Wildcard Rematch #2 Scoreboard

[Fast Eddie]

i guess the problem is that 'killscreen' is a general term applied to many games, basically meaning game over...it sounds like its referring to 'the screen' (no doubt originally it was) but exactly what it means will be unique to each game that has one. if they had coined it 'the killbug' it would be clearer, in pacman the whole last screen would be the killbug but in dk its when you time out...

 

[LMDAVE]

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters- Killscreen

[f_symbols]

I actually claimed the KS in my submission, having read the donkeykongblog post, I was under the assumption I had been the first to reach level 22.  But i never heard anything about it, so I figured my submission did not qualify, due to the Lack of a kill screen on the kill screen.  I'm not worried about it; Just glad it wasn't my first KS.

[Scoundrl]

This is sort of like in football when I guy is clearly running home free for a touchdown, and he spikes the ball one foot before crossing the goal line. For all practical purposes he scored a touchdown, let it go, but the rules turn it over and call it a fumble and give the ball back to the other team.

So, with DK, for all practical purposes 22-1 is the killscreen, but just go ahead and "cross that goalline" and let the timer kill you. Don't get crazy and try to back a barrel for the possibility of that extra 100....of course, this only matters if you're playing a tournament that giving a bounty for a killscreen.

But to me, the definition of killscreen is the screen itself, case in point. Pac Man. Once you're there , you're there, it doesn't matter if you get all the dots +9 hidden dot to say you got a pac man killscreen.

It's called the 'split screen' in Pacman. Kill screen in DK and Dig Dug...

No clue whatsoever why the missile command guys in Europe call the 0X bonus boards in Missile Command the 'killscreen'.. nothing close to a killscreen or end of game going on... what da...

[ChrisP]

If Ethan didn't get the bounty because he died before timing out, then this is an issue that needs to be addressed before the next tournament. It also means I worded it incorrectly on my blog because I interpreted the rule incorrectly.

There is a debate around the issue of what it means to "reach the kill screen" that we've discussed before (and are now discussing again...).

I said this last month, specifically in regard to kill screen bounties in fact, hoping to avoid this exact situation:

If the bounty is intended as "first person to die due to the kill screen bug," it would have to be phrased that way.

It really does!

The ambiguity needs to be totally removed because there's a language issue around the word "screen."

To me and many others, "reach the kill screen" just means "get to 22-1."

I feel that way because, in the context of Donkey Kong, "screen" is one of the standard terms used to refer to any stage/board within a level (Ie, 4-1 is a "barrel screen", 16-4 is a "elevator screen", etc.), and not to something that occurs or appears at some particular point (such as "the Pauline rescue screen").

If the semantics are to be consistent, "kill screen" must refer to the entirety of 22-1, and not specifically to the bug that kills you on 22-1.

Here's a sort of "proof" of my position (at least as it relates to common usage): virtually everyone who talks about what happened "on the kill screen" is referring to 22-1, and the totality of the action that takes place on 22-1, NOT just "the moment that Jumpman dies."

"I smashed 4 barrels on the kill screen," "look at what the timer does on the kill screen", etc.

Such usage wouldn't make sense for anyone who would limit the definition of "reaching the kill screen" to the specific moment when Jumpman dies. Nothing that happens on 22-1 could be said to be happening "on the kill screen" because, by that definition, the player hasn't "reached the kill screen" yet.

So, if a bounty is contingent on the very specific condition that Jumpman has to be killed by the kill screen bug, then it needs to be spelled out with no ambiguity, because the meaning of "reach the kill screen" is not the same for everyone. To most of us, "screen" is identical in meaning to "board" or "stage."

[Scoundrl]

Chris, you cannot take what people 'say' about something as something. People dont refer to each level in DK as screens typically and its not called the kill level. All those who think just making it to the 'screen' are missing the word that actually makes it special.. thats KILL. Until you are KILLED or can progress no further in the game you have not achieved a killscreen PERIOD.

Do you take the score in a killscreen game when you reach 22-1 or do you take it after your game is over due to the killscreen?

22-1 is part of the normal game and until you are killed by the 'killscreen' bug you are simply playing donkey kong. If you get hit by a barrel its the same as any other board and ends the same as any other game. Its just another level. The difference is the code bug, not the level switching to 22-1

I do agree that they should clarify the language since there seems to be people out there who dont understand what a killscreen is.

[craighiphopfish]

When you make it to 22-1 you will die regardless right?  So, in my opinion, you've kill screened regardless of how you go.

[Scoundrl]

When you make it to 22-1 you will die regardless right?  So, in my opinion, you've kill screened regardless of how you go.

You will die on 1-1 when the timer runs out regardless as well... is that a killscreen? No.

[LMDAVE]

No clue whatsoever why the missile command guys in Europe call the 0X bonus boards in Missile Command the 'killscreen'.. nothing close to a killscreen or end of game going on... what da...

Yeah, that aggravated me too, and I asked Victor about that a few times, not sure why he calls the 0x a killscreen. It was once thought that on  tournament setting that it might have been a kill screen, but even that was proved wrong.

[homerwannabee]

If you reach the last screen of the game it's the killscreen.  If you reach the end of the game it's the "End of the game".

[ChrisP]

I can definitely understand Ken's viewpoint on this.

And it's true that just because people say that they're "on the kill screen" doesn't mean that they are correct with the language.

I, personally, describe the game as being broken up into "levels" (which is straightforward because of the "L" indicator), but I do call the sub-levels "screens."

I suppose this particular issue is actually a good argument for calling them "boards" or "stages" instead.

Whatever the case, we have to be careful that this doesn't get as bad as  The Great "Into Darkness" Debate

[Scoundrl]

If you reach the last screen of the game it's the killscreen.  If you reach the end of the game it's the "End of the game".

If you reach the last screen in the game you've reached the last screen in the game. If the game kills you with no other options its a killscreen.

[craighiphopfish]

Agreed.  If you are at the last screen, outcome has no bearing.  Doesn't matter how you die.  You're there.  Nothing else to do.  Jump over a few barrels, or don't.  You are at the kill screen.  You've reached the Donkey Kong apex.  Still trying to wrap my head around the semantics of having to wait until the game kills you off.

[craighiphopfish]

Dying by a barrel on the kill screen is the same as a football team kneeling when there is a minute left in the game.

[Scoundrl]

Dying by a barrel on the kill screen is the same as a football team kneeling when there is a minute left in the game.

About everything in the world wrong with that analogy. If there is 1min left dont mean its game over, if the team hit the 1min mark planning on taking a knee but the qback hits the ball on his knee, fumbles and the other team recovers and runs it back for a TD do we say they won because he has going to take a knee or does the retard qback get fired for getting hit with a barrel before he hits the ground. Its a KILL screen or its a death on 22-1 like any other level. You cant have a killscreen without the code bug and you cant reach the killscreen without activating the code bug, how much clearer can it be?