Krunch

9 hours ago, PII said:

The d.l. here isn't as difficult as other puzzle adventure games I've played.  I'd say its just right if you want to have to think a bit now and again but never be pulling your hair out.  It's def. a good time.  I'd have to say that the amount of extra lives is absolutely perfect, especially for a competition like this one.  Funny thing about this one though is, even after git'n gud I feel that it's surprisingly easy to die dumb...

It seems a long road to 6 million I'm gonna start again shortly here, my score is a starter score with unwarranted errors in it, for the most part it went well.

The whole vibe of the game and the music still feels fresh.  It's a solid game.

 I'm have to check the archive, I'm recalling getting near the end of the game last contest but not being able to complete the last handful levels or so, is how I think it went down.

38 minutes ago, PII said:

6,071,700       

(Most trouble I've had with pic takin' in a while.  Just for the record if you make it to the end of the last level you'll want to take a pic right before you grab the last bag.  Then you'll want to try your hand at snapping a pic just as your final score totals up.  It's only on the screen for a second.  If you have a caveman camera like me you'll probably end up snapping a pic of the score while its still totaling up, in which case you'll want to beat the final boss, sit through the ending and then snap a final score pic as Kickle spawns in Special-Land.)

How are you finding the difficulty level?  Is there an adequate amount of extra lives?  I wanna go the distance, but I die pretty easy

3,129,800

Another update from 2.5 million.  Not amazing, but I'll take it

Update from 1.5 million... lots of deaths on one spot

1 hour ago, PII said:

Whozat gettin the golden shower?

Haha it's supposed to be Little Samson, and so it's called Kickle & Lickle.  I won a custom request picture from SuperJimtendo so this is what I requested 

1 hour ago, NESfiend said:

@Krunch - thanks for the detailed post about optimal lines. The approach is genius and will def revisit this thread the next time I play this game and use those strats. 

The only thing Id point out thats contrary is never using 'catch' option with gk. I used it on shots taken by germany that were by regular players (meaning No. 9, No. 10, etc, as opposed to the ones with actual names). It never failed with a gk this strong and it saved on guts AND takes away random chance on who gets ball after the punch rebound. 

Good point.  I think for me the punch/wolf was so reliable early on that I never deviated out of fear.  Eddie didnt even get scored on for me I think until my third attempt, and that just 1.  I could certainly try catching instead of punching against Germany for less-good shots so I retain control... that's probably the factor that kept me at 16, the clock was the real enemy where I just had to accept that at certain times pretty big chunks burn down for no immediate benefit.  I could retain a better total offensive state if I didn't turn over those handful of punches.

I don't usually play after the week is done but I'll probably try a bit more to see if I can just do a little better against Germany using some of these new intel.

20 hours ago, Gloves said:

He do be thicc tho. 

I too have an entry from the Kickle series.  The assless chaps really complete the picture IMO

9 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Wait, so you didn't realize that you could cancel and go back to the pass menu and get different options every time?  Once I figured that out it was just a matter of cycling until the guy I wanted was available...

Oh shit!  Good point.  Now that youre saying it I do remember doing it by accident once.  

Even still, I like the Roger/Nigel switching placement, and also moving Robin to the "top" of the horizontal field, just cause it gives you a decent shot from all those spots to save time.  The opposing goalie is usually standing closer to the bottom of the horizontal screen, it keeps that window open when youre still far back.

Okay so here were some of the ways I tinkered with the lineups.  There are a few different variations and some are more crucial than others.  I tried lots of different combos.  It mainly seemed to matter more for the back.   These are strategies for beating both teams, I would kinda variate as I go.

On the back line I went Roger, Simon, Hans; then Nigel right in front of the goalie.  So basically, I swapped Nigel and Roger, and then benched James for Hans. 

The Hans/Brook thing wasn't a huge factor for me and we all discussed that before... I liked Hans' style better, seems like he got the ball on his own volition more often and made better passing.

The Nigel/Roger swap was a huge boon for me and my most important swap.  This puts Roger in a spot where he's often a candidate for passing (cause you only get 4 on a given pass).  Then you can use Jet Shot from all the way back.  Nigel is totally adequate for blocking the goalie, he will often get it when he needs, and Eddie the goalie is strong anyway.

On the center and front lines I messed around a bit.  The default on front is Paolo-Damon-Karl I think?   Karl seems to be best where he is, I had him center at one point and it worked fine, but I still prefer him being on the side.  Sometimes I'd put Damon on the side and get Paolo in the center (Paolo can special kick from the air but is also generally good for normal goals), this is mostly based on how fast Damon runs out if you use the blast.  Basically to avoid pressing Damon too hard so then when you need him it works.  But generally just put him in the center.   I should point out that when I got my 10+ I don't necessarily remember the front line.  Pretty sure I just had Damon in the center.  That wasn't even part of my submitted run though, that's just the best I did.

For the midfield line, I personally liked shifting it over, where instead of Marko-Robin-Peter you go Robin-Peter-Marko.  This just puts Robin in a nice position and conserves some of his energy.  Peter and Marko can catch it sometimes randomly and then they just pass.  Not really a super crucial role, even the center.   Karl picks up a lot of the slack in this area.

Robin's placement links back to Simon's, who for me had the highest Goal Percentage, so if it's in the center I want it going to Simon over Robin.   Better goal %, and Simon has more energy to spare generally.

So when all is said a done if you look at the field horizontally like how it's displayed on the passing screen, for the power shooters I've got Roger and Robin on the "top", Simon on the center rear, Damon on the center front, and Karl on the front right but still doing lots in the midfield.

The strategy in practice comes down to energy conservation, passing to the right person (even sometimes passing from one Power Shot player to another), and to some degree I did notice I started doing better just edging up a little bit and spending a bit of the clock to get a better shot even if I'm way back in the field (Roger shots mostly).

What I could have done better is a bit more emphasis on passing to just put normal shots through.  Walking the ball up burns too much time.  But maybe could have passed into a couple slots to move up the field.  I don't know... I didn't have as good of luck against Brazil going for normal shots, but it might have improved Germany.

For defensive I probably just did what everyone did... go for the tackles when you get a chance.  You can always pass after no matter who gets it.  For goalie, Wolf when you need to, and know when you can get away with just a Punch.  I never used Catch at all.  As I kept playing, the opposing team's shots on net dwindled from match to match.  Became an easier factor to deal with later compared to figuring out how to squeeze just one more in with the time alloted

1 hour ago, the_wizard_666 said:

You sure know how to make a dude feel good!  And with @0xDEAFC0DE nowhere to be found, the odds are this year's gonna have a new genre champion.  I'm hoping it'll be me, but I have no experience with any of the games being played.  Of course, I had no experience with either of the games we've already played, so who knows, maybe I'll pull it off.  I'm happy to have competition though.  There may not be many participants, but at least this round was hard fought.

Special shots weren't even necessary.  I was scoring with normal shots from my end of the field against Germany.  Specials were all but guaranteed (occasionally they'd hit the post), but even most normal shots could plow through three or four defenders and still go in.  Brazil though, man are they ever beasts!  10 against them is insane...I thought 6 was gonna be insurmountable!

Yeah dude you got a good shot I'll still be right behind trying to ramp up the competition, I can usually do pretty good on most of these Sports games, not so much the racing games, with sports I'm able to carry the patience just like any other game... but that also depends on the sport.  If anything I get more impatient and hopeless playing certain platformers or other genres in the contest format that have clear A to Bs.

I think if I would have tailored my strategy to not always go for specials I could have done more.... the goals I did get on all runs were generally efficient and quick, I passed to key players but they weren't usually conservative shots.  But then again if you launch a special from all the way back and they get the ball then that's a huge amount of time the COM's gonna burn running the ball back.  As usual, a hybrid strategy ends up being the key

2 hours ago, NESfiend said:

10 against brazil is insane. Against Germany, I was using any special shot from any place on the field. The four guys you mentioned plus Karl's powerful. Against Germany, Karl's powerful, both damon's special shots, and robin's special shot were the only ones that seemed to score, but even those Arthur saved a lot. Between the saves and running out of guts using those special shots exclusively, goals just weren't easy to come by. I would frequently forget about karl's powerful, so I think I could have added some there, but 10-0 against Brazil still seems really unattainable. 

Once I'm settled in a bit I'm gonna detail out some of my strategies which involved line changes, mostly just changing them around and crucially in front of the net.  Because unlike Wiz I did rely on power shots only and passing to those 5 guys with specials, except for the odd normal goal here and there where I could get a good opportunity, or if one guys is in alone to just tire out the goalie and catch rebounds while waiting for the team.  

This is among my few victories so far (think it's only 3, cant really count Spartan-X without an asterik...) and even though it was shared but feels legit as a 2-person victory, and sharing with Wiz, well in Tecmo Cup Soccer terms we're like Robin and Damon here

7 hours ago, BeaIank said:

I went with the 2017 rules, but if you guys prefer a faster run, I can change it to 1 life.

I'm in favour of keeping it all-life 2017 rules, but that's me.  It's long, but its just a long game no matter what- total practicing and playtime might even be longer on 1-life especially if anyone's able to 1-life it or come really close, because you'd have to keep sinking time into lower levels to learn it perfect

@Dr. Morbis @the_wizard_666There's precedent for general tiebreakers without game-specific tiebreak conditions -- for shared placements you split the points that in this case would exist for 1st plus 2nd so, 20 +16 = 36 so me and Wiz would get 18 each.  So it's kinda like a docked victory.  (3rd would get just get normal 3rd).  That's my prediction for what will happen anyway.  20 each would be great of course Hopefully it stays as a shared victory since nothing was outlined, and there was definitely tying potential, even early on today I was sitting one point underneath at +24 and still trying.

I really enjoyed this one- great job with the rule design @BeaIank!!   Jumping in really strong right away- felt like a total breath of fresh air cause I've tried to play from scratch and it was nothing like this.  I was laughing my ass off especially early on when I was seeing all the crazy stuff happening.  Like when the ball hits the post and deflates???  Bouncing a shot all the way from the back off 3 or 4 opponents and then the ball goes in??  Your goalie can turn into a wolf??  Or the trippy Acrobat fever dream special that Paolo can do under the right conditions??

I didn't realize til I read the banter that this required prepping the OP team, they were really good, not just Damon/Robin but having Simon and Roger with their specials in the back tied my strat together totally.  Just worked on many levels and was balanced cause I did lots of attempts & once I was getting over 20 consistently, I was hitting 16-0 on Germany many times, got a few 24's of varying combinations, and generally coming out the same on Brazil (10 was my best but that was paired with a 14, second last attempt).

Just squeaked in to tie with a +25!!!

Nooooo i just had a 16-0 with 2 minutes left on Germany turn into this after a special shot of theirs kept knocking out all my players

1 hour ago, PII said:

Yeah, can you believe that guy? -Puttin' in what it takes to post a big score, week after week instead of just snootchin' an easy 2nd place with minimal effort and a mediocre score, while everybody else is off on Holliday or Siesta or whatever?  That guy's got some nerve alright.

...Devilishly handsome fellow, though; I must say.

.....and modest.

Hah well its clearly been working we're all gonna need to step up 

I'm hoping for some magic RNG against Germany here... fingers crossed

40 minutes ago, BeaIank said:

It having to be back to back games makes it so much harder to max Germany then keep trying to max Brazil, which is why I decided for that.
Next time it comes around we can try and change that to see how crazy the scores will be. Three 20+ goals scores is already insane.

Yeah this is a great element of this contest it totally ups the pressure/enjoyment level, I've only pulled a 16 against Germany once, and a 14, and several 13s.  Still lots of time

23 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Yeah, kinda pointless to post a downgrade   I'm starting to think I should make another run though, just in case...you're gonna push me down to the wire eh

As you can see by my avatar change, yes.  Although it's kinda been a struggle, only exceeded 20 points total twice now.  I need a great first round

1 hour ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Damn dude, I haven't been able to get more than 6 against Brazil.  Their goalie is fucking unreal!

But yeah, they get around 300 guts back at half time for all players.  I try to spread the shots out as much as possible because of this - you don't want to use up all of one guy's specials and then have to play keep away the rest of the game.  Some guys also have abilities only when receiving the pass, so you'd have to get the ball to them while in the crease for their special shots to happen.  I'll leave it to you to find them, but I found their shots tended to hit posts/deflate the ball more often than scoring, but that could just be my own luck.

Thanks.  I've been able to hold my own against Brazil, switching some of the positions of players around, ironically my performance against Germany is dropping, so just gonna go back to basics for that.  Just got a 21 but no need to post

Just now, Krunch said:

Thanks for this I was actually just swapping out James before trying another but this at least gives a clearer picture 'bout who's who and what's what.  In my last round James blew the final play 

18 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Awesome job @Krunch   A couple small pointers that don't really do much overall but can help.  First, sub out James from the roster for Brook.  The reason is that for some reason James is super weak compared to the rest of the starters.  Brook by comparison is incredible.  At the half, if Damon is low, use Hans as the replacement, as he's also high enough statistically to not suck nuts.  The rest of the players are meh, so not really worth using unless the option is a dead player.  The reason you use Brook in place of James is simply because his defensive stats are better than Hans' stats, so even though his passing and dribbling is slightly lower than Hans, since James is a DF, those stats aren't nearly as big an issue as his tackling and cutting skills, which are much better than Hans' stats.  But yeah, for how little James/Brook is a factor for me when I played, it wasn't a huge deal, but even one or two possessions would make it worth the swap IMO.  Also, unless Eddie is completely beat, don't sub him out at all.  Neither of the other goalies are worth using, so don't waste time on them.  In all the games I played, I swapped him once, and only because Brazil had a huge burst of offence in the first half and he was completely drained.  His Wolf move is the only thing keeping the ball out on most shots.

Thanks for this I was actually just swapping out James before trying another but this at least gives a clearer picture 'bout who's who and what's what

1 minute ago, NESfiend said:

What do you mean by giving energy at halftime? I didnt know you could do that, and from the looks of the tips in wiz post, doesn't look like he did either. 

If you could reup damon at halftime, could actually use the blast shot. I always used howling to save on energy

Seems like after the halftime menu when you are prompted to pick a character I thought it gave them more guts - do all characters get guts boost at half time?  Anyway I keep running out energy with Damon after swapping his position a bit so he has less solo time but still using the Blasts in the 2nd round and it seems worth it.  Uhh... also I got a +24

@NESfiend your score is killer too.  I have no tricks up my sleeve so you're safe.  About to try another run regardless.  @PII has just been running away with it lately, and I've had a bad start, gotta keep him on his toes

Update: Another victory, did great against Germany and +1 against Brazil, but Eddie let in his first goal... should've transformed into a wolf, obviously.  I should have given Damon more energy in the halftime but I didnt really know what it was, think I could squeaked a few more in on Brazil, but giving Robin the energy got first goal in like a minute.  The runs are short and sweet like damn I cant believe I already did two

+25