Zoo Keeper

[VON]

I was awarded 15 million points for jumping only 14 animals!

Bank error in my favor -- nice one Zoo Keeper.  Keep it up and maybe we can be friends after all.

Same sorta thing happened, only this time I was awarded 30 million for jumping only 15 animals.

The 16th animal was completely separate from the pack, so I see no simple way of explaining why the game gave me credit for jumping 16.

Maybe I somehow got credit for jumping the same animal twice??  Or probably just Zoo Keeper being Zoo Keeper.

Have you got an INP/highlight of this anywhere?

No. Savestate practice. I've still never landed a 30 million in a real game. The shenanigans I described above do occur in real games though,... I think. It's only super obvious when most of the animals are in one place, like an 8 or 15 million jump. But yeah it's happened to me in savestate practice many times.

[DonkeyShlong]

I was awarded 15 million points for jumping only 14 animals!

Bank error in my favor -- nice one Zoo Keeper.  Keep it up and maybe we can be friends after all.

Same sorta thing happened, only this time I was awarded 30 million for jumping only 15 animals.

The 16th animal was completely separate from the pack, so I see no simple way of explaining why the game gave me credit for jumping 16.

Maybe I somehow got credit for jumping the same animal twice??  Or probably just Zoo Keeper being Zoo Keeper.

Have you got an INP/highlight of this anywhere?

That would be sweet if you did an OBS recording of the INP then uploaded to YouTube. Permanent then too :-)

[DonkeyShlong]

Any pros care to help with broken links and tips?

I fixed most of the pics and links in the first post, though if there's a specific link from a later post you'd like fixed, let me know. I moved the images to Imgur because Photobucket is a shit stain, but I'm uncertain if this will preserve them indefinitely. The twitch links will undoubtedly rot in under a year -- why Twitch, why!? -- but the linked clips will forever be saved in the Videos section of my Twitch page: https://www.twitch.tv/dwwnp.

When playing on MAME, I'm finding that even if I run right then left to the bottom, the animals aren't all coming out in the same direction like some videos on YouTube. Do I have a bad rom? I've seen the same techniques on a MAME record on YouTube so it seems like it emulates it well.

The juke right at the beginning of a Round is merely to increase the odds that animals will exit the wall favorably -- it is not fail proof. Watch closely at the beginning of any Round and you'll see one common animal trajectory is just a hair clockwise off 12 O'Clock. By juking right you can setup just a sliver of wall that will force animals bouncing near 12 O'clock to carom back towards the open bottom of the wall.

Remember that the direction animals travel is directly tied to their position relative to Zeke as they exit the wall. The animals will always take the furthest route to reach Zeke, so if they're popping out the top right of the wall at the beginning of the Round, that direction will invariably be clockwise.

P.S. I have a ton of unfinished business with this thread and ZK in general. I don't know how much I'll go back and address anything specifically, so please just ask questions or remind me to post something I promised to post 6 years ago. And in the meantime, get Zoo Keepin'! It's a great game.

Thanks for the quick reply, hope you had a nice Christmas and New Year.

Some really cool videos on your Twitch highlights that I'll take a look at. Is the MAME record on YouTube yours with 47million?

[Barra]

I notice that if you clear an animal then juke back the other way you'll still be awarded the points (much like DK I guess), even though you haven't technically jumped over it

Not sure if that has anything to do with it. Also unsure if what Dean described is different than what I'm talking about

[DonkeyShlong]

I'd like to add something to this thread that some may really appreciate.

I've tweaked a ZooKeeper artwork file to blank out the horrendous fit inducing flashing.  These settings will be required for MAME, and I can confirm it works fine with WolfMAME to allow INP recording.

Tab > Slider Controls
Screen Horiz Stretch - 1.096
Screen Vert Stretch - 1.114
Screen Vert Position - 0.008
Resolution of PC - 1920x1080 (May look off if not at this resolution) If so, just tweak the black sections in Photoshop.

Drop zookeep.png into your Artwork folder, voila!

https://ibb.co/pdXNpTg

[VON]

I'd like to add something to this thread that some may really appreciate.

I've tweaked a ZooKeeper artwork file to blank out the horrendous fit inducing flashing.  These settings will be required for MAME, and I can confirm it works fine with WolfMAME to allow INP recording.

Tab > Slider Controls
Screen Horiz Stretch - 1.096
Screen Vert Stretch - 1.114
Screen Vert Position - 0.008
Resolution of PC - 1920x1080 (May look off if not at this resolution) If so, just tweak the black sections in Photoshop.

Drop zookeep.png into your Artwork folder, voila!

https://ibb.co/pdXNpTg

This is honestly such a good idea. Zoo Keeper is like the real life Polybius with that stupid seizure-inducing strobing. Unfortunately I think this sort of modification would get disqualified by most scorekeepers, but maybe an official "fixed" Zoo Keeper rom could eventually become a thing.

What are people's thoughts on modifying game aesthetics?

It would be easy to argue -- and probably accurate -- that the Zoo Keeper strobing adds to the difficulty of the game. It most definitely does not add to the fun.

Can we think of other examples where changing game aesthetics would affect difficulty?

[Barra]

It's a fantastic idea and I've used something similar in the past for vector games (increasing beam intensity). Makes the games more fun and easier to play.

If you stretch the screen in zookeeper while recording, the same won't happen when watching back the inp. It may be detectable if you have the knowledge to dig a bit deeper into it?

Is any of this possible with an original cab/monitors?

[DonkeyShlong]

Thanks guys. Hope it helps. 

For me, it doesn't decrease the difficulty as it's not directly in the field of vision. What it does so, is make me not want to try push high scores as it's damn annoying. If someone could fix the ROM and agree to accept scores, I guess that would be even better!

Another reason it's annoying is catching up on your streams Ross. When chilling watching at night, even with my phones screen on minimum brightness, the entire room is flashing like a sodding disco 

[DonkeyShlong]

If you stretch the screen in zookeeper while recording, the same won't happen when watching back the inp. It may be detectable if you have the knowledge to dig a bit deeper into it?

You are correct. It plays just fine, but does indeed show the flashing still. What's your thoughts on accepting scores with it?

[muscleandfitness]

omg omg omg I Love my Rossy no homeo lit yer buddy wht da ..lit. brian allen NOISES

[homerwannabee]

omg omg omg I Love my Rossy no homeo lit yer buddy wht da ..lit. brian allen NOISES

Please play Zookeeper Allen!

[DonkeyShlong]

omg omg omg I Love my Rossy no homeo lit yer buddy wht da ..lit. brian allen NOISES

Please play Zookeeper Allen!

Yea Allen. Come on, break the internet with your swearing. You think DK is infuriating? Wait until you lose all your lives on the effing bonus round!

[VON]

Big! Big! Big!

Super clean 30 million jump around 12:+

Some studly play from Bryan Wagner.

[bryguy]

Thank you Ross! I'll be uploading the 15+30 million jumps on round 22 of my 78 million record game on YouTube.
Bryan

[bryguy]

Your write-up of Zoo Keeper is very impressive BTW!