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What will it take to get you to play in the New Season of the High Score Club?!


HSC Important Survey  

32 members have voted

  1. 1. HSC Important Survey

    • I'm a HSC regular and will be playing most of the time
    • I'm a HSC irregular and will be playing some of the time
    • I'm a games developer who doesn't play games but should join in occasionally to see what people think of various games
    • I only use my Atari for serious business purposes
    • I'm useless at games but will still play and not drop out after a couple of rounds
    • I'm going to join in and then drop out after a couple of rounds
    • I'm great at games and am going to crush you like a fly "GAME ON"
      0
    • I will only play if there is a prize
    • I haven't got a joystick
    • What is an Atari?

  • Please sign in to vote in this poll.

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Season 17 of the HSC is starting now!

 

"HOOOO" :waving: This is my annual call for a party of hardy adventurers to assemble in the HSC foyer joysticks in hand for their trek through many rounds (about 20) of great Atari games, plus a few duffers of course.

 

It's fun, it's free and it's something else begginng with f yes marvelous so lets see some support :P

 

The Round 1 poll is active and the welcome and games suggestions thread awaits your input.

 

The High Score Club is a subforum of this one, it's one you skip by at the top of the page.

 

Any questions just post or message me :)

trbb

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Also, simply by participating in every round and trying out all the bonus games tends to be enough to end in the top 5. I know from personal experience, since I've been here for three seasons now and failed to win a single round yet placed myself relatively high in the summary.

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For me it's the limited time frame.. which I guess is necessary, obviously.  But so many times I'd see a game I'd like to submit a score for ("ooh Robotron!), but then realize that it's already over and everyone's done with it :lol:  Alternatively I DO catch the post in time, but it takes me a few months to get around to playing the game, then I submit a score but it's months later and done. I think I've done that a couple times. 

 

Also I never could figure out if the scoring is cumulative or are the high score contests one-offs? I recall seeing cumulative scores which kind of discourages those who might catch the contests later on, vs. if the high score challenge for a game was stand-alone.  If it was that way I think it would encourage one-off/occasional participants. :)

 

 

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Survey choices don't fit my situation.  I have osteoarthritis in my left thumb and can't hold or stabilize an Atari style joystick. 

 

Right thumb is currently not nearly as bad off. I think I could use a gamepad if the D-pad was on the right-hand side.  Would be useful if I could use whichever button for trigger.  Finger fatigue is also a problem but not painful like my thumbs.  

 

I can't simply switch hands using a two button joystick.

 

-SteveS

  

Edited by a8isa1
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For me, it´s a combination of time and the amount of stuff played in one round.

 

I dropped off at a point, where I realised, that there are many games to play in one round. But I personally would love to focus on one single game. That would make it easier for me to spend some time for the HSC.

I like to plan like "Yeah, HSC, let´s play <one_game> tonight and the other nights, until the round is over, instead of "Hell, what of the games should I play now?".

 

I´m a simple guy and HSC just got too complicated for me.

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Similar sort of thing for me, pain all the time and I can't keep my head rigid for more than say 10 mins before I'm biting my lip in agony....I get odd days when it does not come on for a bit longer but eventually it happens, not watched a long film in ages, simply can't without propping my head an ck with cushions..(I don't think I'd be popular in a cinema :)   )

 

I love the idea though and hope others can get to join in...

Edited by Mclaneinc
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Getting too old to play games sucks. So far my arthritis in my hands only hurts early in the morning and my hands are too weak to grasp much, on some days (some days I'm fine) and after some aspirin and using my hands a bit they generally limber up and stop hurting, but how much longer will it be until I can't use a joystick anytime either? Luckily it's just the hands so far, though I'm generally sore all over, stiff neck, hurting back, sore legs, from physical labor all day, by the evenings, I don't do physical labor every day, but most I do. I don't mind that we live less than a century generally, I just wish we were physically fine until the day we drop dead.

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PAINS/JOYSTICKS

For those wirh aches and pains, there are a bunch of different sticks out there, I like the Quickshot (Python) desk mounted with suckers for most games bit I switch over to others for some games, perhaps something custom made or attached to a desk might help here (suggestions?). For games like Millipede there's no hiding, but we can make allowances for people e.g. autofire if that means they can play. Best to suggest games you can play without discomfort and vote for them :)

 

SCORING/ROUNDS

Each round has it's own scoring, so you can just play to enjoy the games, play to compete in the round or play for the overall standings for the season, it's a bit of fun really and not too serious. If you miss any rounds there is always a chance to catch-up at least once in a season. Some people only play the main game, others only take part in some rounds (usually the classic games).

 

LESS GAMES COMMITMENT!

I'll hold off on the multi-game tourneys for the first 9 rounds of this season and see how things go - so there will be one main game and a maybe a related bonus game in a two week period, usually Sunday to Sunday giving players 3 weekends to hit a game. Though I have to make a call sometimes if a game is flawed or too easy for the top players.

 

TIME

Free Atari time supplied with each round, having a single go on a game and posing a score (no screenshot required) takes about 10 minutes

:)

[edit] Quickshot II python

image.thumb.png.da32e9393539caf33efb98f9154633ce.png

[edit] I don't use this one (Quickshot Maverick?) much as it's left handed but it's wide suckerd base is stable, it's very easy to move and has big flat buttons:

image.png.aa2223049818e317510cf8558bac9124.png

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The other thing besides time is not wanting to waste time playing for the high score on games I don't enjoy playing. So I'm not up to playing everything that comes along in the HSC either. Over on Atari Sector we have a HSC of sorts, but it's one game a month and winner of the previous round picks the game played the next round. This I can find time for and don't mind playing a game I don't care for much with a month to put in my 10 min. on it. But sometimes I don't even have time for it! I was the winner last October and picked the game for November, then I didn't even have the time to participate in my own game of choice!

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I used to be a big believer in shaking people's hands when I meet them, I've never been one of those hand crushing moron's who think a hand shake is a test of their manliness but I've had to stop because people see as a big bloke and then go for the killer grip which is so bloody painful because of the arthritis that I simply don't trust folk anymore

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14 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said:

I used to be a big believer in shaking people's hands when I meet them, I've never been one of those hand crushing moron's who think a hand shake is a test of their manliness but I've had to stop because people see as a big bloke and then go for the killer grip which is so bloody painful because of the arthritis that I simply don't trust folk anymore

Ouch, I can sympathise with you.

I have had an arthritic condition since I was in my early 20s. In my 40s I thought it had burned out as is often the case I believe (ankylosing spondylitis)

I was wrong as at the end of last year it flared up again hitting both my ankles and the knuckles in my left hand.

Thankfully my right hand is still fully functional, but I made the mistake of opening a kitchen drawer with my left hand last week, and I think the people 2 streets away heard the scream 

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I was taught as a child by my father to use a firm hand shake as a sign of confidence, but yeah, guys that squeeze until it hurts to show their "manliness" are just jackasses. When I was younger and someone did that I'd squeeze back even harder (I always use those hand gripper things to improve hand and wrist strength; my forearms used to be huge almost like Popeye's), the next time, if there was, they wouldn't squeeze like that again.:rolling:

 

These Starmaster sticks are really good, and have the base and stick buttons and suction cups for the desktop; easy to use right or left handed with the stick button. Video61 sells them for $10. And of course my stick-stand for the CX-40 is great for the lap and you don't have to hold it with two hands either, but you need two hands for joystick and button still...but that way you don't have to use your thumb for the fire button, any finger works and that way you can use them with left or right hand pretty easily. Stick Stands pop up on eBay quite often (they come black, mine is custom painted).

20200110_104356.jpg

20200110_104344.jpg

Edited by Gunstar
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14 minutes ago, mimo said:

Ouch, I can sympathise with you.

I have had an arthritic condition since I was in my early 20s. In my 40s I thought it had burned out as is often the case I believe (ankylosing spondylitis)

I was wrong as at the end of last year it flared up again hitting both my ankles and the knuckles in my left hand.

Thankfully my right hand is still fully functional, but I made the mistake of opening a kitchen drawer with my left hand last week, and I think the people 2 streets away heard the scream 

Mines  cervicular spondylitis, my grip is less and less....And yeah, when you get it wrong it does hurt just a wee bit :)

 

I hope the flare up calms down...

 

Back to TRBountybobs topic now :)  (sorry TRBB)

Edited by Mclaneinc
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4 hours ago, Gunstar said:

The other thing besides time is not wanting to waste time playing for the high score on games I don't enjoy playing. So I'm not up to playing everything that comes along in the HSC either. Over on Atari Sector we have a HSC of sorts, but it's one game a month and winner of the previous round picks the game played the next round. This I can find time for and don't mind playing a game I don't care for much with a month to put in my 10 min. on it. But sometimes I don't even have time for it! I was the winner last October and picked the game for November, then I didn't even have the time to participate in my own game of choice!

If you don't like a game just put less time in it and post a low score or nothing at all. I have been playing on and off during the last three seasons and even when missing half of the rounds I did not end up at the bottom of the list. I enjoy the bit of participating I manage to squeeze in even if I it's rather unlikely that I'll ever beat the "pros" whose scores leave me speechless. 

 

It's sobering to hear stories of hands no longer willing to mash buttons. Modified Nintendo pads (or modern gamepads with right D-pads or sticks in emulation) might be a solution for those needing right-thumb control. 

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I have same issue with joysticks, but I can use a joypad, I bought one of those USB ones that look like

a PS1 joypad, used an Arduino Uno with a USB HAT, wrote a little software, made a 9 pin cable to hook it

to my 800/130XE and it works a treat.

 

I use the same joypad on my PC when using Altirra

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1 hour ago, therealbountybob said:

one player hooked up a dance mat to play Mogul Maniac

Yup, that would be me. But to be honest, Mogul Maniac is so far the only game I've found that works reasonably well with a dance mat. Perhaps a dedicated DDR game if one exists for the Atari 8-bit, but pretty much every other game would be a huge disadvantage playing with your feet instead of any form of joystick or gamepad.

 

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5 hours ago, carlsson said:

Yup, that would be me. But to be honest, Mogul Maniac is so far the only game I've found that works reasonably well with a dance mat. Perhaps a dedicated DDR game if one exists for the Atari 8-bit, but pretty much every other game would be a huge disadvantage playing with your feet instead of any form of joystick or gamepad.

 

if you get a dance mat working with track 'n field please post a video of yourself playing it.  I need a laugh!

 

-SteveS

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I tried either Track 'n Field or Activision's Decathlon, can't recall which one right now but I am far too obese to last even 10 seconds sprinting. Get it to work is not an issue since it is a PS2 mat that I run through a PSX64 interface (there are others that do the job just as well) connected to the Atari in this case. Get it to play in an useful way is the challenge.

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Mainly time, then energy. ;) I drive 75 miles daily, manage a fence manufacturing department, work part time at a non-profit recycling center, give sewing machine lessons, repair sewing machines, and make things for the homeless. I rarely play a few games monthly.

Since the reformatting here, I've been on less and less, so I never even see what's being played.

Edited by zylon
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