They got their forks inside it but were grasping at air inside, so they had to push forward fast to tip it over. Apart from that, the forks didnt do any lifting. (they spent most of their time retracted)
quoteI was just thinking of some ramps dotted around the arena - or more specifically, raised areas linked by ramps (think Marble Madness rather than Robot Wars pinball challenge). Nothing so steep that wheeled robots couldnt cope, and maybe not even anywhere which a robot could fall off, but something to stop the race to be lowest to the ground (or at least to make it harder). Spinners would have to be more careful as well./quote
While we do need something to stop the flood of low ground clearance wedges, a ramp would probably just encourage them, and wed get Battlebots-style tactics of push them onto the ramp and leave them there. On the other hand, make the risk of being grounded high enough and it might just change a few minds (but that would be risky in terms of fight times though).
quoteSome robots wouldnt cope - Storm2 would probably ground itself, and Typhoon2 probably couldnt negotiate a slope either, at least while spun up - but Id have thought Firestorm, Gravity, S3, THz, maybe Razer (with the fifth wheel), Tornado, etc. would handle it quite well. Stinger would excel. :-)/quote
Actually, the vast majority wouldnt cope - only King B, Hypnodisc, Pussycat, Stinger, S3, WBC, St. Agro and Tough as Nails would be able to handle it. 2-wheel robots with a wedge front and some ground holding at the back like Firestorm and Gravity might only be able to reverse up it. Thats why Razer were so successful - only robots with high ground holding could beat them, and those robots are extremely rare (and hardly ever fought them anyway).
What we really need is a minimum ground clearance rule, at least on the back and sides (to ensure that the flipper-building majority wont be put off). After all, fights would be a lot more exciting with robots jumping over each other a lot - Eval Knievel anyone?
Not that it matters now of course, as I doubt therell be a RW left to use them. (someone please tell me that RW is not dead)
If it has no ground clearance it wont move.
I think he means robots should be forced into having a reasonably high GC at the sides and rear. I dont think this is good, as it means robots like Gravity will easily dominate by simply getting under those high GCs and throwing them OOTA.
So, its time somebody invented an impenetrable skirt...
Frank: I know the likes of Gravity would get under everyone, but they already do - as their flipper is just about on the ground (like most flippers nowadays). The point is that in most flipper-on-flipper fights, the outcome is determined by who has the lowest ground clearance all round. If every robot had a high back and sides, it would make the fights a lot more interesting, as no-one would be invincible (as everyone could be flipped by everyone else) and would hopefully bring driver skill into it more.
Plus if they were forced to have a higher back and sides, they might all be able to move with some wheels off the ground - no more Razer-esque single attack fights where one robot goes up on the other and gets grounded (hence beaten) within 10 seconds.
Theres two ways of looking at it.
If the GCs were higher, youd need better driving in order to keep your weak spots away from the attacker.
If your GCs were lower, youd need better driving in order to exploit your opponants weaknesses.
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