Spectrum Computing

Ladies and gents, welcome to the Round 1 of the ZX High Score Club (Season 1). By the decree of god Zeus (aka atmospheric noise) we will be playing these two games over the next two weeks*.

Bomb Jack (Elite Systems Ltd, 1986). Chosen by smurphboy (and a few others). A stone-cold Spectrum classic and a great conversion of the arcade game. A fitting choice to kick things off.

Penetrator (Melbourne House, 1982/3?). Chosen by Juan F. Ramirez. A very competent Scramble-clone...at least for 1982 .

This round ends on Sunday the 2nd of August, 00:00 GMT. Please submit your final score by then.

ZX HSC rules:

1) play fair: no cheating and no using of handicaps of any kind (eg hacked game versions, save states, etc)
2) no cheesing; ie abusing some inherent glitches in games allowing to maximize points
3) final score submitted must be a screenshot (you can submit scr$ for all your scores but it's not required)
4) some rule I can't think of now but might be added later
5) have FUN! we're not Twin Galaxies and this is meant to be a very easy-going, no-high-pressure "competition", meant mostly to generate friendly banter and celebrate ancient videogames. Competitive angle is of course also welcome, but hopefully without OCD

As per 5), game-related thread-derails are most welcome. Talking about these games is most encouraged (share tricks, strategies, trivia, tell us why you love or can't stand the particular title, etc...) and is one of the main aims of this HSC.

*let's start with two-weeks round legth but it's up for discussion - perhaps one week would be a better idea?

Good luck!

akeley wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 11:19 amThis round ends on Sunday the 2nd of September, 00:00 GMT. Please submit your final score by then.

Is this a typo ?

akeley wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 11:19 am As per 5), game-related thread-derails are most welcome. Talking about these games is most encouraged (share tricks, strategies, trivia, tell us why you love or can't stand the particular title, etc...) and is one of the main aims of this HSC.

Now the pressure is on. I've got the Bomb Jack muscle memory still (and the button bashing to keep him airborne), but can I remember the sparking bomb orders?

Pegaz wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:05 pm

akeley wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 11:19 amThis round ends on Sunday the 2nd of September, 00:00 GMT. Please submit your final score by then.

Is this a typo ?

Totally, well spotted. Meant August of course.
Unfortunately can't correct it now.

akeley wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 11:19 am *let's start with two-weeks round legth but it's up for discussion - perhaps one week would be a better idea?

One week is too tight. I for one would not find time to play properly in just one week. Two weeks are better as far as I am concerned, there's room for improvement, comments etc.

Nice that you put Bomb Jack as the first game. I hold the all-time record on HARP with 3,024,560 points, made for the Speccy Tour 2010 Let's see if I could at least reach half that score, I still remember how much I had to sweat to reach it

Are you picking games from all of the suggestion in this thread?

akeley wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:58 pm Totally, well spotted. Meant August of course.
Unfortunately can't correct it now.

Updated for you.

Thanks, PeterJ.

Alessandro wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 1:19 pm One week is too tight. I for one would not find time to play properly in just one week. Two weeks are better as far as I am concerned, there's room for improvement, comments etc.

Nice that you put Bomb Jack as the first game. I hold the all-time record on HARP with 3,024,560 points, made for the Speccy Tour 2010 Let's see if I could at least reach half that score, I still remember how much I had to sweat to reach it

Are you picking games from all of the suggestion in this thread?

Yeah, I also think 2 weeks is optimal, especially given that we're all old farts with Real Life etc, who can't spend 5 hrs per day gaming, like we used to back in the day. That's how it also is in most other HSCs. But, it also could depend on attendance and popularity, so I'm open to suggestions.

Games for each round are randomly chosen, so it wasn't exactly me putting BJ there, though it sure is nice to have a big hit for the opening It's also nice to have one pro on board already.

About the games pool, I've just made a little bit more detailed post in the other thread.

Top stuff. I know Penetrator pretty well, but Bomb Jack hardly at all. I'll have a bash now while listening to the cricket.

akeley wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 11:19 am By the decree of god Zeus (aka atmospheric noise) we will be playing these two games over the next two weeks*.

Wot no Patrik Rak XOR shift random number generator™ (though good choice not to use the BASIC RND—we want random numbers!)

Here's my first entry for Penetrator, after half an hour of play, it's not easy at all...
I like games like this, but it requires a lot of attention and patience, which isn't my strong point.

Cool, I like both these games a lot.

For Penetrator, I remember using the level editor to create a flat line of landscape full of the spinning radars, I'm guessing that wouldn't be allowed for this comp

Bomb Jack is a decent game. Nice backgrounds. Plays nicely. It's a shame there is no define keys option, but the QAXNM default is just about ok. The sprites could be a bit better though—I thought the flying alien thing was a grand piano!

My score so far (I'll post a screenshot when I get something better): 103260, which is hot on the heels of Alessandro's record score. Only 2,921,300 points to go...

Any ideas how we're going to do the scoring? Am assuming there will be some points/position-based rankings? Also we'll have to figure out how people are affected if they skip a round...

Am currently aiming for mid-table obscurity...

Morkin wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:50 pm Cool, I like both these games a lot.

For Penetrator, I remember using the level editor to create a flat line of landscape full of the spinning radars, I'm guessing that wouldn't be allowed for this comp

Fair play is mandatory and is mentioned in the rules set by akeley.
However, the main point should be rule no. 5 and I will stick to it.
I decided to play relaxed and not too competitive.
As soon as my playing becomes stressful, I will stop, take a screenshot and posting a score.

Well, two good games for a start.

Good luck to all the players, and remember: It's not the taking part, it's the winning that counts! (... sort of!)

First attempt at Penetrator. 12,110.

Have just had a go at Penetrator and managed 14010.

That green level on the way back from the bomb run is surprisingly devious. I managed one bomb run OK, but then lost my last 3 ships on that level on the way back.

Morkin wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:59 pm Any ideas how we're going to do the scoring? Am assuming there will be some points/position-based rankings? Also we'll have to figure out how people are affected if they skip a round...

Am currently aiming for mid-table obscurity...

Scoring system is up for a little think, since maths is not my strong suit. For now it's the basic one:

1st place - 10 pts
2nd place - 9 pts
3rd place - 8 pts

...and so on. This will then construe a leaderboard.

It's functional, but does not reflect score differences (say somebody got 100K more points than next one in some game, but gets only 1 point more). There is one used in this Arcade HSC here based on percentages but I don't quite comprehend it tbh. Any ideas on this subject are welcome.

Skipping a round is just tough luck - not much can be done about it and you will lose points. Too bad! (lil' bird told me that there may be a secret "redemption round" appearing in some point for those who skipped a beat or just want to submit improved scores, but it's probably just a rumour

R-Tape wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:53 pm Bomb Jack is a decent game. Nice backgrounds. Plays nicely. It's a shame there is no define keys option, but the QAXNM default is just about ok. The sprites could be a bit better though—I thought the flying alien thing was a grand piano!

My score so far (I'll post a screenshot when I get something better): 103260, which is hot on the heels of Alessandro's record score. Only 2,921,300 points to go...

I'm up around 130,000 at the moment. I know that back in the day I could pretty much ace the first five or six levels, so I should be able to get about 250,000 if I can recapture my skills.

No idea how you get millions... other than skill!

My first attempt at both games were not bad:

Penetrator 9,740
Bomb Jack 85,130

I'm afraid I'll only fight for Europa League positions!

Flippin 'eck, you guys are good at Bomb Jack..! Either that or I'm crap at it... Or both. Though at first I completely forgot about the boosted jumps - shows how long it's been since I've played it

Here are my top scores so far, after quite a pleasant Sunday evening of Speccy games playing:

Penetrator - 28,300
Bomb Jack - 37,550

Am going to have another go at both at some point. Particularly Bomb Jack, as I really don't want to end up with the wooden spoon on that one...

Morkin wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 9:18 pm Flippin 'eck, you guys are good at Bomb Jack..! Either that or I'm crap at it... Or both. Though at first I completely forgot about the boosted jumps - shows how long it's been since I've played it

Here are my top scores so far, after quite a pleasant Sunday evening of Speccy games playing:

Penetrator - 28,300
Bomb Jack - 37,550

Am going to have another go at both at some point. Particularly Bomb Jack, as I really don't want to end up with the wooden spoon on that one...

The trick with Bomb Jack is the sparking bombs. If you collect the bombs in order then you can get 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 or 50,000 bonus per level.

smurphboy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 9:40 pm The trick with Bomb Jack is the sparking bombs. If you collect the bombs in order then you can get 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 or 50,000 bonus per level.

Aha! Cheers. I can't find any detailed instructions, but the magazine reviews seem to have the necessary. From Your Sinclair May 1986:

All of which neglects to
mention the scoring. There's a
fine bit of strategy involved in
maximising your points — and
if ever there was a high score
freak's dream, this is it! The
first thing to know is that a
bomb that's fizzing is worth 200
rather than 100 points Collect
one of those and it sets off the
next one in the sequence, so a
row of four can be worth 400 or
800 points depending on
whether it's ignited or not. It's
up to you to plan a route. There
are special bonuses for
collecting 20 or more sparking
bombs and there are also
Bonus coins that float in for you
to snatch, plus Extra lives coins
and Power balls.

I was collecting the sparkers, but only because I was expecting them to blow. Apparently they don't explode on the Speccy version?

Try this link. It is referring to the GBA conversion of the CPC version but the scoring logic is correct for the Speccy too.

Hope this helps. I think Tip Shop has a map of the order of the sparking bombs too which helps. Of course, eventually you memorise them and still remember them 30 years later!

smurphboy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 9:40 pm The trick with Bomb Jack is the sparking bombs. If you collect the bombs in order then you can get 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 or 50,000 bonus per level.

Ah yes, I remembered there was a reason to collect the bombs in the right order but I'd forgotten the end-of-level bonus, and quite how many more points you got.

Had another few goes, making more of an effort to 'follow the fuses', though without using the guide, just watching which ones are sparking.

Latest attempts:

Penetrator - 28,300 (still)
Bomb Jack - 151,540

I reckon I can get a higher score on Penetrator but might struggle to beat my Bomb Jack score.

This thread made me finally sign up for the forum to join in! Bomb Jack on the Speccy is one of my all time favourite games on any system.

Alessandro wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 1:19 pmI hold the all-time record on HARP with 3,024,560 points, made for the Speccy Tour 2010 Let's see if I could at least reach half that score, I still remember how much I had to sweat to reach it

That's a fantastic score. I also have some scores on HARP, and am surprised to see that I'm still 3rd on the Bomb Jack (Speccy) leaderboard with my score of 1,158,320 (back in 2007!). Frankie is in second place with 1,462,070 and I remember that we had some good natured tussles on a fair few games at HARP - I think he got the best of me on most of them though!
http://www.homeactionreplay.org/search. ... &tourney=2

The best score I've ever got was just over 1.7 million, but that was back in the mid-90's and I've never got close since.

As to Penetrator, I've never even played it (shame on me) so that will be interesting. Looks like a good game though.