ZX HSC Round 1 - Bomb Jack / Penetrator

[akeley]

Bomb Jack - 183,100

Latest table

(yes, it's actually easier to upload a screencap than fight the formatting :/)

Bomb Jack is perfect - from euphoria to heartbreak to controller hurling in space of couple of seconds. Is there anything more infuriating than ticking off a wrong bomb by accident and ruining your carefully planned combo?

I've finally managed to get together some sort of reasonable keymapping for Penetrator and moved my score up in the 9K regions. Now I know what some of you meant when complaining about the "green level"...arrghh.

[Alessandro]

Nozhdyve? What a poor choice - there is no skill at all, no sense of progression, just falling, falling, falling...

It also gives me hallucinations for a while after playing it, I see things expanding and contracting like an accordion

At least I am glad that it came out as the middle-week new challenge, so that I won't be forced to swallow this pile of garbage for two weeks.

Here is my score: 1,410

I've finally managed to get together some sort of reasonable keymapping for Penetrator and moved my score up in the 9K regions. Now I know what some of you meant when complaining about the "green level"...arrghh.

How did you do it? I mean, is it possible to remap the keys then?

P.S. Please correct my Bomb Jack score.

[Alessandro]

About the scoring system. The percentage-based one, used in the Speccy Tour except for the 2008 edition, which used a F1-style formula that nobody liked, is the fairest and the one which pushes players to improve their scores the most.

Imagine that Alice, Bob and Carol score 1000 points, 300 and 100 points respectively in game 1. Alice would get 100%, Bob 30% and Carol 10%. That reflects the effective distance between their scores.

In game 2, Alice scores 800, Bob 1000 and Carol 700. Alice gets 80%, Bob 100% and Carol 70%.

Summing the two percentages, Alice has 100+80 = 180, Bob 30+100 = 130 and Carol 70+10 = 80.

Whereas if they would simply be given 10 points to the first, 9 to the second, 8 to the third and so on, with 1 point given from the 10th player on, it would be: Alice 10+9 = 19, Bob 10+9 = 19 and Carol 8+8 = 16. Alice and Bob would end up with the same points despite Bob having scored 30% of Alice's points in game 1. Moreover, Carol would only have 3 points less than them.

[akeley]

Alessandro: Bomb Jack - 1,694,590 Nohzydyve - 1,410

Please put your scores on top of your posts, otherwise they might get buried in text and I will miss them.

Nozhdyve? What a poor choice - there is no skill at all, no sense of progression, just falling, falling, falling...

It's one of Juan F. Ramireze's picks, I think it's perfect for a bonus game. But yeah, it could come up as a main one too. That's the thing about these compos: getting out of your comfort zone and playing games you wouldn't otherwise - especially if you want to do well in regard to the leaderboard. Every point counts.

It's not like you did badly on your firts go, btw

How did you do it? I mean, is it possible to remap the keys then?

I'm playing it on MiSTer, and it's possible to remap keys to whatever controller you are using (DS4 in my case).
I believe you can do it in some emulators too, definitely if you are using Retroarch.

About the scoring system, yeah, I've already mentioned the percentage method in my initial post (we use it in Arcade HSC) alongside the remark that this sort of rocket science math is absolutely beyond my puny brain's capabilities. So unless somebody puts together an excel sheet with ready made formulas, and clear instructions for me (or wants to take over scoring altogether), I can only process the simpleton-level scoring way.

There is also a hidden advantage in the simpleton system: it gives a sort of handicap to novice players with less experience and practice in playing games. I've managed to win the AA Arcade HSC because of this once. That's because you can push yourself to beat somebody's score, but only just, and still accrue points. But somebody who has played a particular game for 3 decades and is capable of pulling insane scores will leave the others in the dust by sheer score differences.

It is a poetic justice, of sorts The scoring system is open for discussion of course though, we still have a week to decide.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

Yes, It was me who chose Nohzdyve, I thought (and I think) it's good for this competition: a game of pure reflexes.

But I also chose it because I like it, its original and simple idea makes it quite addictive, along with decent graphics, it seems a true game from the classic era. One of my faves from the last years (along with Mister Kung Fu & some Yandex games).

So I clearly wouldn't call it 'a pile of garbage'

[Alessandro]

It's not like you did badly on your firts go, btw

I have to force myself to play it because I find it monotonous and irritating Matt (The Gasman) is a very nice person - I met him at the launch of the Vega in London in 2015 - and his contribution to the Spectrum scene is immense. But this "game"... well, it doesn't even feel like he was behind it.

A tournament game should give you some sense of progression and achievement; a simple, repetitive and shallow title like Nozhdyve does not. There is no progression to make, no skill to hone... Anyway, if Juan likes it, I won't argue any more - I am waiting for my choices to surface

I believe you can do it in some emulators too, definitely if you are using Retroarch.

I am playing under emulation in Windows 10. I didn't even know what Retroarch was actually and had to look for it on the web. Unfortunately this will be a huge handicap for me because the controls of Penetrator do not suit me at all and I end up tiring myself rather fast.

About the scoring system, yeah, I've already mentioned the percentage method in my initial post (we use it in Arcade HSC) alongside the remark that this sort of rocket science math is absolutely beyond my puny brain's capabilities. So unless somebody puts together an excel sheet with ready made formulas, and clear instructions for me (or wants to take over scoring altogether), I can only process the simpleton-level scoring way.

It's not so difficult. Just take the highest score and any other score, and follow this formula:

other score * 100 / highest score

For example, here are the current standings for Penetrator, rounded to the second decimal cypher:

Morkin 87290 = 100
Mousey 37070 = 42.47
Clebin 31870 = 36.51
Alessandro 27740 = 31.78
Freespirit 12170 = 13.94
Smurphboy 11210 = 12.84
Pegaz 10600 = 12.14
R-Tape 9290 = 10.64
Green Card 4760 = 5.45

This way, players will feel more motivated to improve their scores in order to rise through the leaderboard.

[akeley]

A tournament game should give you some sense of progression and achievement; a simple, repetitive and shallow title like Nozhdyve does not. There is no progression to make, no skill to hone... A very bad choice, again

Opinions, opinions Fun fact: I hate Split Personalities but will have to deal with it if it gets drawn, and try to have fun too.

I believe you can do it in some emulators too, definitely if you are using Retroarch.

I am playing under emulation in Windows 10. I didn't even know what Retroarch was actually and had to look for it on the web. Unfortunately this will be a huge handicap for me because the controls of Penetrator do not suit me at all and I end up tiring myself rather fast.

I'm sorry but somebody who can code a game can also learn to remap keys in the most popular emulator platform out there, if it's really so important. There is no way to unify everybody's control systems, and also several other factors, and there will always be some handicaps present (eg people who play on real machine and/or CRT will have no lag vs people on emulators, etc etc).

As an aside, I assumed automatically that remapping is a given in Speccy emulator world (which I'm not that familiar with because I've been mostly using real hardware/FPGAs and Retroarch), because it seems to be such an obvious, basic function. Is it really not the case?

It's not so difficult.

It is for me. Like I said, it's either ready made excel sheet or somebody else who's willing to take over this part. Otherwise it stays as is (also unless there's a general consenus it needs changing anyway).

[R-Tape]

Otherwise it stays as is (also unless there's a general consenus it needs changing anyway).

This HSC thing is working great for me. Not too formal, not too competitive*, with a nice element of chaos (e.g. Nozhdyve being thrown in).

Ale - something tells me you're not going to like my choice of Flappy Bird ZX !

*as long as I beat Peter

[Alessandro]

I'm sorry but somebody who can code a game can also learn to remap keys in the most popular emulator platform out there, if it's really so important.

Honestly I cannot see the nexus between the two things That Retroarch platform was completely unknown to me until you mentioned it, and I have been into emulation for 24 years, not only for the Spectrum but for many other platforms e.g. Amiga, Atari ST, PSX, PC Engine, Dreamcast, N64 etc. so I would not assume without any doubt that it is the "most popular out there" I don't know whether I will try installing it or not anyway, I'll see...

There is no way to unify everybody's control systems, and also several other factors, and there will always be some handicaps present (eg people who play on real machine and/or CRT will have no lag vs people on emulators, etc etc).

That's why in competitions like those under the HARP system it is only allowed to play under emulation, and with officially sanctioned emulators only as well.

As an aside, I assumed automatically that remapping is a given in Speccy emulator world (which I'm not that familiar with because I've been mostly using real hardware/FPGAs and Retroarch), because it seems to be such an obvious, basic function. Is it really not the case?

It is not. Some emulators allow you to remap joysticks (Kempston etc.) to the PC keyboard, however Penetrator has no joystick option.

[Morkin]

I was actually tempted to pick Rally Driver for one of my choices, and was prepared to accept the abuse from everyone for it...

Anyway, had a couple of goes at Nohzdyve today and currently have a high score of 560. And now I've got the tune stuck in my head... I reckon I can do better, but I was a bit hungover today so will probably try it again in the week.

So I'm at:

Bomb Jack - 162,570 (no change)
Penetrator - 87,290 (no change)
Nohzdyve - 560 (new!)

...I'd prefer the simpler "Grand Prix" points/ranking system - otherwise the contest might be over in a few weeks as people rack up uber-scores on a few of their favoured games (I mainly picked games I fancied playing rather than ones I was necessarily good at). I think the main incentive for improving your scores is to stop other people pipping it at the last minute, eBay snipe style...

Having said that though I'm not overly bothered, it's mostly about the banter and giving some games a bit more of a go than I would do otherwise.

[clebin]

Nohzdyve - 940

Code: Select all

                                                     ...
                                              itself
                                           by
                              is scrolling
                     look at
                    I
         everything
       w
     o
And n

[Freespirit]

Nohzdyve - 490

Code: Select all

 !!  !!   
 !!  !!   
 !!  !!
 \   /
   V
  ( )
  ( )
  / \
 / O \

[akeley]

That's why in competitions like those under the HARP system it is only allowed to play under emulation, and with officially sanctioned emulators only as well.

Sure, but as I've stated in the preamble to this competition it's supposed to be a much more relaxed one. That's for two reasons: one is that I think this way makes it more accessible to mere mortals, who'd otherwise never think of competing, and two is logistics - I've only got time for some very simple thread maintenance, because of the good ol' Real Life malarkey

As an aside, I assumed automatically that remapping is a given in Speccy emulator world (which I'm not that familiar with because I've been mostly using real hardware/FPGAs and Retroarch), because it seems to be such an obvious, basic function. Is it really not the case?

It is not. Some emulators allow you to remap joysticks (Kempston etc.) to the PC keyboard, however Penetrator has no joystick option.

Well, I've just mapped Penetrator's controls to my joypad in Spectaculator. You can also use software such as Joy2Key and similar. Or...Retroarch

It can be done, and defintely is worth looking into, seeing as so many Spectrum games use esoteric key combos.

[Rorthron]

Penetrator has no joystick option.

Some versions of it do. Melbourne House reissued it (in 1984, I think) with Kempston compatibility. If I recall correctly, it doesn't require you to select a Kempston option.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

Penetrator - 29,940



Will I reach 30,000 points some day?

And I started Nohdyve, with 270 points.

[R-Tape]

Nozhdyve 1260

A tournament game should give you some sense of progression and achievement;

a simple, repetitive

Yes it's certainly these, but that's no bad thing IMO.

and shallow title like Nozhdyve does not.

It has less depth than a lot of games, but I wouldn't call it shallow. There may be less things to focus on, but you can look at them in greater detail. Maybe it shouldn't count (but for me it does), but there is also the whole black mirror backstory to think about.

There is no progression to make,

Scorescorescorescore!

no skill to hone...

Couldn't disagree more. I think there is actually a lot to this. You need to get a feel for the controls, the amount of space you need to do a hard right/left, learning how to do a quick shimmy if you're hemmed in by a wall. You need to recognise the various ways the teeth appear, and when collecting an eyeball might put you in jeopardy. It's a bit like being a cricket batsman: you have to repeatedly react, quickly, to something coming at you in varying directions, angles and speeds; and you can't lose you focus.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

People who get more than 1,000 points in Nohzdyve... what do you eat for breakfast???

[R-Tape]

People who get more than 1,000 points in Nohzdyve... what do you eat for breakfast???

PORRIDGE!

(not my picture btw!)

[smurphboy]

People who get more than 1,000 points in Nohzdyve... what do you eat for breakfast???

More importantly. How is your brain coping with all that scrolling. It's a very trippy game when played at any length.

[smurphboy]

Nohzdyve : 1220



The game is growing on me. It's trippy but you can get into a really zen state where you disconnect your brain from the process and just let your fingers react to what you see, zero cognitive load. Almost like juggling, you have to stop thinking about it and just do it.

No progression or strategy to speak of, but strangely addictive.

[Alessandro]

Some versions of it do. Melbourne House reissued it (in 1984, I think) with Kempston compatibility. If I recall correctly, it doesn't require you to select a Kempston option.

Edit: previously I wrote that this version had not been preserved, in fact that's only partially true because the TAP file in the archive works with the Kempston keyboard emulation. No TZXs of it seems to exist, however.

It has less depth than a lot of games, but I wouldn't call it shallow. There may be less things to focus on, but you can look at them in greater detail. Maybe it shouldn't count (but for me it does), but there is also the whole black mirror backstory to think about.

Which is completely unknown to me since I do not watch that series. I am not a fan of TV/Internet series in general to be honest (with some notable exceptions like The Young Pope and The Man In The High Castle). In addition to that, complex stories cannot do much if the game is bad. The Great Space Race had a long and complex history behind it - think about the biographies of every character - but it was a complete waste of code.

Couldn't disagree more. I think there is actually a lot to this.

A lot? It's just going left or right trying not to be hit by the flying false teeth! It reminds me of one of those homebrew games on tape magazines of the 1980s made by readers in 10 minutes of their spare time. Shallow, pointless and utterly unsatisfying. And it gives me hallucinations after a while, as if it weren't enough

People who get more than 1,000 points in Nohzdyve... what do you eat for breakfast???

These days my breakfast consists of two slices of soft cereal bread with two different kinds of jam, a fruit and espresso coffee. I could hardly eat granita con la panna e la brioscia in the morning as many of my fellow citizens would do, too heavy for me I would have a granita and brioscia (without whipped cream) as a break at 11 am however.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

[Juan F. Ramirez]

No progression or strategy to speak of, but strangely addictive.

That's the idea!

[Alessandro]

A big thank you to [mention]Rorthron[/mention] for the tip about the Kempston version of Penetrator. After trying several emulators to remap the keys, I felt mostly at ease with RealSpectrum DOS emulated through DOSBox, that is to say, an emulator within an emulator - square emulation maybe? Rorthron earns a granita with brioscia and is entitled to choose between coffee, strawberry, mulberry, almond, lemon, pistachio and peach, all topped with fresh whipped cream (except for lemon of course!)

Here is my new score: 34,550. I foolishly lost three lives in the second run cyan level due to those *%&@#! alien heads (which for some obscure reason are called "paratroopers" in the instructions).

[Morkin]

Bomb Jack - 162,570 (no change)
Penetrator - 87,290 (no change)
Nohzdyve - 920 (new!)

I'm getting the Nohzdyve 'eye scroll', so I better stop playing it now...

...Anyone who's playing Penetrator with a joystick, question: isn't it a bit of a pain to fire the laser, prodding the joystick right...? Or is there another method?