ROBO_FACTORY

Some more elements not used on the actual ROBO-FACTORY boards (April 2000)		Board elements in alphabetical order:
These elements were entirely done by others. I would redo the grafix before using them (to fit into the style of the other FACTORY-boards) I think it´s a good idea to send the inventors the board layouts you made with their board element-ideas (as sort of feedback) For all questions on timing, check out the ROBO-BRAIN.		Acid Flipper Freak Teleporter Lava Molten Metal River Radiation Repulsor Roller Slider Slime Sorter Stargate Switch Tilter

		Antigrav field
Alternative ground plates They look different, but these are just normal squares, they do not affect robots at all. Treat them as open ground (as long as there is no crusher,... on them) There are at least 5 of them. We simply use them to make the boards look better.		Function: Robots starting their move on Antigrav Fields begin to soar. The robot is flying for the rest of the whole turn. He lands after the fifth register phase or immediately after he received a point of damage. Timing: For the rest of the current turn (and hopefully not shorter).

Big Trapdoor
Function and Timing: Like a normal trapdoor pit, only 4 times as big!

Big Turning Gear
Function: This big gear with a wall in the middle works like a secret door. As long as robots stand on the gear, it turns 180° every register phase. (So yes: Robots looking to the wall still look against it after the gear has turned) Timing: Just after the little gears turned 90° in the Board Elements move-Sequence.

Black Hole		Blaster / Melting Beam
Function: Black holes attract everything, especially moveable objects like robots! All robots in a straight line with the hole get pulled one square closer to the void. The hole affects the whole board, so it´s range can be up to 11 squares, even through walls! (though robots cannot be pulled through walls). Treat the square containing the black hole itself as a pit/drain. Timing: Effect occurs right before gears start to turn.		Function: This hi-energy beam immediately starts to melt any robot standing in it or even running through it! Like a flamer, thats active all 5 reg.phases, robots get 1 or 2 p.o.d. , the first p.o.d. always locks the robot´s current register! Timing: Simultaneous to active flamers.

Copy machine		Crumbly Ground
Function: By pushing the red button (running against it) start the machine. It produces a Tamagotchi, a virtual copy of your robot, on the antenna-side of the wall. Put the virtual plate of your robot on the square facing towards the wall. Both, Tamagotchi and robot execute all following program cards. The Tamagotchi dissapears when it touches the copy machine on his side at the square he arose. If either the tamagotchi or the robot get killed, both die immediately. Treat the Tamagotchi in any way like a virtual robot. Timing: The machine can be activated in the Robots move-Sequence.		Function: Robots can move over or stop and move on next turn like over normal ground squares. But robots trying to execute a rotate card (and so standing on the square for a complete turn) sink in and lose one life. If you want to make things more tricky, you can keep a couple of pit-tokens beside the board and put one on each crumble ground, after a robot broke in. So there will be more and more pits on the board during the game! Timing: In the reveal program cards sequence.

Elevator		Energizer		Fast Ramp
Function: On the indicated register phases, the elevator is in his up-position, otherwise it is on ground level. In both cases, treat him like a normal ground square. When the elevator is up, robots can stand under it or move through the square. But when the elevator comes down, it has a crusher-like effect on robots under it! Timing: Elevator changes position simultaniously to active crushers. You can find the original elevator-element on Cybermax´ site.		Function: Robots ending their move on an energizer square get energized. In subsequent phases, they execute their program cards in double speed. Priority of cards gets overridden by order of registers. After the robot ran out of programmed cards, he executes his program starting with register 1 again, until the end of the whole turn. Timing: Energizer is active in all 5 reg.phases. Effect on robot (once they are energized) occurs in all remaining reg. phases of the current turn.		No explanation needed, the blue belts move the robot up the ramp to the next level in the Board Elements move-Sequence.

Finishing Line		Flip (Green) Belt
Do I really have to explain this?		Function: Transporting robots one square per register phase, but in different directions.Direction changes every time, a robot steps through a light barrier.(Due to several requests, we made a token to indicate the current direction of the flip belts). Choose the starting direction of the flip belts at random (toss the coin). Timing: AFTER all other belts in the Board elements move-Sequence.

Force Field / Energy Wall		Golden Conveyor Belt
Function: Blocks robots' movement like a wall, but allows robot-mounted weapons to shot through (but not options like drones,...) Timing: Always (it's a wall...)		Function: Transporting robots as usual, but three squares per register phase Timing: First square before all other belts, second square contemporaneous with the first square of the blue belt, third square contemporaneous with blue belt´s second square and the first and only square of the red belt.

High-Power Teleporter		Hydraulic Pusher
Function: Just in case you play with the rule, that the original teleporters do NOT teleport robots through walls, the high-power teleporters always do! Tming: Contemporaneous with the other teleporters.		Function: Pushes one or more robots untill they hit a wall or leave the board (so your robot could get moved up to 12 squares max.). Like ordinary pushers, it does not damage robots. Timing: In active register phases (indicated by the numbers) in the Boards elements move-Sequence.

Jack-In-The-Box		Lava Pit		Light Barrier
Function: Slings a robot 6 squares away in a direction indicated by the numbers. In the fifth register phase, the robot is catapulted straight up and lands on the same box/square again. Optional: The robot receives 2 points of damage due to the rough landing (comparable to the Big Jet-option). Timing: Jack pops out in each and every register phase in the Board elements move-Sequence.		Function: Hot lava erupts from the depth of these pits and damages robots.Robots in the 4 adjancent squares around the pit receive 1 point of damage. EXPERT RULE: The lava damages robots in all 8 squares surrounding the pit. Timing: Lava bursts out in the indicated register phases in the Robots move-Sequence. You can find the original Lava-Pit-element on spindisc´s site.		Function: Turns the green flip belts.If one or more robots moved through a light barrier in the current register phase, the flip belts move in the opposite direction than last register phase. If a light barrier is interrupted constantly by a robot ending its move in it (or turning, ...), the flip belts do not move at all! They start again, when all light barriers are free again (of course in the opposite direction they ended one or more register phases ago).		Timing:Whole turn (all five register phases) FAQ-answers: All light barriers control all flip belts, no single barrier controls a certain belt (we tried that, but it makes things very complicated, if you design some boards, please mail us!) A light barrier is no laser, robots remain unharmed in any way when moving through or ending their move in a light barrier.

Mag-Lock		Mirror		Napalm Flamer
Function: Robot moving onto or over an active MagLock end their movement and loose any remaining motion. Robots on an active Maglock cannot move, programmed movement card(s) are ignored. Locked robots cannot be pushed and are not considered to be flying. If a robot is pushed onto an active MagLock it is locked and cannot be pushed any further. A locked robot may still use any weapon or any other option cards except cards that enable the robot to move away from the MagLock. Timing: Occurs during the Robots Move segment of the register phase. Spindisc´s original element used here.		Function: Robots execute their program mirrorwise, as long as they are looking into a mirror (no matter at wich distance). Rotate right becomes Rotate left, Back-up becomes a Move 1 (foreward) and a Move 3 becomes a tripple Back-up! Only U-turns remain the same. Timing: Effect occurs in all Robots move-Sequences in which the robot has a mirror in his LoS (so your robot may be pushed by another robot with a higher priority move, and suddenly your robot has a mirror in his LoS and suddenly executes his program card mirrorwise!) If you still look into the mirror in the Resolve Laser-fire Sequence, your robot fires at his own mirror image and the mirror reflects this shot to YOU for 1 p.o.d.!		Function: Work exactly like ordinary flamers, but robots keep on burning and receive 1 point of damage at the beginning of every subsequent register phase until they step in or through a Puddle or water. If an already burning robot steps into or through another Napalm Flamer, the damage adds up! Timing: Like original flamers.

Padded squares & -walls		Piston
Function: A robot ending his move on a rubber square cannot stop immediately, it is bouncing again the amount of squares he just moved (unless he hits a hard wall or normal ground). With a Move 2 he moves 4 squares, priority remains that of the Move 2. Robots also standing on rubber squares are pushed all the way with him. Robots moving/bouncing on rubber squares and hitting a rubber wall move into the wall and then bounce back on the square they came from. This counts as a 1-square-move! The rest of his move the robot is bouncing backwards away from the wall Timing: Affects robot movement in the Robots move-Sequence.		Function: Pistons have two positions: up or down. All pistons of the same colour always move into the same position. A down piston is treated like normal ground. A robot entering a square with an up piston pushes it down, forcing pistons of the other colour to move up! A robot in a square with an upcoming piston slides down into an adjacent square in the direction indicated by the arrow on the piston (without rotating of course) Timing: Happens on the fly during robot- and board elements move-sequences! Most likely (and designed) to happen several times during one register phase!

Puddle		Radio Beam
Function: Puddles are too shallow to slow down robots´movement like water. Their only affect burning robots, which get extinguished when moving into or through a puddle. Timing: Always		Function: Robots moving into or through a Radio Beam receive a remote move, which they have to use in their program for the next turn. Robots do not get damaged by Radio Beams (but can receive up to 2 remote programs per register phase). The remote program is changed randomly every turn. We recommend to use damage-tokens (upside-down) to keep track of the distributed remote programs. Timing: Like flamers, but active in all 5 register phases.

Repeater		Reset Site
Function: A robots ending their move on a Repeater must execute its current program card once again, if it is a MOVEMENT card (Move 1, 2, 3 or Back up). If several robots are repeating their movement cards, they are executed in normal priority order. If the repetition let robots end on another Repeater, another round of repeated maneuvers will occur. Timing: Occurs after the Robots Move segment before entering the next segment (and until no robot with a movement card in its active register is on a Repeater). Spindisc´s original element used here.		Function: Like on Repair sites, robots can store there archieve here (but neither repair nor exchange/gain options). In addition, at the end of phases 1-4, the robot may choose to replace his next programmed register (2.-5.) with a card of his choice (that is still in pile). A robot ending on a reset site at the end of the fifth register phase gains one program card of his choice for the next turn (but replacing one of his random cards - an undamaged robot receives 8 usually dealt cards in addition to his free choice-card) Timing: Allways (like Repair sites and Chop shops)

Rotating conveyor belts

Function: Every register phase, these belts rotate in position indicated by the numbers on the belt. Then they behave exactly like the normal belts of their colour. The arrows are used to visualize the various directions, the belt may move to, the actual direction changes each register phase.

Timing: Belts rotate in position at the beginning of the Board Elements Move-Sequence.
This is our version of a belt transporting robots in more than one direction (which is probably the most thought about idea for a board element). There are lots of elements with similar effects!

Rotating room
Function: This time, the entire room rotates 90° CW every register phase. Rooms without robots in them do not rotate! Timing: Right before gears rotate in the Board Elements Move-Sequence.

Soporific Gas		Sluice
Function:A robot ending his move in a soporific gas cloud immediately falls asleep.While sleeping, treat him as powered down (regenerating damage).The robot keeps his unexecuted movement cards of the current turn, because after five register phases he awakes (more or less) refreshed to execute the rest of his program. A robot ending after the second register phase in a gas cloud, wakes up in the third register phase of the next turn and executes his third, fourth and fifth program card (remaining from the previous turn) like nothing had happened. Timing: Affects robot movement in the Robot move-Sequence (in several turns).		Function: Timing:

Soap		Spikey Wall
Function: Robots standing on soap will have their rotate cards doubled. (U-Turns become 360s, normal rotate cards become U-Turns) Robots executing Movement cards on soap will have their first square of movement negated. Timing: Always		Function: Robots running against a spikey wall receive one p.o.d. Timing: Always

Start
Funktion: Defined and numbered starting positions for Race Track-boards (and the Arena 2000-board). After the race started, treat the square as a normal ground square. Timing: At the very beginning of the game.

Tilted Ground
Funktion: Every robot attempting to end its move on the sand slips down one square (without changing the direction he is looking in) In the corners of the crater, the robot slips down diagonaly. Timing: Affects robot movement in the Robot move sequence as well as in the Board elements move-Sequence.

Trapdoor

Function: The figure indicates the number of robots, the trapdoor can carry (in its 4 / 9 squares). If one more robot tries to end his move on it, he sets of the trapdoor: It immediately opens (killing all other robots on it) and the robot ends his move being the only one on the (again) closed trapdoor. Trapdoors can open/close several times in one register phase depending on the robots moves and their priorities!

Timing: May occur in the Robots move-Sequence as well as in the Board elements move-Sequence.

Turrent		Ventilator
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX		Function: Every robot ending its move in the line of a ventilator, gets blown away. The number of squares it is moved is equal to the number of ventilators that are connected in parallel (1 to 3). Timing: Ventilators are active in the indicated register phases in the board elements move-sequence.