Donkey Kong Forum

Blogs => Player Blogs => Topic started by: Shnypz on April 29, 2014, 07:12:40 am

Title: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on April 29, 2014, 07:12:40 am
Figured I'd start one of these...

DK News:
To set a baseline, a killscreen is my ultimate goal. I strictly play on arcade hardware, either my DK machine or 60-1. I've been seriously playing for about 6 months. Typically an hour a night after the wife goes to bed.

Current PB is just over 200k, game over was late into L=7. Sorry I don't have exact stats. I'll do better with that going forward. I'm finally getting better with a 4+ spring retreat plan. It's more or less been a YOLO on a long spring approach so far. This weekend, I got the furthest ever on my first jump man...first death was on the L=6 springs. My game went to shit shortly after that tho.

The controller on my DK machine has started sticking on occasion which is causing some unjust deaths. I'm talking to a local repair place to get estimates around fixing the controller and re-capping the monitor. I may need to start playing more on the 60-1 which makes me sad #firstworldDKproblems.

Other Gaming News:
At work, we have a homemade mame/emulator cabinet. Just about every week the company holds some type of classic game tourney. So far I've won DK, Pacman, Galaga and Jungle Hunt. Anyway, this week is a "No continues, no cheat code, no point farming" Contra NES high score tourney. I played through the game w/o continuing and finally lost all my d00ds on the final stage of the 2nd play-through. Final score was 968k. So far no one else has come close to playing through the game once. I think I have this on in the bag  <Billy>

We'll see how this blog thing goes, I'll try to checkin weekly if I've made any DK progress or any fun game tourneys go down at work
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: f_symbols on April 29, 2014, 07:42:27 am
Gaming tournaments at work?  BibleThump  Kreygasm
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on April 29, 2014, 07:56:21 am
Gaming tournaments at work?  BibleThump  Kreygasm

haha, yep. $50 first place prize but after I won Pacman and Jungle Hunt in the span of a month they added a "you can only win the $$ prize once a quarter" rule. You can still play but if you win, the cash prize goes to 2nd place and 1st can pick the game for next week. I actually crushed the Bubble Bobble high score by ~100k but didn't post my score on the board since I couldn't win the cash. I had about 5 "witnesses" tho.
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: TheSunshineFund on April 29, 2014, 09:37:32 am
Jungle Hunt tournaments are  Kreygasm
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on April 29, 2014, 09:55:34 am
Jungle Hunt tournaments are  Kreygasm

Yeah, it was fun. I almost lost cuz some kid figured out you can keep jumping the natives at the end of the level to rack up points. We didnt have the timer bonus so there was no reason to rush. He couldn't get past the 3rd vine level. Meanwhile my legit play through up to level 6 almost lost to that BS.

Pacman was another fun one. Kept getting accused of using "cheesy" patterns. I kept telling them I wasn't even that good. I won with a 53k score.  :P
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on April 30, 2014, 08:11:25 am
I talked to the repair guy yesterday. Of course, he said he wouldn't really know without digging into it but from what I explained over the phone, the monitor re-cap and joystick/speaker repairs would probably be in the $250 range. I was prepare to spend around $300 which he said it should be well under unless he finds something nasty.

I'll probably drop it off this weekend. Gonna to miss my baby. The repairs will probably take 2 weeks, maybe longer due to the backlog of work the guy has lined up. I'll probably start streaming once I get it back. I want to get on the HS board  8) My undocumented PB would place me in the 170s. Gotta log something "official" tho.
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: stella_blue on April 30, 2014, 08:57:48 am
I'll probably drop it off this weekend.

Unfortunate timing.  Does that mean you're sitting out the DK Open this weekend?

Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on April 30, 2014, 09:27:21 am
I'll probably drop it off this weekend.

Unfortunate timing.  Does that mean you're sitting out the DK Open this weekend?

I wasn't planning to play. The sticky controller is really starting to hurt my gameplay. I'm also still figuring out a good webcam/stream setup. I was able to rig a webcam onto one of those suction cup GPS holders which seemed to work. It did loose suction and fall while I was playing tho.

I could always play on my 60-1 which seems ok according to the rules.
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on May 01, 2014, 07:39:13 am
Stella Blue got me thinking that I may delay the cabinet repairs until after this weekend's tourney. Unfortunately, I was looking over my joystick to verify the 4-way guide plate was legit and noticed that the guide plate was missing all of the screws  BibleThump

That's probably one of the many reasons why I've been having joystick issues lately. Also the guide plate is a 4-way but it's a bit warn down. mikesarcade.com should have them in this week. Might as well replace it while getting the other repairs done.
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on May 05, 2014, 10:07:44 am
Won the Contra tourney with a 1.5 mil score. 2nd place had a score of 188k  ;D

I used the $50 amazon card to get a MS LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam. I'll start experimenting with streaming once it arrives.
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on May 07, 2014, 10:22:34 am
Successfully repaired my joystick with some help from NERDtendo over on the VAPS/KLOV boards. I still have monitor/sound issues but I can live with those for now.

Officially back on the DK machine and off the 60-1  Kreygasm
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: stella_blue on May 07, 2014, 10:40:08 am
I used the $50 amazon card to get a MS LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam. I'll start experimenting with streaming once it arrives.
Officially back on the DK machine and off the 60-1  Kreygasm

New webcam.  DK cabinet back in action.  All systems go.

Looking forward to your future broadcasts.   8)

Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on May 07, 2014, 10:54:50 am
I used the $50 amazon card to get a MS LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam. I'll start experimenting with streaming once it arrives.
Officially back on the DK machine and off the 60-1  Kreygasm

New webcam.  DK cabinet back in action.  All systems go.

Looking forward to your future broadcasts.   8)

with a PB of only 200k, there won't be much to watch  FailFish but thanks. Webcam should arrive Monday.

I've been practicing some "light" point pushing techniques and advanced jump strategies lately. I've learned a bunch from watching some of the streamers....just need more practice.
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on June 02, 2014, 10:02:12 am
The monitor cap situation has gone from "just let it warm up for 5-10 mins and it's fine" to "turn it on, come back in 30-45 min, flip it on and off then pray the vert hold sticks". I have the monitor and sound board cap kits on order. I'll probably drop off at the repair shop on Wednesday. The guy doing the re-cap says he'll be sure to have it done before DKO#3 which is good. I have fresh t-molding and coin decals ready for the old girl once I get it back. It's gonna be a tough 2 weeks slummin' it on the 60-1 again.

Last night, I was practicing some 1-1 and light point pressing. I didn't stream since there were restarts galore. I ended up with a solid L1 and 2 so decided to play out the game. Topped by PB by around 20k. Not a huge deal since I probably wouldn't have sub'd the score anyway. Really want to get around 250-300k for my next sub. Either way...progress!!!

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9fFPphk61ds/U4vshxNpSaI/AAAAAAAABWs/26GW3x0d8Vg/w673-h505-no/IMG_20140601_231610.jpg)
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Xermon54 on June 02, 2014, 04:05:46 pm
Good job mate ;-)

First law of Donkey Kong: If Dean cannot reroll a score higher than yours, it means you're becoming decent at this game. You're score is higher than 206,800, then you're safe!

Keep improving mate, kill screen coming up!  <Allen>
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on June 02, 2014, 09:40:20 pm
haha...i like that rule.  8)
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on June 13, 2014, 08:05:33 am
DK cab repairs are done.  Kreygasm Unfortunately, I can't pick it up until Monday FailFish

The repair guy said the video board didn't immediately need the cap kit. Some v-hold adjustments helped the problem for the most part.   He said it would have eventually needed a re-cap so it was good to get out of the way. With the amount I play the thing, I'm happy it's done. The audio board needed caps badly tho. No more buzzy machine while streaming.

Can't wait to get this thing home, do the t-molding and get ready for DKO#3  8)
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on June 16, 2014, 11:26:37 am
Got DK back. Works great. Added fresh t-molding and coin decals. Can't wait to play this thing later. I missed it big time.

(http://i399.photobucket.com/albums/pp77/ktel1er/IMG_20140616_141711_zpse614c2d2.jpg)
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: TheSunshineFund on June 16, 2014, 11:37:39 am
Excellent!  Looks great!   Kreygasm
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Barra on June 16, 2014, 12:40:11 pm
Great timing just before the open!
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on June 17, 2014, 04:42:59 am
Noticed one new minor problem last night  :(

Overall everything seems better audio and video wise except on the rivet and pie levels, the right side of the screen moves slightly when Kong stomps his feet. Seems to get more drastic if there's a lot of fireballs on the screen. I tried adjusting a few things like v-hold and the easy to reach pots but nothing helped. Might be something voltage related now that the sound board is in better working order.
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on June 24, 2014, 07:52:11 am
Quick Update:

After a week of monitor setting tweaks, I've more or less eliminated the weird waviness on the rivet/pie levels. Adjusting the picture up a bit seemed to do the trick. It still happens a little on occasion but it's not as bad as it was. Ultimately, I think something on the board might be going wrong. For now, I'm happy with how it's playing.

On the gameplay front, I've been playing some of my best Kong lately. The tourney really helped. Topped my PB twice during the tourney. Currently at 239,200. I'm so tempted to submit it just to bump myself up the all-time list but I'm gonna hold off until I break 250k. Hoping to hit that by the end of the week/weekend.

Thanks to Ethan, Allen and others who have hopped on my stream with words of encouragement  :) I know I'm not the most exciting player to watch but I appreciated it. I <3 this place  :-*
Title: Re: shnypz tracker
Post by: Shnypz on July 11, 2014, 12:03:35 pm
I'm in a serious DK rut at the moment. Since setting a new PB with a 317k game, I haven't gotten over 200k since. Typical game is a solid 95k start then everything goes down the tubes during L=5/6. As such, I've stopped streaming as not to waste anyone's time with bullshit 150-175k shit games.

I still play at least 2-3 games a day but it's been a shitty couple of weeks. I hope typing this out will help shake the bad DK vibes. The fireballs/foxes on the rivet and pie levels have been a big part of the problem. Not sure what I did to piss them off. On the upside, my wife and kids are going to be gone during the first week of Aug. I'm planning a week long grind session to get back on track (if I'm not back on track by then).

On other news, the IGBY has been a blast. I'm having lots of fun playing these random games. Looking to go deep with Magic Sword, Bank Panic and 19xx in the next few weeks.