Steering Barrels

[Martin Laing]

Hi

I noticed in my game in the recent DK Online Open that as I climbed up the top left hand ladder towards the top hammer the barrel on the same girder as the hammer would often fall down the far right ladder, avoiding getting smashed by hammer.

Does climbing ladders force barrels? Or was I just dreaming?

[stella_blue]

You can steer barrels while on a ladder, but you have to be providing a left or right directional input.  In the situation you describe, either an unusually high number of barrels were steering themselves, or it was noticeable enough that it seemed that way.

[mikegmi2]

I believe there is more to this...if you're grouping all day long, you will notice that as you climb the far left ladder below the top hammer, I want to say 100% of the time, that barrel will steer itself down the far right ladder.  I feel like if it is timed right, and you are climbing that far left ladder, the barrel will always steer itself down.

[stella_blue]

I believe there is more to this...if you're grouping all day long, you will notice that as you climb the far left ladder below the top hammer, I want to say 100% of the time, that barrel will steer itself down the far right ladder.  I feel like if it is timed right, and you are climbing that far left ladder, the barrel will always steer itself down.

Hey Mike,

The definitive answer obviously lies within the code, but it might be interesting to test your theory with empirical evidence (e.g., an INP playback with 100 relevant data points).  I'm defining a data point as a barrel on the 6th girder reaching the top of the rightmost ladder after Mario has begun ascending the short ladder on the far left, but before his feet are planted firmly on the 5th girder.

I'm a bit unclear on part of your statement, highlighted above.  Can you specify what you mean by "if it is timed right"?

[lakeman421]

Sometimes I feel like if you start climbing that ladder the exact second the barrel is over that right ladder it will steer down.  Sometimes i almost feel like if any movement is made the barrel will steer even if you don't hit the directional towards that ladder.  But I group so much and I play a lot so maybe thats why I see it so much.

[stella_blue]

Robbie, someone has hacked into your forum account and is masquerading as you in this thread.  If you were the author of the previous post, some mention would have been made of the barrel on the 6th girder that never steers, particularly when you're trying to climb the far right ladder and a fireball on the 4th girder is climbing toward you.  Indisputable fact.   

[Shnypz]

I'm just a board running jabroni who uses the small ladder regularly but I've experienced what Robbie is describing. I purposely avoid any right/left movements when going up that ladder but still get a lot of roll down especially L=5+. Could just be bad luck with the auto-rollers. Of course, the coveted blue barrels seems to be the most touchy.

I'll keep a closer eye on it tonight.

[f_symbols]

 Actually, it has nothing to do with rng, statistics, or even selective perception; Its all about who you know and how many $$$$$ are in your bank account 

[lakeman421]

Robbie, someone has hacked into your forum account and is masquerading as you in this thread.  If you were the author of the previous post, some mention would have been made of the barrel on the 6th girder that never steers, particularly when you're trying to climb the far right ladder and a fireball on the 4th girder is climbing toward you.  Indisputable fact.   

Yes I would also like to state that when you wanna climb to the fifth girder with the fireball coming up the barrel will steer itself down the ladder by Kong and then not steer purposely so you will have a harder time climbing that ladder.  I would also like to point out how blue barrels don't steer when you have the bottom hammer, so you can't smash it bringing another fireball into play that can troll you on the barrel boards.

[marinomitch13]

The only time barrels steer without left-right input when you are climbing a ladder is if you are climbing a ladder that is directly below another ladder when a barrel is passing over that higher ladder. You can test this with that hacked rom that makes steered barrels a different color.

[Martin Laing]

So it sounds like it may be the case.

Will watch my game again and see how many times the barrel went down when I climbed the ladder.

[Donkey Kong Genius]

The responses that actually allude to the code does not make it seem as if this is the case. Such as directional and horizontal position. I think it is a perception. In a game, there is a 25% chance that it will steer itself but that does not mean one will not see it as much as 45% of the time in any given game. Its like getting 9 free passes in a row, or getting none at all. I notice it a lot because it irritates me. I don't really take note when it doesn't happen because it doesn't irritate me. I do lots of grouping and most of the time that barrel does not steer itself. What Scott and Mitch shared are the only known ways in the code. Remembering also the odds of seeing 2 or 3 wild barrels in a row but yet they "seem" to occur more than the odds.

I really like Ethan's comment, that and something about a flux-capacitor.