HSC01 Round 2: Space Fortress

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by me on February 28, 2016 as message #14377.)

I hooked up my X-Arcade controller and played "Space Fortress" under MAME emulation. I easily beat my previous score. My new high score is:

Space Fortress - 34,750 (Emulation, MAME)



The X-Arcade controller seems like it was MADE for this game. I wish that there was a way to hook these controllers up to real hardware. If there was, then there are SO many games that would benefit from it!

Adam

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by me on February 28, 2016 as message #14378.)

I played the arcade version of "Space Fortress" (called "Space Zap") in MAME using my X-Arcade controller. I did fairly well:

Space Zap - 97,250 (MAME)

 

"Space Zap" is a B&W game that uses color overlays-- so the screenshot probably looks a little unusual. Note that my score isn't worth any points during for this round. I played it because I was curious to see how the Astrocade version compared to the arcade version of the game. One big difference is that on the Astrocade you score no points for shooting the fireballs. In the arcade, you score 250 points for them. This makes a HUGE difference in how scores are accumulated. Also, the Astrocade version allow you to fire faster. You can just about fire all four lasers at once-- which doesn't seem to be possible in the arcade.

I urge fans of "Space Fortress" to give "Space Zap" a try.

Adam

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by Benjamin Bauer on February 28, 2016 as message #14380.)

I remember when I first got my Astrocade, way back when that Space Fortress was a port of Space Zap. I never saw Space Zap in an Arcade until a couple of years later when I was at a beach arcade. I remember being underwhelmed as it was black and white. I always thought that Space Fortress was the better game.

Benjamin

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by Benjamin Bauer on February 28, 2016 as message #14381.)

Here is a new posting with an all original hardware. My hand was really tired on the last Base.

[space Fortress: 45,400]

 

Benjamin

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by Paul Thacker on February 28, 2016 as message #14383.)

I think this game might give someone carpal tunnel. I agree that the controller makes a big difference. I had better luck with an XBox 360 controller in MAME than on the original hardware. I used the right bumper to fire. I wonder if anyone ever made a turbo Astrocade controller.

Anyway,

 

Space Fortress: 25,925

 

 

Also,

 

Astro Zap: 8,250

 

 

Paul

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by me on February 28, 2016 as message #14384.)

Way to get a score in right before the deadline, Paul! It's nice to see you participate in this round. It looks like you played "Astro Zap" on a huge TV (with lots of interference-- what's up with that?). Paul, did you happen to see the possible bug in "Astro Zap" where you shoot to the right and the missile keeps coming at you, only faster?

I've rather fallen behind on checking all of my Astrocade-related emails-- but fear not, I'll get to them all this week. Al, at AtariAge, said that he would be able to have the sub-forum for the Astrocade High Score club setup by tomorrow (Monday). I had hoped that this subforum would be setup sooner, which is why no games have been put into a poll for round 3. Once the forum is setup, I'm going to make separate threads for this round and the previous round, as well as setting-up a thread for the new round.

Adam

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by Paul Thacker on February 28, 2016 as message #14384.)

My system has had a lot of interference lately. I've got the top off, and sometimes I can push down on the box with the channel 3/4 switch and it will get better. I'm not sure why.

No, I didn't see the bug in Astro Zap, but I didn't spend a whole lot of time playing it.

Paul

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by Chris++ on February 28, 2016 as message #14387.)

Holy cow! Great score, Adam!

Chris++

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by Chris++ on February 28, 2016 as message #14388.)

45,400??!!!! And this is with or without thumb and index-finger steroids?!

Chris++

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by Benjamin Bauer on February 29, 2016 as message #14390.)

Ha! Yes, my hand is still feeling it now! I will post the video when I get home tonight

Benjamin

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by Adam Trionfo on February 29, 2016 as message #14391.)

Now that the Astrocade High Score club subforum exists on AtariAge.com, I have created the poll for Round 3:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/249730-hsc01-round-3-poll/?p=3454038

Please vote over on AtariAge. I'm going to keep the poll open through Wednesday evening (March 2, 2016).

Oh, and the two game choices (which you'll see when you use the above link) are: "Cosmic Raiders" or "Pirate's Chase."

Adam

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by Benjamin Bauer on February 29, 2016 as message #14392.)

Here is the video [with my score of 45,400]



Benjamin

[ballyalley]

(This follow-up posting was originally posted to the Bally Alley Yahoo group by Adam Trionfo on March 3, 2016 as message #14394.)

I don't have the privilege to close the Round 3 poll in the AtariAge forum yet. Hopefully that will be worked-out soon. However, as of right now (with 7 members voting), the poll stands at:

Cosmic Raiders - 4 Votes (57.14%)
Pirate's Chase - 3 Votes (42.86%)

I'm closing the poll-- but I can't actually stop people from voting until Albert gives me the right to close the poll properly. Any votes that might stumble-in after this posting do not count.

So, it's "Cosmic Raiders" for Round 3 of the Astrocade High Score club! I'm still reposting to the AtariAge Astrocade HSC forum posts from rounds 1 and 2 that were originally made on the BallyAlley Yahoo group. Once I'm done with that, then Round 3 will begin.

Adam

[ballyalley]

Round 3 ended on February 28. There were six qualifying entries for the high score contest. The results are:

Final Tables

Space Fortress

1st Benjamin Bauer 45,400 10 pts
2nd Adam (ballyalley) 34,750 9 pts
3rd Paul Thacker 25,925 8 pts
4th Lance Squire 24,000 7 pts
5th Chris++ 13,125 6 pts
6th Brian Ciesicki 12,475 5 pts

Astro Zap 2000! (Bonus Points)

Every player who played the BASIC bonus game gets a point. Brian earns an extra point for scoring the highest.

1st Brian Ciesicki 35,000 2 pts
2nd Adam (ballyalley) 26,250 1 pt
3rd Chris++ 15,000 1 pt
4th Paul Thacker 8,250 1 pt

Special Bonus Point

Sometimes unannounced bonus points are awarded in the Atari 8-Bit High Score club. I've always like that idea, so I'm going to follow that tradition here too. On occasion, I'm going to award bonus points for special contributions made by a player during a round. For this round, Brian earned a special bonus point for posting a video of an AstroBASIC game. These videos are really rare, so posting one to YouTube is a special treat for those that don't have real hardware. Thanks, Brian.

 

Total points awarded this round:

 

Adam (ballyalley) - 9 + 1 = 10 pts
Benjamin Bauer - 10 pts
Paul Thacker - 8 + 1 = 9 pts
Brian Ciesicki - 5 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 8 pts
Chris++ - 6 + 1 = 7 pts
Lance Squire - 7 pts

 

Please, check your scores.

 

Thanks to everyone who participated "Space Fortress" in this round, and an extra-special double-plus thanks to everyone who used their real hardware to play the bonus AstroBASIC game, "Astro Zap 2000!"

 

The official start of Round 3 will be announced this weekend.

Adam

[roadrunner]

13,125

[darthkur]

30,000

 

 

 

 

Same explanation as on Round 1.