[Release] Compo4all MAME - ladder/scoreboard competition for classic arcade games :)


In Microbes, it sends your global score (total stars for Tutorial and the 3 Microbe level packs). The score is persistent (once you beat a level, you keep those stars forever), not like an arcade game where each session starts from zero points. So maybe the monthly scores are not that interesting; just having the "All Time" scoreboard is enough.
 
YES!  Second place in Mini Slug.  Prolly wont last for long, but I'll settle for it.
 
YES!  Second place in Mini Slug.  Prolly wont last for long, but I'll settle for it.
My soon is first. He as made a good run, for a test one ;) . You mae a good score too. t least beat the first mission, probably loose at the Squeady Boss ?
 
I can probably do more game "c4a" enhanced. Arkanoid & Airball can be done easily, in the same way as MiniSlug.

I can also look at SuperTuxKart and add something similar to Microbes!, by sending the number of star in the Story Mode.

For Cannonball, it's a bit more tricky, as I'll probably have to create a special version that fixed difficulties & most options, so all score compare fairly.

Does some of you have some preference on a game to be c4a enhanced?

I have a preference to SuperTuxKart, so I'll probably work on that.
 
Tried king of dragons a couple of times, it seems that if you continue your score carries on.  Only, tried this a couple of times, so not sure if it stops at a certain level. 
 
In the future, I may make it so you can't insert coins (just get one ....) -- but that might be bloody annoying too ;) So not sure what to do with KoD.. so far, just leaving it in :)

jeff

Uh oh .. pretty soon we'll seen milkshake to add a 'C4A enhanced!' flag to the repo, and us all to add a flag to PXML ... and then query the repo for C4A enhanced apps ... -> leads to madness!
 
Uh oh .. pretty soon we'll seen milkshake to add a 'C4A enhanced!' flag to the repo, and us all to add a flag to PXML ... and then query the repo for C4A enhanced apps ... -> leads to madness!
I've read this sentence 3 times and to me it means...................nothing.(Don't even know if it's a good thing or bad)  :D  

ptitSeb seems to think it's 'sweeeet' though so here's hoping it's a good thing 
 
Uh oh .. pretty soon we'll seen milkshake to add a 'C4A enhanced!' flag to the repo, and us all to add a flag to PXML ... and then query the repo for C4A enhanced apps ... -> leads to madness!
I've read this sentence 3 times and to me it means...................nothing.(Don't even know if it's a good thing or bad)  :D

ptitSeb seems to think it's 'sweeeet' though so here's hoping it's a good thing 
That means you have an easy way to find out wich games use the C4A functionnalities.

That also means that the C4A will be some "Pandora" function ! Compete against the Pandora comunity, how do you compare to other Pandora player around the world in the game you like (if the game you like is c4a enhanced of course).
 
hat means you have an easy way to find out wich games use the C4A functionnalities.

That also means that the C4A will be some "Pandora" function ! Compete against the Pandora comunity, how do you compare to other Pandora player around the world in the game you like (if the game you like is c4a enhanced of course).
Ahhh, thanks for clarifying.
 
Tried king of dragons a couple of times, it seems that if you continue your score carries on.  Only, tried this a couple of times, so not sure if it stops at a certain level. 
WOW, I never even tried that on any of these games. I always thought games scores reset when you continued for this very reason. That must have been an oversight on the programming end, as even the earliest games that allow for "Continues" make sure to reset your score to zero. Then it doesn't matter, as your at a higher level of the game and the difficulty is up, so your chances of getting a higher score is slim and none. These are for sure the issues that need to be corrected before a game is even put on Compo.

Chris
 
WOW, I never even tried that on any of these games. I always thought games scores reset when you continued for this very reason. That must have been an oversight on the programming end, as even the earliest games that allow for "Continues" make sure to reset your score to zero. Then it doesn't matter, as your at a higher level of the game and the difficulty is up, so your chances of getting a higher score is slim and none. These are for sure the issues that need to be corrected before a game is even put on Compo.

Chris
Just having a quick read around, it seems the scoring is tied to the leveling process.  So it makes sense to let it continue, but it's just an odd way of doing it.
 
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WOW, I never even tried that on any of these games. I always thought games scores reset when you continued for this very reason. That must have been an oversight on the programming end, as even the earliest games that allow for "Continues" make sure to reset your score to zero. Then it doesn't matter, as your at a higher level of the game and the difficulty is up, so your chances of getting a higher score is slim and none. These are for sure the issues that need to be corrected before a game is even put on Compo.

Chris
Just having a quick read around, it seems the scoring is tied to the leveling process.  So it makes sense to let it continue, but it's just an odd way of doing it.
Yeah, really odd. Oh well, I guess they had their reasons.

Chris
 
There's quite a few other games from that genre and period that allow continues for cash like that!
 
So I think the key to making the score significant for the purposes of competition in games like that is to restrict the  number of continues allowed in competition games,  though I'm not sure how you would practically limit that.  

Could MAME be modified to (when launched with the right flags) add a specified number of credits on game load and disable the

ability to add more without restarting the emulator?   

- Neelix
 
So I think the key to making the score significant for the purposes of competition in games like that is to restrict the  number of continues allowed in competition games,  though I'm not sure how you would practically limit that.  

Could MAME be modified to (when launched with the right flags) add a specified number of credits on game load and disable the

ability to add more without restarting the emulator?   

- Neelix
Whilst I understand what you're trying to achieve, but all it will take is to restart the game to have another go, so what's the point?
 
The point is to force a restart with a score reset as opposed to a continue where you can continue to build on your previous score.    I wouldn't bother to use such a feature for something like galaxian,  where every credit starts you at zero,  but it does make sense for a game like KoD.  If the use of the credit locking feature is controlled by a command line option then the c4a launcher could specify it or not on a game by game basis.    

That being said I think it's worthwhile allowing certain number of continues so as to keep player frustration to a minimum,  so if you provide say 5 credits via the launcher,  the player can continue that many times before the credit runs out.  Since everyone has the same 5 continue limit though it puts everyone one on an equal footing as far as the high score table is concerned.

- Neelix
 
I've mentioned a few times.. I have considered putting in a one-coin limit, which is to say.. the emu comes up, and a timer comes up a minute later that auto-coins once, say; or maybe the coiner button onyl works... once, something like that.

I hesitated to do that day-zero since I figured it would be more annoying than anything, having to exit the emu qafter each game.. takes the fun out of it; so.. on the fence; might be besto ttake KoD right out of c4a :/

jeff
 
That's where allowing a set number (>1) of coins comes in handy...   The player can either continue a few times or play from start a few times (If thats what they prefer) before having to restart the emulator.

-- Neelix
 
I've mentioned a few times.. I have considered putting in a one-coin limit, which is to say.. the emu comes up, and a timer comes up a minute later that auto-coins once, say; or maybe the coiner button onyl works... once, something like that.

I hesitated to do that day-zero since I figured it would be more annoying than anything, having to exit the emu qafter each game.. takes the fun out of it; so.. on the fence; might be besto ttake KoD right out of c4a :/

jeff
Yeah, I think removing games that function like this would be the best choice overall. I agree that having to reset after each game would suck, and it just seems like to much effort to make it work fairly. There are waaaaayyyyyyy to many classic games out there that work properly for a "High Score" competition, than spending time trying to correct the issue in a game like this. My 2 Cents!

Chris
 
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