ZX HSC Round 2 - Cannonball / PSSST / Flappy Bird ZX

[Mousey]

So if somebody wants to "win" the whole thing, yeah, it's probably advised to try and participate in all the rounds. Otherwise anybody is welcome to play any game the want when they want. Hope you will come back for at least some of the later rounds

Good point akeley, and maybe I'm approaching this all wrong. Part of my problem is that I tend to be a bit of an "all or nothing" kind of guy, so if I'm playing a game to get a high score then I'll put a lot of effort into that endeavour, even if I'm not particularly enjoying it. I guess I'm guilty of not applying rule 5 and letting my competitive spirit get the better of me, rather than sticking to the fun part of it.

Why not having a go at them then? Even a "placeholder" score is better than nothing

This also made me think, and you're right. If I don't like the game then it'll only take a few minutes to get a basic score and then I can focus my efforts on the games I do enjoy.

So thanks guys, you've made me reconsider and I'll still join in. But enough of my nonsense - I'm sorry to have slightly derailed this thread, so let's get some scores posted!

[Mousey]

If this round's mix is too metronomic for some, especially following on from Nohzdyve, I'd be perfectly happy to defer or drop my flappy bird zx (or donate the choice to @Mousey if that made any difference?)

I really appreciate your post R-Tape (I also like your use of the word metronomic... I'll have to steal that for my future use!) but as I said in my last post I'm just being silly, so I'll adjust my attitude accordingly.

[Pegaz]

If you stay on the first level, you can have as many points as you want or until you give up due to exhaustion.
I think we need another game, as a replacement.

One of the rules is "no cheesing" This is a perfect example of a game where it applies. So we need to play "normally" and make your flower bloom in shortest time.

Of course if somebody wanted to cheat it's entirely possible (in many other ways too) and there is no way of controlling it (ain't nobody got time to record/check videos etc). But, this whole compo is fun and trust based so I expect we'll all play fair.

Well, I disagree here, because this is not about cheating, but a legitimate way of playing which leads to an unrealistic evaluation of the points scored.
Nowhere is it stated that the goal of the competition is to go to higher levels (which are btw, much harder), but to set the highest possible score.
I think that's why we should only choose games where skill is really or mostly the basis for a good result and PSSST is not one of them.
This is pretty much gray area, just imagine that we asked players not to collect sparkling Bomb in Bomb Jack.
Whatever skill you have, you couldn’t make a significant score without those bonus points.
I still think we need replacement...

[Mousey]

Cannonball (MicroHobby, 1985). Chosen by clebin. Looks like a clone of one of these ancient arcade top down maze racers. Since you have played it recently on Hardest Difficulty, this is the one we choose for this round as well. Please remember to change the settings!

In case other people are as thick as me, this is difficulty 1 "Muy dificil" (Very Difficult). I suspected Muy meant something like Very but not speaking a word of Spanish I had to look it up to be sure! I also learned that Facil means Easy - who said games aren't educational?

My very first go I immediately zoomed into a wall... twice... so I'm not counting that. But my first "proper" go I got 590. Boy does that little car move fast! I'll see how I get on but I already know that I want to at least clear the first screen!

[TMD2003]

Completely changing the subject (in a way)... Worm (Master Home Computers Group, 1998) uses the same music as Flappy Bird ZX. Is this game the original source of the music, or did it originate from a demo disc even earlier than that, and was it used anywhere else?

I ask on the off-chance anyone knows...

...and, given that it came from Russia, this is where I find out it's something along the lines of "the theme tune from Nu, Pogodi! / The Sandman / (insert Eastern Bloc children's TV show from the 1980s here)"...

[Pegaz]

Ok, I was playing PSSST totally offensively now, finishing the levels as fast as I could, without a joystick or redefined keys and after half an hour I reached the score of 23555.

[Alessandro]

I think we should keep Pssst!. It's an old favorite of mine, plus I didn't know about the first screen cheat Pegaz wrote about. Not that I would need it by the way, I managed to break the 100,000 points barrier on my very first attempt, and that's something you would hardly be able to achieve by cheating

[Pegaz]

I think we should keep Pssst!. It's an old favorite of mine, plus I didn't know about the first screen cheat Pegaz wrote about. Not that I would need it by the way, I managed to break the 100,000 points barrier on my very first attempt, and that's something you would hardly be able to achieve by cheating

Well, I wouldn't call it cheating, but an unfair way to get easy points.
Of course, we can keep PSSST, I love this game, but then we just need to agree, not to stay forever at the first level and that's it.
btw great score Alex, my current result is 34775, but its definitelly can be better with some training.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

The cool thing about these kind of competitions is playing ganes that are even not our cup of tea...the challenge is in playing those games.

[Pegaz]

Now we talking...
160790

[Juan F. Ramirez]

My first attempt at Psst: 7,570 (on a phone)

[Pegaz]

Wow, this Canonball is really tough.
I only managed to reach the second level once and my current score is 1655.
A very exhausting game, it requires super reflexes and nerves of steel, which I don't have.
Addictive for sure, but I didn’t really enjoy it.
Playing on hardest level (1. Muy dificil) in menu.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

What are the keys in Flappy Bird, please?

[Pegaz]

I appreciate the idea and the execution, so don’t get me wrong, but for me Flappy Bird is a sick game and I have no desire to play it and torture myself.
So I'll skip it.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

What are the keys in Flappy Bird, please?

Ok, ok, now I get it! (Space)

[Juan F. Ramirez]

After dozens of attempts in Flappy Bird, I've reached 5 points

It's bloody frustrating!

[smurphboy]

First scores.

Pssst: 15350 - Just as good as I remember. I put a lot of hours into this as a kid - can't remember if farming the bugs is the better strat or not... (see rule 2 - no cheese...)
FlappyBird: 21 - I wish you could remap space to something else!!!

[smurphboy]

What are the keys in Flappy Bird, please?

lol

[clebin]

Cannonball - 3590
Flappy Bird - 55

Getting some scores in early before the big-hitters arrive and put my efforts to shame!

Flappy Bird is another game that does weird things to your eyes. It's not as bad a Nohzdyve which I had to stop playing as it was making me nauseous. I'm pleased to say that Level 2 isn't any harder, but the abrupt colour change throws off my rhythm every time and I have to work hard to get back into the groove.

[clebin]

Flappy Bird - 63

Improved my score slightly but it's an annoying score as I think Level 3 will start on 64 points!

[Alessandro]

I appreciate the idea and the execution, so don’t get me wrong, but for me Flappy Bird is a sick game and I have no desire to play it and torture myself.
So I'll skip it.

I'd say exactly the same for Cannonball. I really can't be bothered to play it than for more a few goes. I think I'll leave a "placeholder" score on this one.

My latest:

Pssst: 152,710. Better than before but not good enough.
Cannonball: 2,210
Flappy Bird ZX: 84

[GreenCard]

My current score on Pssst!: 26520

I've only played this a handful of times throughout my life. It's quite a fun little game.

I probably won't bother with the other two games though. No offence to the people who wrote them, but games that are specifically designed to be frustrating just aren't my bag (with a few exceptions).

[Morkin]

It's nice that people have submitted scores, but this round didn't start until midnight last night so I'm afraid all your scores are null & void, you'll all have to start again... ("Oi..! Stop throwing things at me...")

I managed a score of 7 on Flappy Bird. Probably won't play it again, the experience is pretty painful. For those who don't want to play it I'd say give it 10 seconds of your time, it'll be funny to see a bunch of scores tied on 1..

Quite looking forward to Psssst! - I'll dig out my Speccy for that one as I have the original that I can load from tape. Just to say that any submitted emulator screenshots from any of you must be backed up with a photo of an original owned game, or I'm reporting the lot of you to F.A.C.T.

Will also give Cannonball a go at some point this week too. It's another 'twitch' game, but not quite as frustrating as Flappy Bird. At least each game is quite short.

Overall like other players I'll give these a go but i'm probably not going to invest much time in this round, as it's a potential fist-through-the-screen fornight...

[R-Tape]

FlappybirdZX - 26

With this and Cannonball, I think we're getting the 'less deep' games out of the way in one fell swoop. I remember Timmy was the first with the Flappy Bird Simulator, which is more rough and ready than the version we're playing here. Whether you like the game or not, [mention]Ralf[/mention] did a great job of converting it. There's a very large area being scrolled at 50 fps, and rather than use the regular approaches of very quickly moving the whole screen, it only scrolls the front and back of the pillars. What's even more impressive is, if I remember right, Ralf doesn't even like Flappy Bird! (I remember him saying something like "Alright, I'll do the stupid bird").

I already know I am a candidate for the wooden spoon for it and Flappy Birds

Somehow I suspect not

[GreenCard]

Well then, in the words of the creator himself, "Alright, I'll do the stupid bird..."

Current FlappybirdZX score: 19