Donkey Kong Forum

General Donkey Kong Discussion => General Donkey Kong Discussion => Topic started by: SunDevilDog on April 25, 2014, 09:11:08 am

Title: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: SunDevilDog on April 25, 2014, 09:11:08 am
Hello all. I have a Donkey Kong upright with the original controls and PCB. It is in fantastic shape in every way. I can score over 100k on it consistently, but my high score of all time is around 123,000.

My question is this:

On the Barrel Board, whenever I run into two barrels that are around 1 to almost 2 inches apart, no matter how hard I try, my machine will almost never acknowledge the second button press, and the barrel runs me over and I die. I even jump a little early so I have maximum time to do my second jump, but I almost always fail.

Is it technique? Or should I try swapping out the button as I have some extras on hand?

Keep in mind, I am not exactly the King of Kong over here, and I am not blaming the darn button, but it is driving me nuts!
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: SunDevilDog on April 25, 2014, 09:12:57 am
Here is a picture of my setup:

(http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/USMCLobo/gettingthere_zps12e36ba0.jpg) (http://s278.photobucket.com/user/USMCLobo/media/gettingthere_zps12e36ba0.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: KIG666 on April 25, 2014, 09:59:03 am
For the situation you describe here its best if you perform a backjump on the  2nd barrel. That way you will make it over the 2nd barrel much more often.

Oh btw sweet DK machine you have there :)
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: SunDevilDog on April 25, 2014, 10:07:33 am
A backjump eh? I will give it a shot!

Thank you for the advice and the compliment!
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: WCopeland on April 25, 2014, 10:57:29 am
You have a beautiful setup. I'm very envious :(
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: hooch66 on April 25, 2014, 12:05:25 pm
You can also tweak the jump button.
From a post I had on KLOV a while ago "You can bend the little microswitch arm so it is touching the bottom of the button and there is no gap. This way, when you press the button down it immediately activates the switch. "

I did this with mine. Maybe not a huge difference, but maybe enough of one.
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: Shnypz on April 25, 2014, 12:22:15 pm
Nice DK machine. I should re-do the t-molding on mine. It's still the original molding which is now a yellowish color and all chipped.
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: mikegmi2 on April 25, 2014, 12:39:19 pm
The issue you are describing was actually intentionally implemented into the code.  There is a fraction of a second that Mario is not able to jump again, after hitting the ground from a prior jump.  You can see an animation for a few frames, of some lines back by Mario's rear/feet area, after he jumps.  As long as you can see these lines, you cannot jump again.  It's a very short time, but it is just enough to mess you up sometimes.

Backjumping, or early jumping, can also assist in the problem you described.  The closer you can land to the barrel after jumping it, without dying, the better.  This will always leave you with the most room/time to jump additional barrels rolling at you.

Hope this helps.
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: Simpsons99 on April 25, 2014, 01:07:35 pm
I agree it's not the Jump button.  This used to drive me Nuts.. <Allen>
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: LMDAVE on April 25, 2014, 01:07:51 pm
Yeah, it's the most frustrating thing in the world when you're in the zone and getting like 400-500K on your first man and you do a double jump and the second jump doesn't register!

But, for to have it happen regularly is either a techinique or a button tweaking. I remember playing on a different machine from mine at the kong off and I kept running off the edge on elevator a few time because I was used to a fast responding button, but they just bent the leaf up closer to the button on my machine and I was getting faster response.
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: marinomitch13 on April 25, 2014, 01:33:54 pm
Love your red machine!
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: SunDevilDog on April 25, 2014, 02:12:47 pm
Thanks for all the advice and compliments everyone! This is why I love this board! Thank you all so much!

You guys like my red, eh? I just got it a month ago. The person had turned it into a "Multi-Kong" and had hacked it up and thrown the original stuff away! I had to replace the marquee, the buttons, the joystick, the t-mold, the powersupply, the tube, the side art and I installed a 4-board set.

And, I had to move the other machine I had in that spot before:

(http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk119/USMCLobo/dkcab_zps94d36e23.jpg) (http://s278.photobucket.com/user/USMCLobo/media/dkcab_zps94d36e23.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: SunDevilDog on April 25, 2014, 02:16:21 pm
Nice DK machine. I should re-do the t-molding on mine. It's still the original molding which is now a yellowish color and all chipped.

Careful! When I replaced mine, it was so brittle, it chipped off and almost took out my eyes several times!
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: SunDevilDog on April 25, 2014, 02:18:00 pm
The issue you are describing was actually intentionally implemented into the code.  There is a fraction of a second that Mario is not able to jump again, after hitting the ground from a prior jump.  You can see an animation for a few frames, of some lines back by Mario's rear/feet area, after he jumps.  As long as you can see these lines, you cannot jump again.  It's a very short time, but it is just enough to mess you up sometimes.

Backjumping, or early jumping, can also assist in the problem you described.  The closer you can land to the barrel after jumping it, without dying, the better.  This will always leave you with the most room/time to jump additional barrels rolling at you.

Hope this helps.

This does help! I knew I was not going crazy! When it happens, it is like Jumpman is stuck and his feet are firmly planted in the ground. I am going to look for the lines and learn to time my jumps better. Thank you!
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: SunDevilDog on April 25, 2014, 02:20:25 pm
You can also tweak the jump button.
From a post I had on KLOV a while ago "You can bend the little microswitch arm so it is touching the bottom of the button and there is no gap. This way, when you press the button down it immediately activates the switch. "

I did this with mine. Maybe not a huge difference, but maybe enough of one.

I know the thread you are talking about! My switch is curved up toward the base of the button as per the thread. Post a pic of your machine.
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: SunDevilDog on April 25, 2014, 02:22:10 pm
You have a beautiful setup. I'm very envious :(

Aw shucks. If you are ever in Phoenix, please let me know so you can stop by and we can play some games.
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: jumpman on April 25, 2014, 03:34:04 pm
I like to have the TKG-23-10 Nintendo microswitch for the jump button. Theses have the roller on the end of the leaf.
http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TKG-23-10 (http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TKG-23-10)
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: Shnypz on April 25, 2014, 04:30:48 pm
Nice DK machine. I should re-do the t-molding on mine. It's still the original molding which is now a yellowish color and all chipped.

Careful! When I replaced mine, it was so brittle, it chipped off and almost took out my eyes several times!

haha...thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to wear protective eyewear.
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: SunDevilDog on April 25, 2014, 08:11:29 pm
The issue you are describing was actually intentionally implemented into the code.  There is a fraction of a second that Mario is not able to jump again, after hitting the ground from a prior jump.  You can see an animation for a few frames, of some lines back by Mario's rear/feet area, after he jumps.  As long as you can see these lines, you cannot jump again.  It's a very short time, but it is just enough to mess you up sometimes.

I tried playing a few games tonight and this was exactly the right advice. After he jumps, there are little sparks at the back of his feet and you cannot jump again until they go away. You have to time your jumps a little opposite of what your natural instincts are and jump a few milliseconds later rather than sooner. It almost looks like the barrel is going to run you over, but he clears it!

Thanks again mikegmi2!
Title: Re: Slow Donkey Kong Jump Button
Post by: mikegmi2 on April 27, 2014, 05:24:18 pm
The issue you are describing was actually intentionally implemented into the code.  There is a fraction of a second that Mario is not able to jump again, after hitting the ground from a prior jump.  You can see an animation for a few frames, of some lines back by Mario's rear/feet area, after he jumps.  As long as you can see these lines, you cannot jump again.  It's a very short time, but it is just enough to mess you up sometimes.

Backjumping, or early jumping, can also assist in the problem you described.  The closer you can land to the barrel after jumping it, without dying, the better.  This will always leave you with the most room/time to jump additional barrels rolling at you.

Hope this helps.

This does help! I knew I was not going crazy! When it happens, it is like Jumpman is stuck and his feet are firmly planted in the ground. I am going to look for the lines and learn to time my jumps better. Thank you!

No prob, good luck, and nice machines!