Bringing something different to our comps

[ID36]

I originally posted this on the FC2 forums back in July. Having just remembered about it, I thought I'd share here, too.

Variety is the spice of life and on FC1 we have seen a variety of comps such as simplest solutions, speed runs, and badge-scoring comps but more often than not the same styles of competition are being hosted. I'd like to see some new scoring methods being used so I decided to take a mathematical approach to come up with some new ideas. I began by listing the variables that can be used to score and then combined them in different ways to come up with a few scoring methods that I think haven't been used yet. I've written these in a simple list and I hope others will experiment with them.

Variables to keep low
Piece count (P) : Minimalist aka Simplest solution
Tick count (T) : Speed run
Piece type (M) - this is a modifier I created in FC2 and isn't used on its own

Modifier
Powered wheel: 0.4
Unpowered wheel: 0.3
Brown rod: 0.2
Blue rod: 0.1

If you use x2, x1 and x1 the modifier will total (0.3+0.15+0.1) = 0.55
If you use all 5 piece types, your modifier will total 1.0

Combining variables (i)
Piece count x Tick count (P x T) : Magnum scoring
Piece count x Piece type modifier (P x M) : ID36 FC2 scoring
Tick count x Piece type modifier (T x M) : An interesting speed run where piece type matters
Piece count x Tick count x Piece type modifier (P x T x M) : An interesting blend of Magnum and ID36 FC2 scoring

Variables to keep high
Badge count (B) : Achieve as many badges as you can [1]

Combining variables (ii)
Piece count / Badge count (P / B) : Simplest solution where badge count matters
Badge count / Piece type modifier (B / M) : Get the most achievement badges using the 'fewest/hardest to use' piece types (I think this works better than M / B)
Tick count / Badge count (T / B) : Another fun-looking speed run where badge count matters

Combining variables (iii)
(P x T) / B : Magnum scoring / Badge count
(P x M) / B : ID36 FC2 scoring / Badge count
(T x M) / B : Speed run where piece type and badge count matter

I hope these ideas will help create some interesting new competitions for us to play around with and if you have any ideas of your own, please comment :D

[1] When combined with the piece type modifier (M), only count achievement badges (champion/boomerang/unconnected/clean/sweep/hands-off) since the modifier already covers the contraption badges (green/brown/water/rodless)

[JHawk4]

I used the pieces x modifier in my All Around Elimination Comp and it ended in a round with all ties.

[ID36]

I used the pieces x modifier in my All Around Elimination Comp and it ended in a round with all ties.

That's because all four of them submitted x6 solutions The level needs to reflect the scoring and vice versa.