It is a bot that has not met with much success in the arena. Many would say it is a bot that has yet to reach its full potential, and still has a chance at success. Whatever has been said about Shovearound 2, though, designer panicattacky2k is still proud of it.
I do think it's my best design, and it's my favorite as well.Shovearound 2 is a lifter bot with wicked skirting around it, but it didn't always start as such. As the name indicates, there was a Shovearound before a Shovearound 2, and in the case of the pride of Team Hitmen, sometimes necessity is the mother of invention.
There wasn't really an inspiration. Viper13Black had told me about Vengeance, and I really enjoyed [Fantasy Robot Rumble], so I decided to throw some [Robot Arena 2] bots together, including a remade version of the lightweight I used in FRR, Novastorm, which Viper converted into CADs. Then I thought "Now what am I going to do for three more robots?" After a lot of thinking, I decided a shover might do well for the [middleweight] class. Thus Shovearound was born.And not just a shover, but one with lifting spikes, reminiscent of the original Vlad The Impaler.
What I couldn't decide was what the lifter would be. I originally thought about a Biohazard arm but didn't think it would work too well on Shovearound's chassis. Then I thought about spikes for lifting, and thought "Nothing's wrong with these, plus I think they fit the design well...spikes it is." And so, Shovearound was given spikes.And so came about a sleek, menacing-looking middleweight.
Though sleek and mean-looking, this bot was not without fault, chiefly that it was neither invertible nor capable of righting itself, and it did lose by being flipped in an early fight, ironically by another bot that also was not capable of running inverted.
When I read Fish Of Doom's review, that was when I first realized Shovearound's glaring weakness. Originally I wasn't too worried about it, under the logic that there weren't a ton of flippers in the MW division. And then Warper inverts it. I slapped myself on the head. I never even thought about why I didn't make it invertible, but hey, that's what happens when you rush things.Shovearound broke even in Advanced Robot Combat Vengeance, going 2-2. Though the loss against Warper was the only humiliation suffered on account of design flaws, they were flaws that could not, would not, and did not go ignored. This time, the design was not rushed, and definitely included more thinking.
How could I improve this thing? Invertability, of course, but what else? Surely that can't be the only thing wrong. Maybe I should make it lower, it did get flipped pretty easily. Hinged skirts were pretty much the perfect idea. And then the spikes...they were pretty flimsey. A rack would be much better. And what about the stats? Was 5 weapon for a lifter necessary? Definitely not. And 6 speed for it's design? Really now. So a few changes were made to the stats as the finishing touches, as well as a very sexy cad and logo made by Diablo666, and voila. A design far improved on the original. Plus it's pretty to look at. Shovearound 2 was also made a heavyweight and entered into American Influence: Naturally Assumed Destruction. Though as the lot of Team Hitmen seemed to be at the time, it received tough draws, first against eventual runner-up Upthrust XP, then against Babaganoush. After a fallout with the Advanced Robot Combat community, Team Hitmen disappeared, and coupled with the complete erasure of the headquarters of that community, the greatness of Shovearound 2 seemingly ended, dreams of the pretty bot trampled to naught.
Luckily, it has proven to not be the end. With a new headquarters erected, and a new interest in the role playing games, Shovearound 2 has been given new life, which is not only a move of new interest, but also a proffering of the olive branch to extinquish old hostilities.
At first I had decided not to in an attempt to avoid any further problems. Then I thought, "You know, Revolution's REALLY short on entrants. The least I can do for these guys for taking my return so well is re-entering." And re-entered he has. Once again, Shovearound 2 is on Team Hitmen's roster, and once again, it is a middleweight. The future looks bright for this bot, and panicattacky2k looks for the fun that'll come about with his pet design.
To be honest, I do think it's my best design, and it's my favorite as well. It's very fun to RP with, too... I don't remember a lot of my [roleplays] word by word, but I do remember being proud of myself for my RP for the AI2 finals. 