I know this is an old video and in the most recent season some minor tweaks were made to the battle box but I wanted to share some views and input on the Upper deck. Firstly the addition of the upper deck was basically a poorly executed compromise to updated safety measures. The slot guards and the "don't use the entrance gates as an oota zone" rule which has been resolved with an extended barrier there now, were added to protect the arena crew from potential harm. The slot guards were largely added to stop bots getting stuck there cause in some cases that means the arena crew are lifting and handling a 250lb robot that they might not have been able to disarm (turn off) or insert the weapon locks to stop the weapons moving should they start moving for any reason. The door issue is both to stop having 250lb bots bashing against the cage doors which could pose a risk of a breach i.e. a bot going through the door, the other is that the crew no longer have the yellow inner barrier to separate them from the bots should the bot loses control and activates its weapon. Knowing that weapon types that rely on the oota areas would be at a disadvantage BattleBots clearly tried and failed at a makeshift oota zone in the box. Ideally, they should have moved the pulverisers from the far corners to roughly where the upper deck is and created triangle-shaped oota zones in the corners, basically a mirror of the entrance gates but intended for oota zones. It's a design used a lot in the UK arenas to good effect as it provides a good open space for all bots to run around while still offering a oota zone for those who need them.
You make some good points. I discussed the alleged safety concerns in the video. I don’t know why safety is now a concern when bots getting insane OOTAs was never a problem in previous seasons. I do agree that there should be OOTA zones in the corners. That way, there’s still plenty of room to fight while making the arena symmetrical. Eliminating OOTAs entirely and replacing them with a giant rectangular obstacle that barely has any utility was a big mistake.
@@Jellyman1129 I must admit safety for US robot combat is rather lax compared to the UK. I've not heard of any builders saying that there were incidents at filming that provoked the change but considering the incidents that have occurred in US events outside BattleBots it's possible there was pressure from international teams or production to adopt some safety protocols from the UK and Europe in order to set a standard. Such as arming bots from behind the entrance barriers rather than at the starting squares. It's also possible that this is all part of lowering the cost of insurance at the venue by removing as much risk of injury as possible.
the reason why the doors oota slot thing is still there is because if that bit was enclosed like behind the screws than it would be pretty much impossible to open the door also if a bot deliberatly throws another bot out of the arena by the door zone they can actually get kicked from the tourney the reason why hydra wasent kicked was actually because hydra vs gruff was filmed after hyper shock vs lock jaw and make driver of hydra think that it was alright and battle bots gave them another chance.
Ok, but there’s two problems with that. 1) Just have the doors open the other way so a slot guard can be put up. 2) HyperShock deliberately threw Lock-Jaw out of the arena. That’s why Will Bales looked so embarrassed like he did something wrong, but the refs didn’t stop him.
Was it though? I mean, he did drive up to Lock-Jaw and hit him RIGHT BY the entrance doors. The rule of “No OOTAs unless it’s an accident” is stupid because you can’t tell if it’s an accident or intentional. Will Bales definitely looked shocked as he thought he was gonna get penalized, but he didn’t. A decent number of OOTAs happened this season and nobody got penalized. 🤷🏻♂️
@@Jellyman1129 probably should have said this a while ago, but I think will bales was looking to hit lockjaw, and didn't realize he would throw him out of the arena.
It’s definitely EASIER removing a bot from the Upper Deck, but I don’t really see how it’s any SAFER. Even if it IS safer, that doesn’t make its addition any better.
I don’t think it’s a great addition because then it’ll cause less movement from the bots and affecting them, besides without the upper deck, the fights were action packed and competitive. Overall my opinion? Eh. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of it.
Robots were already aggressive without the Upper Deck, so adding it to increase engagement doesn’t make sense. If they want to increase aggression, just make it worth more points in the judging criteria. I just want to see it removed. It doesn’t add anything to fights and is nothing but a nuisance.
Most of the effects are subjective in value. Having more control bots but less horizontal spinners is not an inherently "bad" tradeoff. It depends on the viewer. By the way, Gigabyte had a chance to flee the corner but decided to try a strike instead. Hopefully they learned.
I only say it’s a bad trade because it also buffs vertical spinners, as if they needed yet ANOTHER way to win. Gigabyte should’ve went to the center of the arena and spun back up, really don’t know why they kept attacking. Even still, any robot could’ve been trapped there. Horizontal spinners just suffer more from it.
I miss when Peter Lambertson controlled the Battlebox weapons back in the day. Yea the new style is more about the bots themselves fighting, but there was something about the manual control of the hazards that made them more important. Now you might randomly hit a killsaw but you probably won't. The pulverizers seem weak af. The upper deck is... I mean come on just add a pit that opens with a button or is that too much like Robot Wars for you? I actually searched to find a video like this because I had no idea what the purpose of that stupid platform was for. I haven't watched the show proper in a while, mostly clips on youtube here and it seemed to mostly be an inconvenience if anything. I only kinda started to gather that it was an elimination zone but I didn't know it was based on a count down. Why bother with a "the table is lava" situation if you can just lazily slide off of it? I say bring back the manual control of the hazards. Or hell there's plenty of room on those rather useless pulverizer control boxes the teams have. If you don't want to give a single person control of the whole arena then give the teams control over them. Make the hazards actually matter. I've seen more bots get caught on the slots for the killsaws than i've seen get hit by the saws themselves. If they aren't willing to do that then what's even the difference between this and Robogames, Combots, or RFL other than being flashy?
Yeah I agree, that’s why I made this video. The Upper Deck is an inconvenient obstacle rather than a strategic tool. I’m surprised that it’s rarely being talked about on UA-cam. The Killsaws are fine as they are and keep “The Ground Game” from being too dominant, but the Pulverizers definitely need a buff.
"Why bother with a "the table is lava" situation if you can just lazily slide off of it?" The original design didn't have the left and right open. The walls went right around. The only way off was back over the screws, which might be hard for some bots.
I know this is an old video and in the most recent season some minor tweaks were made to the battle box but I wanted to share some views and input on the Upper deck. Firstly the addition of the upper deck was basically a poorly executed compromise to updated safety measures. The slot guards and the "don't use the entrance gates as an oota zone" rule which has been resolved with an extended barrier there now, were added to protect the arena crew from potential harm. The slot guards were largely added to stop bots getting stuck there cause in some cases that means the arena crew are lifting and handling a 250lb robot that they might not have been able to disarm (turn off) or insert the weapon locks to stop the weapons moving should they start moving for any reason. The door issue is both to stop having 250lb bots bashing against the cage doors which could pose a risk of a breach i.e. a bot going through the door, the other is that the crew no longer have the yellow inner barrier to separate them from the bots should the bot loses control and activates its weapon.
Knowing that weapon types that rely on the oota areas would be at a disadvantage BattleBots clearly tried and failed at a makeshift oota zone in the box.
Ideally, they should have moved the pulverisers from the far corners to roughly where the upper deck is and created triangle-shaped oota zones in the corners, basically a mirror of the entrance gates but intended for oota zones. It's a design used a lot in the UK arenas to good effect as it provides a good open space for all bots to run around while still offering a oota zone for those who need them.
You make some good points. I discussed the alleged safety concerns in the video. I don’t know why safety is now a concern when bots getting insane OOTAs was never a problem in previous seasons.
I do agree that there should be OOTA zones in the corners. That way, there’s still plenty of room to fight while making the arena symmetrical. Eliminating OOTAs entirely and replacing them with a giant rectangular obstacle that barely has any utility was a big mistake.
@@Jellyman1129 I must admit safety for US robot combat is rather lax compared to the UK. I've not heard of any builders saying that there were incidents at filming that provoked the change but considering the incidents that have occurred in US events outside BattleBots it's possible there was pressure from international teams or production to adopt some safety protocols from the UK and Europe in order to set a standard. Such as arming bots from behind the entrance barriers rather than at the starting squares. It's also possible that this is all part of lowering the cost of insurance at the venue by removing as much risk of injury as possible.
@teamcoolspeedbot4357 That’s a likely possibility.
the reason why the doors oota slot thing is still there is because if that bit was enclosed like behind the screws than it would be pretty much impossible to open the door also if a bot deliberatly throws another bot out of the arena by the door zone they can actually get kicked from the tourney the reason why hydra wasent kicked was actually because hydra vs gruff was filmed after hyper shock vs lock jaw and make driver of hydra think that it was alright and battle bots gave them another chance.
Ok, but there’s two problems with that.
1) Just have the doors open the other way so a slot guard can be put up.
2) HyperShock deliberately threw Lock-Jaw out of the arena. That’s why Will Bales looked so embarrassed like he did something wrong, but the refs didn’t stop him.
@@Jellyman1129 I don't think will bales meant to do that. I think knocking lockjaw out of the arena was an accident.
Was it though? I mean, he did drive up to Lock-Jaw and hit him RIGHT BY the entrance doors. The rule of “No OOTAs unless it’s an accident” is stupid because you can’t tell if it’s an accident or intentional. Will Bales definitely looked shocked as he thought he was gonna get penalized, but he didn’t. A decent number of OOTAs happened this season and nobody got penalized. 🤷🏻♂️
@@Jellyman1129 probably should have said this a while ago, but I think will bales was looking to hit lockjaw, and didn't realize he would throw him out of the arena.
@@dragonclaw4159 That may be true, but I still question the need for slot guards in the first place.
Not a huge fan, but it's defiantly safer for the crew to remove a bot off it vs lifting it out of the gap behind the screws.
It’s definitely EASIER removing a bot from the Upper Deck, but I don’t really see how it’s any SAFER.
Even if it IS safer, that doesn’t make its addition any better.
I don’t think it’s a great addition because then it’ll cause less movement from the bots and affecting them, besides without the upper deck, the fights were action packed and competitive.
Overall my opinion? Eh. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of it.
Robots were already aggressive without the Upper Deck, so adding it to increase engagement doesn’t make sense. If they want to increase aggression, just make it worth more points in the judging criteria. I just want to see it removed. It doesn’t add anything to fights and is nothing but a nuisance.
It’s great for flippers and control bots. Blip vs Big Dill anyone? But other than that I don’t know…
It’s intended for flippers and control bots, but it’s circumstantial at best. I don’t think it has been very effective in helping those archetypes.
Most of the effects are subjective in value. Having more control bots but less horizontal spinners is not an inherently "bad" tradeoff. It depends on the viewer. By the way, Gigabyte had a chance to flee the corner but decided to try a strike instead. Hopefully they learned.
I only say it’s a bad trade because it also buffs vertical spinners, as if they needed yet ANOTHER way to win.
Gigabyte should’ve went to the center of the arena and spun back up, really don’t know why they kept attacking. Even still, any robot could’ve been trapped there. Horizontal spinners just suffer more from it.
To cut a long story short: NO. Upper Deck bad.
I miss when Peter Lambertson controlled the Battlebox weapons back in the day. Yea the new style is more about the bots themselves fighting, but there was something about the manual control of the hazards that made them more important. Now you might randomly hit a killsaw but you probably won't. The pulverizers seem weak af. The upper deck is... I mean come on just add a pit that opens with a button or is that too much like Robot Wars for you?
I actually searched to find a video like this because I had no idea what the purpose of that stupid platform was for. I haven't watched the show proper in a while, mostly clips on youtube here and it seemed to mostly be an inconvenience if anything. I only kinda started to gather that it was an elimination zone but I didn't know it was based on a count down. Why bother with a "the table is lava" situation if you can just lazily slide off of it?
I say bring back the manual control of the hazards. Or hell there's plenty of room on those rather useless pulverizer control boxes the teams have. If you don't want to give a single person control of the whole arena then give the teams control over them. Make the hazards actually matter. I've seen more bots get caught on the slots for the killsaws than i've seen get hit by the saws themselves. If they aren't willing to do that then what's even the difference between this and Robogames, Combots, or RFL other than being flashy?
Yeah I agree, that’s why I made this video. The Upper Deck is an inconvenient obstacle rather than a strategic tool. I’m surprised that it’s rarely being talked about on UA-cam. The Killsaws are fine as they are and keep “The Ground Game” from being too dominant, but the Pulverizers definitely need a buff.
@@Jellyman1129 IDK why they don't make the hammers axes or hammer saws
@@jfoster8624 Probably because they’d be harder to maintain and repair.
"Why bother with a "the table is lava" situation if you can just lazily slide off of it?"
The original design didn't have the left and right open. The walls went right around. The only way off was back over the screws, which might be hard for some bots.