Author Topic: dkcoach - A MAME plugin to assist with Donkey Kong learning (Read 13439 times)

10yard · « **on:** August 24, 2021, 09:22:39 am »

I've made a Donkey Kong coaching tool to assist people like me who are struggling to master the Springs stage. There's more information about it on my project page at https://github.com/10yard/dkcoach#readme

I tried to visualise some of the excellent "Spring Theory" work done by Xelnia. I have referred back to that thread about 100 times!

The coach determines the "spring type" between 0 and 15 based on length and displays this information near to where the springs are released, helping you make quick decisions on when to make a run and when to sit tight or retreat back to safety. The coach displays safe zones (in green) and variable danger zones (in red).

As you become more confident with your gameplay, you can reduce help features by pressing "P2 Start" button. Toggling from "Max Help" to "Min Help" to "No Help". The coaching should help you to identify springs and react to them quickly.

Here's a quick demo video.

Hopefully this tool will be useful to some. I plan to add helpers to other stages too.

Jon

Sock Master · « **Reply #1 on:** August 24, 2021, 10:05:38 am »

That's pretty brilliant! It's well thought out and I think it'll be a fantastic learning tool for a lot of players

muscleandfitness · « **Reply #2 on:** August 24, 2021, 10:15:03 am »

10yard · « **Reply #3 on:** August 24, 2021, 01:34:48 pm »

Quote from: Sock Master on August 24, 2021, 10:05:38 am

That's pretty brilliant! It's well thought out and I think it'll be a fantastic learning tool for a lot of players

Thank you Sock Master! It's helping me improve my DK skill, and I need it TBH

. It was fun to learn a bit more about the internal workings of the game too.

QAOP Spaceman · « **Reply #4 on:** August 24, 2021, 02:23:21 pm »

Wow that looks great!

Bravo sir

hooch66 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 25, 2021, 11:01:01 am »

This is so cool. A great idea and execution.

10yard · « **Reply #6 on:** September 01, 2021, 01:28:48 pm »

Quote from: QAOP Spaceman on August 24, 2021, 02:23:21 pm

Wow that looks great!
Bravo sir

Quote from: hooch66 on August 25, 2021, 11:01:01 am

This is so cool. A great idea and execution.

Thank you!

I extended dkcoach to include help with the barrels stage.

I visualised the zones where Jumpman is safe from wild barrels. I also added recommended positions near to ladders where you can sit, steer barrels and wait for an opening to appear before making a run for a ladder. Together these zones act as waypoints for Jumpman.

Picture shows Jumpman inside the safe zone. The red crosshair lets you know a wild barrel has been released. Barrel will not hit.

It's a tight spot here but Jumpman is safe with both feet inside the box.

A summary of what is included in the barrels helper so-far.

4 fixed safe zones (from wild barrels) appear in green on the board.
4 "preferred" stopping points appear in amber on the board. These zones are uphill positions adjacent to a ladder where you can steer barrels away and wait for an opening.
Ladders are highlighted blue when steering is recommended.
The barrel steering control probability is displayed top-left as a percentage. This varies from 25% to 75% dependant on the internal difficulty setting.
An alert appears top-left when DK releases a wild barrel. Jumpman is targeted with a red crosshair to draw your immediate attention to a wild barrel.
A visible hammer countdown timer appears on the vertical edges of the screen. The timer toggles green, amber and finally red as the hammer time runs down.
Jumpman is repositioned on the 2nd girder as a starting point as this position is easily reached. This gives you focus on the higher more difficult girders.
As you become more confident on the barrels stage, you can reduce helpers by pressing the "P2 Start" button.

The zones may not be 100% but seem good to me based on my limited testing. My logic is based on the excellent barrel training video by Chambers_N_Gaming at

I will be playing, testing and learning more over the coming weeks.

Waiting for a clean 5th girder. Barrels should be steered down the highlighted ladders.

Visible hammer timer appears in the vertical edges.

Almost out of hammer time!

Starting on the 2nd girder. Watch out! You're being targetted by a wild barrel.

The latest dkcoach release is available on my github page.
https://github.com/10yard/dkcoach

Leal · « **Reply #7 on:** June 04, 2022, 03:07:14 am »

Hey 10Yard, I've finally decided to take the plunge and learn DK and this plugin is a MASSIVE help. I've set the speed value to 0.50 in the mame.ini and I can really take the time to get the Long and Short spring landing positions "into my blood".

Leal · « **Reply #8 on:** June 04, 2022, 05:30:34 am »

@everyone who knows more than I do, is this new tech??? More importantly, is this even useful tech???. I discovered if you run hard into the invis wall against Kong's double ladder you can wall jump to the "perfect" position for the 2nd safe zone. I did a quick test with all 16 spring lenghts and it seems completly free.