Season 10 ~ Weeks 18/19 ~ Hot HomeBrews

[AtariWarlord]

Ms. Galactopus 9,115.

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

58 minutes ago, Vocelli said:

@ZeroPageHomebrewJames

@ZeroPageHomebrewTanya

 

It was great watching you play the Homebrew Games from the HSC!

Keep up the GREAT work!

Thanks so much for putting this together. It was a ton of fun and we'll be looking to incorporate more HSC into the show in the future. ?

 

- James

[Vocelli]

Vocelli:

 

Updated scores:

Ms G:13730

DogGone It!: 32946

[cwieland]

Some improvements...

 

Ms. Galactopus: 18,545

 

City Defence: 9,599

[Rogerpoco]

Doggone It!-49,771

Sooo close to 50k, darnit!!!

I prolly need to play Ms. Galactopus some more, my score on the fixed rom there so far kinda stinks, so I'll prolly call it done on this, and shoot for the 50K when I get the real cart someday!!!

Such a good game. I swear. Just love it.

 

[CapitanClassic]

Almost got to stage 9 on Doggone It!
 

City Defense - 7996

Doggone It! - 35261

Ms.Galactopus - 11095

 

 

[Alasdair Campbell (BSc.)]

Have you ever tried for a long time, resetting over and over, to get that high score, only to get it and immediately reset before you could take a picture? Fortunately a wise man taught me to record all your gameplay, so my dread was short-lived. 

City Defence- 19,017

[Alasdair Campbell (BSc.)]

Ms. Galactopus improvement:

20,940

 

[+TwentySixHundred]

14 minutes ago, Alasdair Campbell (BSc.) said:

Have you ever tried for a long time, resetting over and over, to get that high score, only to get it and immediately reset before you could take a picture? Fortunately a wise man taught me to record all your gameplay, so my dread was short-lived. 

City Defence- 19,017

Brilliant score! Im sure cracking 20k is possible and was trying last night.

 

In regards to not getting the snapshot of a high score, i did that last night and had to rerun for the 16k i got lol. OBS on captured the top half of the screen and i didn't noticed while playing, so the footage was useless and needed to rerun. I feel your pain with that one...

[+Armscar Coder]

8 hours ago, Rogerpoco said:

Doggone It!-49,771

Sooo close to 50k, darnit!!!

@Rogerpoco, need I remind you that the appropriate response is "doggone it!"?

 

Amazing results from everyone.  I'm genuinely impressed by everyone's scores in the short amount of time that you have had access to the game.  As I mentioned before, my best is just over 53,000 and I have been play testing Doggone It! for months, not to mention I know a thing or two about the code behind it.

 

Keep it up!  Someone is going to break 50,000!

[Rogerpoco]

Ms. Galactopus-15,375

(Fixed rom).

Not too bad for me-there's one baby that gets released and ducks off the left side of the screen in a way that seems impossible to hit, it got me three times this run.

 

[Rogerpoco]

OK, I didn't realize we had a whole 'nuther week on this one...

(Crap, I thought everyone was on a deadline to catch me, haha!)

I'd like to keep, or keep fighting for the top score on it, life/pride doesn't depend on it, I just "want to"(I'm all over the place, in general, but I do have things I'm accidentally "stubborn" about...), but running games that push 50K every time now, I figured I might know enough to give good "player tips", and I've been known to play in "good spirit", knowing HOW to do something doesn't necessarily mean you CAN do it, but the more prepared you are, the more fun you'll have, IMO, especially if your goal is scoring.

My math sucks-the only reason I can play video games is because they keep score, haha-"Early game", Mid game", "Late game", you'll have to figure out what levels I am talking about, that still equates to "math", so I'd prolly get it wrong anyway...

 

Power Ups-

Speedy Feet-this obviously makes you go faster. You can visibly see this one. On later levels, you are so speedy it's almost worth the time to use the slower outer edges.

2x Package delivery-delivers two packages upon receipt. Hank turns purple. REALLY important one, you almost "need" at least one on some later levels to get the job done.

Doggone Invincibility-Pretty clear what this one does. The dogs flash. If you have it and plan to use it, try to wait until you are about to get hit.

Truck Stopper-Stops the truck. You can tell its this one when...the truck stops. Doesn't matter when you use this one, unless you are trying to pocket it for the level bonus.

 

Learning what the power ups do, and when to use them, is the key to doing well on this game, as Armscar mentioned, if you USE them, instead of waiting for them to trigger, you can complete levels faster and take a lot of pressure off of yourself.

 

Some Power Up philosophy-

Get the first one, and don't use it, you'll have enough time to complete the level and receive the bonus for the pocketed power up.

On the second level, if you have a 2x power up, you have an option, use it immediately or don't, and take your chances with the upcoming power up.

If you have anything EXCEPT the 2x power up, you should use it at some point before catching the first kitty.

 

*Especially early, mid game, you don't want the Kitty to directly give and trigger a 2x power up, you need to use those "on purpose", right before delivering a package-early, mid game, you can usually get two packages in that way, again, as Armscar mentioned, that's REALLY important!)*

 

For a while, for me up to around 30k, you are going to trigger a power up quickly, catch the next one, and be able to complete the level before the second kitty comes out.

 

After the levels reach the speed where you know you will see the second kitty, for the most part use your pocketed power up, then use the power up recieved from the kitty at the start as soon as possible, hoping to complete as many deliveries as possible in the shortest time, thanks to the power ups, and pocket the power up from the second kitty.

 

*BTW, in case you aren't "getting" what I am saying, the first dozen times I played, I let the power ups trigger automatically-I DON'T think that's the best strategy, you need to figure out how to use them on purpose.*

 

Levels-

The first level, even when it's "hard", is pretty nice to you, if you are patient.

You usually have time to carefully go around the edges to deliver the packages, and you want to go middle route back up to another package, trying not to get hit, but not terminal if you do.

 

Second-

The Bell is AWESOME! Learn to use the bell!!!

Don't just go up to it and hit it, look for the direction changes of the dogs, etc, and hit it exactly when it gives you a clear shot.

I take risks, but I think you can deliver the packages for many levels, just making sure to hit the bell properly.

 

Third-

One Dog would have been enough of a challenge here, in later levels...

It's just brutal, you have to duck and dodge-again, use the power ups as effectively as you can, knock out a few deliveries as quickly as possible, and try to be methodical but fast for the last few.

 

That's about it. Hmm. Don't ever dick around-I actually kinda think "Adventure Speedrun", for those familiar, on the first few levels-completing levels isn't the key, completing them QUICKLY is. I try to nick trees "pixel perfect", because it DOES matter.

 

Haha, Armscar-"Darnit" is a carry over catchphrase, I use it a lot, I'm the top ranked Vectrex player elsewhere(I think. I haven't checked in a while, IDC), tho I ain't too good at Spike, but I'd say you are correct, case-specific, Doggone It! is better!

 

This game just makes me feel good to play, there's no "have to" involved, period.

 

 

 

[oyamafamily]

Doggone It  42,579

[AtariWarlord]

City Defence 8,540.

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

On 9/10/2020 at 4:26 PM, KaeruYojimbo said:

You did me a favor. I can't fix bugs if no one finds them.

@KaeruYojimbo During our stream we may have found another bug in Ms Galactopus where one of the babies wraps around the bottom of the screen back to the top without ending the game, as there was no shield left. The screen also jumps a little when the baby crosses past the bottom.

 

Also a question, will you be doing another run of the game on cart with all the bug fixes?

 

Bug appears at timestamp 1:36:48 while Tanya was playing. Here's the video queued to just before it happens.

 

- James

 

(SET VIDEO TO 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY)

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by ZeroPage Homebrew

[gbag]

Mrs G. 13,505

Doggonit. 38,439

city defense.  4,789

[oyamafamily]

City Defence  10,050

[+KaeruYojimbo]

15 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

@KaeruYojimbo During our stream we may have found another bug in Ms Galactopus where one of the babies wraps around the bottom of the screen back to the top without ending the game, as there was no shield left. The screen also jumps a little when the baby crosses past the bottom.

Thanks. I think I know why this happened. I'll see if I can fit in a fix.

 

15 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

Also a question, will you be doing another run of the game on cart with all the bug fixes?

The plan is for Ms. Galactopus to be added to the AA store eventually. With bug fixes, of course.

[Jason_Atari]

Ms Galactopus (Fixed Rom) Improvement: 22,120

 

 

[+Atari_Warlord]

Ms Galactopus fixed rom = 9,480

 

Should probably read the hints.  I wasn't entirely sure what I should be doing and shot at everything.

[nads]

Really enjoyed this!! , considering I cant stand Missile Command! ( probably because im hopeless at it ? )

 

City Defense (EXPERT) : 18,810 Stage 27

 

[Rogerpoco]

Doggone It!-50,094

Yesssssss!!!!!!!!!!!

For those that keep up with my antics elsewhere, the vid is pretty "standard quo", when I accidentally "do well", but for those that don't, it might be a bit amusing. I think VERY highly of myself when I reach a personal goal, lol.

"Favorite 2600 game ever"?-mebbe pushing it, but I don't actually think too deep into that kind of stuff.

If I had someone I was trying to convince that the 2600 was still "fun" and "cool"?

I would most definitely want them to try this game.

50K. Soooo Tickled!!!

 

 

 

*Edit*

(I don't think the vid is going to upload directly here, and I don't want to upload it to youtube, until it's released).

(I think you can download and watch tho, if yur that hardcore...)

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Rogerpoco

[Lauren Tyler]

Slightly better score.

 

Also for Doggone It!, I hit the wrong button and didn't get a screenshot, but I got a score of 25,418.

Edited September 15, 2020 by Lauren Tyler

[Jason_Atari]

Doggone It! Improvement: 51,443

 

Finally cracked 50,000, was so close on a couple of occasions and finally did it.

 

Great homebrew! My only gripe is on the start of a new level when pressing the button to begin, it activated the powerup a few times unintentionally. Would prefer moving to start the level.

 

 

[+Armscar Coder]

@Rogerpoco and @Jason_Atari, awesome job!  Not sure how many attempts led up to these scores, but they are great feats considering you have been only playing for a week or so.

 

On 9/6/2020 at 7:15 PM, Lauren Tyler said:

Doggone It!: 15,813 (Got annoyed on that screen so I called it quits.)

What warms my heart more is @Lauren Tyler posting a good score after her initial reaction.  Thanks for giving it another try.

 

@Jason_Atari, as far as the button issue goes, when starting a new level by pressing the fire button, a stored power-up should not be activated until the button is released and depressed again.  I am pretty sure I tested that many times, but just to make sure I verified it again on my 2600 system this morning.  I haven't gotten any similar feedback, so not sure what would be going on there.  Maybe try to replicate it and let me know?  Regardless, thanks for the feedback.

 

- Armscar Coder