The Pie Factory

[jdgilliam1]

Does anyone agree that sometimes the best plan of action on the pie factory is to stand still! I always wait for the fire to come out of the barrel on the left side of the screen, and then make my way right and up. But the times the fire makes its way over to me I'll stand still and it seems to stand next to me. Does anyone else notice this or agree?

[danman123456]

Yup that is a common tactic to get a "Free Pass". You stand just left of the purse. Wait for them to all spawn and then try and run up the right side as quick as possible.

[mikegmi2]

Does anyone agree that sometimes the best plan of action on the pie factory is to stand still! I always wait for the fire to come out of the barrel on the left side of the screen, and then make my way right and up. But the times the fire makes its way over to me I'll stand still and it seems to stand next to me. Does anyone else notice this or agree?

That might work sometimes but I don't think it would work every time.  Fireball movement patterns & probability are probably the most mysterious part of DK...as only parts of their movements have been proven or explained.  Some think you can steer fireballs up or down ladders.  Some think running at a fireball will make it turn around and run away from you.  Some think pushing right or left while on a ladder will force the fireballs in the direction of the way your are pressing on the control stick.

Stand still a bunch of times and see what happens...I think you'll find that the results will be pretty random...and quite often they'll just run right into you.

Post your results though, maybe you're onto something...you never know.

[xelnia]

Fireball movement patterns & probability are probably the most mysterious part of DK...as only parts of their movements have been proven or explained.

Even with all the analysis of the game code over the years? It seems like there would be some part of the code that indicates whether the fireball/firefox movement is random or related to Jumpman's or the joystick's movement/position. I'm certainly in no position to make that analysis myself. Have the smarter DK minds worked on this?

[hchien]

I never stand still.  I always run away unless I've commited to jumping the fireball.

The code says fireball behavior is random.  Some people believe you can influence the fireball behavior.  The most common belief is charging the fireball will make it retreat.  I think that originated from the Consumer's Guide "How to win at Donkey Kong."  While I do believe you can influence the fireball behavior, I think sometimes you influence it to your advantage and other times to your disadvantage.  As an analogy, consider a coin flip.  50/50 heads/tails.  Now if a wind blows the coin, does it influence the outcome?  Yes, but it's still random.

[ChrisP]

Do you mean stand still at the beginning until all the fireballs have come out?

I've tried that before (hoping that it will somehow keep them up on that conveyor and not rushing down the ladder to torture me), but the problem is that you can mess up a free pass that way. A lot of times a free pass isn't exactly "free", and unless you're as far to the right as you can be and ready to make the dash as soon as they're all out, they can get the jump on you.

I've tried everything to keep them up there. They just laugh.