First off, Happy New Year! We here at RoboCo HQ hope you had as wonderful a holiday season as we did.
Secondly, we have a 2022 RoboCo Build-Off Winner to announce, and it may be one of the most impressive robots we’ve ever seen.
To recap, we tasked our Discord community with creating what they thought to be the best example of “RoboArt”. These robots could be recreations of beautiful things (like mythical creatures or fancy objects), art pieces made out of robot parts, or (if players wanted to get really meta) maybe even a robot painting something. Some players like Discord user Kherven decided to go meta with the prompt and build a game within a game because (and many people on our art team would likely agree) aren’t video games themselves a form of art?
Others, like our winner Mason, took it in a completely different direction. For his submission, Mason created a 3D printer, his favorite robot in both the real and virtual world. They say 3D printers are great because not only can create anything you want with one, but you can also print your very own Golden Sandwich Award!
If you are interested in going meta or printing your very own RoboCo models, make sure to check out both Mason and Kherven’s creations in the Steam Workshop. And again, congratulations to Mason on winning the 2022 RoboCo Build-Off!
And that’s it for this week’s devblog! Keep a lookout for our recap of the first round of The 2023 FIRST Global RoboCo Challenge, which kicked off last week!
Decoupler part - A controllable part that splits in half. When decoupled, small explosive bolts create a tunable ejection force from the center point. New parts like this may be tagged Experimental while we gather any noteworthy feedback or bug reports.
Localization into Simplified Chinese
New cosmetics - Patches of moss with flowers and mushrooms
5 new textures for robot structural parts
Changes:
Winter hat and antler cosmetics are now unlocked for all players. (Happy Holidays from the RoboCo team!) A couple of the new flower and mushroom cosmetics take their place locked behind secret objectives.
Headlight cosmetic is now a controllable that can shine a light
Weak motor notification and struggle audio no longer occur in scenarios where the target RPM set on the motor properties is relatively low. Should reduce undesirable messages and sounds, while still informing the player when a motor might be resized for more torque.
Extending piston audio no longer occurs in scenarios where the positional change is below a threshold. Should reduce undesirable sounds when the piston is moving very slowly or effectively at rest.
Notifications now specify Weak Servos or Weak DC Motors instead of calling them just Motors
[RoboCoffee] Carton of creamer no longer pours forever and the mug doesn't fill all the way with only cream
Bug fixes:
Weak motor notifications should now only fire when the struggling motor is activated instead of immediately upon entering Live mode
Camera colliders added to a handful of objects to prevent clipping into them
Size of the smallest solid wheel is now 2x2x1 in the name, matching the size property
[Silicon Sonata] Added a collider to disallow the bow from going under the fret board
[RoboCoffee] Coffee mugs can no longer steam when filled only with milk
[Pinata] Human at picnic table has been moved to prevent a scenario where they would fly through the air in pursuit of a soda
[Tippy Toe Tidy Up] Shoes no longer trigger a fail of the "Don't move the furniture too far" sub objective
The 2022 RoboCo Build-Off Competition Kicks Off!
Hello, RoboEngineers!
We told you we’d be back with more competitions! This time, we’re bringing back an oldie but a goodie - The RoboCo Build-Off.
First conducted during our alpha testing, the initial 2020 RoboCo Build-Off was a celebration of all the fun that could be had building robots in RoboCo. Some of our favorites include PEBBLE by Whackamoley109, Realistic Lawn Mower by nicklasbns, Piston Delivery by TheGreenGoblin, and WALLE by Bufflehead.
We’re changing things up this time around though. In previous competitions, we’ve been very specific with what robots we’d like players to build or what objectives we’d like them to complete. For the 2022 RoboCo Build-Off, we wanted to shy away from that so players would have the opportunity to expand their creativity and possibly build a robot they have never or would’ve never thought of building before.
As such, instead of a clear list of objectives, we’ve instead decided on a general theme for the competition and that theme is…art! We’re looking for players to build (what they believe to be) robots or creations that are the epitome of beauty, grace, and (thanks to our paint system) color. These robots can be recreations of stuff you find beautiful (like mythical creatures or fancy objects), art pieces made out of robot parts, or (if you want to get really meta) maybe even a robot painting something.
The competition starts today and ends on December 16th, 2022 at 11:59 PM CST. At the end of the submission period, our Community Management Team will vote on the top robots they think should advance to the final round. Those who submit the top robots will not only receive an exclusive Discord title, but their robots will also receive special placement on the front page of the Steam Workshop.
From those robots, the winner of the grand prize, otherwise known as The Golden Sandwich Award, will be determined. This player will get the awards above, though their placement in the Steam Workshop and Discord Title will include their separate status, as well as an enamel pin!
The top robots as well as the winner of the Golden Sandwich Award will be announced in a video released on our YouTube channel on December 22rd, 2022, so make sure to subscribe and turn on the bell so you can be notified when the results go up. We will also be sharing that video on our socials, Discord, and devblog!
And that’s it for this week’s devblog! If you’d like to participate or learn more about the 2022 RoboCo Build-Off, please join our Discord and check out all the information we have lined up over there. Until then, we hope you continue to enjoy playing RoboCo and keep an eye out on our devblog for more exciting announcements!
We unveiled our new wiki and API documentation last time we talked. This time, we’re announcing (or re-announcing if you’re a member of our Discord) our winners of The Platinum Cup!
Winners of The Platinum Cup!
The Platinum Cup was a series of races in which members of the Official RoboCo Discord competed to celebrate RoboCo’s Launch on Steam Early Access. There were 6 different titles up for grabs, each with its own qualifications, including the first to complete the game and the first to solve a challenge with Python. Winners were given not only an exclusive Discord Title but will also be sent an exclusive enamel pin, which we haven’t given out since our appearance at PAX.
Without further ado, here are the winners of The Platinum Cup!
Yarrgo Wins The Speedster Title!
Yarrgo was the first person to complete and verify with screenshots that they had completed RoboCo’s campaign! When we asked how long it took them to reach the end, they stated it took them about 14 and a half hours. 30 minutes were spent doing the challenges themselves, while the rest of the time was spent designing the robots they needed to complete and earning enough objectives to keep progressing. Overall, we’d say they’ve earned their place within the Speed Force alongside other famous speedsters like Barry Allen and Wally West.
ChekySNek wins The Inspector Gadget Title!
When ChekySNek submitted their screenshots for verification, they got to pick from one of two titles (as both were unclaimed at the time). The title they chose was Inspector Gadget, which is awarded to the first person to solve all of RoboCo’s secrets. They said it took them about 13 hours to find them all, and we hope they enjoy sitting alongside Sherlock Holmes as one of the world’s smartest detectives!
swemoney wins The Hacker Title!
swemoney was not just the first person to solve a challenge with coding, he was also the first person to achieve a Platinum Cup race objective! He solved Sandwich Server with just the press of a button AND got all three objectives - truly marvelous. Make sure to check out his Twitch channel to learn more about him as well as watch him stream RoboCo - https://www.twitch.tv/swemoney.
bunglist wins The Completionist Title!
Our last title to be awarded, and arguably the hardest one to earn, was The Completionist Title. In order to earn six bits (the maximum you can achieve from completing a level), a player has to earn 8000 points. To do this, they need to make sure they build a robot that can not only complete the challenge but one that can do it quickly and cost-effectively to maximize their score. It required a lot of robot sweat and engineering prowess, but bunglist rose to the challenge and surpassed it with flying colors, and we couldn’t be more proud!
Bufflehead Wins the Jokester Title!
Unlike the previous titles, the races for The Jokester and The Engineer titles were clips for which players had hard deadlines. They were also the only two titles we submitted for judging, which means that our dev team had to decide who came away with the title. That decision wasn’t easy, and we went back and forth on it, but we eventually gave Bufflehead the honor with his robot “Fragile Kyle” (shown above).
Because it was so hard to choose a winner, we wanted to give a special shoutout to Jules’ Jokebot (shown below), which took the challenge literally by programming a robot to tell jokes. We can’t wait to see more cool creations from you!
RedPug Wins the Engineer Title!
Much like The Jokester Title, The Engineer Title also had a lot of back and forth involved with who should win. Eventually, our team decided on RedPug’s “Complex Car” (shown above), whose unique system of gears and power-steering reminded us of kan_Gaming’s handiwork.
However, much like with Jules, we wanted to give a special shout-out to the runner-up for The Engineer Title, smjjames. We fully expect your Fiddler Crab (shown below) to be leading the orchestra for the next crab rave on a future rooftop!
And that’s it for today’s devblog! The Platinum Cup is the first of what we hope to be many Discord-only competitions, so make sure to join us if you’re interested in participating in future events! We’ll be back soon to talk about more updates!
Nominate RoboCo for the "Best Game You Suck At" During The 2022 Steam Awards!
Greetings, RoboEngineers!
2022 has been the biggest year for RoboCo yet and it just keeps getting better. Not only did we release RoboCo on Steam Early Access a mere three weeks ago, but we’ve also decided to throw our hat in for a 2022 Steam Awards nomination!
After combing the available awards, we decided to gun for Best Game You Suck At. While many might say this award has negative connotations, we actually love leaning into the idea that RoboCo is hard to play because…well….it can be! Our gameplay is easy to play but difficult to master (mostly because we embody complex, real-world engineering and automation principles) and you can’t reach the end of the game with just one robot. Instead, players must rely on their own problem-solving skills, creativity, and adaptability to build robots that’ll help them reach the end, especially if they’re looking to gather all the extra bits and secrets our campaign has to offer.
In short, RoboCo is the “toughest game we’ve ever loved,” not just because of its complex gameplay but also because its players need to be some of the smartest, most creative gamers out there, which we think is one heck of a compliment.
If you’ve enjoyed playing RoboCo and the unique complexities it has to offer, make sure to cast your vote by November 28th, 2022!
Players can now vacuum up the garbage on the ledge in the Soda Me challenge.
Added a texture to the green rectangle in the Sandwich Server challenge to show that it’s money.
API documentation now has a version number.
Updated the API documentation with readout examples for the common properties that use simple print formatting.
Bug fixes:
Steam Workshop tags now localize properly instead of counting as separate tags.
A human in the sandbox environment was prone to walking through a build zone. Their walking path has been updated so they should no longer do that (barring robot interference).
Propeller models have been swapped to match expected thrust direction.
We Have a New Wiki and API Documentation!
Hello, everyone!
First off, we hope you’ve been having fun playing RoboCo! Secondly, we wanted to take a moment after launch to showcase and remind players of some things!
We have a New Wiki!
If you’re a member of the RoboCo Discord, this likely isn’t a surprise to you. However, if you aren’t, we’re happy to announce that we’ve not only migrated our wiki from Fandom to MediaWiki, but we also added a TON of new information that will be useful for people just getting into RoboCo.
Some key pages that may be useful to players include the Coding Page, which is a starting guide for how to get started with Python programming in RoboCo, the Controls Page, which contains instructions for how to set up custom controls schemes, and the Campaign Page, which players can find “Possible Solutions” videos if they’re stuck or don’t know how to complete a specific RoboCo challenge.
We also encourage players to, if they see missing information, please add to it! We want this to be a community resource so don’t hesitate to make your mark on it.
New API Documentation
In addition to our new Wiki, we also have new API documentation available to RoboProgrammers. This information is also accessible by hitting the “API” Button within the Microcontroller interface.
Finally, we wanted to remind you that The Platinum Cup, our series of launch races/competitions, still has ONE title up for grabs – The Completionist (a.k.a the first person to obtain all of RoboCo’s 78 bits).
The winner not only gets the exclusive Completionist Discord Title, but also a cool collector’s pin that hasn’t been seen since our time at PAX. They will also, along with the other winners, be featured in an upcoming devblog!
Remember: Only those that are members of the Official RoboCo Discord are able to compete so, if you’re interested in this title, make sure to join us there.
And that’s it for this week’s devblog! Now that we’ve launched, communications will be focused on Discord and our social media platforms. Join us there and keep an eye on this blog for major announcements!
To celebrate RoboCo's launch, check out this pre-recorded broadcast of the game's first 10 minutes. If you have questions, are looking to provide feedback, or want to just hang out with a bunch of cool people, make sure to check out our Discord!
RoboCo Weekend Launch Stream!
To celebrate RoboCo's launch, check out this pre-recorded broadcast of the game's first 10 minutes. If you have questions, are looking to provide feedback, or want to just hang out with a bunch of cool people, make sure to check out our Subreddit, Steam Forum, and our Discord.
RoboCo Launch Stream!
It’s November 3rd, 2022 so you know what that means:
To celebrate RoboCo's launch, check out this pre-recorded broadcast of the game's first 10 minutes. If you have questions, are looking to provide feedback, or want to just hang out with a bunch of cool people, make sure to check out our Subreddit, Steam Forum, and our Discord.
