Battlebots - General Discussion

[proserpina65]

On ‎09‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 1:40 AM, rmontro said:

They seem to be popular with the crowd, so I don't think they're making that part up.   They don't seem to be very popular on this forum.  I'm not too fond of them myself, but I rooted for them against Bite Force (which I'm getting tired of winning all the time).  There is a little Witch Doctor bot in that Battlebots toy game that they advertise, or at least in one version of it.  

Maybe that's just clever marketing, or maybe TPTB are trying to push it.  But there has been a ton of close and controversial matches this season though, and I thought Witch Doctor got to the finals fair and square.

I'll confess to not being fond of Witch Doctor.  Primarily because, until this season, I found it to be a case of "all show & little substance".  The first season of Battlebots I watched Kenny & Chris talked about how great a bot it was, but I saw little evidence of that then, or over the succeeding seasons.  This season, however, Andrea, Mike & crew finally seemed to have worked out all the previous problems, and as much as I wanted Death Roll to make the finals, I think Witch Doctor got there fair and square.

Still glad that Bite Force won the final, though.  Partly because it is an awesome bot and partly because Paul Ventimiglia seems like a pretty low-key guy who doesn't have to smack talk and brag.  (Looking at you, Ewert clan.  As someone else pointed out, even Ray Billings gives credit to the other robots when they make a good fight of it.)  But someday, I really want Hypershock to win the Giant Nut, damn it.

[Ilovepie]

On 10/7/2019 at 11:41 AM, proserpina65 said:

I'll confess to not being fond of Witch Doctor.  Primarily because, until this season, I found it to be a case of "all show & little substance".  The first season of Battlebots I watched Kenny & Chris talked about how great a bot it was, but I saw little evidence of that then, or over the succeeding seasons.  This season, however, Andrea, Mike & crew finally seemed to have worked out all the previous problems, and as much as I wanted Death Roll to make the finals, I think Witch Doctor got there fair and square.

Still glad that Bite Force won the final, though.  Partly because it is an awesome bot and partly because Paul Ventimiglia seems like a pretty low-key guy who doesn't have to smack talk and brag.  (Looking at you, Ewert clan.  As someone else pointed out, even Ray Billings gives credit to the other robots when they make a good fight of it.)  But someday, I really want Hypershock to win the Giant Nut, damn it.

We finally got around to watching the final - I think this thing should be over when summer is over. I agree to all re: Witch Doctor. I think this is the first season that it was a legit threat, mostly because it didn't crap out after one hit. I don't know what they did to it, but it seems much more resilient than prior years. I too wanted Death Roll to win, but it would have been with a major asterisk if they had moved forward because the reality is that WD did beat them on damage.

I actually would have preferred WD to win, just for someone else to get the Nut. The Bite Force team does seem pleasant enough, but it's getting boring. I hope someone else wins next year.

My favorite this year was Rail Gun Max. I hope they come back next year.

[Quilt Fairy]

2 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

I think this thing should be over when summer is over.

I think they did a good job this year with the 2 hour shows.  Eight battles per show is much more satisfying than four.  The length of the season seemed just right to me, it was last year that dragged on forever (6 or 7 months, IIRC).

I don't know how many shows they do at one sitting, but I wish Kenny Florian would bring a change of clothes.  I got pretty tired of that lavender shirt by the end of the season.

[Ilovepie]

14 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I think they did a good job this year with the 2 hour shows.  Eight battles per show is much more satisfying than four.  The length of the season seemed just right to me, it was last year that dragged on forever (6 or 7 months, IIRC).

I do think this season was very entertaining, and I don't know, but it seems like a more "professional" event with so many international teams and all the sponsorships. I like that we are getting to know more teams and the backstage interviews were great. Honestly, I love the whole on screen team. The fact that they take it so seriously also lends an air of credibility to it as well. I do wish they would maybe add some kind of ranking at the start of the season because they are not all equal, and some have a tougher schedule than others, but this is just quibbling. I just meant that I see this as a summer show, and once we got back into the school schedule and fall shows reappeared it was harder to keep up and interest waned, at least in our house. YMMV, obviously. We still love it though!

[CoderLady]

The new season started tonight. The biggest change they've made for COVID-19 is to eliminate the big superspreader audience and instead fill the seats with whatever contestants, pit crews, families and friends are not involved in the current battle. It's a smaller audience but they still make lots of noise. And instead of Kenny going down to the arena to interview the winners they do a split-screen video link. Mask wearing seems to be optional, though.

Anyhow, I'm glad it's back. Some bloodless mayhem and good sportsmanship is welcome right now.

Edited December 4, 2020 by CoderLady

[libgirl2]

4 hours ago, CoderLady said:

The new season started tonight. The biggest change they've made for COVID-19 is to eliminate the big superspreader audience and instead fill the seats with whatever contestants, pit crews, families and friends are not involved in the current battle. It's a smaller audience but they still make lots of noise. And instead of Kenny going down to the arena to interview the winners they do a split-screen video link. Mask wearing seems to be optional, though.

Anyhow, I'm glad it's back. Some bloodless mayhem and good sportsmanship is welcome right now.

I think they handled all of this very well. I enjoyed the battles. That one bot who only had the one guy on his team, looked like an old school Doctor Who Cyberman. Overall a nice way to spend a Thursday night. 

[Totale]

What a pleasant surprise when this showed up last night!  I forget the bot name, but I loved the guy who said they'd added fire to their arsenal, and then his bot burst into flame after an early hit.  Hah!

[grommit2]

Controlled mayhem.  Good stuff!
Question:  what is the value of using fire? 
Does it ever contribute to a victory? 
Or does it just look cool.

[libgirl2]

21 minutes ago, grommit2 said:

Controlled mayhem.  Good stuff!
Question:  what is the value of using fire? 
Does it ever contribute to a victory? 
Or does it just look cool.

I'm not sure. 

I really thought Smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (or however many there are) was going to get killed. I don't see it last long however. 

The guy who made Rusty is from my area! Well, a bit far but close enough. There is an article about him in some of the local news sources. I think its neat to see people realize a dream. Maybe with time, he can improve, get some sponsors. 

https://www.lakecountyjournal.com/2020/12/02/battle-call-antioch-man-to-be-featured-on-discovery-channels-battlebots/at76cvi/

Edited December 4, 2020 by libgirl2

[CoderLady]

1 hour ago, Totale said:

What a pleasant surprise when this showed up last night!  I forget the bot name, but I loved the guy who said they'd added fire to their arsenal, and then his bot burst into flame after an early hit.  Hah!

IIRC that was Axe Backwards, which has lost nearly all its fights ever. The builder seems to be resigned to his constant misfortunes, though. His facial expressions after his frequent trouncings, usually accompanied by a final exclamation of "Whoo!" are great stuff. I do feel for him for trying so often but I've stopped expecting his bot will ever win.

[libgirl2]

8 minutes ago, CoderLady said:

IIRC that was Axe Backwards, which has lost nearly all its fights ever. The builder seems to be resigned to his constant misfortunes, though. His facial expressions after his frequent trouncings, usually accompanied by a final exclamation of "Whoo!" are great stuff. I do feel for him for trying so often but I've stopped expecting his bot will ever win.

As soon as I saw it was on the schedule, I knew it would lose. 

[enoughcats]

Why don't these original episodes get more replays?  I will be thankful next week, but I can't seem to find a repeat of tonight's ep.

[chitowngirl]

On 12/4/2020 at 8:58 PM, enoughcats said:

Why don't these original episodes get more replays?  I will be thankful next week, but I can't seem to find a repeat of tonight's ep.

Repeats Sunday 4:00 am; Wednesday 9:00 pm; Thursday Midnight; Thursday 6:00 pm

[Quilt Fairy]

On 12/4/2020 at 7:58 PM, enoughcats said:

Why don't these original episodes get more replays?  I will be thankful next week, but I can't seem to find a repeat of tonight's ep.

I'm in-between cable boxes right now; I was able to find it on the Discovery Go app on my Amazon Fire stick. 

[libgirl2]

The Mammoth vs Huge fight was probably one of my favorite of all time! 

[enoughcats]

13 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

The Mammoth vs Huge fight was probably one of my favorite of all time! 

It was a fight for the ages, except I couldn't figure out what was going on.  Reminded me of a couple of octopi mating. 

I, for no reasons at all, have never liked Witch Doctor.  From the bouncy bird on the guy's head to the overall costuming and the rib cage on the bot I haven't been any kind of fan. That changed last night. No, their costumes are possibly even worse, but Witch Doctor flew. Many times. Sometimes with twists and turns that would only be described in high board diving terms. And that magnificent bot landed, if needed quickly righted itself, and went back to the fight.  That thing is brilliantly built if it can take that kind of abuse and keep fighting.  And it did.  The other bot won, and I'm ok with that.  I don't remember enough physics to figure out how much energy it takes to toss 250 pounds of bo 15 feet into the air, but somebody knows how to figure that out.

And the minibots running around the floor in several matches: ignored by the editors and rightly so.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, enoughcats said:

It was a fight for the ages, except I couldn't figure out what was going on.  Reminded me of a couple of octopi mating. 

I, for no reasons at all, have never liked Witch Doctor.  From the bouncy bird on the guy's head to the overall costuming and the rib cage on the bot I haven't been any kind of fan. That changed last night. No, their costumes are possibly even worse, but Witch Doctor flew. Many times. Sometimes with twists and turns that would only be described in high board diving terms. And that magnificent bot landed, if needed quickly righted itself, and went back to the fight.  That thing is brilliantly built if it can take that kind of abuse and keep fighting.  And it did.  The other bot won, and I'm ok with that.  I don't remember enough physics to figure out how much energy it takes to toss 250 pounds of bo 15 feet into the air, but somebody knows how to figure that out.

And the minibots running around the floor in several matches: ignored by the editors and rightly so.

Even smoking after that beating, Witch Doctor was still moving! I was really impressed. 

[rmontro]

On 12/10/2020 at 9:06 PM, libgirl2 said:

The Mammoth vs Huge fight was probably one of my favorite of all time! 

That was a good one.  I couldn't tell if Mammoth was doing all that flipping on it's own or if Huge was flipping it.

The Hydra/Witch Doctor fight was good too.  I'm glad I didn't have to judge that one.  Witch Doctor kind of reminded me of Duck, it took so much abuse but kept coming.  I've never been a big fan of Witch Doctor either, and I'm not sure why.  It's a former giant nut winner, and was the runner up last year, so it shouldn't be surprising, but that is one tough bot.

[KHenry14]

The thing about Witch Doctor was it would break down a lot. It would fight well, but something would break and they'd lose. Which is why their run last year was such a surprise.

[4Sibes Redux]

I respect The Witch Doctor team. They have a great bot and know how to drive and use it. But due to the costuming, I love to hate them. I always “boo” them but if they win, I can accept that.

I’ve loved Huge since I first saw them compete. I love a *different* bot.

Duck was one of my favorites last year. Looking at the website, it doesn’t look like they are on the roster this year.

SMEEEEEEEE...EEE intrigued me and I look forward to more matches. 

I can like Rusty’s human, but I don’t see that bot having long term success. 

[rmontro]

6 hours ago, KHenry14 said:

The thing about Witch Doctor was it would break down a lot. It would fight well, but something would break and they'd lose. 

That's right, I had forgotten that.  Makes their durability in this fight all the more impressive.  Even though they were smoking.

Very sad that there's no duck this year  😞  Maybe it will be back next year with a cannon strapped on top of it.

[Quilt Fairy]

On 12/12/2020 at 12:04 PM, 4Sibes Redux said:

I respect The Witch Doctor team. They have a great bot and know how to drive and use it. But due to the costuming, I love to hate them. I always “boo” them but if they win, I can accept that.

Yeah, the stupid freakin' hats just turn me off.   I even feel guilty for disliking a team with a woman on it (running it?), but I hate the hats.

But that thing sure could fly!  Who knew?

[enoughcats]

13 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

stupid freakin' hats

Somewhere there're descriptions of all the teams in competition.  There are a lot of women involved.  I always figured that some of the people on teams were just filler (especially the young children). (who are fillers)

But on some of the teams, all the members are workers. Either Chomp or Witch Doctor interviewed that at one time, seven different people were each working on programming different parts of the bots.

That's not going to attract Joe channel surfer, but that sure makes me look at the competition with more respect.

 

 

[Totale]

We were rooting heavy for Gruff after the guy from Hypershock came off as such a whiny little bitch in the backstage chatter after Beta won the judging against Rotator earlier.

[libgirl2]

2 hours ago, Totale said:

We were rooting heavy for Gruff after the guy from Hypershock came off as such a whiny little bitch in the backstage chatter after Beta won the judging against Rotator earlier.

We cheered for Gruff too, one because it should have beat Tombstone last season (it was robbed) and two because of the same as you. My husband can't stand that guy. 

[4Sibes Redux]

I can’t stand whiny poor losers. In previous years, they always build up Hypershock and that bot always falls short. The Hypershock team is another example of a team that spends too much of the costuming for my taste. The flame weapon on Gruff was the most successful of any flame weapon I’ve seen. I was wishing for poor sportsmanship & that Gruff wouldn’t have backed off of melting Hypershock.

I liked Copperhead.

 

[libgirl2]

3 minutes ago, 4Sibes Redux said:

I can’t stand whiny poor losers. In previous years, they always build up Hypershock and that bot always falls short. The Hypershock team is another example of a team that spends too much of the costuming for my taste. The flame weapon on Gruff was the most successful of any flame weapon I’ve seen. I was wishing for poor sportsmanship & that Gruff wouldn’t have backed off of melting Hypershock.

I liked Copperhead.

 

I agree, they really hype up the bot and it seems every time I see it fight, it loses, sometimes in spectacular fashion. 

[enoughcats]

2 hours ago, 4Sibes Redux said:

The flame weapon on Gruff

It seemed to be two separate flame weapons and they weren't always used at the same time so they might have had independent controls????

So many bots came with multiple spinners, etc. in anticipation of opponents they might have.  I was wondering if there exists a material that could be shoved in the nozzle of the flame weapon that could make it back fire and blow itself up???

What are the limits of chemical weapons?  and chemical counter measures?

[Quilt Fairy]

Beta was absolutely the right choice to win that fight against Rotator.  It was the aggressor and had control during the entire fight.  There are many bots that have their primary weapon disabled early in the fight, so it sometimes comes down to pushing and driving.   If it's Aggression = 3 points, Control = 3 points and Damage = 5 points, Beta won 6-5 at a minimum..  I would have also given it a point or 2 for damage.  I couldn't believe it was even a split decision from the judges. 

[4Sibes Redux]

5 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I couldn't believe it was even a split decision from the judges. 

Yeah. In order for Rotator to win, it should have done something other than be pushed around. 

[rmontro]

On 12/19/2020 at 7:11 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

If it's Aggression = 3 points, Control = 3 points and Damage = 5 points, Beta won 6-5 at a minimum..

Is that really how they score it, I haven't seen that before?  Where does the "damage caused by primary weapon" part that they're always pushing come into it?

[Quilt Fairy]

3 hours ago, rmontro said:

Is that really how they score it, I haven't seen that before?

I'm pretty sure I have the allocation correct, they mentioned it in the first episode.  They also said it's been adjusted this season.

[enoughcats]

I was really looking forward to the new and improved Chomp. From the photo it appeared to have overcome its top heaviness. It appeared to have a swivel top, and it does.

What I didn't anticipate was that it is a "walker".  And according to (possibly new rules for this year), walkers get to weigh up to 500 lbs., which it does. Except to call it a walker is misleading, because it doesn't walk, it moves with ground sloth agility, i.e., barely moves at all. 

Somehow it won it's match.  I can't see it got any points for aggression, as it seemed to take forever to get out to the middle of the floor. 

If anyone remember Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, think of Artie Johnson's Little Old Man who was painfully slow moving.  I was hoping that the other bot would do a Ruth Buzzy on Chomp.

Artie Johnson and Ruth Buzzy, for those too young to remember 

Edited December 25, 2020 by enoughcats
to add the video link

[libgirl2]

2 hours ago, enoughcats said:

I was really looking forward to the new and improved Chomp. From the photo it appeared to have overcome its top heaviness. It appeared to have a swivel top, and it does.

What I didn't anticipate was that it is a "walker".  And according to (possibly new rules for this year), walkers get to weigh up to 500 lbs., which it does. Except to call it a walker is misleading, because it doesn't walk, it moves with ground sloth agility, i.e., barely moves at all. 

Somehow it won it's match.  I can't see it got any points for aggression, as it seemed to take forever to get out to the middle of the floor. 

If anyone remember Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, think of Artie Johnson's Little Old Man who was painfully slow moving.  I was hoping that the other bot would do a Ruth Buzzy on Chomp.

Artie Johnson and Ruth Buzzy, for those too young to remember 

I remember!

[grommit2]

2 hours ago, enoughcats said:

I was really looking forward to the new and improved Chomp. From the photo it appeared to have overcome its top heaviness. It appeared to have a swivel top, and it does.

What I didn't anticipate was that it is a "walker".  And according to (possibly new rules for this year), walkers get to weigh up to 500 lbs., which it does. Except to call it a walker is misleading, because it doesn't walk, it moves with ground sloth agility, i.e., barely moves at all. 

Somehow it won it's match.  I can't see it got any points for aggression, as it seemed to take forever to get out to the middle of the floor. 

If anyone remember Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, think of Artie Johnson's Little Old Man who was painfully slow moving.  I was hoping that the other bot would do a Ruth Buzzy on Chomp.

Artie Johnson and Ruth Buzzy, for those too young to remember 

Artie to Ruth: "Do you remember the hereafter?  
Then you know what I'm here after"  
Heh heh...
T

[Quilt Fairy]

9 hours ago, enoughcats said:

I was really looking forward to the new and improved Chomp.

I've spent several seasons thinking Chomp was really stupid.  But with the redesign, I've changed my mind.  I think they finally got Chomp 'right'.  That laser targeting system never worked, but being able to swing it's weapon 360° makes it an incredibly potent weapon, even with it's slow speed.  

[rmontro]

I really didn't get how they scored Malice a win over Shatter.  They won based on what?  That Shatter broke its hammer head off on Malice's body?  It's like "I broke my fist on your face".

Wow, Chomp looks really different.  And does look to be a lot more effective.  It walks slowly, but its turret is fast, so there's probably no way to approach it without getting hit - unless it's malfunctioning of course.  Seems like there was another bot a week or two ago that lost its hammerhead, they need to find a better way to attach those.

[CoderLady]

Chomp's design changes didn't address its biggest flaws: it's still big, slow and clumsy as hell -- actually even more so now. The turret is a great idea, but what happens if it has to go up against a multi-bot configuration like Gemini, where one bot can distract it while another one attacks from another angle? Could it get taken out by a mini bot high centering it? I also wonder who would win in a fight between Chomp and one of the tall skinny bots like Huge or the one that looks like a wardrobe rack. Mammoth, I think. So many questions.

[grommit2]

I get a kick out of these battling robots, but...
I would like to see more replays, perhaps in slo-mo, to truly appreciate the action.
They could free up some time by reducing all the set-up, chatter, blah-blah.
So much of it is repetitive: "fight fight", "in the red square...", etc. 
But, that's just me. 
 

[jquitar]

On 12/25/2020 at 9:30 AM, enoughcats said:

I was really looking forward to the new and improved Chomp. From the photo it appeared to have overcome its top heaviness. It appeared to have a swivel top, and it does.

What I didn't anticipate was that it is a "walker".  And according to (possibly new rules for this year), walkers get to weigh up to 500 lbs., which it does. Except to call it a walker is misleading, because it doesn't walk, it moves with ground sloth agility, i.e., barely moves at all. 

Somehow it won it's match.  I can't see it got any points for aggression, as it seemed to take forever to get out to the middle of the floor. 

If anyone remember Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, think of Artie Johnson's Little Old Man who was painfully slow moving.  I was hoping that the other bot would do a Ruth Buzzy on Chomp.

Artie Johnson and Ruth Buzzy, for those too young to remember 

Chomp reminds me of Tim Conway.

[rmontro]

16 hours ago, CoderLady said:

I also wonder who would win in a fight between Chomp and one of the tall skinny bots like Huge or the one that looks like a wardrobe rack. Mammoth, I think.

Yeah, Mammoth.  "And your winner....  Wardrobe Rack!".

At least Chomp doesn't flip itself upside down now every time it fires its hammer.  I think it's an improved bot, I always saw it as a joke before.  I still don't think it can come anywhere near winning it all, but at least it's different, and interesting.  I'm curious how it would do against something formidable like Tombstone or Sub Zero.

[enoughcats]

23 hours ago, jquitar said:

Chomp reminds me of Tim Conway.

Brilliant link.  It did copy TIm Conway's walk, except he (being 100 years old) did it faster. 

[4Sibes Redux]

On 12/25/2020 at 11:10 PM, CoderLady said:

I also wonder who would win in a fight between Chomp and one of the tall skinny bots like Huge

I often imagine Huge as a test subject in my mind. I can’t imagine Huge winning the Giant Nut, but its matches are interesting to me. 

[Quilt Fairy]

Is there no new episode this week?

[Omeletsmom]

17 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Is there no new episode this week?

They tweeted that there would not be a new episode this week.

[enoughcats]

I hope someone will subscribe to Disc.+ and report about the Battlebots competition there.  According to comments on Reddit, it's totally separate from the one on Discovery and both Chomp and Bronco are there, as well. 

[Quilt Fairy]

4 hours ago, enoughcats said:

I hope someone will subscribe to Disc.+ and report about the Battlebots competition there.  According to comments on Reddit, it's totally separate from the one on Discovery and both Chomp and Bronco are there, as well. 

Those comments must be from people who were there in person, because Disc+ doesn't even launch until tomorrow. 

This is from Discovery.com: 

Quote

 

In BATTLEBOTS: BOUNTY HUNTERS, the sport has some of the top robot legends including Tombstone, Bronco, Witch Doctor, Son of Whyachi, Beta and Icewave. Each of the them have many knockouts and have smashed countless competitors before them.

In each episode, challengers will compete for the right to become the Bounty Hunter and fight a Legend. The prize: a unique place in BattleBots history, and the major share of a $25,000 cash prize payout in every episode.

Like in the regular season of BattleBots, each episode highlights the design and build of the competing robots and profiles the teams behind them. Competitors come from all types of backgrounds – from families to university students and everything in between. Every machine is homemade and constructed from a variety of materials with custom-built weaponry to destroy the competition.

 

 

[hurrrz]

This show has so much fluff. It's incredible how they can fill 90 minutes with banter. The fights are fun, though. 

[chitowngirl]

I always watch on On Demand. I zip through everything that is not the fights. I just want to see robots battling it out. 

[hurrrz]

Same here.