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RCorcoran

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Posts posted by RCorcoran

  1. Posted

    I am going to add more manuals and box scans in addition to game roms. The only difference this time is I will not be offering the lynx boot image as Shane did in the past (for obvious reasons).

     

    Any suggestions on what you'd like to see? :)

  4. Posted

     
    ...You've all but called Ron and Todd cheats and liars...

    ...You are right on the money here..

     

    Well, you can take what you think and...

     

    I'm terribly afraid you guys are right. :( My comments have been pointed and suggestive.    :sad:

     

    I apologize to Todd and Ron, right now. It wouldn't surprise me if Todd elected to not to wade into this topic at all.

     

    Accepted, although it really isn't necessary. I too am here because I love Atari. I have dedicated much of my life to it and will continue to do so regardless.

     

    My goal is to validate a score that seems impossible and to subdue my fears that TG couldn't hold a legitimate contest, based upon the recent announcement of the 2600 DECA.

     

    If only I had a nickle for every time I've heard (or read) "That score is BS and totally impossible!" I would be rich!... :) Regarding the Timed Deca, Robert has stated he will only accept videotape submissions for this event and that ALL submissions will be eligible for posting to TG. Again, the disclaimer must be there that this will only happen "with player permission". All of this comes about because of the top videogame players being so protective of their techniques. While Billy, Chris, Steve, Darren, and many others are wonderful people, they are adamant about protecting their strategies. I know that is hard for some people to wrap their brains around, but that is reality and must be respected, even if not agreed with.

     

    Twin Galaxies'.

     

    Walter has worked very hard to get where he is over the past 20 years. Each of us, editors and referees, struggle to ensure we don't let him down. On the other side of that coin is the commitment to not let the players down either.

     

    With that said, I'm still very curious about the method and documentation of this score, as several of you are and are not. That's all I've wanted all along and I hope too many of you weren't offended by the methods I chose. However, the facts, and answers (or lack thereof) still remain.  :ponder:

     

    I'm sure Todd will not shun this thread/site. He may get a little bent by some of the comments, but in the end I think everyone will be satisfied.

     

    ò¿ó             smile_to_atari.gif

     

  5. Posted

    Mountain = molehill.

     

    This is - without a doubt - one of the most ridiculous arguments I've seen in some time. "Whether or not a videogame record was achieved legitimately." Cripes, is there some kind of Barnstorming High Score Prize I'm unfamilar with? Is there a cash prize or a governmental position at stake? No? Then what's the big friggin' problem?

     

    You guys are tearing up game code, looking for loopholes. You've all but called Ron and Todd cheats and liars. You're playing the game over and over, trying to duplicate the feat and, when you can't, you say it's impossible. Maybe or maybe not, but this is getting truly stupid with regards to the obsessions with discovering "The TRUTH!"

     

    People, please, get a grip. It's a 20-year old Atari high score. Don't start arguing about ethics, morals, cheating, etc. This is completely assinine.

     

    Snider-man:

     

    Thank you. You are right on the money here. Yes, it is a 20 year old game and no there are no prizes, positions, etc. at stake or up for grabs. Yes, we do offer prizes and such for our events, but nothing was given to Todd for this achievement. I like Steve's point... Todd did disprove the very programmers at Activision who said he absolutely could NOT achieve 5.51 on Dragster because their test program couldn't do it. He went there in person and proved them wrong... Once Todd get's back from the MoA event, I'll invite him here and this can be settled once and for all. :)

  6. Posted

    Here we go...

     

    The score is under scrutiny right now, and since TG cannot offer any evidence that the score is valid, other than "7+ years experience", it is not an unjustified request to have the tape released.  There's no use in keeping "documentation of scores" if they cannot be validated by outside sources when questions arise.  Sounds an awful lot like "Trust us. Our finances are fine - WorldCom"   :roll:

     

    Again, to protect the player, we must ask first. I doubt Todd will decline, but I cannot speak for him or anyone else. Would you want me giving away your secrets without your permission?

     

    Can you please also post this event on the CGE Celebrities section of the web site?  I would like some type of documented justification in case I blow 300 smacks to go to LV to see this demostartion myself.  :twisted:

     

    I can't do this as I am not affiliated with Digital Press (the folks who host CGE). Todd did appear in the Hernando Today newpaper last week for his accomplishments at the FunSpot Event in NH.

     

     

    Should this idea become a regular section of TG?  Sure, some guys want to hide their incredible strategies, but other videos would be of interest to a lot of people, and could also validate some of the scores we're "officially given".  :thumbsup:

     

    We have discussed this at great length. The TG attorneys have *cautioned* us on this as it *can* be construed as copyright violation... lawyers... :(

     

    That is a very generous offer and I'm sure we all can promise you that it wouldn't turn into any type of Todd Bashing. We just want to get some insight on how the score came about, how much Todd practices, etc..  :D  :D

     

    How you conduct yourselves is your business. I would like to think that everyone here is mature and professional as Atari fanatics are a special breed. :) Unfortunately, we all know that passion can sometimes over-rule decorum.

  7. Posted

    I'm sorry if I sound like an ass here, but WHAT? He may decline because he's afraid someone will copy his Barnstorming strategy? Was that really said? Am I dreaming? Is any of this real? Someone will copy his BARNSTORMING STRATEGY? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. "Oh no! Somebody played Barnstorming just like me!" Could this be some twisted form of video game geek pride?

     

    By the way, I have a unicorn made of solid gold living in my basement, but you can't see it, I'm afraid you might steal my golden unicorn raising methods.

     

    :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

     

    can we all come back to reality for a minute.

     

    Stan:

     

    You do sound like an ass here, but I'll leave that alone. Yes, most of the top videogame players in the world have closely guarded their techniques, patterns, etc. for decades. Is it pride? I doubt it. Understand that most of these folks spent years perfecting their gameplay ability, constantly refining patterns, learning behaviours, etc. All without digging into the code. I know Chris Ayre has spent 20 years playing Ms. Pacman, every single day (more or less), and has discovered certain behaviours that he is not willing to share with others. Greed? Possibly. Some people are just that way. Robert Mruczek and myself are the type of people that share our discoveries with others. Todd is too. But I cannot speak for him and say yes, we will release his tape. While TG is very particular about score validity, we also protect the rights of the gamer. Therefore, Todd must make that call (as I'm sure he will).

     

    I hope this helps.

  8. Posted

    I hope that some helpful soul that attends CGE will be kind enough to post what Todd demonstrates about his Barnstorming technique/pattern for the rest of us folks that can't attend. This conversation has really piqued my curiousity. I don't doubt the integrity of TG, but I really trust the collective technical knowledge of the users here, so I'd like to know how Todd accomplished that score. If a tape of the score exists, it would be very revealing.

     

    Todd is at the Twin Galaxies Mall of America event this weekend serving as a referee. Upon his return, I will ask his permission to release his tape (in .avi format). Please be advised that he may decline as it has proprietary knowledge, very similiar to Billy Mitchell's Perfect Pacman patterns or Donkey Kong strategies, Chris Ayre's Ms. Pacman grouping techniques, Jeff Lowe's Burgertime patterns, etc... The top players are VERY protective of their patterns/strategies/knowledge. As for CGE, I will make it a point to let Al know when Todd will put on the demonstration so he can witness this himself. We will also ask to tape his run digitally and post it to Twin Galaxies. I am also going to ask Todd to visit this forum thread and discuss with you his thoughts, insights, etc.

     

    Hope this helps,

  10. Posted

     
    ...best result I could get was 32.07 seconds...how could Todd get 32.04 seconds...Must check the code...

     

    Thanx for the reply Thomas.  :D  I was thinking that would be your results too. I also hacked out all of the windmills and had the very same time. :ponder:

     

    This is why I raised the question about the validity of the time. If you look on TG, it lists the time as being "Referee Confirmed" too. There is no possible way to get that time on a normal production cartridge. So far, my best time is 32.920, but I know it can be slightly improved. But almost a full second better is not possible. :thumbsdown:

     

    So what does this say about Twin Galaxies? :?  If we are to believe their rankings and compete against people associated with TG, how can we be sure we're all getting a fair shake? I'm not saying that TG is bogus, but there might be some bad apples in the bunch. :?

     

    As far as getting a 32.04, it's not possible on the ROM or the actual cartridge. The game is designed to slow your horizontal progress every time you change your vertical position. Thus, a perfect game would use no vertical movement. By hacking out only the windmills graphics and no kernal code, you should be able to simulate a perfect game. With such a hacked ROM, the best possible score is 32.07. There is no 32.04. :mad:

     

    ò¿ó          smile_to_atari.gif

     

     

    You need to come to CGE. Last year, after almost 20 years, Todd performed a 32.77 on his 2nd attempt, in-front of 40+ people (including myself). He has also recorded his game to videotape that we have in the TG archives as proof positive of his performance. Todd will again be at CGE this year to demonstrate his technique/pattern for BS Game 1 and I invite you (and anyone else) to drop by the TG booth to observe. :)

  13. Posted

     

    I'm just asking, but should I know who Todd Rodgers is? :? Does he have some type of high score prestige with Twin Galaxies? :?

     

    ò¿ó          smile_to_atari.gif

     

     

    Todd Rogers, back in the early 80's, was hired by Activision to travel the US and promote their games. He was, at that time, THE premier home videogame player in the US. To this day, he is still among the top 3.

  14. Posted

    Here are the official scores as verified by Twin Galaxies since 1980:

     

    Rank %Score Pts Highest Best Player First Name Player Last Name VM

    1 100.000% 2,654,680 Ron Corcoran R

    2 97.824% 2,596,930 Todd Rogers R

    3 10.927% 290,090 Chris Parsley R

    4 9.106% 241,730 Mark Feldt R

    5 6.532% 173,410 Robert Mruczek V

    6 5.514% 146,380 Natalie Purawec R

    7 4.056% 107,680 John Marks PH

    8 3.924% 104,180 Mike Rupprecht R

    9 3.845% 102,080 Tom Chang R

    10 3.169% 84,130 Jim Zawada R

    11 3.123% 82,910 Stephen Krogman PH

    12 2.756% 73,160 Joshua Warren PH

    13 2.679% 71,130 Carlos Marrero R

    14 2.535% 67,290 Stephen Knox R

    15 2.242% 59,520 Robert Macauley PH

    16 2.084% 55,330 Shane Monroe R

    17 1.803% 47,860 Scott Bolderson R

    18 1.640% 43,530 Brien King R

     

    VM = Verification Method. All of these can be viewed in a more friendly format at http://www.twingalaxies.com/cgi-perl/searc...latformSelect=5

  15. Posted

    Here's an interesting thing although not strictly emulation related, it is "vintage" gaming related. MagerValp of Commodore 64 fame is organising the 2002 1k Minigame Competition. Basically the challenge is to write a game in 1k for one of the following platforms:

     

    Commodore 16

    Commodore 64

    Commodore 128

    Commodore VIC20

    Sinclair Spectrum (any model)

    Amstrad CPC (any model)

    Atari 8 Bit (any model)

     

    There were 30 entries last year, I've had a look at some of them and for 1k they are amazing. So if you're a bit of a whizzkid at 6510 Assembler or maybe CPC BASIC then why not have a go??

     

    Go check it out right here and be sure to check out some of last year's entries, it's quite incredible in this day and age of hundreds of megabytes of RAM that such results can be achieved in just 1k !!!!

  17. Posted

    Here's an interesting thing although not strictly emulation related, it is "vintage" gaming related. MagerValp of Commodore 64 fame is organising the 2002 1k Minigame Competition. Basically the challenge is to write a game in 1k for one of the following platforms:

     

    Commodore 16

    Commodore 64

    Commodore 128

    Commodore VIC20

    Sinclair Spectrum (any model)

    Amstrad CPC (any model)

    Atari 8 Bit (any model)

     

    There were 30 entries last year, I've had a look at some of them and for 1k they are amazing. So if you're a bit of a whizzkid at 6510 Assembler or maybe CPC BASIC then why not have a go??

     

    Go check it out right here and be sure to check out some of last year's entries, it's quite incredible in this day and age of hundreds of megabytes of RAM that such results can be achieved in just 1k !!!!

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