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Season 8 ~ Week 1 ~ Dragonfire


Vocelli

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Are you telling that I am a cheater? Is there any money prize to win the Atari 2600 HSC, or with what end I am supposed to cheat, or are you telling that the score of 225740 obtained in season 3 by Botbird is false.

Season 3 scores

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/229453-season-3-week-28-the-new-hsc-dragonfire/?hl=+dragonfire

 

I'm not telling anything, just surprised, and made a nearly retoric question.

Congratulations on your score

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Are you telling that I am a cheater? Is there any money prize to win the Atari 2600 HSC, or with what end I am supposed to cheat, or are you telling that the score of 225740 obtained in season 3 by Botbird is false.

Season 3 scores

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/229453-season-3-week-28-the-new-hsc-dragonfire/?hl=+dragonfire

I think it was just a joke, haha

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CaptainClassic

Dragonfire (B/B) G1 - 46,000

Stella 4.6.7 - Keyboard

MD5: (next time)

(Technically, Dragon Treasure (rom))

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/gallery_ips/gallery/album_1110/med_gallery_38581_1110_159154.png[/

 

If anyone is looking for a slightly easier time, you can play the PAL version of this game, It runs about 17% slower. The strategy that works with this game is to limit the amount of mistakes you make. This means running back into hiding on the bridge when you dont get a good fireball pattern. (I.e. the best fireball pattern is a high fireball followed by a low fireball, where the high fireball exits the bridge by the time the low fireball is in the middle of the bridge. Then duck and wait at about 5/8ths of the bridge for the next high fireball and after it passes, jump as you enter the left side.

 

To keep from dying to the white dragon, exit the hiding spot (straight left), and immediately press diagonally upper left. After the dragon passes you, and is beginning to change direction, you change direction too. Your object is for the dragon to always be moving in the opposite direction as yourself. If you are ever moving in the same direction, the dragon will put up a wall of close fireballs instead of the 1 or 2 as you pass him going the opposite way. You can get past these, by moving straight up and squeezing upper left:right through the gap, but it is best to keep this to a minimum.

 

To get low treasures, coax the dragon to the opposite side and then from about half way up the screen, keeping it in a single fireball pattern by moving in the opposite direction it is., Then move diagonally down and then vertically straight up (or a small hook sometimes). This is usually necessary because the dragon will likely throw a fireball near where the low center treasure is and I think the dragon doesnt move as aggressively left/right when you are only moving vertically. This should give you enough time to find a gap in the fireballs and be high enough vertically to better time your change in direction.

 

Here is a short little tips video I made back on season 3 (excuse the disappearing prince)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXgtAgHNGTQ

Edited by CapitanClassic
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If anyone is looking for a slightly easier time, you can play the PAL version of this game, It runs about 17% slower.

That is something I always wished the HSC moderators would address, when someone has the means to play the NTSC ROM but chooses to play the PAL version instead for the sole reason of making the game 17% slower; thereby giving themselves a significant advantage over everyone playing the NTSC ROM. It may not be explicitly cheating, but it does seem in very poor sportsmanship.

 

Now if you live in a PAL region and you've got a PAL system and TV setup there's nothing wrong with that at all, you're just playing the game the way it was made to be played in your region, but choosing to play the PAL version just to make the game slower when NTSC is the norm for your region is another matter altogether.

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That is something I always wished the HSC moderators would address, when someone has the means to play the NTSC ROM but chooses to play the PAL version instead for the sole reason of making the game 17% slower; thereby giving themselves a significant advantage over everyone playing the NTSC ROM. It may not be explicitly cheating, but it does seem in very poor sportsmanship.

Now if you live in a PAL region and you've got a PAL system and TV setup there's nothing wrong with that at all, you're just playing the game the way it was made to be played in your region, but choosing to play the PAL version just to make the game slower when NTSC is the norm for your region is another matter altogether.

There isnt a good way to address it. People in PAL regions with real hardware need to play PAL versions, people with real hardware in NTSC regions need to play NTSC versions. It is only us dirty emulator players that have a choice in the matter. I cannot fault players who want to play the slightly slower PAL version if they have the option. The only way to fix it would be to require HSC players to use a Harmony cart and download a speed corrected 50Hz NTSC or speed corrected 60Hz PAL version. I doubt that all roms have speed corrected versions already created for them.

 

PS: My scores last year and this year are with the NTSC version, because I find the PAL version unbearably slow and it messes with the timing I am used to.

Edited by CapitanClassic
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There isnt a good way to address it. People in PAL regions with real hardware need to play PAL versions, people with real hardware in NTSC regions need to play NTSC versions. It is only us dirty emulator players that have a choice in the matter. I cannot fault players who want to play the slightly slower PAL version if they have the option. The only way to fix it would be to require HSC players to use a Harmony cart and download a speed corrected 50Hz NTSC or speed corrected 60Hz PAL version. I doubt that all roms have speed corrected versions already created for them.

PS: My scores last year and this year are with the NTSC version, because I find the PAL version unbearably slow and it messes with the timing I am used to.

Yeah, I know it's not exactly something you can regulate all that easily and still give PAL region players the opportunity to compete, and there's nothing wrong with using emulation. I've used emulation to compete a few times when I either didn't have access to a Harmony cart or my real hardware was on the fritz, but I always used the NTSC ROMs when playing via emulation because, well... if it feels like cheating then it probably is.

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I totally understand Jin's and Capitan's points. I'm an aussie on real PAL Vader hardware .. and with over 200 carts, the likelihood of me playing a real PAL cart are quite high. I have honestly thought of this dilemma as well, feeling a bit dirty at times ;)

However I do prefer to play on my real hardware. Either way .. if the rules ever changed, you wouldn't see me going anywhere. HSC is too much fun, with almost zero bitchyness and flaming on the HSC threads. I'd just happily play away, with NTSC roms, on my Retropie! :thumbsup:

 

But we digress ...

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Being to new to this, I am just Amazed that someone could score 122K, or even the 33k score on an original Atari System.

 

What does NTSC stand For? for us non-techies? Or even PAL??

NTSC is the sort of generic version of the game, north american is what I like to use to describe it, and PAL is more European, but there are places aside from that that use the different versions of the games.

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Being to new to this, I am just Amazed that someone could score 122K, or even the 33k score on an original Atari System.

 

What does NTSC stand For? for us non-techies? Or even PAL??

NTSC : National Television System Committee

PAL : Phase Alternation by Line

 

The NTSC standard was developed in the USA, and the PAL standard was developed in Europe.the important differences is that NTSC runs at 60 Hz (the screen is refreshed 60 times a second, I wont get into interlace/progressive video), where as PAL is refreshed at 50 Hz. PAL has greater vertical resolution 625 versus 525.

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post-43292-0-82454200-1539276887.png

 

Finally made it to the white dragon.

 

To me, Dragonfire epitomizes the "just one more game" mentality. Its very addictive, even though I'm not that great at it. Extra kudos to Bob Smith for making the game reset with the joystick button! I always appreciate it when I don't have to hit reset to get back in the action.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERK2_cyKkKQ

Edited by G-type
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I have checked an NTSC gameplay video of Dragonfire on Youtube, and I really can't see any difference in speed to what my PAL console with a PAL cartridge gives me. Certainly not in the order of 1/5. If anything, the NTSC fireballs on the bridge look even slower to me than I'm used to.

I do know that playing NTSC carts on a PAL console leads to slower gameplay - which you can also do on an emulator. As for the real cart on a real system - it looks like a proper adaptation to me. That's my perception, which might be wrong. Does anyone know for certain that Dragonfire PAL is a lazy port?

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There isnt a good way to address it. People in PAL regions with real hardware need to play PAL versions, people with real hardware in NTSC regions need to play NTSC versions. It is only us dirty emulator players that have a choice in the matter. I cannot fault players who want to play the slightly slower PAL version if they have the option. The only way to fix it would be to require HSC players to use a Harmony cart and download a speed corrected 50Hz NTSC or speed corrected 60Hz PAL version. I doubt that all roms have speed corrected versions already created for them.

 

PS: My scores last year and this year are with the NTSC version, because I find the PAL version unbearably slow and it messes with the timing I am used to.

 

I dont think only by emulators you get that advantage, I say cause I once participate on a Gran Turismo 4 Time Trial tournament, and it was proved that in the PAL game, you would get lower time reaching the same spot. Of course, clock time on Racing game its not the same as here, na Atari game.

But, yes, at least on emulation participant we should set to only use the NTSC version. Unless if anyone shows that the game is faster on PC than the original hardware.

Sadly I never played this game on my real Atari, and I 'felt' this game super fast.

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ANNOUNMENT:

 

Prizes!

Spriggy (our fellow HSC player) has donated PRIZES for Season 8!

Thank you Spriggy for your generous donation!... you are the best!

 

The prizes will be randomly drawn by Spriggy at the end of the regular season.

It will break down like this:

 

Gold Medal Bracket (Top 8 Players)

Random Drawing for $100 Gift Certificate for the AtariAge store

 

Silver Medal Bracket (Top 9-16 Players)

Random Drawing for $50 Gift Certificate for the AtariAge store

 

Bronze Medal Bracket (Top 17-24 Players)

Random Drawing for $25 Gift Certificate for the AtariAge store

 

So players.... there you have it!

Finish in the Top 24 for a chance to win some great prizes donated by Spriggy.

 

Also, visit the AtariAge store and buy something any time!

 

Thanks,

Vocelli

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Didn't want to post a new score till i passed 100k. First off I just want to thank the HSC for choosing DragonFire, now its one of my favorite atari games. When I first played it i died in like a few minutes so I just gave up because i thought that it was just another bad game from a bad year. Now that I have been forced to practice I see that there is actually a lot of skill and patience involved and one you hit certain scores you feel like a darn WIZARD. Folks dont give up on this game after one time, its definitely worth a replay!

 

128620post-40043-0-82131400-1539357510.jpg

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