Carol vs. The World 2015 Championship

[+DZ-Jay]

Nour K's latest score: 1081

 

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Great come back, Nour K.! You have just beaten your old high score!

 

 

First full play by Murex Ferreus (age

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Welcome, Murrex Ferreus! Not bad for an eight year-old. Actually, not bad for any old fart like us, since your very first entry is hardly at the bottom of the ranks!

 

I hope you enjoy the game and continue playing. There are prizes, achievements, and challenges to be had.

 

 

Bleh, it wasn't a good day today. I didn't get much practice in 'cause I'm trying to do a million things and have music lessons, and I couldn't do that good. So here's the best score of the day - a throwaway score - so I can at least post something.

 

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Nothing great, I don't think it's half of my top, but oh well. Maybe tomorrow I'll do better I guess.

 

No worries, perhaps you're burning out? Time to take a break from all this caroling and enjoy the season! (Then come back with a vengance!)

 

 

OMG!!!!!!!!! I hate that the pi reset and pause are next to each other on the intv controller. I was at 5900 points beating my high score went pause to take a pic and reset my game. Still had 3 lives. Probably would have taken second place.

 

I tell you, mate, that Celery Salt has you "sala'o"!!! Get rid of it and maybe your friendly Jesus Buddy will send some mojo your way.

 

 

Whoops, forgot to post perfects for that last session, a couple new ones.

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Edit: I think I already posted 10. I still need levels 6-8 perfects so I can get those Achievements.

 

On another Achievement, Practice Makes Perfect

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Noted. That's pretty cool. Are you going to try for a Perfect Christmas?

 

I'm thinking of changing my name to "Grand Master P"

I also got my fourth perfect christmas but deleted the pic cleaning up all the pics on my phone.

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Great job, pimp! Or I should say, CONGRATULATIONS Grand Master Pimp! You have not only achieve the highest rank in Santa's Elite Elf Squad, but you have also beaten your old score of 5,702, and kicked Darrin9999 down a notch!

 

That is some impressive stuff! I still think that "kill screen" is hilarious. I would love to see player's faces when they first encounter it!! It must be such a sight!

 

 

Christmas Carol Fun Fact: The "kill screen" was obviously inspired by namesakes in Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. However, contrary to those games, Christmas Carol was designed to allow for eternal game-play, rolling-over or capping all game variables so that no unexpected values ever pop up. So, the "kill screen" is actually simulated by very deliberate code. My idea was simple: do the same things that cause a real "kill screen" to happen, mainly corrupt the pointers to the graphics display. I thought of two things that would do just that:

• Offset "maze layout" pointer by a couple of rows down and columns to the right, which will cause the maze to be drawn using some rows and columns from the surrounding levels in the table.
• Offset the "ice cube tile set" pointer by a could of cards, which will cause the maze to be drawn using a weird mixture of cards on the wrong places -- for example, solid walls could be "corner tiles," etc.

As an added bonus, I thought of making the level somewhat playable:

• Leave the actual corridors and exits map intact, but use one from a different level! This would make the "kill screen" actually playable, but even if the player could somehow discern the layout based on the corrupted walls and corridors, the underlying walkable map is totally different.

In practice I had to play with the pointers and tweak them a few times to get that really scary broken-looking screen. Also in practice I noticed that since the visual cues provided by the corrupted screen did not match the walkable map, it was very hard to navigate. Mission accomplished!

 

There are snowflakes and presents in there to pick up (you can't see them, but you can hear the sound effects when you pick them up), so it serves as an actual "bonus level." However, it is rigged with a timer that will freeze the level after 10 seconds, or after picking up three presents, whichever occurs first. The idea was to throw one final "BOO!" at the player: not only have you reached a kill screen, but just when you started playing it, the game froze!!!!

 

:rolling: I decided to let the player off the hook at that point and let them know it was all a joke.

Edited December 15, 2015 by DZ-Jay

[+DZ-Jay]

I'v updated the official leaderboard with the latest scores and achievements, and the rankings and player stats on the first post.

 

The second week of the competition has concluded and we have some new faces, new challenges, and more fun ahead!

 

Here are some highlights so far:

• Pimpmau69 and Darrin9999 are beating each other up for the Top Elite Knight Master title, with pimp at the head right now.
• First Spear's kids joined us for the first time with some crackingly good scores.
• The K. Girls are at it again, with Nour K. rising to the top of the Elite Novice Elves.
• Opry99er is burning through four lifetimes playing the game, and yet he still does not submit scores daily to get the "12 Days Of Christmas" achievement.
• For some reason we don't have a Top Elite Ranger Elf yet this year, and the leaderboard has still some holes to be plugged in.
• And Candy Cove is still the most deadliest place on Earth for an Elf, by a rather high margin!

 

The competition is heating up. The player's standings are moving up with their skills and progress. And there's plenty more to come!

 

Keep at it, and remember -- The children of the world are counting on you... Can you save Christmas?

[+Darrin9999]

The Evil Snowman made me get this score! 4666

[pimpmaul69]

 

 

 

I tell you, mate, that Celery Salt has you "sala'o"!!! Get rid of it and maybe your friendly Jesus Buddy will send some mojo your way.

 

Great job, pimp! Or I should say, CONGRATULATIONS Grand Master Pimp! You have not only achieve the highest rank in Santa's Elite Elf Squad, but you have also beaten your old score of 5,702, and kicked Darrin9999 down a notch!

 

That is some impressive stuff! I still think that "kill screen" is hilarious. I would love to see player's faces when they first encounter it!! It must be such a sight!

 

 

Christmas Carol Fun Fact: The "kill screen" was obviously inspired by namesakes in Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. However, contrary to those games, Christmas Carol was designed to allow for eternal game-play, rolling-over or capping all game variables so that no unexpected values ever pop up. So, the "kill screen" is actually simulated by very deliberate code. My idea was simple: do the same things that cause a real "kill screen" to happen, mainly corrupt the pointers to the graphics display. I thought of two things that would do just that:

• Offset "maze layout" pointer by a couple of rows down and columns to the right, which will cause the maze to be drawn using some rows and columns from the surrounding levels in the table.
• Offset the "ice cube tile set" pointer by a could of cards, which will cause the maze to be drawn using a weird mixture of cards on the wrong places -- for example, solid walls could be "corner tiles," etc.

As an added bonus, I thought of making the level somewhat playable:

• Leave the actual corridors and exits map intact, but use one from a different level! This would make the "kill screen" actually playable, but even if the player could somehow discern the layout based on the corrupted walls and corridors, the underlying walkable map is totally different.

In practice I had to play with the pointers and tweak them a few times to get that really scary broken-looking screen. Also in practice I noticed that since the visual cues provided by the corrupted screen did not match the walkable map, it was very hard to navigate. Mission accomplished!

 

There are snowflakes and presents in there to pick up (you can't see them, but you can hear the sound effects when you pick them up), so it serves as an actual "bonus level." However, it is rigged with a timer that will freeze the level after 10 seconds, or after picking up three presents, whichever occurs first. The idea was to throw one final "BOO!" at the player: not only have you reached a kill screen, but just when you started playing it, the game froze!!!!

 

:rolling: I decided to let the player off the hook at that point and let them know it was all a joke.

yeah if you look at my old pics you will see my buddy christ wasnt there. I realized it and had to move him. having seen steve wiebe get a donkey kong kill screen in person and having watched the king of kong a lot i love the kill screen.

 

Edit: check out the ms pac-man kill screen. I love it.

Edited December 15, 2015 by pimpmaul69

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

A couple more Achievements, perfects on levels 7 & 8 and also Five Golden Rings... Of Life

Edit :I'll just throw in my daily score while I'm at it.. 1,286

Edited December 15, 2015 by SiLic0ne t0aD85

[pimpmaul69]

Nerves not cooperating today.

[Opry99er]

 

• Opry99er is burning through four lifetimes playing the game, and yet he still does not submit scores daily to get the "12 Days Of Christmas" achievement.

Here's the third day of Christmas for me. I have scores posted from the 13th and 14th. Here's the 15th.

Now..... here's the deal on this last picture.... I FINALLY figured out how to PERFECT this level... It is definitely a pattern. I was just about to finish it off and the Snowman was on my tail JUST as I hit that snowflake. I thought I got the snowflake first, but the computer disagreed. Like a bad call on first base.... "RUNNER WAS SAFE, MAN!!!"

[+DZ-Jay]

 

 

Here's the third day of Christmas for me. I have scores posted from the 13th and 14th. Here's the 15th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now..... here's the deal on this last picture.... I FINALLY figured out how to PERFECT this level... It is definitely a pattern. I was just about to finish it off and the Snowman was on my tail JUST as I hit that snowflake. I thought I got the snowflake first, but the computer disagreed. Like a bad call on first base.... "RUNNER WAS SAFE, MAN!!!"

 

LOL!

 

Actually, the game is programmed to give priority to the player and items, over the enemy collision. That is, if you are sandwiched between a snowflake and an enemy so as to register both collisions, the snowflake will prevail.

 

The game is driven by a "state machine," meaning that once the collision with the snowflake is detected, the machine switches states, and therefore the snowman cannot hurt you until the machine transitions to a new state, such as when the snowflake effect timer runs out.

 

So, all that to say, that if you died, then it's all fair and square. You either:

- Collided with the snowman right before actually touching the snowflake,

- ate the snowflake but it's effects ran out by the time the Snowman collided with you.

- it never happened and you are making it up. (Just kidding!!)

 

One thing to note is that collisions are detected based on the position of the sprites within a "virtual map" composed of 4x4 pixel tiles, which correspond to the center of a sprite or object. It has nothing to do with the pixel overlap of the sprites.

 

Therefore, it may look like you touched the snowflake, but perhaps you were 1 or 2 pixels off from entering its "center" virtual tile.

 

Better luck next time.

 

It's all very Pac-Man-esque, and is the same mechanism that allows you to sometimes, inadvertently, run through the ghost or snowman unscathed.

 

By the way, share with us your pattern for that level.

Edited December 15, 2015 by DZ-Jay

[pimpmaul69]

I have found several times if you are doomed to die play chicken. Many times i have run straight through the snowman even though i didnt pick anything up. Only seems to work running straight at each other.

Edited December 15, 2015 by pimpmaul69

[+DZ-Jay]

I have found several times if you are doomed to die play chicken. Many times i have run straight through the snowman even though i didnt pick anything up. Only seems to work running straight at each other.

 

I can't find the original Pac-Man Dossier web site from Jamie Pittman (it seems to be offline), but I found a copy of it in Gamasutra. Check out that section for information on why that "passing through" effect happens. The same applies for Christmas Carol since it uses the same movement and collision model.

 

-dZ.

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

I've had this 'trick' happen several times, darn near a frame-perfect trick.. wish I could do it consistently, every time.

[pimpmaul69]

Snow storm weather has my nerves all messed up. Im done for today.

[+DZ-Jay]

I've had this 'trick' happen several times, darn near a frame-perfect trick.. wish I could do it consistently, every time.

 

In Pac-Man, it's a bug, but in Christmas Carol, it's a "trick."

 

-dZ.

[BurritoBeans]

Well, another day without a better score, but I improved over yesterday at least.

 

 

I would take a break from being burned-out, but I'm going to be stubborn and stick with the game 'cause while I'm not doing good, I really enjoy playing it. Also, to pass the time away on the bus and in classes where A: The teacher is OK with it and B: We're doing nothing, I grabbed a mobile jzintv and Christmas Carol for my phone, and I threw it on my school flash drive to run.

 

If I didn't like the game I would've given up by now, but I just can't drop it...

 

 

[pimpmaul69]

Im slowly forgetting how to play this game.

[pimpmaul69]

My fifth perfect christmas.

[+DZ-Jay]

An here's an entry from Illtiger1, posted in a different thread.

Score: 1,059

[+DZ-Jay]

Im slowly forgetting how to play this game.

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I tell you, mate, it's the Celery Salt! Move it, before it costs you a patch!

 

I'd like to welcome Iltiger1 for joining us this year. I hope you stick around, we have cookies.

 

I've updated the official leaderboard with all scores up to this point, and the top rankings and stats on the first post.

 

-dZ.

[+Darrin9999]

3458

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

A quick score for the day.. 1,046

I believe this is 12 days in a row of playing also, if I'm not mistaken. :-)

Edited December 16, 2015 by SiLic0ne t0aD85

[Opry99er]

I will not be able to post a score today.

[+DZ-Jay]

I will not be able to post a score today.

Just try and do what you can. It would be a pity to have to restart the 12 Days...

[pimpmaul69]

New high score for me! would have been better if i didnt lose 3 lives on 57 snowflake garden. The ghost was relentless. Took about an hour to beat it. then it was easy in all the other snowflake gardens after that.

Edited December 16, 2015 by pimpmaul69

[LidLikesIntellivision]

Took about an hour to beat it.

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Interesting how a fast paced game can take 1 hour to get a level done.

The technique to take snowman from the center creates a long fight in snowflake garden.

Sometimes I wished I didn't knew how to survive that level. But I certainly wouldn't get those colorfull scores without that technique.

[pimpmaul69]

Interesting how a fast paced game can take 1 hour to get a level done.

The technique to take snowman from the center creates a long fight in snowflake garden.

Sometimes I wished I didn't knew how to survive that level. But I certainly wouldn't get those colorfull scores without that technique.

i would go for 1 present at a time waiting for the ghost to stop moving before grabbing the gift. But everytime he would still then head straight at me and then circle around hitting me no matter where i was standing.