Jumping closely spaced barrels

[himads]

OK, here is another one I have some difficulty with. You know those situations where two barrels are heading toward Mario and there is sufficient space between them where you cannot jump over both of them.  And if you jump over one, the early 1980 electronics are not sufficiently advanced where you can jump over the second one in time. One option is where the first barrel is about to hit Mario and you jump backwards and then there is enough time to jump over the second barrel. Is this how most DK players handle this situation or are there other options? Thanks. 

[Barra]

Yep, back jumping is a crucial part of DK. Unless you're 

General rule of thumb: if you think you can't broad jump a combo, back jump the first barrel

A more advanced technique which can be useful in certain situations is to jump very early so you only just clear the first barrel and can either broad or straight jump the second

[QAOP Spaceman]

the early 1980 electronics are not sufficiently advanced

Haha love it. I shall be using this as my excuse for bombing out from now on

[dwayne]

barra   you forgot    he never jumps backwards that is why i had problems with his tapes.

dwayne

[dnickolas]

Yep, back jumping is a crucial part of DK. Unless you're 

General rule of thumb: if you think you can't broad jump a combo, back jump the first barrel

A more advanced technique which can be useful in certain situations is to jump very early so you only just clear the first barrel and can either broad or straight jump the second

The really hard one is where it’s pretty much X_X__X, and you have to do an early broad jump over the non-straight jumpable pair and then a backjump over the third trailing barrel. I do it by forgetting about the first one and only think about barely clearing the second. It’s even tougher than it seems since you’re committed to 2 very precise jumps with forced directionality and if something autos or kong tosses a wild you could have to get lucky and avoid that too.

[hooch66]

I've just recently gotten the hang of this, the backwards jump. I've been playing a bit more on MAME using my PS4 controller rather than on my arcade machine.

This leads to something I always wondered about arcade. One is able to slightly adjust the arcade microswitch (https://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TKG-23-13) underneath the jump button. I wonder if any other arcade players have tinkered with this and if it really makes a difference?

[himads]

Thanks everyone. Interesting!

[johnbart]

This leads to something I always wondered about arcade. One is able to slightly adjust the arcade microswitch (https://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TKG-23-13) underneath the jump button. I wonder if any other arcade players have tinkered with this and if it really makes a difference?

I don't know about DK but I tweak the switches for Robotron. Ken is the king of getting them dialed in. It takes a little work to get the right feel for what you're looking for but it's pretty easy.

I don't know if this is generally accepted or not but I just play for fun so I don't care. If you randomly picked 10 micro switches out of a new bag they are all going to be slightly different anyway.

[hooch66]

I don't know about DK but I tweak the switches for Robotron. Ken is the king of getting them dialed in. It takes a little work to get the right feel for what you're looking for but it's pretty easy.

I don't know if this is generally accepted or not but I just play for fun so I don't care. If you randomly picked 10 micro switches out of a new bag they are all going to be slightly different anyway.

Those are all good points. I do know some players like to bring their control panel with them when competing, this might be why. Perhaps they are just used to a certain feel.

[Grotto King]

The really hard one is where it’s pretty much X_X__X, and you have to do an early broad jump over the non-straight jumpable pair and then a backjump over the third trailing barrel. I do it by forgetting about the first one and only think about barely clearing the second. It’s even tougher than it seems since you’re committed to 2 very precise jumps with forced directionality and if something autos or kong tosses a wild you could have to get lucky and avoid that too.

Easy question, but to confirm, there are some combinations where you are just fully screwed, right? I imagine that even guys in the top 10 have scenarios they just can't exit due to a lack of space to back jump without falling out of bounds, off the girder. I imagine the real trick here is looking above jumpman's current position and making decisions that don't lead to these scenarios, which I know takes time.

[_Zaphod_]

Tweaking leaf switches is fair and in fact has to be done, as they bend and require a greater press to actuate with use.  So you have to every so often tweak them back into shape.

tweaking microswitches is not so clear cut. they are very consistent right up until they start failing. 

[dnickolas]

The really hard one is where it’s pretty much X_X__X, and you have to do an early broad jump over the non-straight jumpable pair and then a backjump over the third trailing barrel. I do it by forgetting about the first one and only think about barely clearing the second. It’s even tougher than it seems since you’re committed to 2 very precise jumps with forced directionality and if something autos or kong tosses a wild you could have to get lucky and avoid that too.

Easy question, but to confirm, there are some combinations where you are just fully screwed, right? I imagine that even guys in the top 10 have scenarios they just can't exit due to a lack of space to back jump without falling out of bounds, off the girder. I imagine the real trick here is looking above jumpman's current position and making decisions that don't lead to these scenarios, which I know takes time.

Yeah, exactly, though an autosteer or two can even take out an elite player at times. Even with a Staal loop. Getting caught too far left on the 4th girder or too far right in other cases can be death. Third girder is another potential death trap.