Things you have noticed since playing on Compo4All...

[DrCJBoduma]

In no particular order

Flying shark is so much harder than I remember it - I swear I used to be good at this game, I can barely survive 1 minute nowadays.

Frogger + donkey kong are really great games - I never  played them much as a kid, but really enjoy them as an adult

For the games I played far too much as a teen, you never lose the skills completely.  Wonderboy and bubble bobble, I still remember where the bonuses and little tricks after all these years.

Some people are extremely good at certain games, I have no idea how they get those scores.  Mr Do, bombjack etc unbelievable

anyone else got any?

 

[Mr_Loon]

People with Wonderboy as their Avatar tend to be pretty good at Wonderboy

There are not as many Pandora people into competing on Mame as I expected

It still gives me a buzz to be top of a leaderboard after all these years

 

[Timstertoo]

People with Wonderboy as their Avatar tend to be pretty good at Wonderboy


There are not as many Pandora people into competing on Mame as I expected


It still gives me a buzz to be top of a leaderboard after all these years

I'm hopefully under a month(ish) away of getting my Pandora and I promise to spend way too much time on trying to knock people of top positions. I was borderline ready to ragequit the whole Pandora thing when this popped up and I've ever since wanted it more than ever.

 

[DrCJBoduma]

People with Wonderboy as their Avatar tend to be pretty good at Wonderboy


There are not as many Pandora people into competing on Mame as I expected


It still gives me a buzz to be top of a leaderboard after all these years

I'm hopefully under a month(ish) away of getting my Pandora and I promise to spend way too much time on trying to knock people of top positions. I was borderline ready to ragequit the whole Pandora thing when this popped up and I've ever since wanted it more than ever.

I've had this avatar for so long I'd strangely somehow forgotten it was wonderboy

I agree it is an excellent piece of software and thought it would be everyones cup of tea in these circles, strange how only the same few names seems to be involved.

@timstertoo - It is worth the wait - and it brings the old competitive edge back into arcade gaming

 

[levi]

Just timing, I think. For me DraStic's been taking all my game time since that got released. Although also, to be fair, I did get a bit dispirited by how good some people are at games I thought I didn't suck at. And now there are too many games for me to focus on one.


That said I have played some of the supported games recently. I just played it in PanMAME instead because the network requirement of C4A is a bit onerous given my wireless coverage. If the planned work to make it save scores made when offline comes through, I might be more likely to launch things in c4amame.

 

[DrCJBoduma]

Just timing, I think. For me DraStic's been taking all my game time since that got released. Although also, to be fair, I did get a bit dispirited by how good some people are at games I thought I didn't suck at. And now there are too many games for me to focus on one.


That said I have played some of the supported games recently. I just played it in PanMAME instead because the network requirement of C4A is a bit onerous given my wireless coverage. If the planned work to make it save scores made when offline comes through, I might be more likely to launch things in c4amame.

I agree although the large number of games gives a lot of variety, I often flit from game to game rather than focus on getting better at just one game (especially if the game has a steep learning curve)

Offline - would be great for most people I guess, I think the whole cheating thing would come into play more though.

CJ

PS - Also, having some kind of monthly competition to focus on a select number of games may help the overload factor as well

 

[levi]

Cheating will be an issue as c4a gets opened up to a larger audience either way - it's hardly secure as is. It would be possible to make it so it encrypts the scores using public key cryptography for storage then later can decrypt them using the private key (either obtained from the server or simply decrypted server side), but still there nothing stopping people examining the source code and obtaining the public key. Whatever you do it's going to be exactly hard to submit dodgy scores. Best that can be done is to embed traceability somehow so at least cheaters can be blocked after the event.

 

[Asmo]

I have no idea how they get those scores.  Mr Do, bombjack etc unbelievable

I used to be really good at Bombjack, maybe Mappy24 will share their secrets but the big thing is to get all the coins in order - the first coin you pick up will determine the pattern the rest 'ignite' in, and you'll only get the 50k bonus if you collect all the coins in sequence. Finding a start point that suits is key.

Mr Do, the first 10 levels can be spent hoovering up extra lives and maximum scores per level - after that it's survival, get rid of the cherries as fast as possible then, so you have a way of ending the level when things get crazy. Develop a pattern of play for each screen, avoid digging lots of tunnels early on and use the available ones for as long as you can, then dig up to one side of apples, and push the apple slightly over the edge so it blocks the vertical tunnel. Position Mr Do directly above the vertical tunnel that's blocked by the apple, and when the monsters congregate and dig to reach you, they'll all be wiped out when it falls!

There's a best way to begin every screen, to maximise your chances of getting rid of monsters with falling apples early on - vertical tunnels on either side with apples handy, or rushing to position an apple above their spawn point ASAP if you can.

Also keep an eye on the bonus letter indicator at the top, so you can time your score to release the bonus lives rapidly.

I could go on...

 

[b_o_b]

Some comments

- Couldn't manage to get a highscore on Popeye so I was glad Asmo shared his hi file  

- c4a is fun and nobody cheats and I don't see that happen either as long as the code is only shared with other niche devices that have a similar "open attitude". 

- With the new faster c4a the offline mode is less relevant, but would still be nice to have. 

- Tournaments - combined games rankings would be a great addition.

- I suck at most games (at least compared to the hardcore gamers participating) 

 

[Fzero]

I have no idea how they get those scores. Mr Do, bombjack etc unbelievable

I used to be really good at Bombjack, maybe Mappy24 will share their secrets but the big thing is to get all the coins in order - the first coin you pick up will determine the pattern the rest 'ignite' in, and you'll only get the 50k bonus if you collect all the coins in sequence...

Coins = bombs, right?


Or you playing some other version/port on the Pandora C4A?


Bombjack is a great game, used to try getting all the bombs on order too, but like with many games was more focused on level count than high scores to gauge my achievement

 

[Asmo]

Coins = bombs, right?

Ah yes, I was picturing them differently in my mind as I typed that

 

[Mr_Loon]

I could go on...

Please do, Mr Do has always been a favourite of mine but I've always been pretty rubbish at it. IMHO it's one of the true Arcade classics and it still gets my heart racing even after all these years.

 

[Asmo]

I could go on...

Please do, Mr Do has always been a favourite of mine but I've always been pretty rubbish at it. IMHO it's one of the true Arcade classics and it still gets my heart racing even after all these years.

The way to play is to have a routine for each screen, to the point that everything plays out (almost) the same way every time, so it becomes second nature and you anticipate the flow of the level.

For example, on level 1 I always start by going immediately all the way to the right corner of the screen (ALL the way to the corner). Then straight up and under the Apple that's beside the top right group of cherries. Without delay, get all the cherries (remember, bonus only applies if you get them in rapid sequence), and push the left apple out a bit over the enemy spawn point. None of them should have gone up above you yet. At this stage you can double back and push the first apple, killing the 1 or two that have followed you, then as soon as you see an enemy turn into a digger at the spawn point, push the apple so it kills all the enemies in the center.

Done without any delay, you should still have one (maybe 2) enemies surviving, you'll have triggered the first EXTRA (life) bonus letter, go into the center and up straight after dropping that apple, and shoot it ASAP. If you have two enemies left, if you can kill one with an apple and collect all but one remaining cherry, you can trigger another EXTRA letter.

If you can kill bonus enemies carefully with a combination of apples and shots, when finally you get the bonus letter you'll be very close to immediately triggering the next bonus letter with any more score points - and still have the bonus letter trigger left at the spawn point.

So, you should be able to clear level one every time with 14k+ points and 3 EXTRA life letters - AND, done right, if you exit the level just clearing 15k, you'll begin the next screen with a bonus letter already in play.

First EXTRA life on the second screen.

 

[levi]

It's worth bearing in mind that IIRC, Asmo uses a reconfigured control scheme with the up/down and left/right keys in different hands. It's an old control layout from a lot of 8-bit computers, and easily being able to chord the diagonals reliably and consistently can really help when trying to get a chain of cherries - using the d-pad I usually miss one turn, or just fudge it long enough to break the combo.


Only problem with it on the Pandora is the lack of space leading to a lack of fire buttons. On a full sized keyboard if you use Z and X for left and right you can hit left shift with your left ring finger or space with your thumb, and using L and comma for up and down you can use apostrophe with your right ring finger (on either US or UK keyboards - dunno about placement elsewhere), and enter with your right little finger. That gives you five fire buttons, which is enough for most games, but on the Pandora keyboard since it's a thumb keyboard your fingers are out of the way and they can only really reach the two triggers. Still enough for most of the games in c4a to be fair, but it can be limiting on 8-bit computer emulators.

 

[Asmo]

Yes, in Mr Do I use -

L/R - A and D keys

Up/Down - O and M keys

Fire - X Button

This means playing with the Pandora on a flat stable surface, rather than held in hand.

It's a little awkward having the fire button above the controls, which is why I used A and D rather than my usual choice of Q and E, for some reason this configuration makes the 'fire' buttons position feel better.

 

[levi]

Just tried with W/E and O/K, setting triggers to fire 1/2. Only tried Anteater so far which doesn't use the fire buttons (in PanMAME, not c4aMAME), and it's still rock hard, but I'm scoring the same despite getting mixed up about the buttons from time to time, so it looks like it might be the way to go.

 

[DrCJBoduma]

What about a beta kind of tournament, just to test it out....

We group certain games together (shooters, platform etc) pick one game from each group.  Have say......5 games in total and then give points to each position in those games.  Then work out an leaderboard for the people in those games? 

What do you think?

CJ

PS - The level of understanding of some games scares me a little (read - lot)  I agree with @FZERO as a kid it was always trying to beat  the game (ie get further and further in the game level wise than in was about score - except for crime city, where you could gun-shoot graffiti on the wall if you got the high score....usually just so I could remove the high score messages posted by my 'friends')

 

[atari_afternoon]

I´m having the "Activision Anthology (GBA)" experience again. Games I have heard about but not played myself, I get to know through this and like them!

The gap between highscore 1 and me (always the lower half).

Wondering why three times the same username must block highscore 1, 2 and 3 - do people have multiple C4A accounts to "block" the highscore?

(I can´t "block" all Rygar highscore entries, it´s just my highest number that replaces my second highest, my former one does not stay, and this is how I think it ought to be, yet, in some games the same username fills the full highscore.).

Demotivating :lol:

I also seriously thought I am better at Mappy, DK and Dig Dug since I know the Atari 2600 and 8bit-Atari and Gamegear and C64 versions so well, also of other C4A-games, so I had thought I was prepared to sone degree at least. Sure, shouldn´t surprise me Arcade is harder by definition

 

[Asmo]

Wondering why three times the same username must block highscore 1, 2 and 3 - do people have multiple C4A accounts to "block" the highscore?

(I can´t "block" all Rygar highscore entries, it´s just my highest number that replaces my second highest, my former one does not stay, and this is how I think it ought to be, yet, in some games the same username fills the full highscore.).

You're seeing the same username in the top three scores? That should only happen if you select 'show all' rather than filtered, and the same player has several close high scores.

 

[atari_afternoon]

Aah this may be. Actually, for a long time i thought nothing of it since I have played in C4A with different IPs myself - but since C4A is bound to a user account, I´ve just thought "oh well..."