Previous 7800 HSC Rounds

[Artlover]

<cry> I'm always 3rd! <cry>

[vdub_bobby]

Ugh. It's hard to lose at this game. I killed myself at 6,115

[shadow460]

I've got some bad news. The HSC will be offline for a few days. I've had an emergency on my home network that is affecting all three computers, and could shut them down permanently. I can go online if needed (like making this post), but I'm going to keep it to a minimum until I get things sorted out, and that's not looking too promising right now.

[keilbaca]

Awwww... I just got my CC2 working not too long ago so I could compete again... well I hope everything goes well over there.

[Cybergoth]

I really wonder why the hell from all titles of Rainbow Arts they had to pick the worst to convert it to the 7800?

 

And the only positive thing the C64 version had, the music from Chris Hülsbeck, was not ported, instead it seems they just looped a 10 second sample of it...

 

By far the worst 7800 title I've seen so far...

[shadow460]

OK, an update. Some vital software got out with a computer I serviced for a friend. It's been returned to me, which means if I have a hard drive crash, I can restore the PC to operational status.

That's half the battle.

If you'll recall, Ze_ro had a Maxtor hard drive give up a while back, which could have affected the 2600 HSC.

Guess what...my 40GB Maxtor drive misfunctioned during an anti virus sweep yesterday. I ran the sweep as a precaution before restoring a backup of the missing Windows 98 CD.

There's not a lot of data fpr this HSC, but what there was of it was on that drive. The diagnostic utility erased the whole thing. Most, if not all, of the HSC threads are probably still on the forums.

When the drive goofed, it became instantly unreadable.

The secondary drive fubared the soundcard drivers and must also be restored. It gives me Windows Protection Error when the sound card is installed, and refuses to load up the OS. Even so, the HSC data existed on the one hard drive, and that's it.

 

So it looks like Craptor just lost another customer. They may RMA the drive--it's only two years old and the distributor warranty is three years. However, their RMA website is telling me it's not under warranty, since retail products are only warrantied for a year. I got it as an OEM drive.

 

It might also pass the tests after the full write scan. Maybe the symantec scanner was what goofed it up. It recognizes Cokegift.exe as a virus, for what it's worth.

 

I'm on my PII, which fried its PS2 port yesterday (when it rains, it pours). that's ok, my Gravis gamepad pro can serve as a mouse, or I can just use the keyboard.

 

Hey, keilbaca, you've got a PM.

[shadow460]

The main computer is functioning at half power right now. I've got it networked with this one, so the data will be transferrable.

The HSC is going back online tomorrow with Impossible Mission. Part of the reason I'm bringing it back online is because of the 2600 HSC being reorganized a little bit, so for those who are waiting patiently over there, I invite you to come join us this week.

 

It may take a week or two to get the kinks worked out (the previous data was lost from my hard drive, but still resides on the forums), but it'll be up tomorrow and running smoothly very soon.

 

Thanks for your patience.

[D.Yancey]

OK, an update. Some vital software got out with a computer I serviced for a friend. It's been returned to me, which means if I have a hard drive crash, I can restore the PC to operational status.

That's half the battle.

If you'll recall, Ze_ro had a Maxtor hard drive give up a while back, which could have affected the 2600 HSC.

Guess what...my 40GB Maxtor drive misfunctioned during an anti virus sweep yesterday. I ran the sweep as a precaution before restoring a backup of the missing Windows 98 CD.

There's not a lot of data fpr this HSC, but what there was of it was on that drive. The diagnostic utility erased the whole thing. Most, if not all, of the HSC threads are probably still on the forums.

When the drive goofed, it became instantly unreadable.

The secondary drive fubared the soundcard drivers and must also be restored. It gives me Windows Protection Error when the sound card is installed, and refuses to load up the OS. Even so, the HSC data existed on the one hard drive, and that's it.

 

So it looks like Craptor just lost another customer. They may RMA the drive--it's only two years old and the distributor warranty is three years. However, their RMA website is telling me it's not under warranty, since retail products are only warrantied for a year. I got it as an OEM drive.

 

It might also pass the tests after the full write scan. Maybe the symantec scanner was what goofed it up. It recognizes Cokegift.exe as a virus, for what it's worth.

 

I'm on my PII, which fried its PS2 port yesterday (when it rains, it pours). that's ok, my Gravis gamepad pro can serve as a mouse, or I can just use the keyboard.

1. Buy a usb mouse for the PII if the PS2 port is gone. You do know that the PS2 port is not "hot pluggable"?

 

2. Cokegift.exe is not causing any of these problems. It sounds like your MBR needs to be repaired. Cokegift trojan is just a harmless prank.

 

I still have a "joke" program from a few years back (265 KB. That's bigger than I thought) called cokegift.exe that says "As a valued Coca-Cola customer, we would like to extend this oppertunity to show our appreciation by presenting you with a free beverage holder." and an OKAY button. Pressing the button ejects the cdrom.

 

I got that cokegift.exe gag several years ago, but an even funnier joke was "drain" - I was working in a plumbing supply company in the late 1980s & put it on our only PC (an IBM PC that we had upgraded to 348KB/RAM & 40MB HDD). We were located below a "transient hotel" & covered the PC & Printer w/a shower curtain because every few months some old geezer would die & a bathtub would overflow (they always seemed to die when taking baths) & our offices would get soaked. Anyway, I came into work one day & the Idiot Boss (who always shut down ALL electrical equipment by yanking the PC's power cord out of the wall socket instead of trying to stop a printing process) was trying to do something with the PC. I ran Drain & he was able to hear a spin cycle "drain" water from the PC. I then showed him that the app was working like he expected. The damn idiot actually believed it & I never told him differently. In fact, the day that I gave my notice, he asked me to do final maintenance on the PC, including "draining" the system.

 

I'll be happy to try and give you some ideas on how to get running again. I've been trying to follow your descriptions of the problems in the Science and Technology forum, but you're talking about too much stuff at once. I can't even figure out how many computers are involved. They all seem to be having a great many simultaneous hardware problems that may not even be related. PM me if I can be of assistance.

Edited April 18, 2006 by D.Yancey

[shadow460]

I've got it all nailed down. The PII has been rebuilt.

My main system had its MBR goofed up somewhere during a routine anti virus check. It's had cokegift on there for years (I put it on there, and I'll probably just send it to a backup disc so it won't cause the anti virus software to tell me there's a virus).

I did get some kind of online attack last week, which restarted two of my three computers repeatedly. It stuck to my main PC, so I had to zero fill and re format the primary hard drive a second time. The rest of the network is running smoothly, including the secondary drive on my main PC. I will be posting the HSC from there.

 

I run that computer with a dual boot Win 98 setup. I'll be changing this one and possibly the third one to a similar setup soon. They've all got two hard drives each, so if one hard drive gets its OS corrupted, all I have to do is switch the BIOS to load from a drive with a working OS.

 

Thanks anyway. If I have the rebooting problem again, I will be asking for help. I won't know that until next week sometime, though.

[shadow460]

The year is 1993. You've been playing and playing, just trying to roll a popular game's scroe for weeks on end. There it is...one more red alien to kill and you've done it! You've scored 100 billion points and victory is yours!

Not. Just then the lights flicker and a rolling blackout occurs. It's the world's fault for using too much electricity! It's the government's fault for not rolling power outages somewhere else!

Once before, the same thing happened to Elvin Atombender. He, too, know the agony of losing a high score to a measly power outage, except he's going to pay the world back for it.

Since you're the only other person in the world who has ever lost at the last second after more than 72 hours straight of playing, the British Prime Minister Tonysdad chooses you to stop Elvin.

Thwarting Elvin's plans looks like one Impossible Mission!.

Game Information:

 

This week's game: Epyx's Impossible Mission.

Controllers supported: ProLine Joystick, Atari Joypad

Difficulty Switches: n/a

Game Mode: Standard

 

Scores may be posted in this thread until April 25th at approximately 10 PM Central Time.

Next week's game will be chosen by popular vote from the following: Crossbow, Fatal Run, KLAX, and Water Ski.

Note: Your score this week has two parts: Actual score, and version played. A ten percent bonus will be added to any score obtained by beating the "impossible" NTSC version (this means you gotta play several times over)

If you need the beatable ROM, it's on Mitch's website:

Yes, I 've beaten John's patched version as well.

I have the ROM on my website, you can get the A78 version here and the BIN version here.

 

Mitch

 

Become a member of the 7800 High Score Competition simply by posting a score in this thread.

 

Current High Scores

 

1. vdub_bobby 1,500

 

Shadow's first score of the week:

 

To Be Scored

 

Member List (post a score to join!)

 

silver_surfer, keilbaca, Mind Game, birdie3, Cybergoth, jedijeff, video game addict, FireTiger, Mordax, RJ, keitaro, Almost Rice, Pac Man Plus, jwierer, Artlover, hanglyman, bfutrel, vdub_bobby, Goochman, gdement

 

Atom Bending tactics:

 

From the HTML version of the book (copyright by Greg Chance):

 

Some rooms are harder to navigate than others. If a room seems too hard, come back to it after you have acquired enough passwords to reset the lifts and turn off the robots.

Each robot has a different behavior program. Some robots move faster than others, some shoot lightning bolts, and some can't see or hear. Watch each robot closely. You can often figure out which program is running the robot before you try to get past it.

 

Your pocket computer will let you combine any two puzzle pieces that don't overlap. However, puzzle pieces that don't overlap don't necessarily belong together. If you find that it's impossible to finish partially completed puzzle, you may have combined the wrong pieces.

 

You don't need to somersault over every hole in the floor. If a gap is no wider than a lifting platform, try stepping across it. But don't let up on the joystick until you get to the other side, or you'll fall.

 

If you have to cross a very large chasm, you can actually have one foot in the abyss before you press the fire button to jump. If you do this correctly, it will give you the extra distance you need.

Edited April 26, 2006 by shadow460

[D.Yancey]

I'm happy to hear that it worked out for you.

Take care.

David

[vdub_bobby]

I'm not too good. 1500

[shadow460]

You enter a small building. Inside there is a familiar haze and smell. Two people stand hunkered slightly over machines. Sound blares from a racing game, and explosions rock a vertical shooter.

You didn't come here for another lame fighting game. You aren't in the marekt for high octane racing, or poweful explosives. You came to think. You came to solve puzzles.

You came for KLAX.

Game Information:

 

This week's game: Atari's KLAX.

Controllers supported: ProLine Joystick, Atari Joypad

Difficulty Switches: n/a

Game Mode: Normal

 

Scores may be posted in this thread until April 25th at approximately 10 PM Central Time.

Next week's game will be chosen by popular vote from the following: Beef Drop, Crossbow, Pac Man, and Xenophobe.

Become a member of the 7800 High Score Competition simply by posting a score in this thread.

 

Current High Scores

 

1. vdub_bobby 35,015

 

Shadow's first score of the week:

 

To Be Scored

 

Member List (post a score to join!)

 

silver_surfer, keilbaca, Mind Game, birdie3, Cybergoth, jedijeff, video game addict, FireTiger, Mordax, RJ, keitaro, Almost Rice, Pac Man Plus, jwierer, Artlover, hanglyman, bfutrel, vdub_bobby, Goochman, gdement

 

Puzzle solutions:

 

From the book:

 

Try for more Klaxs on lower level waves to increase your score. Go for chain reactions and simultaneous Klaxs.

 

Don't throw too many tiles back up onto the ramp. You can get in trouble very quickly!

 

Try for more complex Klaxs on point waves. Get the big points quickly--you will probably not be able to complete the level with simple, vertical Klaxs.

 

Sometimes simple Klaxs work best. Don't get cocky on a high level Tile Wave or you will end up with five full bins and a bunch of tiles with nowhere to go.

 

Use wild tiles to complete multiple Klaxs.

Edited May 3, 2006 by shadow460

[vdub_bobby]

35,015

Edited May 2, 2006 by vdub_bobby

[shadow460]

Due to a general lack of interest, I've decided to wind down the HSC here. I'm thinking of restarting it next fall, when I feel like more people will be indoors away from the cooler weather.

 

I will very likely be moving soon, and my internet service will be interrupted (for who knows how long).

It's a long story, but I won't have a roommate anymore, so I'll be paying all the bills on my own. I have no choice in the matter--see my blog for more details.

[PacManPlus]

I hope everything works out for you...

Good luck with the move.

[Almost Rice]

GL shadow. I have been busy and playing with my 8bits. That and the fact the games that have been selected I was not interested in.

[shadow460]

Yeah, we're working with a very niche market here. I think you either have to like the 7800 or hate it, there is no in between.

 

I wanted to do a shotgun type contest at the end, but it would have dug into my time quite a bit. Goochman had suggested a shotgun style HSC, and although it didn't seem like it, I did listen to what he'd said.

 

I figure, though, if even a couple of folks were playing the HSC, that was more time they spent doing something they could enjoy.

[doctorclu]

Yeah, we're working with a very niche market here. I think you either have to like the 7800 or hate it, there is no in between.

 

I wanted to do a shotgun type contest at the end, but it would have dug into my time quite a bit. Goochman had suggested a shotgun style HSC, and although it didn't seem like it, I did listen to what he'd said.

 

I figure, though, if even a couple of folks were playing the HSC, that was more time they spent doing something they could enjoy.

 

Getting a cuttle cart 2 soon, so look forward to joining your future contests.

[doctorclu]

Got my Cuttle Cart and 7800 fully up and running. Ready to play whatever game is thrown my way!

[shadow460]

It will probably restart in the fall sometime. Really, though, when it starts is up to the moderators, too. someone else might be ready ro run with it, and if they are, I'll hand over the reins.

 

Also, I'd like to be able to include Q*Bert and Frogger (with whatever official names they will have) in the contest. I've talked to the programmers about Beef Drop and Pac Man, and the latest versions those games will be included in the next HSC.

[shadow460]

UPDATE: I would like to re start the HSC in October. That will give us plenty of time to purchase new homebrews and we will probably be indoors a little more then.

 

With Ken's permission, the release version of Beef Drop will be one of the first games in the HSC. When he gets Q*Bert (b*nQ?) finished, I'd like to include that also.

So go buy your Beef Drop, your Pac Man, and your Frogger carts, because you're gonna need them to practice with!

[shadow460]

It's about the time summer is winding down, and I'm seeing a few more posts as well as some success with the NES High Score Competition.

If the 7800 one is continued, expect it to be seasonal, as the 7800's smallish user base does not mix well with summer activities and a HSC.

 

This hinges on two factors:

One, interest. The slate of games will start clean, and I may have the game selection run different. I'm thinking of running "blocks" of games, say, Joust, Ballblazer, Ikari Warriors, Super Skateboardin', Water Ski, Double Dragon, Planet Smashers, etc all in a block, with the top four games getting played for the current month.

I don't know yet how I'll make the blocks, but I may seriously consider blocking them by type-- homebrews, arcade ports, light gun games, a block of all third party games, sports, etc.

 

The second factor is the number of Beef Drop carts sold. I'd like to see Beef Drop played first as a tribute to the homebrew community and to help the cart's sales. Pac Man needs to be played shortly after the next production run for the same reasons.

 

I'll keep an eye on the interest for a week or maybe two, and if it's there for a 2006-2007 7800 HSC, then we'll get started!

 

Let me give you a sample "block" of arcade ports (Beef Drop isn't listed since it will probably be played first:)

 

7800 HSC smaple list: Arcade Ports Group 1:

 

Asteroids

Centipede

Commando

Dig Dug

Donkey Kong

DK Jr.

Double Dragon

Galaga

Joust

Klax

[jedijeff]

I think it would be fun, it's just a matter of finding time to play. Once the leaves start falling I'm sure you'll find more interest.

[shadow460]

True...it might still be a little early.