Cynicaster

Regarding DIPs, I think NORMAL = SLOW, I was just using different terminology. I can't imagine there being a slower setting that what we're using, that would be dreadful. Do I get to pick bonus game because I won Track and Field? Cool... I just posted a list of games in the requests thread (which, by the way, I verified that each and every one should meet the competition criteria before posting them), so I'll just grab one from that list. I've got several shooters in that list but since we're already doing Tiger Heli this month I'll go with something entirely different. Let's do Fast Lane... it's a totally unknown game but I'd urge everybody to give it a try because once you get the hang of it it's quite addictive. Ever play Dodge 'Em on Atari 2600? It's a bit like that but with changing mazes and Gradius-style powerups.

I think a lot of these are too obscure to ever get voted in but it's worth a try: Bosconian Block Hole Eggs Fast Lane Mat Mania Trog Nightmare in the Dark Mustache Boy Solar Fox Galaga ‘88 Xevious Magical Crystals Metro-Cross Horizon Black Widow Dragon Spirit Gunlock Cybattler

I was thinking the same thing. I remember playing Track and Field at Galloping Ghost about 2 years ago. My MAME cabinet has micro-switch buttons and I believe the real machine has leaf spring buttons that purportedly make the really fast speeds possible with the right technique.

I was brewing some beer last night and had a chance to get a few games of Tiger Heli in while the kettle was boiling, so I’ll kick off the party: 74,810 Pretty weak entry... I only played about 5-6 credits but I was really struggling to put something together. The game was making me feel like I've never played a shooter before in my life. I think the “slow” dipswitch setting is really adding to the challenge here. A standard technique in shooter games that have tanks on the ground is you get out in front their bullets and move in an arc from in front of the tanks to behind them to take them out. This works because the tanks’ turrets rotate too slowly to keep up with you. In this game, the chopper moves so slowly that the tanks’ turrets can get you if you try to sneak behind them. Guess I’ll have to come up with some new ideas. I remember M.O. and I used to see this game at a local bowling alley arcade, but I never really got into it much at the time. I think I am more familiar with the NES version, which is a competent port if you can get past the flicker.

78,470 (3rd score on table) Wow, I talked about having the "game of my life" on my 75k score, this one was something else. I was on fire; I beat my long-standing personal bests on 100m, long jump, and hurdles, all in the same game. I think through playing in this competition I've really improved my button mashing technique, which has enabled me to make steady improvements in score. You need to have great timing on when to hit the jump button, but ultimately I think it is ability to run fast that sets up your chances at higher scores. @M.O. - the 2k bonus on javelin is obtained by hitting the bird twice, for 1000 pts each (I assume you're familiar with how to hit the bird?). On events with 3 tries, you only receive points based on your best try. So, in javelin you can use two of your tries to skewer the bird for 2k, then reserve the third try to get a decent toss for qualifying and points. This approach is "worth it" so long as you get a decent toss relative to your usual. For example, if your typical "real" throw is around 85m, and you manage to get close to that, then it's probably worth it to go for the birds because you need to beat 85m by quite a bit to get more than 2k extra. There is a similar trick on high jump. If you purposely duff the first two attempts and then end up qualifying, you get your usual score plus a bonus of 1000. Since you get 500 for each successful jump beyond qualifying, then the only way this one works in your favour is if you come within 1 jump of your "typical" performance. For example, if you are normally good for 2.40, then if you sacrifice your first 2 tries to get the bonus, then the only way you come out ahead is if you manage to go all the way up to 2.39 on your last remaining try, because if you only get to 2.38 then you are pretty much sacrificing 1000 to get 1000. If you get less than 2.38, you lose out. Personally, I don't go for this bonus because I am not consistent enough at high jump.

I had the best game of my life and still came up over 2000 short so I called it quits. One of the problems with this game, at least for me, is I can only play 2-3 rounds at a time before my performance starts to trail off due to fatigue in my fingers. 75,330 (third score in list)

Back on top (for now). 73,650 (score #3) Just before I got this score, I had the best game of my life in progress—I nailed new #1 and #2 records on 100m, long jump, javelin, and hurdles all in one game, probably putting me on pace to hit well over 75k, then I duffed it up on the hammer throw by throwing two into the cage and one out of bounds. So frustrating…

The 92k is a saved score achieved outside this competition using different settings.

71,390 (3rd score on the list in the photo)

From what I understand, the absolute best speed is achieved by ensuring that you alternate button presses between the two run buttons. But not only does that take great skill to do quickly, if you accidentally hit both buttons simultaneously it’s actually detrimental to your speed. The latter reason is why some of the pros at this game focus on hitting one of the run buttons as quickly as possible, to avoid inadvertently hitting both at the same time and losing speed. Personally, I still find the best results by going nuts on both buttons, but keeping up speed is tough. Just so we’re clear here—I assume we’re disallowing the use of any “foreign objects” to speed up button presses? For example, it is possible to use pencils, combs, electric toothbrushes, plastic cups, auto-fire, etc. to actuate the buttons and achieve superhuman speed. If it’s in question, my vote is to mandate disallowing such techniques, to keep the playing field as level as possible.

I've also got legacy scores on my board that used the wrong settings. My best so far with the settings for this competition is the 4th entry on the list. 68,550

Ha, no, I wasn't naive enough to think my score would actually stick.

146,450

Small (and ultimately pointless) improvement: 64,050

I still play all the time, just sometimes I prefer to play "whatever" rather than a specific game. Get well my friend!

Nice run! And I agree with you... the rivets and cement factory stages can be brutal as the game progresses. At least on the barrel stage you have some control over the barrels, and the elevator stage becomes the easiest of the 4 once you figure out how to manage the springs. With the rivets and factory, the enemies start to get really fast and, aside from a few small ways of "influencing" them, there is no good way to control how they behave. For the real pros of DK, it is their ability to consistently survive those screens that I find most impressive.

IMO, the tragedy of Zaxxon is that the only thing separating it from classic arcade greatness is one poorly-executed space battle sequence. The game could have been a masterpiece, if it weren't for the pretty much unplayable deep space section. I've spent a few hours over the years playing this game for online competitions and such, and I've got a pretty good handle on managing the controls in the axonometric view when flying over the bases, but when it comes to the deep space sequence, I STILL have no feel whatsoever for my altitude and position relative to the enemies and thus no way to target or avoid them with any kind of purpose. After all the times I've played Zaxxon, my strategy in that screen is essentially the same as it was the first time I played it; i.e., to move the joystick around constantly, mash the fire button, and hope for the best. In other words, my survival pretty much comes down to chance; I may gradually improve my skills at navigating the bases, but then the space screen comes up, at which point I might as well put on a blindfold and let the game rob me of my lives, because that's what's going to happen anyway. 49,200

The first thing I thought when I was introduced to this game a few years ago was that the controls feel like they’d be better-suited to some kind of analog controller, or perhaps a trackball. Instead, you use a conventional joystick to “accelerate” your guy by holding in a certain direction. Slower speeds can be achieved by just tapping in the direction you want to go and letting Bubbles slide. I bet it took a lot of play testing and fine tuning during development to get the right balance. It takes a lot of getting used to, and I can’t even imagine attempting it with a keyboard. :0 You can definitely see the family resemblance to Robotron, not only in the sound effects, graphical effects, and score table, but in the claustrophobic feel of the gameplay. 126,220

442,000 This game is tough. Not convinced it's a step forward from 1943 in any way.

Monster score from M.O. in 3... 2... 1....

Wow, FINALLY my first GOTM title.

261,500

127,435

I looked at the rules as-written, and the only rule I see that deals with credits is rule #2 that reads as follows: “Only use 1 credit per game || Continues are NOT allowed” I think in a court of law, the jury would find that MO technically followed the rule of “only using 1 credit per game” because it would be easy to demonstrate beyond all doubt that it is not possible to use more than 1 credit to generate any kind of score advantage in Donkey Kong. This fact holds true regardless of dipswitch settings, and regardless of what value sits at the memory location corresponding to credits. In keeping with the court of law analogy, this is as airtight an alibi as one could hope for. Photos are specified as the standard of proof in this forum, which strikes a good balance between convenience and evidence (which I like, by the way). I think we all know that there are ways to cheat in MAME that would not be caught by photo verification (cheat.dat, save states, etc.). If one were inclined to cheat, I think they would use one of these methods, and not a method that manifests itself in the photo evidence. This point is rather moot though, because as already mentioned, there is no way to use 2, 5, 10, or 25 credits to cheat a score in Donkey Kong US Set 1—the game program just doesn’t allow it. I didn’t witness the score take place in person, but if it’s worth anything, I’ve known the guy my whole life and I would bet the farm that the score is legit, even though I stand to lose the top spot if it gets much higher. I recall some time ago I had a submission denied because my photo only showed the top score stored in the game, and the initials “CYN” were not visible in the photo. I eventually followed up with an additional photo that contained the required proof, and the score was entered. I doubt anybody here thought I was cheating, but I played loosey-goosey with the evidence and it made complete sense to deny the submission because it was “technically possible” that I could have been running a scam. But this is different, because there is no such hole in the provided evidence. I know rules are rules, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the spirit of those rules. Are the rules there to provide a general-purpose baseline of conduct to promote fairness across all possible games? Or are they there to be enforced come hell or high water, even if it can be proven that a minor “infraction on a technicality” provides absolutely no unfair scoring advantage?

I'm afraid you're going to steal my crown soon... Regarding the Level 4+ springs, yeah, they're still a b*tch. Learning "what to do" is the easy part, actually executing it takes practice, practice, practice. I find the only way I'm able to do it is to keep my eyes on the first bounce of the spring after I make a run for it, to make sure it's not a long spring. Problem is, I can't look in two places at once so that means I have to run "blind" towards and up the ladder. If I misjudge the point at which I have to start pressing "up" on the stick, that often ends in death (although sometimes I'm able to recover and try again). I figure I'm probably good for a 70-75% success rate on the springs now. Some days, I breeze through it with complete confidence. Others, I can't buy my way through it without dying at least once... it's weird. The cool thing is, if I'm having a "good day" then the elevator stage is pretty much a freebie because the only real challenge is that last bit.