|
SLICK GOKU BABY posted:A comical fight, giant inflatable penguin vs a flame thrower... I'm meltingggggggggg!
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2022 07:43
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 13:59 |
|
|
Anyone else watching the NHRL stream? Some great fights, and I didn't expect some Battlebots alumni in the compettion. Jake Ewart dropped into the chat to boost Jamison Go who's competing in all 3 classes today. I've just caught Silent Spring win a match, great bot.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 17, 2022 23:01
|
|
|
That was a great day of competition, some of the judges decisions will be interesting to revisit, they were difficult to understand 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 19, 2022 20:59
|
|
|
Really enjoyed the NHRL stream, some great ridiculous bots made out of PLA, and the kitbots went far. If they just improve on the Lego back wheels they could be a serious competitor out of the box. The other bot I was fascinated by was Hamshake piloted by Jameson Go' and teammate Aaron who got surprisingly far into the tournament. The tough boxy vertical spinners were unsurprisingly dominant but for all that, a lot of the weirder (and flimsier) bots got much further than anyone expected, and it was really the attrition that beat the best down.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2023 08:23
|
|
|
blip v huge seems ridiculous tho, i can't see blip being able to do much to huge while huge can definitely do a lot more damage this season to blip, so huge would easily win just on control and aggression out of the gate.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 1, 2023 22:31
|
|
|
Borsche69 posted:its a box with 4 wheels and an eggbeater. it's from 2001. Literally a beatup then. If they're pulling lame PR stunts like that for attention, they must be worried about the competition. Speaking of lame PR stunts, putting Blip up against Huge, whose idea was that? Disappointing matchup out of an otherwise very good brace of fights, Claw Viper was breathtaking again.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 3, 2023 11:51
|
|
|
Borsche69 posted:i mean its the same show that was willing to paint ray billings as a villain. they don't mind leaning in on a 'bad blood' work. the community is generally too nice to actually buy into stuff like that and be mad. i see it as discovery trying to fill airtime because god forbid they actually go into the pits and inspect post-match damage or whatever. Yeah it's annoying, even though I can see the justification. It's the same reason they do obviously bad match-ups like Blip v Huge that are so unlikely to go any other way than the way it did, and that is a particular message to the community that says 'you are going to put up with this because we think it's entertainment'. This year they begrudgingly added an appeals process that stops at 1 appeal only per season for each team which also suggests there had to have been a lot of pressure to even get that concession. PostNouveau posted:They definitely manufacture drama, and of course they have some fake bad guys who are always winking at the camera and behind the scenes all the other builders love them Yeah he's a bit immature and literally not getting with the program. By contrast I have the greatest respect for Reece Ewart and his deadpan response to his loss vs Witch Doctor, some people (I'm looking at you Riptide guy) could learn a lot about dignity and self-deprecating humour in defeat.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 4, 2023 05:05
|
|
|
PostNouveau posted:They're also planning to go conservative and send their most beat-up frame out against Minotaur, expecting it to be completely ruined by that fight so they can save their spares for the bracket. OR they're saying that to wrongfoot Minotaur and put up a stronger frame than they expect so maybe Minotaur relaxes and doesn't put up their best stuff, which gives WD a better chance at surviving long enough to get a fighting chance to possibly win?! Not that I believe that really, but people putting this stuff out in public have to know their opponents are watching is all I'm saying.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2023 09:15
|
|
|
PostNouveau posted:I'm gonna ruin some of the magic of Battlebots for you here (sorry). I'd totally forgotten this tbh, point taken. Of course any mindgames would have been played at the time and not now. I do enjoy the episodic nature of it even though practicality demands that it be done in a block and then spoonfed to us. quote:I do like Faruq and the commentators, but I feel like if you wanted to find some chaff to cut to make room for the kind of post-match content the teams do themselves, that's where to start. The intros and walkouts take up soooooooooooooo much of the show. They do build excitement really well though. Maybe cut like half of them? It's a difficult balance, on the one hand you want to give the teams something for showing up, and you need to fill airtime, that's the point of the intros and it makes it like an actual show. If you want to compare approaches, check an NHRL stream sometime, I think that's as bare bones as can be. Adding a team member for extra commentary has cut into that a bit which has helped, maybe they took that from NHRL. SLICK GOKU BABY posted:I'm sure next season will be way better. Not sure if anyone knew they were going to be allowed to film between fights this past season until they got to the event. This is a great point too. Vlogging from teams could really take off. ewe2 fucked around with this message at 02:19 on Feb 28, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Feb 28, 2023 02:17
|
|
|
Throwing my 2c in: Witch Doctor was amazing, I can't believe the improvement in this bot this year, now its literally throwing bots in the air. There was a time when Witch Doctor and Hijinx were both in the same kind of league but that's history baby. And the match with Ripperoni only underlined how far behind Hijinx is. I thought the Malice challenge was a good call on merit, it was hard to see in the moment but the weapon was definitely spinning at the end and Valkyrie had lost their weapon and should have given the fight to Malice. Skorpios - hoist on his own Hypershock really stuffed it up vs Endgame but it seems to me Will Bales is that kind of driver, when he's great, he's brilliant and he's off, he does that.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 3, 2023 10:19
|
|
|
PostNouveau posted:And did a silly poll of the pit where obviously the meme configuration will win so they could even further distance themselves from the decision. A bit sad that they decided to basically check out of the competition at this point by giving up a fight like that. It's not just lazy it's defeatist. The comment before about jobber bots is apt, Skorpios seem to have decided they're a comfortable midfield "just happy to be here" but when you make that decision, events won't reward you, ask Hijinks or Gruff how that worked out. apatheticman posted:Wrecking the sword was a dick move. It's battlebots not tiddly-winks lol I'm sure they've got another one.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2023 02:50
|
|
|
Nissin Cup Nudist posted:Hahaha Monsoon lost their appeal so hard it went from a split loss to unanimous loss It really was a case of pointless appeals, not just Monsoon's. Shatter didn't understand the concept of control either. Basing your case on "they're running away" is not a winning strategy my man. That Shreddit Bro appeal came from nowhere. Why can't they be cool like Matt Spurk and just give them high-5's when he lost? Too busy being some gang or something.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2023 11:37
|
|
|
PostNouveau posted:hmmmmmmm Oh so these guys just hate each other, that makes sense now. Two dads sharpening their childrens fangs.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 12, 2023 08:57
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0oHrZri3BI This was a fun watch
|
|
#
¿
Mar 15, 2023 10:17
|
|
|
Lock-jaw was lucky imo, Madcatter should have made mincemeat out of their wheels and rendered them helpless, they made a start on it but didn't finish the job. Such an obvious juicy target that another bot will surely feast upon. Will Bales is showing flashes of brilliance again with his performance against Claw Viper, showing everyone else how to defeat it.  This was a very funny moment just before Big Dill schooled Free Shipping. A reminder that battlebotters are nerrrrrrddds.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 7, 2023 11:37
|
|
|
Yeah I have to say Copperhead v Ripperoni was a catastrophic failure of tactics which Ripperoni were only too happy to take advantage of. Kudos also to their driver who is being absolutely underrated next to the bot, its his driving that is contributing to their success. At this level, a good driver makes the difference. I'm not putting anyone down particularly, most losers this week were let down by their designs or luck. No denying Quantum earned its win though, that was solid, dogged driving tactics. And Terrortops figured out that if you attack your opponents wheels/treads, they become helpless, a vital lesson. I felt sorry for those Gigabyte boys, but that bot is a lemon, it's embarrassing at this point, showreel fodder for other bots. Just as embarrassing is Overhauls loss to Shreddit Bro, they had them and couldn't put them away. At least Reese had a good joke, I hope they make him a guest commentator. edit: Oh I was forgetting Ribbot v Skorpios, another wheel-shredding driving tactic demonstration, there's an example in Skorpios of another team who is repeatedly not learning their lesson. ewe2 fucked around with this message at 14:05 on Apr 15, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Apr 15, 2023 07:43
|
|
|
Railing Kill posted:The timeframe also makes me wonder about the details of the selection process just because there is so little time between the end of the regular season and the tournament. College football in the US, for example, has several times over the course of a months-long season where they assess and reassess the teams in the field, and they can do that over many weeks. I just wonder if the selection committee for Battlebots is just given, like, one day (or even less) to hammer this out and fall victim to bias of recent matches. I was also wondering where the economics intersects into this as well, there's obviously a ballpark figure for the size of the initial field so you get a full season but being able to sustain a competition is tough when there's a clear attrition rate and I don't mean merely the obvious result of a battle but over time, the superseding of design and strategy and tactics. And therefore the economic pressure to retain teams you are well aware cannot get anywhere in the competition but you cannot afford for them to not compete is a real pressure. That's why organizations like NHRL are being encouraged to seed more and more new talent because the bigger the intake the better the chances there will be a healthy upper tier competition at the other end.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 15, 2023 14:21
|
|
|
They might prefer bots that die in entertaining ways so I could see free shipping having a chance of getting in despite how ludicrous that appears on paper.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 16, 2023 11:17
|
|
|
There were some great drives and some pretty medicore drives this episode. By far the best was Bloodspot v Beta an aggressive display of control and skill by John Reid who had no other choice if he was to prevent Bloodsport from getting anywhere near his bots weak spots and coincidentally, to win. By contrast, Glitch v Valkyrie was a teeth-grinding ballet of two timid competitors with bots that we know can be contenders because we've seen them in the hands of better drivers. They've wasted a season but at least they had an excuse, agreeing with PostNouveau re Mammoth v Kraken except to add that with Kraken it's just beginning to get that little bit more embarrassing with every weird rebuild, I'm losing count of the different looks its taken on. I guess Riptide would have to face Endgame at some point right?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 21, 2023 12:53
|
|
|
Railing Kill posted:I guess that's my hope: that Riptide get matched up with, like, Lucky in the round of 32 and gets pitched out of the box by an expert driver. They need to meet someone who doesn't make a rookie mistake by turning their back to them at the very least. edit: is there one more week of the regular season before the round of 32? There are at least 3 teams who haven't played their 4th match (Minotaur, Lucky and Witch Doctor). ewe2 fucked around with this message at 13:39 on Apr 24, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Apr 24, 2023 12:05
|
|
|
Until I'd gotten my head around the stats I hadn't quite realized how obviously they'd roped in temporary bots like Slammo! and Double Tap to fill out time for broadcast, I presume there's a promise of full competition next year after a foot in the door this year, I would certainly hope so. Back to the stats and if we take as read everyone from 4-0 to 2-2 regardless of round 15's results we get 30 bots and 2 lucky bots from 1-3 get a look in. My money would be on Gruff and Ribbot since they can surprise anyone and they have had their moments so far this season. But they'll probably throw in Free Shipping because it explodes and something as uninspiring as Emulsifier. Here's hoping they just take them from round 15 and we get to see more Cobalt and Whiplash.
ewe2 fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Apr 25, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2023 02:26
|
|
|
My comment about the round of 32 choices: if I'm reading it right, they basically replaced 4 2-2 bots with 4 1-3 bots. An interesting decision. The argument could be made for Tantrum and Ribbot over Valkyrie and Shreddit Bro, I think they simply have better drivers whatever the merits of the bots. it gets more contentious when comparing Fusion and Shatter! with Triton and Mammoth. Nothing against Reece but I don't see how his bot outperformed Mammoth. And Shatter! has never beaten any of the higher-seeded bots except, interestingly, Lock-Jaw. By needing a large pool to end up with a round of 32, you're going to have to make these kinds of decisions, it is what it is, I just hope we get more RIPperonis but that's probably a lot to ask.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 30, 2023 16:15
|
|
|
Ray Billings new bot Mortician got its first fight. He really seems stuck on that design, but he has a new driver. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yDJ_VIzkWE
|
|
#
¿
May 4, 2023 00:29
|
|
|
PostNouveau posted:The new driver has yet to master the Billings Maneuver where he hits them with the butt and then pivots the blade into their side. Isn't that Rotator's gig? and wasn't that a good old slugfest. I don't mind matches like that, Rotator had a good chance to rip off Copperhead's wheel and we might have been talking End Game v Rotator instead. And speaking of wheels, oh Bloodsport, you were following the script to kill Lock-Jaw and you killed yourself instead. Boo.That HUGE v Skorpios fight, I actually felt sorry for Skorpios because they gave it a red hot go and HUGE is just purpose-built to bring the pain to bots that go underneath it. And Skorpios needs a complete redesign like Kenny was implying, it's well behind the times, its too easy to kill. Driver of the night goes to Will Bales for beating another great driver, Lucky's Matt Olsen. Not to put down Mike Golightly's brutal demolition of Jackpot - particularly after Jackpots' casual putdown of Mike because he doesn't drive lower weight classes. I think Mike answered that question, he doesn't need to. This is one of the things that is keeping Battlebots fun, the sheer stupidity of it. Why the creators felt the needto add more confected drama to the idiotic things people are saying about each other beats me. The only drama I want is for someone to beat Riptide so he goes completely apeshit as does his fans and Kenny has to hold him back and Chris Rose is screaming "cut the feed!" in the background and chaos ensues as fans take sides in a pitched battle against each other and Faruq stands there enjoying the scene.
|
|
#
¿
May 5, 2023 13:02
|
|
|
Coaaab posted:this is how you know battlebots has achieved being an actual sport That is a valid point, except we haven't yet had drug scandals (that I know of?), insane managers (OK we know at least one) , administrative corruption (hold your horses), organized crime, racism, serious injury, am I missing anything?
|
|
#
¿
May 6, 2023 02:39
|
|
|
SLICK GOKU BABY posted:Been a pretty cool NHRL event so far today. Pretty fast paced with single elimination fights. Had some teams from England and Brazil come in for the event. Now called Lil ripperoni was in the 30lb this event, but got taken down by one of the brazilian teams! They also had a HUGE type bot called Axis of Evil taken down very early in the event by other recognisable Battlebots players with a eggbeater bot. Lil Rip got very chopped up by Chibata though, that's an awesome bot and thoroughly deserved the win. Very exciting to see the Brazilians come through! ewe2 fucked around with this message at 03:20 on May 7, 2023 |
|
#
¿
May 7, 2023 02:17
|
|
|
My prediction is also a fairy-tale ending for Minotaur in a slightly different pattern. Interesting that we both assume that Bales will whip Kurtz's rear end but fall to End Game, but disagree as to Hydra's longevity and opponents. Q4 is a mixed bag.
ewe2 fucked around with this message at 12:09 on May 8, 2023 |
|
#
¿
May 8, 2023 12:04
|
|
|
FlavoFibe posted:As for the Hypershock prediction, I'll admit part of it is hope since Hypershock is my favorite bot. But I genuinely do believe they'll take Riptide out. Sure Riptide looks supposedly unstoppable, but the only decent opponents they've faced were Mad Catter and Black Dragon. Both great bots, but Hypershock has been on a tear lately. Indeed, Bales and his bot are ready for that fight in a way that Riptides previous opponents have not been, so its the best chance of stopping Riptides progress. Outside of simply box-rushing, Riptides driving strategy is simplistic and we know how mature Bales ability is, as long as he can out-drive Kurtz, which I think he easily can, he can can deliver enough damage and control the match for the win. Or... it could be the Whiplash match where Riptide is burning and Hypershock is stuck in the wall
ewe2 fucked around with this message at 00:29 on May 9, 2023 |
|
#
¿
May 9, 2023 00:25
|
|
|
Great Beer posted:There's a non zero chance hypershock turns right, gets caught on a seam, and has two tires ripped off inside 15 seconds. Chronojam posted:So are they going to build a self-righting mechanism next time, or just practice throwing themselves against the wall more? Both valid points, it all comes down to Bales driving mojo on the night. Definitely the wheels and the upside-downness are problems.
|
|
#
¿
May 9, 2023 12:28
|
|
|
PostNouveau posted:They've spent so many losses on their back for like half the fight. "Weapon clears the ground upside down" but it doesn't do much. The question is, has Riptide been flipped over and what do they do in that situation? Answer: very similar. One example I could find was the match against Bloodsport in the Vengeance in Vegas clip at about 20 seconds in, a hit against Bloodsport overturns Riptide. So they're evenly matched there, but it looks like Riptide has the advantage of using gyroscopic motion to help get back upright more quickly. And its weapon is also just as useful upside-down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpZFTCwFoBA ewe2 fucked around with this message at 00:41 on May 10, 2023 |
|
#
¿
May 10, 2023 00:38
|
|
|
Wow did I ever get Q4 wrong but got mostly Q1 right. I think we're in agreement on the driving and strategy mistakes in that bracket. I felt some of those matches might be done deals but held out hope for a miracle and I was wrong. I didn't think Beta had any significant chance in terms of armor, the bot's design makes it impossible to armor in any sensible way close to modern bot design, but my hope was that they might have had a driving strategy around that, and I was mistaken there. RIPperoni has a similar issue regarding armor, it's really just a big damaging wheel that needs to win quickly before it's put out of action first. That's a design choice, you compensate by being a drat good driver and being lucky. Not lucky enough today. Cobalt, well there's another design choice and it's bitten them before, I just didn't expect Monsoon to deliver it. Based on that performance I"m going to back Black Dragon in a similar vein to Minotaur, it seems to have the same obstinate durability and patience and a head to head would be awesome. Updated bracket:  I'm glad Reese had the last word "Son of a b*tch" ewe2 fucked around with this message at 00:56 on May 12, 2023 |
|
#
¿
May 12, 2023 00:48
|
|
|
Chronojam posted:BattleBots competition has way more in common with Great British Bake-off than a usual sports tournament. Team Riptide doesn't realize this, so they come off as jerks. In contrast, Ray Billings can gently caress up tons of robots but everybody's gonna cheer when he shows up. I've seen Jake and Ray turning in Battlebots youtube chat to say hi, they are complete addicts of the sport I don't have a lot to add that hasn't been said about the ep except I'm pretty stumped as to where it's going to go now but my tentative guess is that we may well see showdowns between Huge v Riptide and Minotaur v Hydra and how the hell do you project those?
|
|
#
¿
May 20, 2023 14:07
|
|
|
Nodoze posted:There is some sour grapes at play here too. Some designs are just uncompetitive. Duck isn't really great at anything except being a tank but that only takes you so far. Can't be out here blaming KE bots for you not winning anything when you'd also get washed by the other control bots too My gripe with Duck was always that it was an unconvincing flipper bot especially compared to a bot like Hydra. The flipper just seemed to be an afterthought and time after time it was the first casualty and then what? And he never addressed this problem in any design.
|
|
#
¿
May 23, 2023 22:32
|
|
|
oh jay posted:Lifter vs flipper. But Duck! still compares poorly to Whiplash, whether or not they run the spinner. Ah right that makes more sense but agreed, it's still lame. sweet geek swag posted:Duck before the flipper was just a box with a beak, and a watching a box with a beak win was hilarious. All other versions of Duck were inferior, because they were less ridiculous. There are many funny designs like that in NHRL competition still and I do enjoy that side of it up to a point but the joke wears thin if you're expecting to seriously compete at the Battlebots level. At least he recognized that. Also did anyone else catch the damage Malice did to Minotaur, they broke their weapon bearings which no one else had done in 20 years or something.
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2023 08:59
|
|
|
I have to do a proper rewatch but that was probably the best Battlebots episode I can recall. What a delight on every level. Some of the best work I've ever seen by true bot professionals. But it's also the best fun. I loved that when we first seeJamison and he says he wants to see Minotaur burn to the ground the edit doesn't quite cut off his giggle before going to Marco. That's how much fun he's having! And then that first fight, just a killer. No one who's seen Jamo work at NHRL would doubt his driving ability, but the execution of that fight must have terrified everyone. This guy has a SPREADSHEET. Witch Doctor v Huge was a yawn. Hydra v Ribbot was frankly a surprise, if Ribbot could manage this why couldn't anyone else, it just seems to be a lucky chance option (and you could say the same with anyone v Huge, it's a meta thing), or maybe we should just blame the floor. At least Jake is a good loser, not like the Riptide LOSERS hahaha. Anything can happen because it's Battlebots baby! I'm only guessing that it was Ethan who asked for the appeal because the other guys seemed to be good sports about it and I can't fault Felix. edit: wow I just caught the whole backstage applause for Copperheads win over Riptide, that's a real 'we're sick of your poo poo' vibe right there. Carousel of bot death aside, Ribbot v Sawblaze, was doom for Ribbot from Sawblaze's first hit. The rest was just Ribbot refusing to die. And then Copperhead tried its luck against Huge with no better luck than Witch Doctor had, it was a waste of time. The only strategy that appears to work against Huge is the strategy Jamo used, an effective way to hold Huge back (control) and strike at its weapon (damage) to which Huge had no effective counter except to try to escape which Sawblaze would not let it do. That driving control really was the edge in the fight, Jamo was the better driver, and that is the real meta. 
ewe2 fucked around with this message at 10:10 on May 26, 2023 |
|
#
¿
May 26, 2023 09:52
|
|
|
Catching up with the Saturday stream and I'm being confused by the matchups that aren't in the attached tournament eg around 2:08 in there's one between Silent Spring and Stag Beetle Brox just after Fragment lost to Chubby Unicorn. Was this to figure out who had to start in the first round and who got seeded to the second round, that would make sense?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 25, 2023 06:54
|
|
|
SLICK GOKU BABY posted:It's from an older event this year, but this should be the current qualifier format -> https://wiki.nhrl.io/wiki/index.php/March_18th_2023 Thanks for the useful information about the tournament structure, still didn't find that fight from the March or the May tournaments though. I also tried to find the previous fight with Chubby Unicorn and Frogment but it looks like the June figures aren't in yet because both Chubby Unicorn and Silent Spring are bosses and they haven't put up all the results yet. Now I understand whats going on, it's a lot closer to the Battlebot system because of the size of the competition now. edit: there are some great bot fires this weekend, I like this one because Ricky Williams coined the term "infinite traction" to describe the effect of having your wheels melted onto Cage 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=live?vmbdOf7MSDs&t=25404s ewe2 fucked around with this message at 09:59 on Jun 25, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Jun 25, 2023 09:10
|
|
|
It's the middle of the night and I'm watching NHRL bots! edit: oh god cage 7 is a MESS ewe2 fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Aug 12, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Aug 12, 2023 15:08
|
|
|
SLICK GOKU BABY posted:Another mostly good event. Some questionable judge and ref decisions, but kind of expected with so many fights. Very interesting semifinals/finals of the 3lb 4 bots switching partners like that, interesting result and they all qualify.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 13, 2023 05:44
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 13:59 |
|
|
Happy bot bashing day! They're doing a lot of the 3lb/12lb's before the 30lbs at the moment, the cages are already a mess
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2023 22:42
|
|