Twin Galaxies Beta Site

[stella_blue]

I just checked the new Twin Galaxies home page (beta), and found what seems to be a consistent error.  I searched the database for several combinations of title/platform/variation and found that many of the dates are incorrect, particularly for players with multiple submissions for the same game.  In each reviewed case, the score was correct, but the date corresponded to a previous submission by that same player.

I'll use Donkey Kong [US Set 1] on MAME as an example.

Take a look at this partial screen capture of the Level 1-1 variation:



All 4 dates listed are incorrect.

For Dean, the correct date is 2011-09-24  (2010-11-22 refers to a previously submitted 13,100 score).
For Jeff, the correct date is 2011-07-04  (2011-04-21 refers to a previously submitted 12,500 score).
For Vincent, the correct date is 2011-03-25  (2009-07-14 refers to a previously submitted 11,800 score).
For Dave, the correct date is 2012-03-05  (2010-07-26 refers to a previously submitted 12,400 score).

I could provide numerous examples for other games and platforms, but you get the idea.

Perhaps some CAGDC member could relay this information to Richie, as a reply to his latest post over there in the Twin Galaxies thread.  I would do it myself, but that's not possible.

[Xermon54]

Scott, I noticed the same mistake with Hank's score of 1,138,600, the date isn't accurate. Hank's score date refers to his 1,068m or 1.090m record.

I wonder if Jourdan knows the problem. I think I'll try to inform him of the situation.

[stella_blue]

Scott, I noticed the same mistake with Hank's score of 1,138,600, the date isn't accurate. Hank's score date refers to his 1,068m or 1.090m record.

Yeah, I tracked down each of my own scores in the database:  2 games, 3 variations.  All of the dates were inaccurate; they had all been attached to prior score submissions.

I wonder if Jourdan knows the problem. I think I'll try to inform him of the situation.

Thanks for passing the info along.  And a special thank you for NOT replying with something like this:

"The fact that you can accurately match TG scores and dates from 2009-2012 only proves that you are a very sick man!"   

[Simpsons99]

wow i did'nt notice how the data base worked earlyer this morning.

Yeah it's back!

http://www.twingalaxies.com/operator.php?gameid=5784&platformid=46&variationid=19194

[stella_blue]

A couple of other observations regarding the new beta version:

The Search Mechanism

When you activate the search feature (a link at the top of the page), a "Game Title" text box appears, which allows you to enter all or part of the name.  As you type, a list of matching results is displayed below.  The list does not appear to be arranged in any kind of logical order.

Once you've chosen a particular game, a secondary screen permits you to select from a list of platforms, followed by another that displays all game variations.  In my opinion, a single page that allows the user to select all 3 parameters (game title, platform and variation) would represent a more elegant and intuitive interface.

INP Downloads

I visited a number of MAME scoreboard pages, but couldn't detect any means of downloading a recorded INP file.  I'm hopeful that this functionality will be made available in a future project phase.

[Simpsons99]

I bet most of the same INP recording are on Marp .

[stella_blue]

I had to chuckle after I clicked the "Donkey Kong Arcade Recording Rules" link.

Check it out for yourselves:

http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=19&id=1905

[Xermon54]

Can you Copy/paste the rules for DK, Scott? The link doesn't work for me, yet.

[stella_blue]

Can you Copy/paste the rules for DK, Scott? The link doesn't work for me, yet.

That's the whole point, Vincent.  It doesn't work for anybody.

The wording on the page that forced me to smile:  "This is somewhat embarrassing, isn't it?"

[LMDAVE]

Even when the old TG was active that link wasn't working back then either.

[Xermon54]

The link worked for me, I'll copy paste what the rules are

As for March 2013, the rules concerning Donkey Kong has been changed. There will no more be any pre-recording needed, only post-recording after doing a high score will be necessary. Post-recording will consist of showing the board, and showing "Nintendo of America" in the attract screen. Name of the player, the date, the location, will need and ONLY need to be said at the end of a game. Initials must be enter at the end of the game. Only scores done on a red Donkey Kong machine will be accepted, since it is recognized as being the official color of the game. That being said, all of Hank's score will be removed due to the fact that he achieved his high score on a blue cabinet.

It seems legit to me, nothing to say against that!

[stella_blue]

The link worked for me, I'll copy paste what the rules are

As for March 2013, the rules concerning Donkey Kong has been changed. There will no more be any pre-recording needed, only post-recording after doing a high score will be necessary. Post-recording will consist of showing the board, and showing "Nintendo of America" in the attract screen. Name of the player, the date, the location, will need and ONLY need to be said at the end of a game. Initials must be enter at the end of the game. Only scores done on a red Donkey Kong machine will be accepted, since it is recognized as being the official color of the game. That being said, all of Hank's score will be removed due to the fact that he achieved his high score on a blue cabinet.

It seems legit to me, nothing to say against that!

It appears that Twin Galaxies' governing body is vehemently pro-Lemay.   

[hchien]

Scott, I noticed the same mistake with Hank's score of 1,138,600, the date isn't accurate. Hank's score date refers to his 1,068m or 1.090m record.

I like how it looks like it took Vincent 2+ years for to come 2700 points short of my score.  BOOM baby.

[Simpsons99]

The link worked for me, I'll copy paste what the rules are

As for March 2013, the rules concerning Donkey Kong has been changed. There will no more be any pre-recording needed, only post-recording after doing a high score will be necessary. Post-recording will consist of showing the board, and showing "Nintendo of America" in the attract screen. Name of the player, the date, the location, will need and ONLY need to be said at the end of a game. Initials must be enter at the end of the game. Only scores done on a red Donkey Kong machine will be accepted, since it is recognized as being the official color of the game. That being said, all of Hank's score will be removed due to the fact that he achieved his high score on a blue cabinet.

It seems legit to me, nothing to say against that!

It appears that Twin Galaxies' governing body is vehemently pro-Lemay.   

Going to retire now too the red wing of Hell. lol

[stella_blue]

At the risk of being reprimanded for flooding this thread (truly sorry, JC), I have a few more thoughts to share.

I've only accessed the beta site using Google Chrome (other browsers may provide a different user experience), but there are a couple of issues I've discovered while experimenting with the "Search" and "Filter" functions:

Issue #1:  The Search Feature Lacks Flexibility

All searches begin with the game title.  It appears to be the only root node in the hierarchy.  You select the game, then the platform, and finally the variation.  You may then view the scoreboard for that unique combination, in batches of 100 records per page.  You CANNOT do any of the following:

• Search by Player (all scores that YOU, or anybody else, has in the database)
• Search by Location (all scores achieved as Home Performances, at Funspot, etc.)
• Search by Date (all scores submitted in October of 2011)

Issue #2:  The Search Filter is Limited in Scope and Memory

While browsing the scoreboard, you can filter the page results by entering all, or part of, a player name, location, or date.  As you type, the results are continually updated.  Great.  The catch is that the filter only applies to the page you're currently viewing.  A popular game with 250 entries will span 3 pages. If you're currently viewing page 1, and the item you're looking for is on page 3, the search filter will return zero results.  You'll have to navigate to page 2 and try again.  To make matters worse, the filter has no memory; when you advance to the next page, the text box is cleared, and you'll have to re-enter the filter criteria.  That's not good.

As an example, let's say you're interested in seeing all DK scores that were submitted last year. The Donkey Kong/MAME/Points track contains 167 records, spread over 2 pages.  On page 1, you enter "2012" in the criteria text box, and the number of displayed items shrinks from 100 to 10.  At the bottom of the page, you click the "NEXT>" link, taking you to page 2.  The filter is no longer active; there are 68 items on the page (the last item on any page is also the first item on the next page).  You re-enter "2012" as your criteria, and the list of records is reduced to just 2.  So now we know that there are 12 active DK scores in the database from Jan-Sep 2012.  Granted, the extra effort isn't a huge deal, but it's unnecessary.

Ok, that's enough for today.  I'm not trying to be overly critical; just pointing out a few things that could easily be improved.  Who knows, there may be a number of enhancements already in the pipeline.  This is beta, after all.

And there we are.