Octopus Overlords

Turn 16 State

Hammer Bot wins!




Damage Count

Isgrimnur (Hammer Bot) : 3
Remus West (Squash Bot) : 1





Empty Board


Options in play

Isgrimnur (Hammer Bot):

Recompile


Interceptor



srdaniel (Spin Bot):


Remus West (Squash Bot):

Tractor Beam


Shield



jpottere (Twonky):



Original post follows (next time I'll introduce a placeholder top post, maybe two)
-----


I'm preparing to run the next iteration of Robo Rally. For this one I plan to use the "Robo Rally Turn Generator" that I put together through the course of Game 3. It'll essentially be a beta for the tool, so there may be occasional delays if I encounter any kinks that need to be worked out.

The flow followed will be what has already set forth by Isgrimnur and srdaniel from prior games. I'll PM you the program cards, you'll PM me your programmed registers. For the sake of the beta, I'll be keeping things simple with just a single board.

Some links (thanks for tracking these down, Isgrimnur):

Ruleset (original, since I'm more familiar with them)
Here's a demo of the action. Under Examples of Play, there is a Mini Rally Training Ground on the lower right that will allow you to play a graphical demonstration of how stuff works.

For the sake of anyone new to the game, I'll take a page from the book of Isgrimnur and review the first three hands of all players to ensure that a player doesn't unwittingly cause his own death. Of course, I'll be looking at the moves with blinders on so if someone else will cause a player's death I won't be noticing it.

I'm hoping to run turns twice a week, but since I can't promise a schedule (due to possible code fix related delays) I can't really hold anyone else to one. Hopefully we'll be able to get in one turn a week.


I have the ability to run any of the 20 boards put on in the initial runs for Robo Rally, Armed and Dangerous, Grand Prix, Crash and Burn, and Radioactive. Board images are available under the Images section of each page.

I'll try to get a board picked out in the next few days. I am open to suggestions of course.

One thing that I am considering is accelerating the fun a bit by starting every player out with a random option card draw. What do you think?

Please post your interest in the game here. There is room for up to 8 players. I'm holding a slot for Isgrimnur since he has run most of the games so far.

Here is the current lineup, with bot preference noted:

1 - Isgrimnur
2 - srdaniel (Spin Bot)
3 - Remus West (Squash Bot)
4 - jpottere
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -

Bots available: Hammer Bot, Hulk X-90, Squash Bot, Trundle Bot, Twitch, Twonky, Zoom Bot

I'm in...spinbot please

I suggest
- (random) single board
- one option to start (given two, select one to keep)
- randomize turns if not in by weeks end

srdaniel

addicted....er In.

Okay,

I have my hesitations, but only because I have about 4 days in which e-mail access might be difficult in the next few weeks. But playing Robo-rally is just a bit too hard to resist. So... I'M IN!

Pick my robot @ Random! Anyone for a game of Point?

Joshua

Good to see you made, Joshua. If there are spans of time when players know they'll be away from a PC, just let me know in advance and I should be able to hold the game.

I'm currently leaning toward this board:



These floor guides should cover the board element rules:


The major new element this time around is the Flamer. If a bot passes through a flamer while it is active, it takes a point of damage. If it ends a phase on a flamer while it is active, it takes an additional point of damage.

Cool, 4 players is certainly enough for a good game. If anyone else wishes to join, the roster will remain open until I dole out Turn 1.

1 - Isgrimnur
2 - srdaniel (Spin Bot)
3 - Remus West
4 - jpottere
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -

If some overlap between Games 3 and 4 doesn't bother anyone, perhaps we could get things started the evening of Wednesday, March 10. My typical game processing time will be fairly late night - probably ~10pm ET or so.

And I never did respond to srdaniel's suggestions. We'll go with this:

srdaniel wrote: - one option to start (given two, select one to keep)

Tonight I'll start working on flag placement.

I'll also try to keep track of time spent in the tool as we go along. I figure we can use that along with Isgrimnur and srdaniel's experiences to judge if the tool is even helpful.

jpottere wrote:Pick my robot @ Random! Anyone for a game of Point?
Joshua

Point?

Didn't you play that with him? I don't remember the specific rules we followed, but it was a hilarious time waster. It boiled down to each side randomly selecting a D&D monster manual entry and then pitting the results against each other. The winner earns a point. The loser rolls up again and pits that result against the winner ad nauseum.

It often wound up with some really ridiculously entertaining mixes like a dragon versus a kobold horde.

Here's my initial thought for the flag placement on the Blast Burnace:



Also, post if you have any bot preference. So far the only one requested is Spin Bot (srdaniel).

Where would we start (asks Squash Bot)?

Remus West wrote:Where would we start (asks Squash Bot)?

I'm guessing on the square in the middle marked "Start".

Isgrimnur wrote:

Remus West wrote:Where would we start (asks Squash Bot)?

I'm guessing on the square in the middle marked "Start".

If you don't click the image that is not really legible. Yeah, that's it. It is illegible. That's the ticket.

Remus West wrote:(asks Squash Bot)?

Preference noted

The first turns will go out via PM late tomorrow evening.

Turn 1 hands are out.

- Initial facing is North unless you specify otherwise here or in PM.
- Initial state for all bots is virtual until you end the turn on your own tile. Remember that this only protects you from other bots. Board elements can still push/damage/destroy you!

Good luck!

Strike that. I forgot to add Options. Give me a moment to generate new PMs.

---

New PMs with options generated. Choose which option to keep and post it either here or via PM.

I'll add images of each of the Options drawn shortly.

Here are the options that each player gets to choose from:

Isgrimnur (Hammer Bot):
Superior Archive Copy


Recompile


-------------------

srdaniel (Spin Bot):
Mini Howitzer (5)


Scrambler


-------------------

Remus West (Squash Bot):
The Big One (1)


Tractor Beam


-------------------

jpottere (Twonky):
Flywheel


Abort Switch


-------------------

Squash Bot opts to keep his enemies close by discarding The Big One.

Remus West (Squash Bot):

Tractor Beam

I'll take the Recompile.

Isgrimnur wrote:I'll take the Recompile.

Recompile

(which can be used immediately, if desired)

srdaniel (Spin Bot) opts for the random potential of the Scrambler:
Scrambler

And jpottere (Twonky) decides that the game will revolve around his

Flywheel

All hands are in and I should be able to process Turn 1 late tonight.

Note - I encountered a display bug in my tool where Twonky is not showing up as Virtual, even though he is. I'll hopefully have that fixed by the next time he's Virtual.

If you spot an error, please let me know and I'll correct it.

Phase 1:
Isgrimnur (Hammer Bot) : Move 2 (780)
srdaniel (Spin Bot) : Move 2 (710)
jpottere (Twonky) : Move 2 (680)
Remus West (Squash Bot) : Move 1 (510)


Hammer Bot and Squash Bot start out facing W, while Spin Bot and Twonky face E.

Everyone races to find their favorite place on the conveyor.

Hammer Bot is shifted E and rotated right
Squash Bot is shifted S
Spin Bot and Twonky are shifted S

Phase 2:
srdaniel (Spin Bot) : Rotate Right (200)
Isgrimnur (Hammer Bot) : Rotate Left (150)
Remus West (Squash Bot) : Rotate Right (140)
jpottere (Twonky) : Rotate Left (70)


In a remarkable show of symmetry, everyone spins in place.

Hammer Bot is shifted S
Squash Bot is shifted S and rotated left
Spin Bot and Twonky are shifted S.

Phase 3:
Isgrimnur (Hammer Bot) : Move 2 (750)
Remus West (Squash Bot) : Move 2 (670)
srdaniel (Spin Bot) : Rotate Left (110)
jpottere (Twonky) : Rotate Right (80)


Squash Bot zips along to the double-wrench and updates his archive position
Hammer Bot sneakily shadows Squash Bot (and looks just a bit jealous)
Spin Bot and Twonky undo the hard work of their last phase

Spin Bot and Twonky are shifted S. Again.

Phase 4:
jpottere (Twonky) : Move 2 (730)
srdaniel (Spin Bot) : Move 1 (600)
Remus West (Squash Bot) : Rotate Left (410)
Isgrimnur (Hammer Bot) : Rotate Left (190)


Spin Bot and Twonky finally go their separate ways

Twonky is shifted W
Spin Bot is shifted W and rotated left

Sensing an opportunity, Hammer Bot fires takes a practice shot at Squash Bot. The perfecty aimed shot passes harmless through Squash Bot's phantom form (Virtual).

Phase 5:
jpottere (Twonky) : Move 2 (770)
Isgrimnur (Hammer Bot) : Move 1 (550)
srdaniel (Spin Bot) : Rotate Right (400)
Remus West (Squash Bot) : Rotate Left (230)


Hammer Bot slides onto the double-wrench and updates his archive position.

Twonky is shifted W
Spin Bot is shifted S

Options?

At the beginning of Turn 2, Twonky and Spin Bot will become Real.

For ending the turn on a double-wrench, Squash Bot receives

Shield


Hammer Bot receives

Interceptor

I will issue hands for Turn 2 later tonight.

I've update the Phase 5 image to make Hammer Bot's orientation more clear.

You know. Now that i've found the forum this is a lot easier...

So far everything looks good to me. I think it would be nice if each phase listed the bots moves in the same order (alphabetical by name or something).

Is there a time deadline to turn in the rounds?

Spin Bot still shows as virtual.

srdaniel wrote:I think it would be nice if each phase listed the bots moves in the same order (alphabetical by name or something).

Bot order for each phase is determined by card priority (highest first).

srdaniel wrote:Is there a time deadline to turn in the rounds?

Nope. Since this is the beta for the tool and I can't guarantee turns in a timely fashion (you never know when that critical bug will surface), I won't put in hard deadlines for turns.

Remus West wrote:Spin Bot still shows as virtual.

Yeah, I'm using the image from the end of Turn 1 Phase 5 rather than the beginning of Turn 2. In the future, I'll try to get the beginning of the next turn in the top post.

Reminder - only Squash Bot and Hammer Bot will be virtual for Turn 2. Sorry for any confusion.

Also, you can always change your turn orders up until I change the the Subject on the top post to reflect 'Processing'