weekly contest VGS NES Weekly Contest - Antarctic Adventure

[RH | 4,895]

2 hours ago, NESfiend said:

When I was struggling with this early, I was just relying on instinct. Started getting better when I started playing each stage as a unique stage. Some are easier than others and the difficulty isnt necessarily increasing sequentially. Getting to know distance you have to run compared to time on the clock is big too. You can determine when to and not to get aggressive going for points. Stage 10 is tough. Just try to get thru it rather than score. 

It took me a while to crack 100k. Once I got there though, I quickly got close to 200. 300 seems like a tall order. Loop 3 gets pretty tough fast. 

Are the stages random?  Other than the turns, the potholes and seals feel random.  Everything looks the same so it'd be hard to memorize the patterns, but there are times where 4x potholes will be back to back to back.  They feel unavoidable and if you hit the second one out of 4, you often can't get enough speed up to avoid the next two in line and that's 10 seconds down the drain.

If this isn't random, though, maybe I can start counting potholes and placements on certain stages.

[MegaMan52 | 2,439]

I had a lot of trouble beating stage 10. But once I did, it seemed easy to bring my score up to 182,000.

[mbd39 | 2,017]

It's every 10th level that's much harder than the others.

 

 

[NESfiend | 1,514]

2 hours ago, RH said:

Are the stages random? 

I dont think so. For example, Ive played stage 1 so many times, I just instinctually start heading toward flags before they appear on screen. Seems like those 4 big gaps appear in the same places also. 

What I can't get my finger on, is how it changes/gets harder in subsequent loops. Maybe less time on clock? It def feels harder, but I dont really know why

[BeaIank | 1,617]

Once you advance enough, the game may even give you not enough seconds to finish the stage, killing your run right there.
I was going for 400K+, but then the game gave me 45 seconds to beat a large stage and I died mid way with only 380K+ points.

[Krunch | 303]

8 hours ago, RH said:

You know, I need to stop playing to just play and find out how you all "get serious".  I've been unashamed to admit I competitively suck at games, but I just play to have fun.  I'm struggling to beating 40k.  Seriously, how are you guys consistently good at "everything".  Maybe I just quickly develop a strong sense of muscle-memory with all of these games, except the muscle-memory is always wrong!

I am not one of the best gamers who play in these contests.  But I'm getting much better, and it's really just practice.  I generally do not have prior experience with any of the games we play except for really popular games, or games from previous contests which isn't that special since others also gained experience this way.  There is something to be said about the way to approach each weekly game, sometimes it's better to narrow your focus.  The point isn't always to experience the whole game; but ironically with a narrower focus you glean more from the experience.  Also, sometimes it's better to play sub-optimal strategies to gain longevity when you're outranked on skill (i.e, I would much rather get 6th place not necessarily doing my "best" rather than going full-tilt optimal on an unknown game that doesn't play to my strengths because that = burnout.  You have to factor in your real-life energy and time.  Super Sprint is my example from this year where I placed top 8 without pulling my hair out, and definitely did not play optimally on a level-to-level basis past like Level 4 cause I just wasn't naturally good enough at it.  For Alpha Mission this year, and all shmups, I have no chance to place in this field so I put in 20 minutes of effort and then hibernate for the week.)

An example like this for Antarctic Adventure would be that if you're having trouble on the parts with multiple pits, try prioritizing multi-colored flags to get across some parts with many subsequent pits.  You might consider going slightly slower than max speed in general because you might simply get a better result doing that (you can pick up flags more easily, of both types, to make up for the time deficit).  Even training doing that and then moving up to max speed is a smart method.  My opinion is also that the best way to play this one isn't as a memory game.  Other things I've noticed to kinda play on "Easy Street" mode, non-optimally, is to hug either side of the track, this allows you to get past seals, if you get multiple pits on the side it can work to do a big lateral jump or you can attempt to just burn through and take your lumps if you have to.

This is probably now in my top 5 games about a penguin.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Krunch

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

15 hours ago, BeaIank said:

Where are the REAL scores at?
Not a single over 300K score so far. Shameful!

I've had a really busy week, so I need to get on this still, but at least you've given me a target to shoot for when I eventually sit down to spend some hours with this game

 

14 hours ago, RH said:

Seriously, how are you guys consistently good at "everything".

Start playing NES when you're a small boy and continue doing so for the next thirty-five or so years and you'll find that you're generally pretty good at a lot of games

[RH | 4,895]

108,430.  I broke 100k and I lapped the continent.  I'm happy with that.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Can't wait until we get a game that doesn't destroy my thumbs.  Carpal tunnel + arthritis is not a pleasant mixture.

*looks through schedule*

Well, looks like I'm screwed for the forseeable future...

[BeaIank | 1,617]

8 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Can't wait until we get a game that doesn't destroy my thumbs.  Carpal tunnel + arthritis is not a pleasant mixture.

*looks through schedule*

Well, looks like I'm screwed for the forseeable future...

https://www.ergobox.store/en/
This is the answer to your woes, but they are out of stock right now.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

2 hours ago, BeaIank said:

https://www.ergobox.store/en/
This is the answer to your woes, but they are out of stock right now.

Well, I would, but to be fair I'm not so into the style of game that requires that sort of thumb work anyway.  I'd rather play an RPG or a turn-based strategy game than a run-and-gun shooter or beat-em-up. 

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

Man, this game takes way longer to play than I remembered.  Anyway, here's my score for this week, as I don't think I'm going to have time to give it another go:  241,770.  I was on level 31 when I ran out of time and tried to pause but it had gone to the results screen so pressing start went immediately back to the title screen.  Oh wells...

 

[arnpoly | 198]

187,150

Lost in Stage 22(?) with a mere 2 km to go, tried to pause right before the end and went straight to the title screen.

Small chance I try again tomorrow.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

3 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

Man, this game takes way longer to play than I remembered.  Anyway, here's my score for this week, as I don't think I'm going to have time to give it another go:  241,770.  I was on level 31 when I ran out of time and tried to pause but it had gone to the results screen so pressing start went immediately back to the title screen.  Oh wells...

Damn...only another 100K...and a near-guarantee that Basil won't be getting another crack at it (he leaves town for long weekends).  If I had the desire, motivation, and thumbs for it, I might actually attempt to cash in for $20.  But I'm probably not gonna be arsed because fuck it.

[NESfiend | 1,514]

Damn, lots of 200k clears! Been hard to find the time since early in the week. Ill have some time to take a few shots tomorrow and hopefully join that club. May be hard to get into it with the rad racer 2 cart sitting next to my nes staring st me. Fired up for that one!

[mbd39 | 2,017]

7 hours ago, NESfiend said:

Damn, lots of 200k clears! Been hard to find the time since early in the week. Ill have some time to take a few shots tomorrow and hopefully join that club. May be hard to get into it with the rad racer 2 cart sitting next to my nes staring st me. Fired up for that one!

It gets unforgiving. You can barely make any mistakes in the third loop or you run out of time.

 

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

Hi Score: 69,740

[bertsampson | 345]

259,680

[BeaIank | 1,617]

4 hours ago, bertsampson said:

259,680

The hell is this?
This isn't a 300K score, like you were supposed to post!

[0xDEAFC0DE | 1,277]

90,590

Unfortunately, I had no time this week, so here's my best from when I played last Sunday. Survivor is finally over, so I may have some more time (except for next week where I'll also be busy with IRL stuff).

[RH | 4,895]

41 minutes ago, 0xDEAFC0DE said:

90,590

Unfortunately, I had no time this week, so here's my best from when I played last Sunday. Survivor is finally over, so I may have some more time (except for next week where I'll also be busy with IRL stuff).

Ok, ok... ok.  I'm not going to ask you to NOT give this another try, but it would be a real boon for my gaming morale if I actually beat your score one week.

 

[mbd39 | 2,017]

This game is ahead of its time. It's like an endless runner mobile game.

 

[mbd39 | 2,017]

Obstacles perfectly spaced so that when you bump into one you'll keep bumping into more and lose a bunch of time. So irritating.

[NESfiend | 1,514]

2 hours ago, 0xDEAFC0DE said:

90,590

Unfortunately, I had no time this week, so here's my best from when I played last Sunday. Survivor is finally over, so I may have some more time (except for next week where I'll also be busy with IRL stuff).

Who won survivor?

[RH | 4,895]

1 hour ago, mbd39 said:

Obstacles perfectly spaced so that when you bump into one you'll keep bumping into more and lose a bunch of time. So irritating.

This. Although when I learned that if you keep mashing the jump button when you have the hat, you can fly for a long time. I was just double-tapping the jump button to activate it and you get about 3 seconds of floating that way. You can float for about 10 seconds if you keep tapping the jump button, which is enough to get past maybe 4 ditches if they are close to one another.