|
Post by hcmffm on Sept 23, 2021 15:08:23 GMT -5
Great to read from you, Tony and cool that you, Len and Moyu will participate, again. Tour de France was played last year and it's not 100% for sure that it will played this year. Minestorm might a good alternative but I have to think about it. Thank you for thinking about another donation of prizes. I like your wooden spoon prize and would like to see it again. The wooden spoon prize is fun and the winner can either treat it as a collector's item or a thing that can be used in your daily life and have a good place in the kitchen. I guess the "Vector War" branding is durable and will last for very long. And an engraved aluminum cartridge shell would be a cool prize. These aluminum cartridge are more common these days but still very rare and beautiful.
|
|
|
Post by playvectrex on Sept 23, 2021 16:20:19 GMT -5
...sad to see Tour de France instead of one of the car racing games... ...we will use the Skynät prototype... ...I have prepared a wooden spoon for this years competition too... Pole Position is a race car game as well, and a good one I too am not very good at it, but hoping my new analog controller helps gameplay be less glitchy. We'll see. Yes!! The Skynät vs. Vectorcade in Scramble once again Can't wait to see some action shots of your controller, Tony. VectorWolf really wanted to eat her cereal with the wooden spoon prize last year, so we'd definitely like to see it again. It's a good prize to fight for (win or lose).
Tour de France was played last year and it's not 100% for sure that it will played this year. Minestorm might a good alternative but I have to think about it. Speaking of this one, how about Spike or Armor Attack? They haven't been played in a while. If we are considering Mine Storm, I'd like to propose that we set the upper limit higher. 25k entry is fine for most players, but 150,000 is really too low to separate the top players and it ends up taking up one of the 6 game slots that determines the top 3. If you go back and look at any year that has Mine Storm, I bet you'll find all top 3 players have 150,000. Mine Storm also wraps the score counter at 1M points, so I'd like to propose the highest score without going over 1M. So 999,999 would be the highest, if it's even achievable based on scoring.. I'm not sure. The final score should be on a GAME OVER screen as well, so that you don't just grab a frame of video during game play that exceeds 1M. Maybe that seems complicated, but new challenges are fun.
|
|
|
Post by VectorX on Sept 23, 2021 18:12:10 GMT -5
If we are considering Mine Storm, I'd like to propose that we set the upper limit higher. 25k entry is fine for most players, but 150,000 is really too low to separate the top players and it ends up taking up one of the 6 game slots that determines the top 3. It always ends at 150,000 because not everyone has the version that we do that allows us to go past level 13. The alternative would be to have a ROM available that allows people to go over that amount/up to a million/past level 13.
|
|
|
Post by playvectrex on Sept 23, 2021 20:50:50 GMT -5
If we are considering Mine Storm, I'd like to propose that we set the upper limit higher. 25k entry is fine for most players, but 150,000 is really too low to separate the top players and it ends up taking up one of the 6 game slots that determines the top 3. It always ends at 150,000 because not everyone has the version that we do that allows us to go past level 13. The alternative would be to have a ROM available that allows people to go over that amount/up to a million/past level 13. Ah, that makes sense. That said, I have wrapped the score on the buggy level 13 Mine Storm I several times, but I've also had it reset after level 13. Not usually though. Here's a video showing the progression (sorry I had to film only in-between levels as I had not setup the tripod in advance). I understand no one wants to play with a buggy game in a competition though (I forget how we solved this for Berzerk which has a much worse problem of the score jumping higher than it should). There's the bug fixed Mine Storm II, and I've patched it to work on all multicarts in the past which was another problem it had. I'm pretty sure Mine Storm II also goes above 1M, but if you can get that far you really can consider it marathoning. I'd bet all of the top players could get to 1M points with a little effort as well, which is why making it harder by saying closest to 1M could be even a better way of ranking marathon type games? 1M even = 1st, anything above or below (consider it points away from 1M) that could be considered 2nd and 3rd and so on. Crazy idea I know... but Mine Storm II could be a fun game to get creative with. playvectrex.com/gameroom/gce/minestorm2-flash-carts.binE.g. 1,000,000 - 1st 1,000,100 - 2nd (call this 999,900, 100 points away from 1M) 999,800 - 3nd (call this 999,800, 200 points away from 1M) etc.. That is of course unless others really wants to play Spike or Armor Attack instead? I would be interested in Spike, then Armor Attack, then Mine Storm II "1M point even challenge", and finally last but not least Tour de France. There's others, but I think we covered most of them in the last two years.
|
|
|
Post by VectorX on Sept 23, 2021 21:17:22 GMT -5
I understand no one wants to play with a buggy game in a competition though Actually no one's either cared or just hadn't complained about it. Those that can't get 150,000 just put in their best scores and left it; those of us that can would get up to it, take a picture, post it and move on. (I forget how we solved this for Berzerk which has a much worse problem of the score jumping higher than it should). The Berzerk bug seems (for me at least) to go up to a score of 150,000 or something, which would take hours and hours to achieve if it were legit. NO ONE'S turned in a score of even 15,000 ever, I don't think. So it's pretty obvious if someone got a score they didn't achieve on that one. There's the bug fixed Mine Storm II, and I've patched it to work on all multicarts in the past which was another problem it had. I'm pretty sure Mine Storm II also goes above 1M, but if you can get that far you really can consider it marathoning. Game scores are capped at approximately an hour's worth of play. Games like Spike and Berzerk move too fast after several levels so there's no real insane scores on those, so they're not a problem. Clean Sweep's maximum score for the contest is 75,000 I think. Gravitrex we had a few years back and the score when you beat the game is a little over 252,000/less than an hour to reach the end, etc.
|
|
|
Post by playvectrex on Sept 23, 2021 22:04:58 GMT -5
I understand no one wants to play with a buggy game in a competition though Actually no one's either cared or just hadn't complained about it. Those that can't get 150,000 just put in their best scores and left it; those of us that can would get up to it, take a picture, post it and move on. Yeah, so if you think about it... it's not really a game people can compete over with those rules. You're either in or your out... and if you're in, so are at least 2 other people if not 7 or 8. (I forget how we solved this for Berzerk which has a much worse problem of the score jumping higher than it should). The Berzerk bug seems (for me at least) to go up to a score of 150,000 or something, which would take hours and hours to achieve if it were legit. NO ONE'S turned in a score of even 15,000 ever, I don't think. So it's pretty obvious if someone got a score they didn't achieve on that one. Usually that's what happens, but I've seen it jump to a score you wouldn't bat an eye at as well. If I hadn't seen it myself I could have easily just submitted it thinking I achieved that score. I believe I posted about it in VWIX. Game scores are capped at approximately an hour's worth of play. Gotcha... so to make Mine Storm more competition worthy, I think closest to some score would be fun, even if that score is 150,000. At least with Mine Storm you can achieve high scores with some confidence, unlike other games where you have to grind to get a lucky high score.
|
|
|
Post by VectorX on Sept 23, 2021 22:51:00 GMT -5
Usually that's what happens, but I've seen it jump to a score you wouldn't bat an eye at as well. Its always been asked for people to be honest with their scores. If someone cheats at our age(s) then that's pretty pathetic.
|
|
|
Post by playvectrex on Sept 24, 2021 1:03:35 GMT -5
My point is you can't always watch the score while focusing on playing the game, so we should not be playing known buggy games that "usually jump to really high scores" but also "sometimes jump to realistic scores". Especially when we have Berzerk Ultimate to play instead
|
|
|
Post by fmml on Sept 27, 2021 3:16:40 GMT -5
Time flies. Great to see another Vector War this year. Thanks for organizing Helmut, and thank you to everyone who donates prizes. Most likely I will be able to partizipate again this year.
|
|
|
Post by hcmffm on Sept 29, 2021 15:15:39 GMT -5
For some reason I don't know I'm very tired in the evenings - result is that there are no posts from my side here because I post here at 10pm or later. Some short notes on the games: - One game is still missing to complete the game list of Vector War 11 - either an original game or a homebrew games.
- Berzerk can be played within a Vector War - ideally Berzerk II is played because of the bugs in the original Berzerk. A good alternative might be Berzerk Ultimate. But Berzerk has been played in VW 2, 3, 6, and 9, so other Vectrex originals should catch up before Berzerk is played in a Vector War, again.
- In Armor Attack you can cheat and thus play almost forever. For this reason it was no longer played in a Vector War. In addition, in Vector War 11 we have a tank game, already.
- Minestorm has been played in VW5, 6, 9, and 11. So time for a pause.
Time flies. Great to see another Vector War this year. Thanks for organizing Helmut, and thank you to everyone who donates prizes. Most likely I will be able to partizipate again this year. Great to see another veteran around! Cool that you intend to participate, again, fmml.
|
|
|
Post by hcmffm on Sept 29, 2021 15:19:42 GMT -5
A first word on prizes:
- Brett Wallach will donate a cool item for the Vectrex. - Tony will donate a wooden "Vector War XI" spoon.
|
|
|
Post by rossross on Sept 29, 2021 15:40:16 GMT -5
Great to see another Vector War about to begin. Nice selection of games again, a few that are unfamiliar to me. I will be using my Aluvec for the whole tournament. Hope I place a bit higher this year but I think we will have more competitors than previous wars.
|
|
|
Post by hcmffm on Oct 1, 2021 16:02:20 GMT -5
Great that you intend to participate again, rossross! A second word on prizes: Tony will donate an aluminum KnightEx cartridge with a PCB included. PCB is donated by Alexander von Knorring. Thank you very much, Tony and Alexander! The Knigthex cartridge is still under production - photos will follow.
|
|
|
Post by tatanga on Oct 4, 2021 13:44:28 GMT -5
Party People! I am also participating again and am very happy that it's starting again and that there are such nice prizes!
Last year we talked about "USA Zombie Apocalypse" as a homebrew game. I would be very happy if we could include it this year. I think it's good that the rules for the controllers are being relaxed. I wouldn't mind if everything except autofire was allowed.
|
|
|
Post by hcmffm on Oct 4, 2021 14:52:51 GMT -5
Good to see you around, @tatanga, and good that you intend to participate, again! ... Last year we talked about "USA Zombie Apocalypse" as a homebrew game. I would be very happy if we could include it this year. ... ... I'm not sure whether USA Zombie Apocalypse is suitable for children and am hesitant to put it on the gamelist of the Vector War. playvectrex & fruktodlaren : What do you think?
|
|