HSC Season #4 - Game 6 Pinball

[Ignorama]

I try it tomorrow, but I guess this is my last score in this round: 257.010

 

If I dont get a better score I wish everyone fun with this game and good luck

[Oscar G.]

Not a high score for me, but this is playing inty pinball in style!

 

Wow Felson, this is the most amazing thing I've seen in a while! Way to go!

 

Your pinball machine looks awesome!

 

You should win the round only for posting this picture

Edited August 3, 2013 by Oscar G.

[Oscar G.]

Hello guys,

 

Here is muy latest score in Pinball.

 

Cheers.

 

Oscar

 

Oscar G. - 51,130 points

 

[felson42]

36,650

 

[Ignorama]

365.610

Edited August 5, 2013 by Ignorama

[darthkur]

50,000

 

 

This game is infuriating! There's such a plenitude of cheap deaths it's almost unplayable. Not without getting extremely irate, anyway. I got super lucky in one of the first few games and got at least 50,000. Of coarse I just had to hit one of the goddamn side buttons which wipes your score forever away. I've played a couple dozen since and have only gotten half that. I hate to post a score without a screen shot but I seriously doubt I'll ever get up to that again because it's more irritating that it's worth. I really must be missing something since some of you are getting enormous scores.

[felson42]

Nice score Ignorama. I just had a breakout score myself.

 

180,960

[Oscar G.]

Playing Pinball on the Intellivision Lives DS Version

 

I am out on vacation and I had some very long train rides to take so I decided to spend some time playing Pinball using the Intellivision Lives DS version and I want to share my experience with you.

 

So far, the game rom seems to be the same as the original (except with some small sound issues). The tricks and strategies that I have been using at home work well in the portable version. All this, after I adapted to the DS controls.

 

Changes in Sound

 

The only difference that I have noticed is the sound when the machine tilts. The original has that unpleasant loud buzzer noise that is characteristic in many Intellivision games when one for instance selects an unavailable option. In the DS this sound is replaced by a quite nice whoosh. I guess that some purists may be annoyed at that change but I personally think this is a good decision.

 

Controller Issues

 

As I mentioned before the greatest problem I encountered was to adapt to the controllers. I did not use the overlay at all as the touch screen is not very responsive (on the console I normally use the keypad to control the flippers).

 

I ended up using the side buttons of the DS (left and right) to control the flippers. This is more intuitive although it presents some problems. Conversely to the touch screen: the side buttons are too sensitive! Fortunately, this does not affect the gameplay.

 

Problem Displaying High Scores

 

However, a very annoying problem may appear. In the normal version of the game, after losing the last ball sometimes one may accidentally go to the title screen as the flipper buttons may be pressed after the game ends. There is no problem as the title screen still shows the final score. So a picture of the final score may be taken in the title screen.

 

Unfortunately, In the DS version one may have big problems taking a picture of the final score. The over sensitive buttons may send you out from the in-game game over screen all the way to the player selection screen (skipping altogether the title screen). This will impede to take a picture of a high score!

 

It is quite easy to be stuck in an infinite loop that will not permit at all to take a picture of a high score if one accidentally skips the chance of taking a picture once the game is over (which may be quite common given the high sensitivity of the side buttons).

 

Work around

 

Luckily, I have found a work around to this problem (after losing forever a very good score). To avoid the loop that skips the main screen with a high score one should lightly and swiftly press the side button. A light touch of the side button may take you to the main screen (and the high score display). A normal press of the button will effectively skip the main screen and send you to the player selection screen where the high score is not displayed.

 

Conclusion

 

The Pinball version in Intellivision Lives DS is quite playable and very similar to the original (note that there is a small sound difference). These are good news as other games like AD&D ToT (a.k.a. Minotaur) are unplayable due to display glitches (documented in a different post).

 

A major problem may appear as due to overly sensitive controllers the High Score screen may not be displayed at the end of the game. This will make it difficult to take a picture of a score entry for the HSC. Luckily there is a workaround to this problem.

 

Ignorama may have taken his DS with him to test on vacation and cParsley probably is also testing this version. It would be interesting to hear their takes on this issue.

 

Sorry for the long post. I will post a high score soon. Cheers!

Edited August 7, 2013 by Oscar G.

[Oscar G.]

Hello guys,

 

This is my latest high score. Note: I used the Intellivision Lives DS version of the game. Cheers!

 

Oscar G. - 83,110 points

 

[Ignorama]

I forgot to mention it before my vacation: I played the DS version and in my opinion there is a HUGE difference, its a complete different game with different physics. The ball seems to have more speed variations than the real game, so you can "shot" it slower. I am not going to post DS scores because of that, in my opinion its not comparable.

 

Greetings from Athens.

[Oscar G.]

Hello Ignorama,

 

Now that you mention it I have also noticed the speed variations that you mention. I am wondering if the changes are due to a change in physics or if they are due to the input (in particular, the action buttons of the DS system).

 

I am thinking about this because of the problem I detected with the display of high scores at the end. At the start I thought it was a glitch, but now that I come to think about it, the problem might be related to the buttons (input).

 

Perhaps the ROM is the same but the degree on which one presses the button affects the ball. Light touch of the button - slow ball, full press of the button - fast ball.

 

Unfortunately, more testing has to be done. Maybe with the new controller from Grips we can try to recreate the variations of speed that you mention.

 

I hope that you have a restful holiday. I am just about to start a big hike in the Austrian Alps. It is very hot here in the mountains, so I don't even want to think about how it is right now in Athens

 

Stay cool my friend and drink lots of water

[Ignorama]

What happened to Cparsley?

 

Time is running out.

[Ignorama]

Noon is over, so normally the round is over. If thats correct here the final results:

 

1. Ignorama - 365.610 (+ 10)

2. felson42 - 180.960 (+ 9)

3. Oscar G. - 51.310 (DS score not counted) (+ 8 )

4. jblenkle - 34.250 (+ 6)

5. Darrin9999 - 12.000 (+ 4)

 

Overall standings if the round is over:

 

1. Ignorama - 59

2. Oscar G. - 44

3. cparsley - 36

4. felson42 - 32

5. WispFollower - 19

6. INTVDude - 13

7. jblenkle - 12

8. mr_intv - 11

9. JacobZu7 - 7

10. darthkur - 5

11. Liduario - 4

12. Roadrunnner - 4

13. Darrin9999 - 4

 

Edit: I also counted the scores from Ice Trek. But I ask EVERY participant to look if I made a misstake

Edited August 11, 2013 by Ignorama

[cparsley]

Yes, had a family emergency, which made me miss out posting... Game closed.

[Ignorama]

Sorry to hear that All the best to you and your family. If you want to, I could continue this HSC til you feel able to do this. Thats of course just a offer, I (and for sure everyone else) would also wait til you feel ready to start the next rounds.

[cparsley]

Next round up tonight...