Spectrum Computing

Scores are all great and good (keep'em coming) but we were supposed to chat about the games too. It's in dem rules folks!

So, do you know any interesting trivia & tidbits about these games?

I've been trying out Bomb Jack on other formats. C64 version was godawful: lurid colours and everything big and silly looking. Amstrad one I think is the best, because the controls are supertight, you can stop on a dime and walk on air. The gfx is also better than C64. Spectrum one compares very favourably to Amstrad gameplay wise, but also gfx is great because it has so much detail, even if less colour, and it's cleverly composed.

I did try arcade too but only briefly. It is, unsurprisingly, best overall, but the gulf is not as big as in other cases.

akeley wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 3:54 pmI've been trying out Bomb Jack on other formats. C64 version was godawful: lurid colours and everything big and silly looking.

There is an updated version of Bomb Jack being developed for the C64 (Bomb Jack DX) which looks fantastic, but there haven't been any updates since Dec 2019, so I'm not sure if the project has permanently stalled or is just on hold for now:
https://compidiaries.wordpress.com/

Comparing Penetrator with the game it was inspired from, Scramble, the original arcade has a fuel counter that must be fed by shooting fuel deposits or the counter reaches zero and you lose a life.

Fortunately Penetrator doesn't have this feature!

Mousey wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 3:40 pm Nohzdyve - 1,250

Grrrr...! Going to have to have another go now..

akeley wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 3:54 pm So, do you know any interesting trivia & tidbits about these games?

The main bit of trivia (I think) I know about Penetrator, a landscape editor was used to create the levels, and the author decided to leave it in the program, meaning that users could create their own landscapes. Inspired idea IMO. Had lots of fun designing levels back in the day.

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 4:42 pm Comparing Penetrator with the game it was inspired from, Scramble, the original arcade has a fuel counter that must be fed by shooting fuel deposits or the counter reaches zero and you lose a life.

Fortunately Penetrator doesn't have this feature!

It does, in a way. You are supposed to destroy the radars, or otherwise the game will get harder (has to do with rockets starting frequency/accuracy?) which is represented by the "Danger" meter.

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

...Just to clarify, is that midnight on Saturday night, or midnight on Sunday night...?

I'm hitting a wall with the games. I think two weeks might just be the right time for a round. Lots of time to improve, but frustration hasn't set in yet.

akeley wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 3:54 pm Scores are all great and good (keep'em coming) but we were supposed to chat about the games too. It's in dem rules folks!

So, do you know any interesting trivia & tidbits about these games?

I've been trying out Bomb Jack on other formats. C64 version was godawful: lurid colours and everything big and silly looking. Amstrad one I think is the best, because the controls are supertight, you can stop on a dime and walk on air. The gfx is also better than C64. Spectrum one compares very favourably to Amstrad gameplay wise, but also gfx is great because it has so much detail, even if less colour, and it's cleverly composed.

I did try arcade too but only briefly. It is, unsurprisingly, best overall, but the gulf is not as big as in other cases.

I just tried the C64 version of Bomb Jack

It's Probably why:
Crash - 92%
Zzap - 47%

...So out of interest, is there a tactic for collecting sparkling bombs in Bomb Jack?

I've been finding that I collect a few in order, then the next one will be where an enemy is patrolling (often in the top left of the screen). It'll just walk to and fro on the platform, making it impossible to collect the bomb.

By the time I've waited around for it to walk off the platform, a bunch more enemies have reached the bottom of the screen, morphed into more dangerous enemies, which makes it even harder to collect the bombs in order.

Question for you expert BombJack-ers... Are there certain screen layouts where you think it's worth going for a full chain, and some screens where it's not worth it..?

Morkin wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:52 am

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

midnight on Sunday

That's the one.

Morkin wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:58 amQuestion for you expert BombJack-ers... Are there certain screen layouts where you think it's worth going for a full chain, and some screens where it's not worth it..?

To quote myself from page 6 of this thread:

"One strategy I have is that on some later levels I just don't bother going for sparkling bombs at all because I know (from long experience) how very hard it is to collect enough for a bonus, no matter what order you try."

For me personally, I "usually" get 50K on stages 1-7 and 10, and sometimes on 8 & 9, but then we get to stage 11 - my nemesis. I'm not sure about Alessandro, but on this stage I just don't bother anymore - I get the bombs as quickly as possible and then move on (still taken from YouTube):

OK, I'm going to have to try again with this then... If I can somehow do the first four levels in perfect order I should be able to automatically beat my score, though it's easier said than done..!

On the whole, I'm otherwise largely done with my scores now as I think I've given each game a decent go, and am rarely beating my own scores when I replay them. I might give each game all one final go on Sunday evening before the deadline ...

I reckon a week might have been enough for me for all 3 games, but I appreciate that people have time constraints, holidays etc. so two-weeks is cool with me. There's also been more chat than I thought - perhaps partly because it's the first challenge where enthusiasm is high, but 18 pages of comments when the challenge isn't actually finished yet is pretty encouraging..

Interesting, about the BJ strategy, I thought getting at least some chains even on later stages is crucial to get mil+ scores. My problem is that I usually get so hung up on doing it in first stages that I lose all my lives attempting perfect combos. Greed=/=good.

Yes, it's a very lively response, I have never seen a HSC that busy and chatty yet, and it's very nice. But it will probably die down a bit in next rounds, because of the games drawn or time/enthusiasm constraints. So, spread the word if you can, we could always use some more participants!

New personal record in Nohzdyve: 320 wow!

My points so far:

Bomb Jack: 85,130
Penetrator: 29,940
Nohzdyve: 320

akeley wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 2:38 pm Interesting, about the BJ strategy, I thought getting at least some chains even on later stages is crucial to get mil+ scores. My problem is that I usually get so hung up on doing it in first stages that I lose all my lives attempting perfect combos. Greed=/=good.

The other thing is that if you lose a life when going for the combo, I think it turns off the sparkle from the next bomb you were about to collect, which effectively reduces your potential bonus by 10k (I'm sure the Bomb Jack experts can confirm/refute this). So in effect, punishing you for being a bit crap..

akeley wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 2:38 pmInteresting, about the BJ strategy, I thought getting at least some chains even on later stages is crucial to get mil+ scores. My problem is that I usually get so hung up on doing it in first stages that I lose all my lives attempting perfect combos. Greed=/=good.

In case I've not been clear - yes, I do get some bonus chains in later stages, but there is also an increase of the odd stage (e.g. stage 11) where it's just not worth going for the bonus. I was actually on a great run of 50K bonuses (4 in a row) just before I lost my last life on my 1.4 million go.

Morkin wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 9:55 amThe other thing is that if you lose a life when going for the combo, I think it turns off the sparkle from the next bomb you were about to collect, which effectively reduces your potential bonus by 10k (I'm sure the Bomb Jack experts can confirm/refute this).

That's correct. Even if you get 23 sparkling bombs in a row, but die before you can collect the 24th and final bomb, you will only get 30K, not 50K. The first non-sparkling bomb you collect reduces your bonus by 20K, and subsequent ones by 10K. You need at least 21 sparkling bombs to get a bonus of 10K (22 = 20K, 23 = 30K, 24 = 50K).

FINAL SCORES:

Bomb Jack - 1,423,260 (unchanged)
Penetrator - 37,070 (unchanged)
Nohzdyve - 1,250 (unchanged)

I've had fun with these games but playing any more for now might start becoming a chore. I'm proud of myself for improving my HARP Bomb Jack score, and "completing" Penetrator (getting to the end and back again).

Here is my missing screenshot for Nohzdyve that (for some reason) I couldn't upload the other day:

@akeley - when it comes to round 2, do you pick the games, or do we - people that have submitted scores - get to vote on what's next from a list?

I don't think I'm going to be able to beat any of my scores, so I'm handing in my work now. I may have a chance at another go by tomorrow night but it's fairly unlikely...

Morkin wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:41 amNohzdyve: 920

Just in case this isn't picked up, [mention]Morkin[/mention] has quoted 920 as his high score for Nohzdyve, when in fact his high score is 1,160 as per his screenshot.

Gah, I had one job..!

Cheers [mention]Mousey[/mention], yep, I forgot I'd hit the >1k mark with Nohzdyve..

Morkin wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 8:22 pm I forgot I'd hit the >1k mark with Nohzdyve..

Yep I won't get round to topping mine, so here we go:


Bomb Jack was pretty new to me. I have played it before, and wasn't that impressed by the graphics and sound. I didn't realise it was the quintessential hi-score game, which would have made a difference. Ignoring the ropey keys, it plays really well. I do think the game could be done with more polish while retaining the gameplay (calling [mention]Adrian_Singh[/mention] !).

I'm so impressed by the scores the BJ elite have been coming up with

I have completed Penetrator in the past, but I just didn't give it a proper chance this time. This time I didn't get past the green level.

Nohzdyve. Love it. I'm surprised it's not easier to totally suss this game out, as the teeth appear in the same place every time, just with different angles and speed. In theory, it should just be a question of controlling the inertia and deciding whether to go left or right, but in practise...

Thanks for organising these [mention]akeley[/mention]. I enjoyed it, especially as I have been sinking into a bit of a rut regarding games. Looking forward to the next one.

And please can we never speak so freely and frequently about our "BJ strategy" again...

Bomb Jack - 174,100
Penetrator - 8,040
Nohzdyve - 640

It's rather embarassing, but it seems the host will take the coveted bottom spot

I've been fairly busy recently and left it all too late, and had to do a last-gasp gaming round just now (am away tomorrow). Unsurprisingly the results are rather poor. Actually, it's just an excuse - I don't think I can do any better in P & N. But I had higher aspirations for BJ. As it is, I didn't even manage to beat my original 185K score and since I did not take a scr$ then, will have to settle for the 174K *facepalm.jpg*.

Oh well...maybe can tweak it a bit in the Redemption Round...(nah, it is what it is I guess)

I think I did enough for this first round too. Here are my scores:

Bomb Jack 1,694,590 (no variation)
Penetrator 44,010 (new)
Nozhdyve 2,930 (new)







What can I say about these first three titles? Bomb Jack was and still is an old favorite of mine. The old tactics helped me a lot, although I think I would hardly be able to do better in just a couple of weeks (the Speccy Tour lasted 10 weeks).

Penetrator was pretty much a discovery to me. I cannot say I like it due to its quirks like the absurd forward/fire key combination, the uncomfortable layout - which I was only able to overcome through emulation once Rorthron wrote about the Kempston-compatible version - and the fact that you can die by touching your bombs (!). And did I mention those #&%*! alien heads? I am aware I cannot do better than Morkin's excellent score, so here it is.

The less said about Nozhdyve, the better. I literally had to force myself to play it and that score costed me a lot of sweat and hallucinations, just like a bad trip