There's the potential that I might be getting a windfall in the semi-near future (yay, paralysis
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
So far, all normal. But aside from the obligatory gaps in the arena wall for pitting purposes, are there any rules against arena hazards? I was thinking of something like low-ish speed spinners in the corners, in theory not up to battle-ending strength but an extra tactical headache all the same. My original thought was to have one dead centre of the arena, but I can see that causing a lot of issues and just generally getting in the way. I similarly considered a floor spinner as the BBC tried for the 6th wars, but ants are hard enough to control without a portion of the floor suddenly getting drunk.
The floor itself would ideally be metal, most likely 3mm aluminium, which I realise could cause traction issues but it'll be the same for everyone. Plus both the BBB and custom-made tyres/tracks tend to be pretty grippy regardless of the surface. I thought about plastic or wood but both are easily damaged, and having just watched AWS62, I feel like wood and plastic are definitely not going to survive unscathed if a spinner hits them! I'd rather avoid running repairs mid-tournament.
As with the aforementioned 2018 discussion, I'm thinking of ways to get the cameras as close as possible to the action without them also becoming cannon fodder. They'll still need some sort of protection, but I think I can work around that easily enough. It would mean videos taking longer to be edited (multiple angles = more cutting, after all) but could potentially be worth it. I'd likely buy a set of the BBB playable kits and set up a mock tournament to see how viable that level of work would be.
In terms of accessibility, the two sides with pits would be hinged and triple bolted (better safe than sorry, even if I'm sure the third bolt would be overkill) which in theory should prevent any machine ending up out of reach.
Where do people stand on minimum roof height? I'd aim to go higher, naturally, but that sort of thing is useful as a starting point. The verts and flippers really need to get air!
The big safety question of course is what thickness of polycarb I need to get for the walls and roof. I've read various numbers on this topic, but I'm also acutely aware that spinners will continue to get more powerful and greater tolerance than, say, 5 years ago needs building into this.
That's everything I can think of for the moment, but if there's anything else people want to add that I've missed or perhaps haven't considered, by all means throw it at me.