Junior Progress

[ChrisP]

Cool! I have now broken 100K. PB is now 111,100 at 6-1.

My pace is hideous, but I'm gonna be honest: I have no intentions of ever point-pressing this game.

With DK, point-pressing is interesting because there is a strong correlation between getting more points per board and an increase in both risk and skill.

Not only is this not true in Junior (most of the time), but the opposite is true. Most point-pressing techniques are of the "leeching" variety and are a boring non-challenge (spark-jumping being the epitome of this). It just isn't fun at all, and it drags on and on and on. I want to move forward to the next thing that actually tests me, not bring the gameplay to a screeching halt by mindlessly jumping over stuff for five minutes!

We'll see how I feel when I eventually get a kill screen, but I don't see million point attempts in my future. I've watched Ben suffer through enough of it over the last few days.

Biggest helps so far:
- My Donkey Kong Junior arcade strategies with commentary,tips, and tricks (George Riley)
- Donkey Kong Jr. - Strategy for 4th level and beyond. (don't know who this is)
- http://www.twitch.tv/up2ng/c/1270075 (Part 1-5 of Dean's Junior springboard patterns)
- Watching Ben
- Something I can't remember at the moment...

[marky_d]

With DK, point-pressing is interesting because there is a strong correlation between getting more points per board and an increase in both risk and skill.

Not only is this not true in Junior (most of the time), but the opposite is true. Most point-pressing techniques are of the "leeching" variety and are a boring non-challenge (spark-jumping being the epitome of this). It just isn't fun at all, and it drags on and on and on. I want to move forward to the next thing that actually tests me, not bring the gameplay to a screeching halt by mindlessly jumping over stuff for five minutes!

I can't say that I totally agree with this. Yes, most of the points are going to unfortunately come from the Hideout spark-jumping..but you really have to do it to get a very high score. But, taking that away, going for 300-400k more than the very basic and boring leeching needed for 1 million requires a little more experience, knowledge of nuances and risk-taking than meets the eye. I'm really not trying to start/perpetuate a debate because there are too many people who dislike the game out there to argue with, so you'll just have to trust me I guess haha. That said, having played both of course, obviously running boards to a killscreen, Junior is ten times easier...but you can also make it very, very tough trying to squeeze out every point.

[homerwannabee]

Cool! I have now broken 100K. PB is now 111,100 at 6-1.



With DK, point-pressing is interesting because there is a strong correlation between getting more points per board and an increase in both risk and skill.

Not only is this not true in Junior (most of the time), but the opposite is true. Most point-pressing techniques are of the "leeching" variety and are a boring non-challenge (spark-jumping being the epitome of this). It just isn't fun at all, and it drags on and on and on. I want to move forward to the next thing that actually tests me, not bring the gameplay to a screeching halt by mindlessly jumping over stuff for five minutes!

Well first thanks for the shout out, and second I think what you are saying is true from 800,000 to 1 million.  If you can get 800,000 in Donkey Kong Junior you should be able to get 1,000,000 as well, but I do feel getting any higher, and you will have to increase the skill level.  Junior is a game where it's easy to throw away points, and getting to a higher level means doing riskier moves, and just being more efficient with Junior.

[ChrisP]

I will defer to you guys on the point-pressing stuff, and most definitely on the finer points of it, since that's all way beyond my current level.

Reading my post again, I probably should have said "at this point, it seems to me..." because if I were to put the time into learning those things, I'm sure I would find that there's more to it.

It's really the snapper and spark leeching that I can't handle!

But the main "meat" of the game is really fun.

[Jonesy]

Still struggling on this damned game.

Although I love it, it frustrates the hell out of me. Pressing to max each board i'm finding pretty tough at the moment and as George stated it's easy to throw points away, especially on the vines from level 4 and jump timing is critical.

Still stuck at 837,500 but rather than aiming for just the kill screen it would be nice to get there with 1M points.

Well done on your progress man and yeah, the Hideout can be a real bore!

[ChrisP]

182,200 7-4!

Not bad hitting almost 200K just a little over a day after first crossing 100K.

I love that breakout phase on these games, when you're getting into the groove and your personal best starts shooting up quickly.

Though soon will come the inevitable plateau and the honeymoon will end.

[ChrisP]

I couldn't stay away from my "hard version" PCB. As I learn more nuances of the "regular" version, I'm able to see more in this version.

Now that I'm getting better I see that chains actually isn't that bad with the weird flight paths. You actually get something in exchange for the fact that they dip lower, you have a bigger "pocket" in which to maneuver yourself and the keys in the upper quadrant. You just have to set everything up in a way that doesn't rely on the safe spot, which seems doable.

The springboard birds are just a nightmare though. They go lower and are also more tightly-spaced, which makes it just different enough that the existing patterns just don't work. I'm gonna have to come up with my own.

Also, I was thinking of getting in touch with the guy who owns HobbyROMS.com about my board. I could send my two ROM chips to him, have him dump the data and send it to me, and I could then give it to the MAME people/all of you (and while he's at it, have him burn me the correct chips). I'll see how much he wants to charge for that.

I got this Junior board kind of by accident, and I almost sold it immediately but now that I've given the game a chance I'm glad I didn't.

[marinomitch13]

Chris, it looks like you and me are currently at about the same level on DKjr (albeit, you are playing on a harder version). I'm sitting at about 130k every game (literally, +/- 5k) at over a 1.1m pace, I still just need to get consistent at the hard bird stage. Looks like you're already getting that down, so I need to kick it in gear a bit more. Wanna race?! Just kidding, no need to make ourselves suffer that much!

[ChrisP]

Boom baby!

If it's a race I think I just pulled way ahead!

I just played in MAME and got 383,900 L12-4! I more than doubled my personal best in a single game. It's coming fast now, I think I've got this game pretty much figured out.

It's funny, I decided today to start recording INPs and after two false starts, this game happened.

I think my hard-as-shit ROM might have accelerated my ability to play the normal version.

[marinomitch13]

Woah! Pretty soon you'll be the best all-around DK player! Now you just need to play DK3, since, if I remember right, you're already are decent at Crazy Kong and D2K. Giving Ben a run for his money! JK JK (had to be said )

[ChrisP]

Believe it or not, I have been playing some DK3.

It's not coming that easily for me. I didn't get a million on my third try or anything!

[Jonesy]

Wow,

Great progress in a short time!!

I hope my recent Springboard level video helped you on your way  Lol!

[hchien]

@ChrisP Once you break 300K, it's a free ride to the killscreen.  Enjoy the ride!

[homerwannabee]

@ChrisP Once you break 300K, it's a free ride to the killscreen.  Enjoy the ride!

Tell that to Dean Saglio.  He broke 300k years ago, and still hasn't hit the killscreen.  Granted he doesn't play it a ton, but it's not always a free ride.

[hchien]

Tell that to Dean Saglio.  He broke 300k years ago, and still hasn't hit the killscreen.  Granted he doesn't play it a ton, but it's not always a free ride.

OK, I should have added if you don't point press.  When Dean reaches the killscreen I'm sure it will be a WR.

When I broke 300K I was confident I could killscreen the game.  My high score by week: 125K, 250K, 740K.  Obviously I had help, but even without help I think if had gotten 300K on my own, I would have felt the same way.  Ben and Wag had similar experiences.  In fact, Ben said something even crazier... like he went from 80K to a killscreen.   (Again none of us point pressed on our first killscreens.)  The learning curve on Jr. is much different than say for DK.  It wasn't until I reached about 600K on DK that I felt I could killscreen the game.  Even then it took lots of work.