New: RoboRally Arena II (free, closed-ended, email, human, space, abstract) From: lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl) Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2001 08:13:00 +0000 Name: RoboRally Arena II Email: roborally_arena_ii@hotmail.com Frequency: one per week Type: wargame, space Costs: free Last-Update: 2000Dec11 Keywords: free, closed-ended, email, human, space, abstract Description: ...somewhere on that distant planet an old, forgotten computer is doing things the new computers don't know about. This clunky machine has set up a special factory floor designed to let 8 'bots slug it out to the end. The computer was mainline administration in its day, but its day has long since gone. Currently 'Toby' wouldn't be fit to clean screens for a living and its usefulness is rapidly decreasing with advances in 'spray' subroutining. Its processors are prone to error and it is notoriously slow. However Toby is not in the game, it just runs it. Those few 'bots that have survived Arena II know there is no benefit in fast processor speed when a buzz bomb is hovering around and you're on 7 points of damage... The lessons learned from running 'Arena' have dictated a faster, less forgiving format for Arena II. Where Arena was a game of indefinite length, Arena II is very contained. Where Arena had uncertainty about when competitors would be involved after being fragged, Arena II has clearly delineated timeframes for each entrant. Where Arena had limited opportunity for options, Arena II has an 'option per round' mindset. Simply put, Arena was designed to be on-going and tradition building. It ended up being too much to administer and required too much dedication from entrants. Arena II is designed to be fast paced and very dangerous for entrant's 'bots. The administration will be less complicated (and much less tolerant) and entrants are only required to be dedicated for a relatively short time period. On the flip side, if successful, Arena II could prove a better format to build up tradition than the original. * For Those Not Familiar With RoboRally. RoboRally is a board game produced by Wizards of the coast (www.wizards.com). All the rules and useful links can be found on 'wizards' RoboRally homepage (http://www.wizards.com/roborally/Welcome.asp). Theoretically a new player could read the section called 'Turn Requirements' in the full version of this document and compete, however some familiarity with the rules in it and from the official site should greatly increase the entry's effectiveness. for a full set of rules email roborally_arena_ii@hotmail.com [ This is a new entry for the PBM List. You can find the list itself, and instructions for adding games or comments, at http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pbm_list/ -- greg ] Up