As many of you know there is a semi-new game called Botball! Botball has simple enough instructions; you give the robot a command it moves and puts the ball into a hole. Sounds easy right? Well this is where Whyville can get you -- the game that looks so easy and sounds even easier is in my opinion possibly one of the hardest games that Whyville has created so far. But, if you read the directions very carefully, have a lot of patience, and have a lot of time to spare, Botball can be very easy and it can be kind of fun too.
Tip One:
Now when you first click on it (you can get to the game by going to your salary ledger and scrolling down and clicking on it) it will bring you to the Welcome Page of the game. You then click the "next" button and proceed on. Then you get your objective -- command the robot and get the robot to pick up the ball and get it into the hole. You don't really have to read it just click "next".
Then you officially start the game. You start in the Tutorial levels. There are seven levels in all. Each level takes you to a more advanced step of Botball. This is the easiest level. The words are: "Go()", "Left()", "Right()", "Back()", and "Stop()". "Go()" will make the robot go the direction it is facing, "Left()" will make the robot obviously go left, "Right()" will make the robot obviously go right, "Back()" will make the robot go backwards and "Stop()" will be there for when you get your robot to right where it needs to be to get the ball into the hole. If you say "Left()", your robot will only keep on curving left which is why you need to use "Stop()" to make it stop going left. Then you would continue on with "Go()".
Tip Two:
Now you're getting into more "advanced" codes. Tutorial two is asking for you to simply make your robot stay in the same spot using this code: "if(ticks == 0) go()" you then have to customize your code by switching the '0' out of there and replacing it with a new number. It can be any number you want. The point of this is in case you're in a game of Botball and the ball is going to come to you, you need to sit there with your robot and wait until the ball comes to you and then you go.
Tip Three:
This is where you are teaching your robot how to turn. This uses both experience from levels one and two, remember your codes? "Go()", "Left()", "Right()", "Back()", and "Stop()"?
This is when you will need to use your first three codes, go, left and right.
You get this example code: "if ( ticks == 0 ) go() if ( ticks == 10000 ) left()".
You don't have to mess with the first set if you want but it's the second stuff you need to mess with, you need to find the time limit to make your robot turn either left or right.
Tip Four:
This is just when your robot is trying to detect things around it, like the ball for example. They give you the code: "if ( ball() ) go()", which is telling your robot to get the ball and then go towards the hole with the ball.
Tip Five:
Now with this level things get a little tricky. They are giving you two codes BUT the first code is in the second code that they give you which is: "stop() if( scanFront( COLOR ) ) go() else left()".
Now remember what I said earlier with how if you don't say stop(), then your robot will just keep going in circles? Well this will be what will happen if you don't use that first stop. What it means by (scanFront(Color) ) is you have to take out the world color and change it to the color that you want the robot to go towards. The last part of the code you see the else left() is telling your robot which way to turn before it goes to get the ball to put it in the hole. It could either be left or right, it depends on where your target is.
Tip Six:
This level is a tad bit trickier than the rest. You have to use a code from a previous level and the one that they give you: "if( scanFront( COLOR ) && range( COLOR ) < DISTANCE ) go()". Use that along with the one of the previous levels' code and you will be passing this in your sleep.
Those are the six tips that I am giving you Whyville. Hopefully these tips will help you beat Botball, enjoy the game and realize how simple the game actually is.
Good luck, you might just need it.
