Your New Game Modes!

Fellow pilots,
Before we get down to business, do you recognize this pilot?


Perhaps the second hangar?


Here's a hint: the Facebook profile and clan name ...


YES!  It is DIOR, tanker/clubber extraordinaire!  He's changed his name, probably due to the eggs you throw at him when you see him, but he's on his way back up to Champion league after his long sojourn beating up on newbie pilots and their Golems.  I'll keep an eye on him, but the pattern is pretty clear - tank down to zero at the beginning of the season, and then club your way up, 10 gold at a time, until the end.  It's ugly, Dior/Massive Attack, and you should stop it.

Anyway, last Thursday, the U's professors asked for your ideas about new variations on the old theme of War Robots.  And you didn't disappoint.  

There's a good reason for the thing we call "crowdsourcing."  It's because big groups of people are invariably blessed with more brainpower than small groups.  This is the genius of Wikipedia and Google Maps, and it's why I hope Pixonic takes your stuff and turns it into video game gold.  BTW, update 3.6 is ready for release and likely to drop next week.

In no particular order, here are the ideas you sent: 

• Guard the Convoy - you have a rolling objective that your team must protect until it enters a safe zone. The other team is, of course, trying to kill it.
• Protect the Reactor - One team defends, the other attacks. There are 5 points that must be destroyed for the reactor to overload and explode. If the defenders protect all 5 points until time is out, they win. If the attackers manage to take out all 5 there is a satisfyingly large explosion and THEY win.
• Free For All - no teams, everyone that isn't you is fair game. Maybe call it Last Man Standing, as that person wins.
• The Enemy of my Enemy - Now you've got Red, Blue, and Yellow. 18 'bots on the field instead of 12 for some hot 3-way action.
• Touch Down - One team has "the ball" which is a magnetic sphere that sticks to your 'bot. You can pass that ball to others on your team by bumping into them. The objective is to get the ball into the other team's end zone. If you destroy the ball carrier the ball is dropped where it lies until someone else runs over and "picks" it up.
• The Mole - There is one person on your team that is actually on the other team. They are in disguise. They can choose to drop their disguise when they want, but until then they cannot be targeted by the other team.
• Capture the Flag - you actually have to battle to the enemy side, grab their flag by running over it and then running it back to your flag. If they steal your flag you have to grab it back before you can score.
• Quarterback: A robot must get to the enemies "End Zone" The opposing team has 4 spawns evenly spaced across their end zone. Robots must cross the map to get to the enemy’s end zone and stay there for 15 seconds to win.
• Juggernaut mode: It's 2v6, and 2 of the robots have level 8 weapons. Opponent team has level 4 and normal health. the juggernauts have max robot health. Health may need to be increased to more than max health.
• Bot game: This is FFA with a twist. You start off as a Destrier. Once you get a kill, you progress to a Cossack. Then: Schutze, Gepard, Jesse, Gareth, Stalker, Vityaz, Patton, Golem, Boa, Rogatka, Galahad, Doc, Kumiho all the way up through the heavies. This is only a tentative order. You can choose from classes. Punisher/PunisherT/Tempest, Pinata/Orkan/Trident, Gust/Storm/Thunder, Aphid/Orkan/Ember, Magnum/Taran/Redeemer, Molot/MolotT/Tempest, Trebuchet/Scourge/Gekko
• Variation idea, sort of crossing the above with King of the Hill. Starts essentially the same as the above, but the 1 gains points over time as long as they survive, independent of kills. Whichever pilot manages to land the killing blow gets upgraded to level twelve bots/weapons and begins to gain points over time, with the former scorer demoted to level six bots/weapons and put on the team of the remaining pilots. 
• The first pilot to a certain number of points wins (or highest number of points, if the clock runs out)!
• Mad Tea Party - This would swap pilots hangars for those of other pilots in the battle. You get the hangar of a random other pilot from that match. It would be extra fun if their name stays with their hangars, so you can find and beat your imposter on the battlefield.
• Free weapons - Swap weapons from any dead robots including yours.
• Dead bots walk - Swap your robot with any dead bots.
• Zombie bot - Team with most zombots kills wins. Zombots can kill you too...and reds. Zombots spawn anywhere randomly. Enemy bot killed not included in count. Big maps only. Be afraid...be VERY AFRAID!
• Sumo mode: everyone starts in a circle in the center of the map. A red circle drawn on the ground defines the boundary. Leaving the boundary kills your bot. Your goal is to eliminate the enemy team, either by blasting them with weapons or forcing them out of bounds. Possible variation: no weapons allowed, you may only use pushing out of bounds to win
• Payload: A large hovercraft follows a set track, around, across, or diagonally across the maps depending on the size. The defending team must keep the opposing team 100m away from the payload. when they die, they respawn at the closest beacon location. (There are no beacons, but spawn points in close locations like TDM) The opposing team must stop the hovercraft by coming within 100m of it. when it stops, it takes damage. Attacking team spawns at their home spawn.
• Incognito mode: no name tags are shown. Any paint jobs are replaced with a single color to show your team (Ex: All of your teammates would appear to have a blue paint job, all reds would look like they have a red paint job). This game mode would cater to hit and run bots, or ambushers, as nobody knows who anyone else is until it's too late!
• A gamemode that I've heard suggested (I did not come up with this, but I forgot who did. Someone on discord) is a 1 vs 6, where the 1 has level twelve bots/weapons and the 6 have level one (or six) bots/weapons. From there it’s a team death match. 

My personal favorite might be Sumo Mode, but all will be submitted to Pixonic today.  I will argue for the winner to receive a foot massage from the developers of the game, but make no promises!

Have a great day,

Dr. Yat

PS: thanks for the blog topic ideas too - Power Plant strategy guide is in the works.  I will probably write one about using cover/corner shooting as well, but for now, find a wall and use it to block some of the enemy's shots!



Faculty Notes

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