BBEANS7: Throwback

[Clickbeetle]

Edit:  This was an April Fools joke.  BUT, you can now vote on what kind of tournament I should do over the summer!


The choices:

Click, I am dissapoint. I figured it was probably an April Fool, but I really wanted this tournament to happen. The idea is too awesome NOT to do.

Actually I kind of agree with you.  I've always thought it would be fun to do a stock tournament that forced players to build like it was 2003.  BUT, not everyone thinks that and it would be a little too controversial to do for BBEANS.




However... there's nothing saying that every tournament I do has to be called "BBEANS".    I was actually planning to do a little non-BBEANS tournament this summer before I move on to BBEANS7.  The prize for this tournament would be guaranteed entry into BBEANS7, so we'd get a few good veterans reserved spots.




My original idea is called "Ironbot".  It goes something like this:




- Stock HW, standard building rules.




- There is an unlimited number of entries.  I use as many as I get in a two-week time frame.




- There is no bracket.  Instead, each round bots are randomly paired off and fight.  The next round, they are paired off again (if possible, no bots will fight the same opponent two rounds in a row), and so on.




Now here's the kicker: The goal of Ironbot is not to win.  You can win every fight and still lose.  Rather, the goal of Ironbot is to SURVIVE.  Think it sounds easy?  Think again.




- Matches last 30 seconds.  Any components that break off during a fight are permanently removed for the rest of the tournament.




- If a bot is KO'd, or if it has one or zero wheels remaining, it is eliminated.  You can lose every single fight and not be eliminated, as long as you are not KO'd and can still move.




- Every bot gets one spare control board, and one spare wheel for every two wheels it starts with (so a 2WD bot gets 1 spare wheel, 4WD gets 2 spares, etc.).  So you have to get KO'd twice to be eliminated for good.  Spare wheels are applied whenever a bot loses a wheel.  If you run out of spare wheels and then end up with one or less wheels remaining, you are eliminated.




- In the case of external drive:  If the drive is attached to other components, and these break which causes the drive to break, a spare wheel can be used to replace ONLY the components that are ESSENTIAL to attach the drive.  Example: If you have an extender with a row of razors on one side and a drive motor with a wheel on the other side, and the extender breaks, only the extender and the drive will be replaced, not the razors.




- Lost wheels and weapons will be rearranged in order to make the bots as balanced as possible.  (Example: A VS with a disc with 4 irons loses two; the remaining two will be put on opposite sides of the disc.)




- When there are four or fewer bots remaining, these bots will engage in a final fight TO THE DEATH to determine the winner.  (And by TO THE DEATH, I mean a battle with "practice" set to 1 in the arena .py so there is no time limit and no immobility warnings.  The fight ends when all other bots are either KO'd or totally incapable of controlled movement.)




- The last bot standing wins!




Finally, there are just a few building restrictions.




- Popups are banned.  They get KO's too fast without breaking many other components, which defeats the purpose of Ironbot.




- Bots can have AT MOST ten casters.  Use them wisely.




And that basically covers it.  The rules may and probably will be tweaked before I make them official.




Now that's one option.  The other option is to do something like Throwback, which seems to have no small amount of interest.  If I did a Throwback tournament, though, I would make a few changes to the rules.  It WAS a joke tournament after all.  I would make it more of a "classic style" tournament rather than a SFTW tournament.  Notably:




- The chassis size and snap to grid restrictions would be ditched.




- Weight class would be changed to MW.  (Believe it or not, HW used to be frowned upon and MW was the "standard" class.)




- The weapons in the banned weapon list would be allowed, but with a limit of six total.  (There is no limit on the number of other weapons.)




- The banned wheels would be allowed.




- Side attachment points on extenders can be used, but NOT for attaching weapons.  (This includes standard double-weapon tribar setups even though the side points are not directly used for weapons.)  This is mainly to prevent standard rammer and tribar HS setups which didn't exist until relatively late in RA2 history.  Back in the day, people used to use T connectors and Y connectors for that sort of thing.




- Obviously the ballast rule would be ditched.




And I think that about covers it.  All the other rules on page 1 of this thread would be in effect.  The rules may still be tweaked though depending on feedback.




So those are my two ideas.  I think I'll make a poll and see which one is more popular.

Original April 1st post follows:

YES THAT'S RIGHT, I figure it's about time to lay down the rules for BBEANS7 and prepare for signups. 


As you may have noticed, BBEANS7: Throwback is the first BBEANS tournament to feature its own SUBTITLE!!!  You know things are seriously big-time when it has a subtitle.  Just hang on for a bit and I'll tell you what the subtitle is all about.


First of all, the basic rules of the tournament.


1.  BBEANS General Rules are in effect.


2.  This tournament is for stock (no mods) RA2.  The weight limit is 650 kg.


3.  The arena is the BBEANS Tournament Arena V2.


4.  The bracket is standard double elimination, 64 entry slots.


5.  Match format is two minutes, best two out of three matches.


And that about covers it for general rules.  So far it seems like a pretty basic stock tournament with a bit unconventional weight class... well if you think that, you're wrong.  Here's why it's subtitled Throwback:


BOT RESTRICTIONS


1.  All of the chassis must be designed with Snap to Grid on, and the baseplate must cover an area of at least 50 grid squares.  Alternatively, you may use the Rectangle or Circle chassis shape function (the 50-square area still applies).


2.  Parts used on the stock AI bots, Snapper II's, and 140cm extenders are banned.  Only components that are visible when you first install the game are allowed.


3.  Restricted Weapons: No weapons weighing 12 kgs or less are allowed except for chew blades.  This means that razor tips, 30cm pole spikes, 50cm pole spikes, pointy tips, single-sided ice picks, iron spikes, maces, axe heads, 40cm blades, and 60cm blades are banned.  IN ADDITION, spiked clubs and spike strips are banned.


4.  In pure flippers ONLY, small wedges are allowed.  In all other bots they are banned.  By pure flipper, I mean a bot with no weapons capable of dealing damage.


5.  Limit on numbers of weapons:  You can use a maximum of ten (10) of the same kinds of weapons.  So if you use fireman axes, you can only have 10 at most, but you can still have another 10 battle axes if you want.  Saw blades of all sizes count as the same weapon.


6.  Front, side, and rear caster armor is banned.  Casters mounted on the underside of the chassis used for balance are OK (but use no more than necessary).


7.  Only the two attach points on the ends of extenders (any length or shape) may be used.  The two side attach points cannot be used.


8.  Only TWO (2) HP Z-tek motors MAXIMUM may be used PER ENTRY (either for drive or weapons).  (2 multibots still equals one entry.)  Other motors are unlimited.


9.  Limited basic stacking is allowed, but all other glitches are banned.  The only stacking allowed is with baseplate anchors or small battery packs.  (No stacking Supervolts.)  However, components may be "stacked" using motors to rotate them into position (as in EMERGENCY).


10.  Shiny Hub wheels, Rubber wheels, and Slipperbottom wheels are banned.


11.  Double-strength aluminum armor is banned.  If you use aluminum, it must be the regular kind.  If you want stronger armor, use *gasp* titanium or steel.


12.  All bots must have a skin.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy, it just can't be blank white.  If in doubt, just use lava.bmp with bloody drips, radiation trifoils, kill fangs, and gratuitous surface layer effects.


13.  You MAY exceed the 650 kg weight limit, up to 800 kgs, but ONLY if all of the extra weight is used for ballasts AND if your bot is not a pure flipper with small wedges.  (Pure flippers with small wedges must be below 650 kgs even if they use ballasts.)




And that about covers it for the special rules.  See why it's called Throwback?  Because we're going back to the n00b ages, baby.  No modern combat-effective designs here.  RA2 veterans and total newbies alike will be on an even playing field.  May the best SFTW win!




PRIZES


As usual, the standard BBEANS prize pack will be up for grabs for the Champion, runner-up, rumble winner, and any bonus prize winners.


However, there's also an additional prize.  The Champion, runner-up, and rumble winner will all get a guaranteed reserved entry spot into BBEANS8!  This spot will be reserved for two weeks after signups fill up, and if it's not claimed by then, the next person to enter will get it.


When do signups open?


Signups will open two months from now, on JUNE 1st 2011.  You have that long to build.  You have no excuse not to have your entry ready!


Now get building, noobs! 

[Ben Purse]

BBEANS YAY!!!!
Edit: April Fooled

[Jonzu95]

I knew this is april fools. You didn't fool me, click. :P

[R0B0SH4RK]

On one hand - It's still March 31st where I am, the rules seem very thorough and thought out, and it's conceivable that someone would come up with something like this for a serious tourney.

On the other hand - For what's supposed to be the most prestigious tournament here, it's a dumb idea. And in most parts of the world, it's April Fools Day and Clickbeetle has a history of April Fools jokes...

*Decides to watch intently from the sidelines*

[Clickbeetle]

For what's supposed to be the most prestigious tournament here, it's a dumb idea.

 


Well let's just see what other people think.  I thought it would be kinda cool being forced to build SFTW's.  It puts everyone at the same level, and could really open up some new design possibilities as you're forced to use new components you never used before.


Oh, and I am aware of what day it is/soon will be.  If you think this is my joke, just wait around a bit and see what else happens. 


In any case, it seems an appropriate day to start a SFTW-themed tourney, don't you think?


Edit:  If a lot of people are really against this idea though, I may be persuaded to do something more conventional instead.  But give the special rules some consideration first.

[NFX]

Hehe. Noob Wars IV. =P It's an alright idea, I guess, though it may produce some similar bots in the end. I'm not sure it's really deserving of the BBEANS title, personally, BBEANS is supposed to be kinda the pinnacle of RA2 creation, I don't think we should be going backwards with it.

[Scorpion]

Sigh, I hate april fools day.....oh god, i bet backlash was an april fools aswell, and the download was just a SFTW bot file.
On the other hand, this, and backlash could be legit I suppose.
Still, yeah, the rules are a nice idea, some of them seem like good ideas, some of them seem bad though.

[JoeBlo]

I love the idea..

and with BBEANS in the title its bound to fill up..

could be the easiest BBEANS title you ever win :P

[Enigm@]

I was thinking of something moar conventional. (Especially  for BBEANS)
And I don't like building SFTW's in stock.

[Scrap Daddy]

you got me

[Naryar]

BBEANS7 ??? Great ! I'll build my bot ASAP click !

[Meganerdbomb]

I hope this isn't April Fools because I would totally stick around for this. It looks like a lot of fun, and building a good "bad" bot presents a unique challenge.

[FOTEPX]

I hope this isn't April Fools because I would totally stick around for this. It looks like a lot of fun, and building a good "bad" bot presents a unique challenge.

For the first time, you sick freak, I agree with you.

[G.K.]

I hope this isn't April Fools because I would totally stick around for this. It looks like a lot of fun, and building a good "bad" bot presents a unique challenge.

^^This^^

[Conraaa]

I hope this isn't April Fools because I would totally stick around for this. It looks like a lot of fun, and building a good "bad" bot presents a unique challenge.

Same

[FOTEPX]

Already built my bot. 4FS that complies with every rule on there.

Problem, Click? 

[Somebody]

Seeing that BBEANS has exhausted nearly every avenue of effective bot building, I think that this could be a cool, interesting, and exciting (no standout SFTWs, more even matches) BBEANS. I would definitely compete.

Unless its and April Fools Joke...

[J]

DAMIT I CANT USE MUD TIRES!!!!!!!1!1!!one
....
I wanted my robot to use those ;-;

[Gazea2]

I thought that this was true... And then I got reminded that it was April Fools day... I hope this is an actual tournament.

[GoldenFox93]

Sounds like fun...although what weapons ARE legal?