A Wild Blog in the Face

[stella_blue]

Congratulations, Jeremy!  You've increased your personal best 3 times in less than 3 weeks.  By contrast, I've improved my high score exactly 0 times in more than 16 months.  Who's on the fast track, and who's standing still?  Don't answer that, I'm already painfully aware of the correct answer.   

Something tells me you'll be posting a few more PB updates in the coming weeks.  Certainly more than me, at least.   

I am quickly becoming this forum's premier DK prognosticator, although Chris P will undoubtedly challenge that claim.   

Congrats on your new PB man. Your last death was pretty painful to watch haha...  Also, good taste in music 

Thanks Svavar! I believe my last to PRs were achieved with Pink Floyd in the background. I guess I'd better stick with that from now on!

I'm sure you already realize this, but I also appreciate your choice of background music.  I thoroughly enjoyed your DK session the other morning, with "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Wish You Were Here" featured back-to-back.  I can't say enough about "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-5)".  I may have to queue it up right now, to accompany several ill-fated Level 1-1 attempts.

[xelnia]

Another blog post, another personal best!

On 6/8/2013 I improved my personal best to 415,400...a 133,800 point increase! I had a great first man of 274,300. Hesitation and poor timing cost me my first man on the level 8 rivets. I had almost beat my previous best game score of 281,600 with my first man! A subsequent death on the same board left me at 277,700 and hoping that I wasn't about to choke! The third time was the charm and I cleared the level 8 rivets with a new personal best.

On the very next board (9-1) I tried to beat a barrel up a ladder, but didn't make it. This is the only death that I'm really upset about from the whole run. There was no pressure to make the move I made; I simply tried to rush it. This left me at 283,900 with my last man. My next goal was to try to make it 9-3. My previous best game had ended on 9-2. I had achieved a new high score, so I really wanted to get a new "high distance."

I was fortunate enough to not only make it to 9-3, but blow past it all the way through the rest of level 9, 10, and most of level 11 (passing through the entire 300k score range in the process). My final death came on 11-6 where I went left when I should have went right.  A final score of 415,400 with a first man of 274,300 and a last man of 131,500.

My biggest takeaway from this game is that I now have the confidence that I have the ability to achieve a killscreen, and maybe sooner than I had anticipated. My hope was to reach L=22 but the end of the year. Now maybe the end of summer is a possibility!

Thanks to everyone who watched!

415,400

[xelnia]

Well, I wish I hadn't taken so long to get another PB, but here it is. Last night (or early morning...whatever...August 1) I got 421,900 on a game that ended on 11-5. I would say three of the four deaths were absolutely avoidable. The other was probably preventable. Although I was one board short of my distance PB, I'll take any kind of progress I can get. 

Game breakdown:

First death: 121,400 on 5-2
Second death: 170,000 on 6-2 (+48,600)
Third death: 399,900 on 11-2 (+229,900)
Fourth death: 421,900 on 11-5 (+22,000)

Twitch highlight: 421,900

[xelnia]

The last few weeks have been quite productive! After feeling like I had stalled bit in the 400k range, I rattled off 3 new PBs in the space of 11 days. My personal high score now sits at 605,200, achieved on August 12, 2013 on a game that ended on 16-2. My recent scores:

6/8/2013   - 41,5400   - 11-6
8/1/2013   - 421,900   - 11-5
8/11/2013 - 550,900 - 14-5
8/12/2013 - 605,200 - 16-2
(8/18/2013 - 590,500 - WCQ#2)

The 605k game benefited greatly from a first man that lasted for 421,500 points up to level 12-2. That first man was worth almost the same as my personal best only 11 days earlier!

I'm hoping to achieve the killscreen in the next few weeks.

I have also started playing D2K more heavily and have passed 100k. I'm sitting at 107,700 and have strong hopes of getting into the 200k-300k range before the KO3.

5/21/2013 - 16,000
5/31/2013 - 21,500 - 1-6
6/24/2013 - 25,100 - 1-7
6/25/2013 - 29,200 - 1-7
6/25/2013 - 36,700 - 2-1
6/25/2013 - 37,900 - 2-1
6/25/2013 - 38,800 - 2-1
7/27/2013 - 39,000 - 2-1
7/30/2013 - 47,800 - 2-2
7/30/2013 - 48,900 - 2-3
7/31/2013 - 60,800 - 2-5
8/3/2013 - 73,200 - 2-8
8/5/2013 - 76,100 - 3-1
8/5/2013 - 107,700 - 3-6

I've also been fortunate enough to discover the greatest game of all time: Brazilian Kong. This game is so horrible, yet I'm totally addicted to it. Some day I hope to beat Ben Falls' epic score of 54,500. I've only managed 18,300 so far. 

[marinomitch13]

Brazilian Kong, eh? I'll have to try that one!

[xelnia]

So, it's been about 3 months since my last blog update so I thought a post-KO3 entry was appropriate.

As of my last update my Donkey Kong MAME score was 605,200. That score, unfortunately, still stands. The upside of no recent improvements is that I have been playing much less frequently the past 3 months than the months leading up to that score. My recent trip to Denver for the KO3 has certainly reignited the flame and I intend to killscreen before the year ends.

The KO3 provided me with my first opportunity to play Donkey Kong on an arcade machine and while I didn't perform well in the tournament, I exceeded my own expectations for how I would adjust to the arcade controls. On my VERY first credit I scored 271,700. That was on Wednesday before the tournament proper had begun.

During the Friday "Live Wildcard Qualifier" I recorded a score of 571,000 on my 3rd credit. That game ended on 15-1 and was on a much better pace than my 605,200 PB game which ended on 16-2 (not that pace matters much when running boards). That score was good enough to lead all Friday qualifying scores. On Saturday, I was unable to repeat that performance and scored only 485,400. That left me several spots out of the 10 Wildcard players that moved on to Sunday with dedicated machines.

I dabbled on a few of the other games at the 1UP, but didn't achieve anything remarkable. A couple of 80k games on Turbo Ms. Pac-Man (playing next to Steve Kleisath during one of them), and a 76,100 game on D2K 3-man settings.

Speaking of D2K, I do believe I upped my PB on that game since my last blog post. And I have most certainly upped my Brazilian Kong score, and currently have the MAME world record for that game. I've also played a couple of other bootlegs recently and those scores, along with my other currents PBs, are listed below. As I make my push for a DK killscreen and my own "million point march," I intend to work on several other games. Tutankham and Mappy are high on the list, as well as Ms. Pac-Man (regular and turbo). Away from the CAG genre, I hope to eventually work on speed/high-score runs for Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and Shadow of the Colossus. That's a big plate but I'll get to it all!

Thanks to everyone who has watched me stream and provided tips and encouragement. I had a blast in Denver and was excited and honored to meet all those that also made the trip.

Current DK-related PBs:

Donkey Kong (US Set 1) (MAME - dkong.zip) - 605,200 - 8/12/2013
DK (Arcade) - 571,000 - 11/15/2013
D2K (MAME - dkongx.zip) - 126,800 - 8/25/2013
Kong (Brazil) (MAME - kong.zip) - 102,200 - 9/9/2013
Crazy Kong (bootleg on Galaxian hardware, encrypted, set 1) (MAME - ckonggx.zip) - 342,200 (KS) - 9/21/2013
Crazy Kong (bootleg on Galaxian hardware) (MAME - ckongg.zip) - 337,800 (KS) - 8/30/2013

[f_symbols]

Kreygasms and BibleThumps.  Jry layed the smack down on arcade controls on his first two coins, well done sir!  Maple leaf whitey tighties FTW

[Scoundrl]

*like*

[alumbrada]

On my VERY first credit I scored 271,700. That was on Wednesday before the tournament proper had begun.

During the Friday "Live Wildcard Qualifier" I recorded a score of 571,000 on my 3rd credit.

We didn't even need that whole suitcase full of tighty whities.

[xelnia]

Just achieved a new PB on DK (MAME). 682,100 ending on 16-6 I won't be submitting it to the HSL for several reasons:

1) I messed up the INP recording...so there is no INP. 
2) My stream cut off briefly, so there is a break in the continuity of the video.
3) It's less than an 8k improvement and is still short of my "distance" PB.
4) It would not change my overall ranking.

However, a PB is a PB, so it's worth tracking for historical purposes.  Thanks to everybody who was watching my stream at the time!

682,100 - 16-6 - Part 1
682,100 - 16-6 - Part 2

[xelnia]

This post will be used to track my games during the DK Online Open #1.

Submission #1: 664,400 - felt great about how this game was going...until the end.
Submission #2: 905,700 - oh hai kilscren

[xelnia]

I joined DKF one year ago today, so I thought I'd throw up an anniversary post.

I managed to finally reach the DK killscreen...about a week shy of one year after I started playing. Although I felt like I was "KS-capable" around August (5 months after starting), I didn't push as hard as I should have and 22-1 eluded me until the Donkey Kong Online Open #1. I put up a 905,700 killscreen on the morning of February 23. At some point I'll post some stats about the game, but some things that really stood out for me are:

1) I had insane pie factory luck. 11 pure free passes and 2 more delayed free passes.
2) A better-than-average-for-me spring average: 6,100.
3) Over 900k! This was helped by the fact that I always press L2 and L3 springs, and L3 pies. I also always grab the hat and umbrella on the springs.

A couple of people commented on the efficiency of the game, but considering how lucky I was on pies and the fact that I front-loaded with a few extra thousand before Level 5 I think anyone would have had at least high-800k if presented with the same opportunities.

I placed a pretty embarrassing 14th out of 20 in the recent MARP T13 tournament, so I hope to have a better showing in the upcoming K11. I'm also excited for the No-Hammer Tournament. Although we had a blast at KO3, it's very unlikely Katie and I will be able to make KO4. Never say never, though.

Here are some goals I'm setting for myself. There is no time table, especially for the über-goals. Ideally, all the long-term goals will be met in a year...but it took me a year to killscreen DK...

Game		PB		Immediate Goal		Long-Term Goal		Ãœber-goal
Donkey Kong		905,700		1,000,000		1,140,000		1.Saglio
D2K		126,800		250,000		400,000		Killscreen
Crazy Kong		419,300		Killscreen		600,000		650,000
Kong (Brazil)		102,200		Any higher score		200,000		22-1. Kong has no known KS, so this is only symbolic.
Donkey Kong Jr.		lol		Killscreen		1,000,000		1,100,000
Donkey Kong 3		lol		1,000,000		RBS		10,000,000
Jr. Pac-Man		lol		100,000		Stage 18		Killscreen
Tutankham		43,160		Loop the boards		Loop the difficulty		World record
Galaga		lol		Stage 20		Loop the game on Rank D		World record
Zoo Keeper		lol		Enjoy playing the game.		10,000,000		30M point jump

There are also 3 console games I will be attacking this year: Sonic the Hedgehog, Lightening Force (Thunder Force IV), and Penguin Land...but I'll save those for a later post.

Thanks to everyone who has watched my streams in the past year and helped me with my gameplay. Thanks to Ethan for being the main reason I started this CAG journey, and to Katie for supporting me. And mega-thanks to JC for being an amazing admin who runs an amazing forum. I would totally give him

(2 1/2 sentences edited out by JCHarrist)

with a nine-iron and Miracle Whip.

Toodles.

[stella_blue]

I joined DKF one year ago today, so I thought I'd throw up

Interesting choice of words.  During this morning's no hammer session, I suspected that the numerous utterances of "Excuse me" were a precursor to something a bit more . . . colorful.   

I put up a 905,700 killscreen on the morning of February 23.  At some point I'll post some stats about the game

You and me both.  I should probably get busy, or risk the game summary being anticlimactic.

[xelnia]

The end of my 2nd year at DKF and in The Sceneâ„¢. Nothing of note accomplished in the past year and essentially 0 progress made towards the goals in my previous post. Such pace. Very achievement. Wow.

[SanTe]

The end of my 2nd year at DKF and in The Sceneâ„¢. Nothing of note accomplished in the past year and essentially 0 progress made towards the goals in my previous post. Such pace. Very achievement. Wow.

Same here.  I did get my Tutankham fixed though.  Thought it was a failing power supply but it wasn't.  Turns out something had fried on the board set.  I picked up a board set from someone on KLOV and it's back up and running.  Now you have an excuse to come visit again.