Arcade Talk!

[TreborPugly]

Okay, let's get the chatter going here about the arcade! There was some chatter during the early days of MSq (Yeah, it's so old now), but nothing recently.


There are tons of tournaments waiting for players. Come on folks, sign up now. Everyone's got a good chance to win these, since you only get a few tries. (nevermind that I won the last three tourneys - I picked the game on those...)

And we need some smack talk! Hey Gai-jin, thanks for creating a Lost your Marbles tournament, which gave me the motivation to actually figure out how to play that game. Now I'm so good it's like I can walk through walls... ;)

And finally, the begging and pleading for hints. Uther, how the heck do you get such high scores in Tower Defense? I'm stuck in the 60's.

Ditto to Martin on Tower Blaster. (maybe I'm just not good at playing with towers?)

[markz]

Yeah, I'd like some hints for Tower Blaster, Mahjongg Connect, Bumper Cards, and a couple of those Yeti games.

I have Yahtzee all figured out, and the Yeti Pengu Throw game.

[procrastinator]

I'd love hints for Mahjong Connect, too. At most, I make it to the second level, and that's only on rare occasions. Do those of you who score over 1000 on a regular basis have some secret superpower you're not sharing with the rest of us?

--Debbie

[TreborPugly]

For Mahjong Connect

Really basic stuff: The rule is that the pieces must be connectable with a wire that has at most two bends in it. The when you remove a pair, the pieces move following a different rule for each level. Level 1, they move up and down from the center. Level 2, they move left and right from the center. Level 3, they move to the left. (hard!) Level 4 they move down. (A bit easier than 3 I think)

More advanced hints:
Once you've got a path opened completely through the center (first or second level), there are almost always plenty of connections to be made in the middle somewhere. And remember that once you make a "hole" in one side, the piece that can see straight through the hole can now connect with anything on the outside edge.

Game quirk:
As was mentioned in the "Ask the Wizard" area, the hints sometimes give you "non-hints," of either a pair that doesn't match, or just a single piece. When the game does this, it means there is a pair right next to each other somewhere. The game refuses to give those as hints for some reason. However, save those hints, because you use up one hint when the board shuffles. (which it does when there's no moves) I have seen the game refuse to give hints, even when there are some outside matches - my theory is that it turns off hints if you use a hint when you have plenty of time, until you make a match with a good bit less time left, but that's not confirmed. One final quirk is that sometimes pausing the game doesn't work. It appears to be paused, but when you come back, you immediately run out of time.

I don't think there's any secret, other than being good at finding matches quickly, and knowing how the game works. You get alot more points for finishing quickly, so if you do the first level quickly, you are already close to 1000 points.

My weakness is on pairs right next to each other in the middle somewhere. I regularly do a scan, assure myself that there aren't any interior matches, and then ask for a hint, only to find it telling me there's an adjacent pair in there somewhere.

[montag]

Yeah, I'd like some hints for Tower Blaster, Mahjongg Connect, Bumper Cards, and a couple of those Yeti games.

I have Yahtzee all figured out, and the Yeti Pengu Throw game.Well spill the beans. I've done pretty good on the Pengu Throw game but can't get over the hump. What's the trick?

[markz]

Well spill the beans. I've done pretty good on the Pengu Throw game but can't get over the hump. What's the trick?

I guess my comment was misleading. Unfortunately, there is no secret that I have figured out. I think I just got lucky when I scored that high. I have gotten decent scores on occasion, but cannot do it with any regularity. And sometimes I still accidentally swing before the penguin drops or just get 75-100 feet on some swings.

There has to be a sweet spot on the swing, but I haven't found it.

[procrastinator]

Thanks for the hints, TreborPugly. It sounds like my problem is just that I'm too slow, more than anything else. :(

--Debbie

[markz]

Thanks for the hints, TreborPugly. It sounds like my problem is just that I'm too slow, more than anything else. :(

--Debbie

Me too. I haven't cleared the first level before the time ran out.

[TreborPugly]

I guess my comment was misleading. Unfortunately, there is no secret that I have figured out. I think I just got lucky when I scored that high. I have gotten decent scores on occasion, but cannot do it with any regularity. And sometimes I still accidentally swing before the penguin drops or just get 75-100 feet on some swings.

There has to be a sweet spot on the swing, but I haven't found it.

I'm thinking that at least 3 revolutions increases your release speed, but I'm not positive. (hard to compare results) I haven't seen any benefit to letting him swing around 10+ times. (yeah, I tried :)

Straight up gets a max of 270 or so, so you have to use the seals to get the really high scores. The best scores I've gotten have been with one that was nearly straight up, and hit a seal right as it was starting to come back down. Also some good scores when I happened to get an angle that made the seals kick it to the next seal 2-3 times.

[markz]

I'm thinking that at least 3 revolutions increases your release speed, but I'm not positive. (hard to compare results) I haven't seen any benefit to letting him swing around 10+ times. (yeah, I tried :)

Straight up gets a max of 270 or so, so you have to use the seals to get the really high scores. The best scores I've gotten have been with one that was nearly straight up, and hit a seal right as it was starting to come back down. Also some good scores when I happened to get an angle that made the seals kick it to the next seal 2-3 times.

That's another yeti game, but I agree with your assessment.

[Ninny]

I am still trying to master Blocks.

Stupid game.:angry:

[HeyItsCory]

Yeah, I'd like some hints for Tower Blaster
It's very unlikely that you will lose the first level, so you can take your time on it.

If you put 50 on the bottom and 41 on the top, you can score 11,000 or more in level 1.

I still have yet to come close to the top scores, but I certainly know how to pad my score on the first level.

[markz]

It's very unlikely that you will lose the first level, so you can take your time on it.

If you put 50 on the bottom and 41 on the top, you can score 11,000 or more in level 1.

I still have yet to come close to the top scores, but I certainly know how to pad my score on the first level.

Cool! It worked 2 of 3 tries. I ended up losing with 320 points once though. I did get into the top 10!

Thanks!

[Uther]

And finally, the begging and pleading for hints. Uther, how the heck do you get such high scores in Tower Defense? I'm stuck in the 60's.
Nature towers are the best. Don't build anything else.

[Angie]

How in the bloody heck do I keep getting paired with the current high-score holder in all the tournaments??? Grr. :)

[TreborPugly]

Nature towers are the best. Don't build anything else.


Even Ultimate Towers? Upgrading those things looks like it's not worth it, but 3000 for a tower that does 9000 damage seems like a good deal. (And anyone notice that you don't actually get charged 3000 when you build one? I seem to get charged somewhere between 1000 and 2000 each time)

[Marc]

Even Ultimate Towers? Upgrading those things looks like it's not worth it, but 3000 for a tower that does 9000 damage seems like a good deal.
If you upgrade a Nature Tower to its highest level, the cost is only 2360 (20+40+80+160+320+640+1100) and it gets you 9000 damage with a much greater range.

[Uther]

Yes, you need TTHHE ULLTTIMMATTE TTOWWERR to get past level 86 or so. The Ultimate Arm(or)ed Tower does indeed only cost 2000, though you need 3000 to buy it. It is horribly slow with its firing, however. A fully upgraded nature tower (Living Tower) will do a lot more damage. Only TTHHE ULLTTIMMATTE TTOWWERR is better.

[montag]

What do you think is going to be the toughest high score to beat? Or which high score is most impressive?

I can't imagine ever coming close to Otto's score on the Flight game. I've only once made it out the window.

[Philosofy]

What do you think is going to be the toughest high score to beat? Or which high score is most impressive?

I can't imagine ever coming close to Otto's score on the Flight game. I've only once made it out the window.

On TCR, my Four Balls score. It was insanely difficult to keep two, let alone 4, balls going, but I got a ball stuck between a wall and the paddle, and it scored several points a second.

[JETarpon]

I got a ball stuck between a wall and the paddle

:wackyeek:.

[mercurial]

On TCR, my Four Balls score. It was insanely difficult to keep two, let alone 4, balls going, but I got a ball stuck between a wall and the paddle, and it scored several points a second.

:wackyeek:.

That happened to you, you'd get a bit philosophical too...

[~Muse]

I seem to have suddenly acquired Balloon Bomber 'Champion' status. I'm puzzled by this as Snowman held that position and I never beat his score. In fact, I don't recall ever making the score that it currently shows I have. Also, all his scores are missing?? Why would this be?? :huh:

If I'm going to be champion, I want to earn the title on merit; not by default.

[TreborPugly]

Scores time out for the high score list. His old high score is evidently a month old, so your score is the highest in the last month. Yeah you!

[Marc]

And in about 6 days, ~Muse's scores will expire off and trojanrabbit might gain the lead, unless someone gets a score higher than his.

[TreborPugly]

And in about 6 days, ~Muse's scores will expire off and trojanrabbit might gain the lead, unless someone gets a score higher than his.


Treb starts up the burner for his balloon, and loads it with bombs...

[Angie]

Does that mean I'll get my rightful puzzle icon for a couple of days? :D

[markz]

If you guys go to this page, you can see the age of the high scores. Then you'll know what scores are about to expire.

http://www.mainsquare.org/arcade.php?&act=Arcade&module=report

[montag]

If I'm going to be champion, I want to earn the title on merit; not by default.I agree. The champion should be the one that has the all-time high score. Marc, is this admin adjustable? Can we vote on it?

I wonder if the 30 day rule is there to encourage more play or make it "fun" for everyone. Kind of like some youth sports today that don't keep score. :D

[markz]

I just noticed I lost the high score on Yeti Pengu Throw due to the 30 Day Rule. Even when going to that game, it doesn't show me as the all-time high score holder. I had to go to the list of all games or my favorites to see that I still had the all-time high score.

I also see that the hole in Yahtzee has been patched! :(

[pseudonym]

Has anyone else noticed an uncanny resemblance between the Viking in Tower Blaster and JPriller? If you photoshopped horns onto the hat in his avatar, would you be able to tell the difference?



http://www.letsgetgaming.com/pic/towerblaster.jpg http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/customavatars/avatar10703_0.gif

Coincidence? Have they ever been seen in the same room together?

[markz]

Has anyone else noticed an uncanny relationship between the Viking in Tower Blaster and JPriller? If you photoshopped horns onto the hat in his avatar, would you be able to tell the difference?



http://www.letsgetgaming.com/pic/towerblaster.jpg http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/customavatars/avatar10703_0.gif

Coincidence? Have they ever been seen in the same room together?

I knew that viking looked familiar!

[Martin Tupper]

...and that Viking is always on the left!

[Uther]

http://www.mainsquare.org/arcade/images/1st.gifhttp://www.mainsquare.org/arcade/images/2nd.gifhttp://www.mainsquare.org/arcade/images/3rd.gif

Uther (http://www.mainsquare.org/arcade.php?&act=Arcade&module=report&user=84) (10 Highscores)
TreborPugly (http://www.mainsquare.org/arcade.php?&act=Arcade&module=report&user=76) (9 Highscores)
debtoine (http://www.mainsquare.org/arcade.php?&act=Arcade&module=report&user=41) (4 Highscores)

:p

[TreborPugly]

I'll concede that you're better at extracting the list of high scorers. But not at keeping your crown.

[HeyItsCory]

Why do I get teamed up against record-holders and their record-holding scores in touraments?

Hey.... what's the secret to the penguin ones?

[TreborPugly]

Hey HeyItsCory, I only got that record breaking score for BinBall in the tourney. Prior to that, I was just a regular office slouch.

[TreborPugly]

All hail sschwart for getting under 2 minutes on Puzzle Maniax!

(notice how that game doesn't show up in the announcements in the Arcade? Maybe because the new "high score" is actually the same as the old "high score?"

In Puzzle Maniax, how many of you have tried multiple puzzles and "won?" The puzzles definitely get harder.

[Angie]

Hey!!! I finally got my icon! (For a day or so! :laugh:)

[TreborPugly]

That's funny, since you're in 3rd place right now...

[montag]

Treb, nice score on Binball. It's crazy that the tournament score doesn't count on the Top Score board.

How did you get that high of a score.

[Otto]

I can't imagine ever coming close to Otto's score on the Flight game. I've only once made it out the window.
Well, I got beat, barely. I think we're riding the edge of the possible now on that flight simulator game. The trick is to start high and go low, with as fast as possible on the horizontal. Get that angle right, and you'll drop almost to the floor before coming back up to the top of the window. You'll clear the chimney, soar just over the playground, and then crash at around 95 ft. Getting it further requires pixel perfection.

Even Ultimate Towers? Upgrading those things looks like it's not worth it, but 3000 for a tower that does 9000 damage seems like a good deal. (And anyone notice that you don't actually get charged 3000 when you build one? I seem to get charged somewhere between 1000 and 2000 each time)
If you upgrade a Nature Tower to its highest level, the cost is only 2360 (20+40+80+160+320+640+1100) and it gets you 9000 damage with a much greater range.
The Nature tower is the early tower to start with. However, if you are good at your placement, you can survive to level 80 with just two of them. I sometimes build a third one, but rarely do I upgrade it all the way.

The Flower Tower requires 3000 to build, but only takes away 2000 when you build it (I have not seen any variability here). These are usually my third, fourth, and fifth towers. This lets me get some power shots going on the cheap while I'm waiting for cash to upgrade them with. But mainly, I do this because upgrading the flower tower increases its power while decreasing its range! So it's actually less effective if you upgrade it too early, because of the crappy firing rate.

The Ultimate Tower is required to get much past level 90. Period. It's only actually effective in certain places. Namely, the end and beginnings of hallways. This allows it to shoot straight rapidly. When you don't see the shots, it's shooting as fast as it can. Pixel perfection can be crucial here.

Nature Tower placement is critical too. For maximum cash flow, you need to:
a) Launch the game in a separate window.
b) Expand the window vertically.
c) Place the nature towers on top of the black dots above the entry point.

Two fully loaded nature towers in this location can get you as far as level 70 before anybody makes it to the first turn.

Doing this also allows them to shoot more than 8 enemies per round (call it a bug in the game). This has upsides for most of the game, downsides towards the end (when 15 guys suddenly come out and you can't kill them all, you get annoyed quickly). Shooting more enemies = more cash.

Oh, and never, ever, touch the space bar. Ever. There's a good 15 minutes between levels 10 and 55 where you don't have to do much. Get a sandwich instead. Pressing the space bar will reduce your income.

And there you go. Secrets revealed. :)

[JETarpon]

I've decided I'm happy with one icon under my name. I suck at most games, and don't really care to put the time in to get better. But I seem to have a knack for Orca Slap, and am content to just have Shamu under my name.

[Angie]

That's funny, since you're in 3rd place right now...
Uh oh. I'm gonna have to try that one again.

[TreborPugly]

Treb, nice score on Binball. It's crazy that the tournament score doesn't count on the Top Score board.

How did you get that high of a score.

Luck, same as any high score in that game, I think. I happened to get lucky on two of the later rounds, with multiple bounces into the bin, without actually trying. One was for the bin behind the water cooler, where I overshot, and it happened to bounce under and over the table into the bin I think, and I managed to get into both bins in the glass office. (I usually fail the final round)

Now that I've had more than one lucky game with Binball, I'm guessing that some really high scores could be had with intentional ricochets. The most I've done intentionally is one bounce off a nearby wall or the counter

[sschwart]

All hail sschwart for getting under 2 minutes on Puzzle Maniax!

(notice how that game doesn't show up in the announcements in the Arcade? Maybe because the new "high score" is actually the same as the old "high score?"

In Puzzle Maniax, how many of you have tried multiple puzzles and "won?" The puzzles definitely get harder.

Somehow though I'm listed as being in 6th place despite having top score (as everyone does) and the best time. It's robbing me of my 3rd place trophy. I've been doing the stone monument thingy one, on the top right in the selection. It's tough to start, but once you key in a few pieces it actually can be quite easy (hence the under 2 minutes).

Otto, I don't know that you can't get past 90 without the ultimate tower in tower defence. I've gotten to 89 without one, and I think a few improvements in placement (as in just a pixel to the left type) could get me another round or two. Actually, the level 89 one was done without any flower towers at all, just well placed and backed up green towers. But the method I'm using is pretty near maxed out at this point. I didn't know about resizing the board, that should make a big difference. But I hate waiting, so once all the guys are dead, if there's more than 2 or 3 seconds on the timer and I'm not going to build anything, I press the spacebar to start the next round. I'm not losing money, because I'm not skipping levels.

[Otto]

I'm not losing money, because I'm not skipping levels.
Hitting the spacebar causes less enemies to come out. Like I said, it's not fixed to 8 enemies per round.

[Angie]

And my icon is gone. :)

[trojanrabbit]

OK, how does one expand the window (running Firefox if that means anything). I "opened the link in a new window" and I don't see anything different (no area above the entry point)

[Uther]

Click and drag... make the window taller (not wider). And don't try to take my high score from me. :)

[Uther]

I'll concede that you're better at extracting the list of high scorers. But not at keeping your crown.
http://www.mainsquare.org/arcade/images/1st.gifhttp://www.mainsquare.org/arcade/images/2nd.gifhttp://www.mainsquare.org/arcade/images/3rd.gif
Uther (http://www.mainsquare.org/arcade.php?&act=Arcade&module=report&user=84) (12 Highscores)
TreborPugly (http://www.mainsquare.org/arcade.php?&act=Arcade&module=report&user=76) (11 Highscores)
nataylor (http://www.mainsquare.org/arcade.php?&act=Arcade&module=report&user=110) (4 Highscores)

Holding on to the crown isn't as much fun as taking it away from somebody else...

:2funny:

[trojanrabbit]

I wonder by how many hundredths of a point I missed the top spot in Yeti Pengu Throw. :angry:

[Uther]

I wonder by how many hundredths of a point I missed the top spot in Yeti Pengu Throw. :angry:
I don't know, but I beat you by 2 seconds (if time is used as a tie-breaker). ;)

[sschwart]

And for a brief shining moment I was tied for first place with Trebor. But since I just don't have the same level of fanatacism that Pugly has, I know I won't keep it for long. But never doubt that were I obsessed enough, I could indeed do it.

[JETarpon]

Why are the icons showing double?

[Angie]

Eat that, Puzzle playin' bitches. :D

I sure wish the icon for that was correct. Maybe I'll get it for more than a day this time. ;)

[Joules1111]

I set up a Blocks 2 tournament. Come play with me. :)

[Angie]

I set up a Blocks 2 tournament. Come play with me. :)
I guarantee, if I sign up, I'll get you in the first round.

Of the two (I think) tournaments I've signed up for, I got the high score holder in both first rounds.:embarrassed::cry::laugh:

[Joules1111]

I guarantee, if I sign up, I'll get you in the first round.
You can't. Makita is already listed as my first opponent.

[Makita]

of all the ways I'd like Joules to spank me, I guess I'll have to settle on the Blocks2 tourney method -Eh? :)

like it, not all that good at it...

[Uther]

Go ahead, try to take one of the top ten high scores from me on Binball Wizard... make my day.


And, damn it, STOP CHEATING AT TOWER DEFENCE!!!

[TreborPugly]

So are you getting multiple shots with multiple bounces, or is there one high scoring shot that you are managing to get like 20 bounces on?

[Uther]

Yes. No, I've never gotten 20 bounces. I can usually score 5000 pts. on the first ball. ~6000 is guaranteed for the second ball. Ball 8 and ball 10 is usually where the big scores can be made...

[Uther]

Looks like I'll just have to keep beating myself... Nobody else seems to want to bounce balls.

[Joules1111]

Come on people. I need 1 more player in my Block 2 tournament. You all afraid of a little girl? :coolsmiley: