It is worth noting that an 11w motor only has 2.1 nm torque with a 100 RPM (red) cartridge.
When you equip an 11w motor with a 200 RPM (green) cartridge, it has closer to 1.0-1.1 nm torque (roughly double the torque of a 200 RPM 5.5w motor).
worst manual vex has ever seen why did you have to ruin this game for so many people
Ok, originally, I thought this game was horrendous, but Iâm getting more open to it. However, I think there are still some things that just donât sit right with me.
There is one clear talking point about the game, which is the 55w motor limit. I think while it is ok, and wonât actually make much difference, it still kind of sucks. Many people have different opinions as to why it is bad, but my thinking is that it just discourages creativity. If people want a 66w, let them build a 66w. If people realise itâs better to build 55w or 44w, let them figure that out themselves. No PTO also discourages creativity.
After checking and reading the game manual, Iâm even more disappointed, for the same reason, but there is also another talking point, the prohibition of colouring parts. This is where I start to get annoyed, as theyâre discouraging creativity, (AGAIN), but it also just seems like vex wants to profit. I donât know whether this was a factor or not, but by making drivetrains 55w, Vex profits, because people are forced to buy 5.5w motors. By not allowing coloured parts, they force hundreds of teams to buy new parts.
It just seems fishy to me. Theyâre taking the easiest, most profitable way out of any problems they had, and discouraging creativity in the process. At least that is how I see it. Any thoughts?
Welp now weâve got to throw away our spray painted parts. (Thankfully we only started spray painting this season).
the amount of times someone is going to knock over a tall stack on accidentâŚ
aggressive sanding might work?
I think that VEX is trying to expose people to more diverse ideas. The past couple of games have virtually forced 6 motor gear drives. I think VEX is trying to diversify more parts of the robot. I do agree with the pto banning limiting creativity,
Why vex, why must you 
They probably want us to use more mecanum and x-drive drivetrains
This is my first year I am actually doing the robotics competitions, I was so hyped for it. I did watch it a lot last year and went to a few competitions in person and got to help and interview players. I also take many robotics classes and are really familiar with the coding, I almost coded for a team going to states last year but had to fall out last second. This game compared to last years game seams way less competitive and challenging. Now I am up for the challenging part but why canât we have the same competitive fun. Last years was perfect I mean PERFECT. Hopefully next year will be better. But we donât know exactly yet, they are still modifying it and we may not know how fun it is until later.
If next year is not a shooting game I will lose my mind
Hello I just wanted to ask a few questions on behalf of the community and myself pertaining game manual rules
<R23> a)
Can you explain the intention behind <R23> a) âAnodizing, painting, dyeing or changing the color of any legal VEX part is prohibited.â Me as well as many others are frustrated with this rule. I understand that the GDC likely knew there would be a heavy amount of push back (no pun intended) on a rule like this as it may be a hard rule for many teams to accommodate as many teams already have anodized or spray painted parts as well as dyed parts such as wheels and gears. This would require teams to either buy completely new parts that arenât dyed for wheels and gears (as I am not aware of any ways to really get rid of the dye and even if you do this rule as it is written, now seems to not allow any modifications to any parts at any times even if it is undone) or to sand down, scrape off, or use some other solution to get rid of any paint or anodized layers that may be on the parts. Fortunately for our organization this isnât an issue, but Iâm not speaking for our organization as we never dyed, anodized, or spray painted any parts, itâs for the community. As you will likely see there is going to be a significant amount of posts expressing their disdain for this ruling. To emphasize this point, community members have begun to sign a petition asking for the removal of this rule. I also donât see any reason why this should be put in place, is there worries about people using different materials other than steel and aluminum or other non-vex structural pieces? Not to mention that there are some other rules that seem much more open such as allowing cameras and LEDs. Anyways if you are going to continue with this rule we urge you to at least sell painted or anodized parts as for many teams it expresses their creativity and is an important for many teams.
Endgame
On top of this there are some discontinuities in rulings for the game, in certain sections (i.e pg 14 in the letter from the GDC) the Endgame is said to be 20 seconds and in other sections (i.e pg B4 in the Glossary of Terms) the Endgame is said to be the last 10 seconds.
<R11> b)
There are also some other questions from other rulings that community members have brought up, in b) âMotors that are used in Subsystem 1 cannot provide power to any mechanism that is not a part of Subsystem 1â (and it goes into more detail in sub-contention i) I understand the 55w rule for the drivetrain, but limiting PTOs and other similar mechanisms seems to only limit creativity and innovation, such restrictions seem completely unnecessary and in some cases almost harmful. Why disallow this, if you think there is too much wattage to play around with and it makes designs to easy to make with little innovation, why not just reduce the total wattage limit?
Other Miscellaneous Questions and Comments
As I explained other community members have been expressing questions about the rules, here is an example.
I would assume that they banned colored parts because teams were using magnesium c-channels, and the paint was making it undetectable. However, thereâs no way many people did this.
ok i am seriously thinking about quitting. this last year was pretty good for us we learned more than any other year i was so hyped to start building on this year because it looked fun and different. but seeing that painted c-channel and died gears are now prohibited is having me question things a bit. is it too late for someone to make a robotics league that is like the last 2-3 years of vex that people actually enjoyed. custom plates, painted robots, RGB under glow, everything⌠the new plastic rule was annoying but this is has gone too far. maybe if they make a rule like if you join vex after 2025-20226 season you arenât allowed to use painted parts so things slowly die out.
Yeah, the 55W limit for Subsystem 1 is gone. Rule says thereâs no restriction on the number of motors VEX U robots can use, so youâre good to go.
Rule sets a hard 55W limit for motors in Subsystem 1 and explicitly bans power-takeoff (PTO) mechanisms. Rule also prohibits any painting, anodizing, or dyeing of VEX parts. The manual justifies the restriction on coloring and decorations by stating they cannot be designed to mimic scoring objects or intentionally interfere with opponent Vision or Color sensors. The overall game philosophy shifts focus toward teamwork and stacking rather than high-power defensive disruption. These changes are official for the season and intended to keep sensor-based gameplay fair for everyone.
I am feeling mildly agitated by some of the negative comments.
I joined VRC in high school, which was a bit late. I didnât know much initially, and I was put on the spot to code during a competition because I was excited to use my block-based coding skills. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in the code mid-competition, and I remember thinking it would work. Several matches later, after our team leader was unavailable, I realized I wasnât using the competition template. I corrected it, but we were already at the bottom of the leaderboard. One night, I read the game manual. At the state competition, the pressure was high because I saw other robots while we only had a clawbot. My team was stubborn but fun, and we didnât use sensors for autonomous or skills, claiming we didnât need them. Before the Worldâs interview stage, I spoke with other teams and learned about odometry. I am still bothered by the fact that we thought a clawbot could win. My school is splitting into three teams, which is good, but I wasnât chosen as a âleaderâ by the coach. I have a passion for robotics, but I wasnât able to fully express it. So there should be nothing stopping you guys from doing what you like.my team
itâs just for drivetrain, that might be a tad absurd otherwise
yeah this is actually atrocious. this game is already boring, taking away the counterplay (no descoring) and with the single game piece possession limit this just makes this game so uninteresting to play and watch, which imo is what sets VEX apart from other robotics leagues. i donât even mind the 55W drive limit but these rules are brain dead. banning painted/dyed parts is taking even more fun out of VEX, and is just a cash grab to make teams that have painted bots re-buy all of their materials. also how are the refs ever supposed to enforce the 18" limit in the middle section??? just making it so much worse for everybody lmao
Yeah I guess, but I canât see how that is their main objective in this, they already forced less powerful drivetrains due to the way they designed the games anyway. The 55-watt limit isnât really doing anything, except, again, getting people to buy more motors.