I've been thinking about where ACL can go next. Full 3D dog fighting in space would be cool, but represents a huge step change in difficulty and rules. I think that holding ACL matches on planets with a reduced rule set would make ground based combat more interesting and provide a smoother transition to art-to-air engagements. All the current ACL bots would still be viable, perhaps with some tweaks for longer range accuracy, so any bots built for the new format would have something to compete against immediately.
The rules could probably be cut back a lot, just keeping the parts limits and some restrictions on homing projectiles/suicide attacks. All types of ground, hover and flying bots would be allowed providing they stay within the gravitational field of the planet. Almost all types of weapons, including lasers, grenades, mines, missiles and plasma cannons are allowed, with some limitations on homing projectiles.
Overall, planetary ACL should be much faster and more dynamic, with less of the point-blank cannon spam that happens currently.
Any ideas/suggestions?