Junior Progress

[marinomitch13]

I was referring to the tangent you and Brian got on about how he doesn't like the sound-bite board that was made of Allen Staal that has his (Brian Allen's) name in it. Brian wasn't clear at all about what he was talking about, and so when you were confused and asked what he was talking about, he just flared up at you without any justification, since I don't think you knew about this. I was just implying that this sort of thing often happens between you two, so maybe it would be better to have a designated place for it (if that is even possible). Brian should definitely start his own blog-thread for this stuff, and I was just suggesting that maybe you would like to as well. At the very least, it could make what is irking either you or Brian very clear (when, and if, something is ever irking you guys), so that there is no need for people to assume the worst and then flare up about something that doesn't need to be flared up about -especially in an unrelated thread.

[ChrisP]

OK, streaming a board-running game on MAME tonight. Probably within the next hour.
http://twitch.tv/chrisp_kreme

I've only been playing on my machine for the past week and I'm now up to 250K (with six lives), so let's see how I do with 3 lives on the regular version...

[ChrisP]

Best game only got to 7-1.

Hm.

I'm either severely "out of the zone" tonight or that game a couple weeks ago was a freak occurrence. I think there is an element of both...

[ChrisP]

OK, so maybe it WASN'T a freak occurrence, if tonight was any indication.

I am so bizarrely inconsistent.

Last night I literally could not play a lick, tonight I got on the machine and rocked balls (well, for me at least), getting to L12 without incident. Part of the problem last night was being out of practice on the "regular" version and its differences, part of it was lag and frame-skipping due to streaming, part of it was being physically uncomfortable with my cobbled together setup, but come on, 150K??

I think, on Junior, I'm just better with a Nintendo control panel than on a keyboard. The superjump in particular drives me up the wall on MAME. I don't know if it's my keyboard, the way I tap the key, or MAME skipping frames or something, but I miss the jump constantly on MAME and rarely on the cab.

And the psychological effects of streaming are, apparently, huge. I don't know what it is, but I have literally never played as well when streaming as I do when I'm not. I guess it just makes it that much harder to get "in sync" with the game when I'm chatting, dicking around with the Allen soundboard, etc.

Having said that, I'm gonna stream some 400K attempts this weekend. I need to learn how to play well while streaming! I shouldn't only be able to play when I'm absolutely zen stone-zeroed in on the game.

If you can't play when the pressure's on, you're really not good enough!

[Simpsons99]

Yes this Frame Skipping thing is a Major problem for me  Streaming or not.

It happens when jumping sparks on Marios Hideout or the snappers on Jungle level.

Some times the Super Jump works and then it does'nt for no reason. Messes up the game!

That can happen on the arcade allso.  But with  Mame it happens more often!

[marky_d]

My experience is that using the keyboard cuts the chance of me making the superjump literally in half, but if I use a control panel with an arcade-style button I don't see any dropoff in success rate. It's weird. I know I can't punch a keyboard button near as fast so I have always blamed it on that.

[ChrisP]

Blarg, I just did a stream with one 100K "warmup", then had a 275K game.

I'm ready to hit 500 now.

My mic is off on the stream though (can't use it on this other computer) so there's no real point in streaming and in fiddling with the streamy bits.

I'll hit it again right now. You're goin' down, Junior...

[ChrisP]

All the way to 9-1 with all my lives, then a stupid impatience-death on 9-1, after which I regained my composure, then I died one screen after another on 10-4, 11-1, and 11-2. My brain exploded.  336,500.

If I can manage to NOT have a mletdown, there's no reason I shouldn't get to at least L15 on my next game. Honestly, there is so little randomness to speak of in this game I wouldn't be surprised to bump into the kill screen. The score will be awful, but whatever.

[ChrisP]

Had a decent one started, then blew it because I'm a shithead.

Now up to 13-4!

[ChrisP]

Oh dear.

If the "accelerating skill" phase is my favorite, the phase I'm in now is my least favorite - that spot where the learning is over and you have all of the skills and knowledge to do it, and you have the urge to get it done, but simple, dumb, lapses and errors are stopping you.

This game is particularly nasty in that regard, in that once you've got it down, it's almost always your fault when you die. You can't blame randomness nearly as often as you can in DK. It's just you and your little moments of impatience and/or not paying enough attention, which seem to happen more often the more you want it. Then you get ragey, which makes you want it even MORE, etc.

I understand why Ben and (especially) Mike were cursing at themselves all month. Junior really lends itself to that. It messes with you. It knows exactly how to make you mad at yourself.

Actually, rather than drive myself crazy, I think I'll just walk away! I'll give it a few days, try again, and let it happen when it happens.

[hchien]

You'll get there in no time.  I can't tell you how many times I had completely bone-headed deaths after I felt that I knew enough to killscreen.  Walking off platforms, holding left/right a split second longer than I should have, etc.  Jr does require a lot more patience than DK.

[Jonesy]

Like Hank said, patience I think is key to this damned game.

Recently I got so stressed with the game I put my DK pcb into the cab just so I could take a break as I was just getting so angry at myself and my stupid unnecessary mistakes.

I still have not got to a kill screen but my point pressing has improved greatly and normally around 460-470k going into level 10.

I will swap pcb's back out this coming weekend and hope for some joy.

You've been doing great and I've enjoyed reading progress.

Keep us posted!

[Simpsons99]

You have to make moves of Skills in this game to Drive the score up.  Those can be super risky on Chain boards to gain more points!

[ChrisP]

Yeah, I'm seeing more and more how you get the big points in this game. Those fruit drops are often really hard and risky to set up and wait for.

And now that I'm doing it as a player, and not as a spectator, I'm actually starting to appreciate leeching the hideout. It's kind of nice to be able to just zone out for a few minutes of downtime, especially to calm nerves when you're approaching a new personal best or the end of the game, etc. DK definitely doesn't have anything like that.

[Simpsons99]

Yes intell Mame messes up your gameplay by skipping frames and you die doing these little jumps!

Yeah, I'm seeing more and more how you get the big points in this game. Those fruit drops are often really hard and risky to set up and wait for.

And now that I'm doing it as a player, and not as a spectator, I'm actually starting to appreciate leeching the hideout. It's kind of nice to be able to just zone out for a few minutes of downtime, especially to calm nerves when you're approaching a new personal best or the end of the game, etc. DK definitely doesn't have anything like that.