Lynx HSC 2014 Round 3 Robotron 2084

[roadrunner]

Settings - Game Control A, B, or C
(Default) Skill Level 3



Deadline to post scores is April 1st 2014


Lynx HSC Record is 2,166,025 by SwedenLynxer
Bust it for a bonus point!


Side challenge -

Play another version of Robotron for 1 bonus point.
One point per person.

1,103,125 (Atari 7800) oyamafamily +1 point
370,925 (Atari 5200) darthkur +1 point
169,700 (Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits GBA) S.BAZ +1 point
96,400 (Atari 7800) DonPedro +1 point
79,350 (Midway Arcade Origins PS3) 108 Stars +1 point
14,775 (MAME) jblenkle +1 point
10,800 (Spectrum) roadrunner +1 point
4,000 (C64) BillyHW +1 point







Final High Scores -


596,175 PFG 9000 +11 +3 points
479,575 108 Stars +10 points
320,000 LX.NET +9 points
245,900 darthkur +8 points
217,825 BillyHW +7 points
216,675 S.BAZ +6 points
202,925 Tempest2k +5 points
111,925 roadrunner +4 points
90,175 DonPedro +3 points
12,700 jblenkle +2 points






Current Season Point Standings -


108 Stars (24)
BillyHW (23)
LX.NET (21)
PFG 9000 (10)
Tempest2k (10)
roadrunner (14)
darthkur (12)
jblenkle (10)
sirlynxalot (9)
MrBland (7)
oyamafamily (1)





Link to manual -

http://atariage.com/manual_thumbs.html?SoftwareLabelID=1925



Any corrections please post.

Edited April 2, 2014 by roadrunner

[LX.NET]

To get everyone started: wave 12

[BillyHW]

Unfortunately my C64 Robotron ROM seems stuck on infinite lives, even when I say No when it asks me during the crack startup. I also seem unable to program the second analog stick (or diamond pattern buttons) to be joystick 2 in VICE, which is disappointing. The controls with 1 joystick work using a "lock" mechanism. You point and shoot in one direction and then it's locked in that direction until you point and shoot in another direction.

There don't appear to be too many options for Robotron 2084. It was only ported to a few computers/consoles.

Edited March 1, 2014 by BillyHW

[BillyHW]

Here's my first try on Lynx:

 

 

The Lynx version is way better than the C64 version, BTW.

[roadrunner]

Unfortunately my C64 Robotron ROM seems stuck on infinite lives, even when I say No when it asks me during the crack startup. I also seem unable to program the second analog stick (or diamond pattern buttons) to be joystick 2 in VICE, which is disappointing. The controls with 1 joystick work using a "lock" mechanism. You point and shoot in one direction and then it's locked in that direction until you point and shoot in another direction.

 

There don't appear to be too many options for Robotron 2084. It was only ported to a few computers/consoles.

 

 

You might have a bad rom.

Their are a lot of other versions of Robotron

MAME,5200,7800,Spectrum,Apple II,TI 99,Williams Arcade Greatest Hits,Midway Arcade Treasures.

I'll put you down for 4,000 points

 

This website has tons of C64 roms

 

http://csdb.dk/

 

 

[BillyHW]

 

You might have a bad rom.

Their are a lot of other versions of Robotron

MAME,5200,7800,Spectrum,Apple II,TI 99,Williams Arcade Greatest Hits,Midway Arcade Treasures.

I'll put you down for 4,000 points

 

This website has tons of C64 roms

 

http://csdb.dk/

 

 

 

Hey thanks for the link. There are something like 10 different cracks on that site for Robotron. I'll have to try another one.

[roadrunner]

Spectrum

10,800

[BillyHW]

Wow, I checked out the Spectrum version on YouTube and it appears to be way better than the C64 version. Not sure what that's about.

[BillyHW]

85,650.

 

Not sure how Sweden set that record. That just blows me away.

[roadrunner]

That's gonna be a tough record to beat, who's up to the challenge?

Current season point standings updated.

[roadrunner]

The last time Robotron was played I let everyone use whatever control option they wanted. A, B, or C
So that's what we'll go with again. First post updated.

Edited March 3, 2014 by roadrunner

[108 Stars]

I doubt SwedenLynxer's record will be broken, but here's my entry:

 

 

479 575

 

My all-time best score in Robotron.^^

[DonPedro]

90,175

 

 

bonus: 96,400 (Atari 7800)

 

[jblenkle]

Robotron 2084 - 12,700

 

Bonus: MAME Version

[BillyHW]

So which control scheme are you guys using? A, B or C?

Edited March 4, 2014 by BillyHW

[108 Stars]

I use the default.

 

Played some Robotron on the Midway Arcade Origins on PS3.

 

 

79 350 points. Man, is that hard ... !

Edited March 4, 2014 by 108 Stars

[roadrunner]

93,525 Control C

[108 Stars]

A few tips from me:

 

-Always keep moving, never stand still.

-Keep shooting in all directions.

-Don't run away from the Robotrons that throw stuff at you, approach them.

-Focus on saving the humans. For every human you save without dying the score rises by 1000. The first human grants you 1000 points, the second one 2000, the third one 3000... up to 5000. If you manage to stay alive for a long period of time you will get 5000 points per human saved this way. And every 25000 gives you a new life!

-Wave 5 has many humans. If you staid alive for a while before, you can collect many, many points there! Similarly, waves 10, 15, 20 etc always have many humans

Edited March 8, 2014 by 108 Stars

[BillyHW]

This is a really solid game for Lynx. Way better than the C64 version. So far I've been using the default control scheme C. But I find I often press the wrong direction of rotation when I need to be going the other way. I should spend some time trying out control scheme A, which is similar to the other home ports. Scheme B sounds retarded from the description in the manual.

I'm not yet sure how to handle the heat-seeking worms.

Edited March 9, 2014 by BillyHW

[BillyHW]

Well after fiddling around with control scheme A, I can see how in the hands of a very skilled player, it could lead to higher scores. However, it requires much more active control and thought, so it's harder to master. Control scheme C is a bit easier to handle for the average player, though maybe not as powerful.

 

It's too bad Atari hadn't thought of putting the lefty and righty buttons closer together in a diamond shape pattern like the SNES. It still would have been flippable, but then (as long as they were smart enough to make all four buttons independent), we could have had the same awesome controls that Smash TV and Total Carnage had on SNES.

 

Oh, and just as I suspected, control scheme B is useless.

[108 Stars]

This is a really solid the best game for Lynx.

Fixed it for you.

 

Robotron really is a love story for me. I barely knew the game, practically never played it until last y ear I saw a nice German video review of Robotron in different conversions. Decided this is Berzerk on steroids I dug my teeth into it, and I've been hooked ever since.

 

30 years after the release, without any nostalgia, this game won me over.

 

To be precise, it is my favorite "golden age" arcade game of all.

Edited March 9, 2014 by 108 Stars

[BillyHW]

Fixed it for you.

 

Robotron really is a love story for me. I barely knew the game, practically never played it until last y ear I saw a nice German video review of Robotron in different conversions. Decided this is Berzerk on steroids I dug my teeth into it, and I've been hooked ever since.

 

30 years after the release, without any nostalgia, this game won me over.

 

To be precise, it is my favorite "golden age" arcade game of all.

 

Can you find the video for us?

 

I also never even knew about Robotron back in the day, but I did play Smash TV and Total Carnage, both in the arcades and on SNES. Sometime in the last few years I encountered it on the classic gaming interwebs and thought to myself, "Oh, this must be the original Smash TV." Apparently the same guy is behind the games.

 

I've seen people post that they wish Berzerk and Frenzy had Robotron-style controls, but I don't agree. Those games would be far to easy if they had Robotron-style controls. They are just a different style of game. They just wouldn't be Berzerk or Frenzy without the point-and-shoot controls.

Edited March 9, 2014 by BillyHW

[108 Stars]

Can you find the video for us?

I can, but as I said it is in German, so not too fascinating for you I believe. And the maker even forgot the Lynx version, but he did show a couple of others.

 

 

Probably more interesting for you is this comparison:

 

 

It shows 20 versions, uncommented. There's also a Game.com-version which is not shown.

 

I also never even knew about Robotron back in the day, but I did play Smash TV and Total Carnage, both in the arcades and on SNES. Sometime in the last few years I encountered it on the classic gaming interwebs and thought to myself, "Oh, this must be the original Smash TV." Apparently the same guy is behind the games.

 

I've seen people post that they wish Berzerk and Frenzy had Robotron-style controls, but I don't agree. Those games would be far to easy if they had Robotron-style controls. They are just a different style of game. They just wouldn't be Berzerk or Frenzy without the point-and-shoot controls.

Yeah, the maker of the game is Eugene Jarvis. He also made Defender.

And there is also a reason for people to mention Berzerk when it comes to controls: Apparently Berzerk was a big inspiration for Robotron, but Jarvis felt that it was too slow with players not being able to aim and walk independently. That's why he came up with the dual stick concept for Robotron, allowing the game to have many more enemies on screen while the player can still have full control. Of course if you simply added that control scheme to Berzerk it would be too easy, there would need to be more enemies.

[BillyHW]

 

I can, but as I said it is in German, so not too fascinating for you I believe. And the maker even forgot the Lynx version, but he did show a couple of others.

 

 

Probably more interesting for you is this comparison:

 

 

It shows 20 versions, uncommented. There's also a Game.com-version which is not shown.

 

 

Yeah, the maker of the game is Eugene Jarvis. He also made Defender.

And there is also a reason for people to mention Berzerk when it comes to controls: Apparently Berzerk was a big inspiration for Robotron, but Jarvis felt that it was too slow with players not being able to aim and walk independently. That's why he came up with the dual stick concept for Robotron, allowing the game to have many more enemies on screen while the player can still have full control. Of course if you simply added that control scheme to Berzerk it would be too easy, there would need to be more enemies.

 

Well I tried to watch the German video with the auto-translated CCs, and it was interesting to say the least. I can't believe it actually subtitled "Atari 7800" correctly. That was about it though, lol.

 

But if Berzerk had more enemies, it would just be Robotron with walls. I like both styles of games. The slower, more methodical Berzerk/Frenzy, and the utter chaos that is Robotron.

 

I have to say that I'm disappointed in the C64 version compared to all the others. It appears to be one of the worst ports. It's so slow, lacking in enemies, and the sounds are pretty lame compared to what we've come to expect from that system.

 

The Atari 7800 version looks great. As do the UK home computer versions. Despite the lack of sprite colour variety, they've captured the frantic speed and number of enemies nicely. Why was there no 2600 version? Could that system just not handle the number of objects? Even if you made them just green squares for grunts, red squares for enemies and blue squares for people? I also wonder if there were ever any plans for a Coleco port. And why no NES or Sega ports?

 

I think I have to say that I like the Lynx version the best.

Edited March 10, 2014 by BillyHW

[BillyHW]

Here's the Game.com version:

 

http://on.aol.com/video/classic-game-room---williams-arcade-classics-review-for-game-com-517766210