HSC Season 5 Week 23: Carnival

[Ze_ro]

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted.

 

Step right up and prove your skill at hitting targets in this challenging carnival shooting gallery. Take aim to build up your score with careful choice of targets, but watch out for the bullet-eating ducks!

 

 

Game Information

• Game Name: Carnival
• Released By: Coleco, 1982
• Left Difficulty: No Effect
• Right Difficulty: No Effect
• Game Mode: Game 1
• Chosen By: [d2f]Iggy*SJB

Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday, Feb 20th at 1:00 AM (CST).

 

Current High Scores 100,000 (Captain Beard) [+11] 100,000 (Kurt_Woloch) [+11] 100,000 (keilbaca) [+11] 100,000 (aftermac) [+11] 100,000 (toymailman) [+11] 100,000 (Gemini) [+11] 100,000 (Nathan Strum) [+11] 100,000 (Bentley Bear!) [+11] 100,000 (Deteacher) [+11] 92,040 (Impaler_26) [+10] 56,630 (Mister VCS) [+9] 25,200 (theking21083) [+8] Best Tips Captain Beard [+2] Challenges None TwinGalaxies Top 3 1,084,030 (Chase A Hermsen) 510,380 (Todd Rogers) 271,320 (Stephen Knox) Game 1, Difficulty B)

Current Standings Deteacher [214] toymailman [194] keilbaca [134] theking21083 [92] Captain Beard [87] PressureCooker2600 [86] homerwannabee [73] Impaler_26 [72] Kurt_Woloch [63] rheffera [57] Recycled [44] aftermac [43] Nathan Strum [41] phaxda [40] SpiceWare [39] DarthCalvin [36] Blackjack [35] Christophero Sly [35] LarcenTyler [29] Mister VCS [29] midnight magicman [26] shadow460 [25] Bentley Bear! [24] Rom Hunter [23] Gemini [20] Butterwasp [18] theKLT [11] lucifershalo [11] godzillajoe [11] Artlover [9] Dauber [9] ed1475 [8] keitaro [7] doctorclu [6] atari2600land [6] Omegamatrix [6] Goochman [5] vintagegamecrazy [5] chuckwalla [5] Nognir [5] MrBeefy [5] Crazy Climber [3] SeaGtGruff [3] lonewolfette9847 [2] gospeedde [2] Phantom [2] Snider-man [2] RJ [1] [d2f]Iggy*SJB [1] HatNJ [1] KaeruYojimbo [1]

 

Scoring Points in Carnival

• Pipe - 200 points
• Bottom Row - 20 points (Add 10 points per level up to 50 points)
• Middle Row - 40 points (Add 10 points per level up to 70 points)
• Top Row - 60 points (Add 10 points per level up to 90 points)
• Swooping Duck - 0 points (but they'll eat 10 of your bullets!)
• Extra Bullet - 8 more bullets
• Score extra points or bullets by hitting the plus-minus target when the plus sign shows. But look out! If the minus-sign is showing when the target is hit, the points or bullets are subtracted from your score or bullet supply.
• Hit two pipes of the same color with two consecutive shots for a score of 200 points for the first pipe and 800 points for the second.
• After you clear the gallery, 50 points are added to your score for each bullet remaining at the bottom of the screen. The maximum number of bullets you can have in the Bullet Supply is 40.

 

Hints and Tips

• Make sure you use up at least eight bullets before hitting the Extra-Bullet target. Your bullet supply can never show more than 40 bullets.
• Knock out the pipes early in the game, while avoiding the moving targets. If the pipes remain in view while you are hitting moving targets, ducks, ducks and more ducks start coming out!

The Manual
As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online for your viewing pleasure. Here are the tips the manual provides:
Captain Beard
Here's how you too can roll this game with ease: Pipes, pipes, pipes. Get the pipes. Do nothing else until you've shot all the pipes, with the exception of moving (if you have to) to take out a low-flying duck. This game is all about SPEED. Nail those pipes fast and then worry about everything else. I think it's easier to nail'em on the downswing (to the right of the platform) but if you think the timing's easier on the other side, by all means, shoot'em on the upswing. Just shoot'em. Quickly. Oh, and it's a complete waste of time to go for the pipe color bonus. You'll get it anyway just by hitting the pipes quickly in succession, so don't waste time trying to time it. Tip: Stay out from under the bonus platform. You never know when a negative "award" will show up and a missed shot could end up costing you a bunch of bullets. There's almost no reason to bother with the bonuses, unless you're really low on ammo and have no choice.
Gemini
I also have a single tip to clarify a part of the manual: It doesn't matter how long it takes to take out the pipes, just make sure you hit as few targets as possible before you do. The more targets you hit before you clear the pipes, the more targets you will have to deal with before the level finally ends. If you hit nearly every target before finally getting rid of the pipes, you're chances for beating the level will plummet.

 

--Zero

[Ze_ro]

Anyone know if the difficulty switches actually do anything in this game? The manual says to set them to A, but it never explains why.

 

--Zero

[Captain Beard]

This is my game!

Not sure what I'm gonna do the rest of the week now...

 

514,930

 

I've included two screenshots taken on the fly from my couch during the break between rounds, just to show that I did indeed get close enough to roll the thing (at a measy 100,000 -- I predict a lot of tying for 1st place this week.) The third one is the, by comparison, unimpressive "final score" of 14,930.

 

Here's how you too can roll this game with ease: Pipes, pipes, pipes. Get the pipes. Do nothing else until you've shot all the pipes, with the exception of moving (if you have to) to take out a low-flying duck. This game is all about SPEED. Nail those pipes fast and then worry about everything else. I think it's easier to nail'em on the downswing (to the right of the platform) but if you think the timing's easier on the other side, by all means, shoot'em on the upswing. Just shoot'em. Quickly. Oh, and it's a complete waste of time to go for the pipe color bonus. You'll get it anyway just by hitting the pipes quickly in succession, so don't waste time trying to time it.

 

Tip: Stay out from under the bonus platform. You never know when a negative "award" will show up and a missed shot could end up costing you a bunch of bullets. There's almost no reason to bother with the bonuses, unless you're really low on ammo and have no choice.

Edited February 13, 2008 by Captain Beard

[Kurt_Woloch]

Anyone know if the difficulty switches actually do anything in this game? The manual says to set them to A, but it never explains why.

 

I took a peek into the code... SWCHB gets read two times... once bit 0 only gets used, and once bit 1 only gets used. Which means that only the SELECT and RESET switches get polled. The COLOR / B/W and DIFFICULTY switches have no effect.

[Kurt_Woloch]

Hmmm... are scores higher than 99990 counted in this game? Normally, the HSC rules state that if you've rolled the score, you've beaten the game and thus additional points don't get counted.

 

So... yes, I rolled it, and then quit the game after thinking that more isn't possible anyway.

However, I didn't make to take a screenshot at the maximum points, because those happened just at the end of a round. Otherwise I would have included the "credits" message which appears when rolling the score ("Program by / S. Kitchen"), but it flew by so quickly that I couldn't catch it.

 

So here are the screenshots...

 

This was on the start of the last round before rolling the score...

 

And this was a bit after that...

 

So I hope you believe me that my maximum score was... 99990.

 

And this is my last entry for this week (unless the scoring gets counted differently than I thought...)

[Captain Beard]

Hmmm... are scores higher than 99990 counted in this game? Normally, the HSC rules state that if you've rolled the score, you've beaten the game and thus additional points don't get counted.

I assumed that as well -- I just kept going to set a personal high (which I did.)

Like I said, I expect a lot of folks will roll this one. The difficulty never ramps up, so once you've mastered those pipes, it's pretty much a gimme.

 

Thanks for letting me in on the "credits" message. I knew I saw something flash by up there, but I didn't catch what it was!

Edited February 13, 2008 by Captain Beard

[Kurt_Woloch]

Step right up and prove your skill at hitting targets in this challenging carnival shooting gallery. Take aim to build up your score with careful choice of targets, but watch out for the bullet-eating ducks!

 

<div class='maintitle'>Game Information</div><div class='borderwrap'><table class='ipbtable'><tr class='row2'><td>

[*]Game Name: Kung Fu Master

[*]Released By: Coleco, 1982

 

Now I'm a bit confused about that one... did I really choose the correct game? No, wait... I've got another screenshot here, maybe this is the correct one...

 

[keilbaca]

Step right up and prove your skill at hitting targets in this challenging carnival shooting gallery. Take aim to build up your score with careful choice of targets, but watch out for the bullet-eating ducks!

 

<div class='maintitle'>Game Information</div><div class='borderwrap'><table class='ipbtable'><tr class='row2'><td>

[*]Game Name: Kung Fu Master

[*]Released By: Coleco, 1982

 

Now I'm a bit confused about that one... did I really choose the correct game? No, wait... I've got another screenshot here, maybe this is the correct one...

 

 

Its Carnival. Kung-Fu Master has already been played.

[keilbaca]

I stopped playing, I nailed exactly 100k, and this weird programmed by thing came up. I can't understand what it says, and my screen doesn't display it correctly so its half cut off... but I did roll it to exactly 00000. By time I could get my cam, it just displayed the programmed by message.

[aftermac]

Rolled it: 100,600

 

I didn't get a screenshot before it rolled, but I did catch it between levels (and accidentally pressed the function key in Stella for Difficulty A, as I was doing so):

 

 

Here is a shot just after the level started:

 

 

This actually works out pretty nice since I'll be in Florida for a week starting Sunday, and I don't know how much gaming I'll get done down there. So, I may miss the beginning of next weeks game... or, I might not.

 

Good luck to everyone who hasn't posted yet!

 

PS: Nice score Captain... I was pretty worried until I realized the score rolled at 100,000.

[toymailman]

Crap! I had no idea this game rolled at 100k, until after I rolled it. Couldn't get my camera in time as I was in the middle of a round, but took a shot after the round ended. You can see a duck eating my bullets while I'm snapping the pic.

 

105,930

 

 

Okay, I played it again, just to show I can roll it. I took a picture just prior to the 100k mark. Of course taking the picture cost me the game.

 

Edited February 15, 2008 by toymailman

[aftermac]

Step right up and prove your skill at hitting targets in this challenging carnival shooting gallery. Take aim to build up your score with careful choice of targets, but watch out for the bullet-eating ducks!

 

<div class='maintitle'>Game Information</div><div class='borderwrap'><table class='ipbtable'><tr class='row2'><td>

[*]Game Name: Kung Fu Master

[*]Released By: Coleco, 1982

 

Now I'm a bit confused about that one... did I really choose the correct game? No, wait... I've got another screenshot here, maybe this is the correct one...

 

 

Geez, I'm slow... nice pic!

Edited February 14, 2008 by aftermac

[keilbaca]

I didn't catch it either till just now.

 

I love it, awesome work!

[Gemini]

No screenshot, but I looped the score counter too.

 

Something odd happened though. After I looped the score counter, the game suddenly thought I was in some pseudo-two player mode and when I died at (1)00,940, the game continued allowing me to play, flashing "One Player" at the top. At first I thought it was just an extra life or something but it continued doing that every time I cleared a level, and when I finally died at (1)43,180 it started flashing both the player one and two scores, having the game finally end.

 

So... my high score is either LOOPED, 100,940, or 143,180. Whichever makes the most sense for the purpose of this HSC.

 

Oh, I also have a single tip to clarify a part of the manual: It doesn't matter how long it takes to take out the pipes, just make sure you hit as few targets as possible before you do. The more targets you hit before you clear the pipes, the more targets you will have to deal with before the level finally ends. If you hit nearly every target before finally getting rid of the pipes, you're chances for beating the level will plummet.

Edited February 14, 2008 by Gemini

[+Nathan Strum]

Haven't rolled it yet, but soon...

 

89,520

 

Edit: Rolled it. 100,530

 

Before (right at the end of a wave):

 

After:

 

I just stopped playing after that. Didn't see much point in continuing. Not a bad game though.

Edited February 15, 2008 by Nathan Strum

[Bentley Bear!]

YESSSSS!!!! This is how I roll, twice!!! W00t!

 

I honestly didn't think I could do it!

 

I saw the credits thing flash above the score on the first rollover, I will have to roll the score twice again to try to do a screen catch of it as I didn't catch what it said... Dangit, I should have "filmed" this one like I did Double Dragon for you guys, but I didn't expect to pull this off tonight honestly!

 

Here's a couple of screen captures I thankfully managed to take while I progressed: (without screwing up my game in the process ha!)

 

Near the first rollover, 82,190

 

 

Near the second rollover, 97,630 (197,630)

 

 

And right after the second rollover things get really hairy, your ammo decreases automatically even if you don't shoot!!!

 

 

Final score: 208,903

Edited February 15, 2008 by Bentley Bear!

[+Nathan Strum]

Here's how you too can roll this game with ease: Pipes, pipes, pipes. Get the pipes. Do nothing else until you've shot all the pipes, with the exception of moving (if you have to) to take out a low-flying duck. This game is all about SPEED. Nail those pipes fast and then worry about everything else. I think it's easier to nail'em on the downswing (to the right of the platform) but if you think the timing's easier on the other side, by all means, shoot'em on the upswing. Just shoot'em. Quickly.

I'd say that's the best tip. Once you get to where you can shoot the pipes fast, you pretty much own the game.

[Bentley Bear!]

I'd say that's the best tip. Once you get to where you can shoot the pipes fast, you pretty much own the game.

 

You + Captain Beard = WINNUR

[theking21083]

first try 25,200.

[Deteacher]

I just rolled the score: Took 2 pics: The first one is really bad, but you can make out the score, which is 99,590. To really see it, you need to close one eye while crossing the other...oh yeah, you have to stand on your head and whistle the theme from Star Wars. Sorry about the crappy pic. The second one is right after I rolled it.

 

The pipe strategy is definitely the way to go here. I never managed scores above 30 or 40K before trying out this strategy.

[+stephena]

Rolled it: 100,600

 

I didn't get a screenshot before it rolled, but I did catch it between levels (and accidentally pressed the function key in Stella for Difficulty A, as I was doing so):

The issue of messages mistakenly appearing in snapshots has been fixed in the latest versions of Stella. I suggest you upgrade to a newer version.

[aftermac]

Rolled it: 100,600

 

I didn't get a screenshot before it rolled, but I did catch it between levels (and accidentally pressed the function key in Stella for Difficulty A, as I was doing so):

The issue of messages mistakenly appearing in snapshots has been fixed in the latest versions of Stella. I suggest you upgrade to a newer version.

 

Just went to stella.sourceforge.net and 2.4.2, which I'm running, is still the latest version. If Stella has a built-in method of capturing screenshots, I haven't been using it. I use Apple's command-shift-3 screenshot command. Thanks!

[Impaler_26]

Just went to stella.sourceforge.net and 2.4.2, which I'm running, is still the latest version. If Stella has a built-in method of capturing screenshots, I haven't been using it. I use Apple's command-shift-3 screenshot command. Thanks!

You just have to press 'F12' to take a snapshot in Stella.

[+stephena]

Just went to stella.sourceforge.net and 2.4.2, which I'm running, is still the latest version. If Stella has a built-in method of capturing screenshots, I haven't been using it. I use Apple's command-shift-3 screenshot command. Thanks!

You just have to press 'F12' to take a snapshot in Stella.

That's right, but I just noticed you're using a Mac. On that system, F12 is mapped to Expose or something, I think. In that case, you can remap the snapshot functionality to another key (within Stella).

[Impaler_26]

First try...

 

23,100.