highly competetive bracket made up of the best bots in the league!
Other exhibition fights and grudge matches may still be aired as well, time-permitting. :)
I'll record fights first, then cut them as necessary, then add in commentary & post-graphics.
Spreadsheet of Season 3 Competitors:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17rWsb63_OoyjEFIZWeQREbqmUl5llrse-CTIy6YfOow/edit?usp=sharing (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17rWsb63_OoyjEFIZWeQREbqmUl5llrse-CTIy6YfOow/edit?usp=sharing)
Imgur Splashes of Season 3 Robots: https://imgur.com/a/EAekeSC (https://imgur.com/a/EAekeSC)
Bracket and Album of Season 1 Competitors:
https://challonge.com/MechMadnessGTM (https://challonge.com/MechMadnessGTM)
https://imgur.com/a/pfBof (https://imgur.com/a/pfBof)
Album of Season 2 Competitors:
url=https://imgur.com/a/tKdcwhd (https://imgur.com/a/tKdcwhd)
Ongoing Spreadsheet of Season 2 Fight Records: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qSp9ZnWhde0GtrAy37OkXuA_G78EW9eQnHFyPyFFsvE/edit?usp=sharing
Season 2 World Championship Tournament Bracket: https://challonge.com/ssq58wvm
A major thank you and credit to the following builders for their contributions!:
Good lord, this still exists!
I have the first 4 weeks recorded completely and will be uploading on a consistent 2 day per week (at minimum) schedule.
A couple of small notes as to my setbacks: My experimental version of the RG2 arena is providing me with more errors than anticipated, so I won't use it this season; hoping to work out the problems asap. And voice recording/syncing continues to be a massive problem. Hopefully solved in time for next season since I'll be getting a new apartment & with it, new equipment come April.
https://youtu.be/R4_ABroKO_M
Phew that was close. That second OOTA was basically the last chance I had to win the fight since my wedge edge was gone so I wouldn't have been able to get under him again if I hadn't OOTAed him there and then.
Shame about the OOTA zones you worked on not working properly. I noticed that you're not doing instant KO OOTAs this series either. You still doing the mobility rules where knocking one side worth of a bot's wheels off counts as a KO and such?
Glad to see this finally getting underway!
You still doing the mobility rules where knocking one side worth of a bot's wheels off counts as a KO and such?
Looks like it, yeah. Razor was counted out as soon as Ephemera tore its right-hand wheels off.
Glad to see this finally getting underway!
You still doing the mobility rules where knocking one side worth of a bot's wheels off counts as a KO and such?
Looks like it, yeah. Razor was counted out as soon as Ephemera tore its right-hand wheels off.
Ah goodo. Always liked that element of the MM rules since it acted as a nice counterbalance to the fact that something like a spikeball HS or VS was basically a nightmare to beat in AI. Also makes sense to me since the AI doesn't really crabwalk at all so nothing really has controlled movement once one side's worth of wheels are gone.
Good start for me. Twisted Fate was one of the few opponents TF2 faced that truly worried me. Hopefully the speed doesn't screw me over this tourney though.
ReVoltage getting a win is also nice, but there's not much to comment on with its fight given it was unaired.
Happy to see this is back and also that my bots (besides that chump Overpower) are doing well
Let's just hope you don't take another multi-month break.
You and me both :ouch:
Day 5:
https://youtu.be/Q-5_RsWhAKQ
Legendary Idol beat a FBS. Wtf