Party Mix's rank among the 4-player simultaneous 2600 games?

[Big Player]

On Saturday I made the drive to Louisville to the home of Stan Jr and pitfallaimee. I took an extra set of paddles but forgot to bring my Stella Gets A New Brain CD. In my defense, I wasn't sure if my brother was going to be able to stop by since he was driving from Cincy to Nashville and back in a day to pick up an item he bought off eBay.

 

So anyway, he made it and we tried all the 4-player simultaneous 2600 games. Here is how I would rank them, in order of best to worst:

 

Warlords

Video Olympics

Steeplechase

Street Racer

 

I know you can play Casino 4-players and while I love the game of blackjack (see my avatar) not being able to split pairs with four people ruins it for me. So I'm not sure if it falls in front of or behind Steeplechase. It's got to be better than 4-player Street Racer.

 

So has anyone played Party Mix with four people? Where would you put it on the list? Would you re-order the list?

[StanJr]

If Video Olympics didn't have some many options, I think I'd put Steeplechase before it on the list!

[Big Player]

Quadrapong was my favorite 4-player option on Video Olympics. Hockey was pretty fun too.

[lhfreak]

I would stick Party Mix just under Warlords, and keep the rest of the list as is. Party Mix is GREAT with four, but there's something about Warlords that keeps it at my all time 4 player fav.....

[keilbaca]

I would stick Party Mix just under Warlords, and keep the rest of the list as is.  Party Mix is GREAT with four, but there's something about Warlords that keeps it at my all time 4 player fav.....

 

Very high tension and competition that no other game has.

[Ze_ro]

Actually, I'd place Party Mix second only to Video Olympics in four player games. Party Mix is a vastly underrated game, which seems to be common amung the rare games since many people seem to pass over them. As for Warlords, I always thought the physics were rather suspect, which let evil players (ie, me) take advantage of them, thus infuriating the other players into quitting. I suppose the best thing in Warlords is to swap paddles after each game or something.

 

--Zero

[Big Player]

As for Warlords, I always thought the physics were rather suspect, which let evil players (ie, me) take advantage of them, thus infuriating the other players into quitting. I suppose the best thing in Warlords is to swap paddles after each game or something.

 

I agree. Next time I get four people together, I will have everyone swap paddles after each game. If my memory serves, the winners from our session on Saturday were from the lower right and upper left castle. The other two castle positions never won the needed five rounds.

 

I had the castle in the lower right corner and there were at least three or four times when Aimee sent the fireball into my castle, where it would bounce around and take out most of the castle walls but leave my warlord untouched. And yes, I later went on to win that game.

 

Has anyone played Warlords enough to know which castle positions are better than others? Or is it just my imagination?

 

Also, at the Phillyclassic 5 Warlords tournament, one player caught the fireball, let it go and instantly took his own warlord out. He had an undamaged castle too. It was a tough break for him, because by the tournament rules you only get one round and that put him out.

 

I'll still leave Warlords at the top of my list until I can try Party Mix and study Warlords in more detail.

[Ze_ro]

I agree.  Next time I get four people together, I will have everyone swap paddles after each game.  If my memory serves, the winners from our session on Saturday were from the lower right and upper left castle.  The other two castle positions never won the needed five rounds.  

 

I had the castle in the lower right corner and there were at least three or four times when Aimee sent the fireball into my castle, where it would bounce around and take out most of the castle walls but leave my warlord untouched.  And yes, I later went on to win that game.

 

Has anyone played Warlords enough to know which castle positions are better than others?  Or is it just my imagination?

No, you're right... the bug I had in mind was with me controlling the bottom right castle, and a friend of mine controlling the top right. What I would do was hold on to the ball, and then suddely swing to the far right and let go... after doing this enough, I'd break through a small hole in the very edge of his castle, and then the next shot would bounce off the top wall, and hit his king/knight/whatever and it's game over for him. However, when he tried to do the same to me, he would get the hole, but he couldn't manage to hit my king/knight/whatever, as the ball would just bounce around and fly out of the castle without killing me. Needless to say, he got very frustrated after a few games.

 

I'm not sure, but I'm guessing the same happens with the left players, with the top player having the priority in that case. This ends up leading to the unfortunate situation where the last two people end up being on a diagonal, which is a very difficult fight since you only have a few angles that you can launch with, and the game suddenly takes FOREVER. Every game of 2600 Warlords I've played ended up like this, with everyone either being bored or angry.

 

--Zero

[128bytes]

Oooh - I've never tried Party Mix! I can't believe that it has passed me by...Looks like it's time for me to get it on my Cuttle Cart 2!

 

By the way, there is one other 4 player simultaneous game out there -- Marble Craze! I've tried it, and it's a good 4 player party game (2 teams of 2). It's a lot of fun having one player be left/right and the other be up/down for each team -- it requires real teamwork.

[+Propane13]

So anyway, he made it and we tried all the 4-player simultaneous 2600 games. Here is how I would rank them, in order of best to worst:

 

Warlords

Video Olympics

Steeplechase

Street Racer

 

You're missing one

I once had a Pressure Gauge 2 demo that was 4-player simultaneous action. It had a little bit of a learning curve, but it was nevertheless quite enjoyable. It's probably available at "The Dig" somewhere.

 

Regards,

-John

[Big Player]

No, you're right... the bug I had in mind was with me controlling the bottom right castle, and a friend of mine controlling the top right. What I would do was hold on to the ball, and then suddely swing to the far right and let go... after doing this enough, I'd break through a small hole in the very edge of his castle, and then the next shot would bounce off the top wall, and hit his king/knight/whatever and it's game over for him. However, when he tried to do the same to me, he would get the hole, but he couldn't manage to hit my king/knight/whatever, as the ball would just bounce around and fly out of the castle without killing me. Needless to say, he got very frustrated after a few games.

 

That's exactly what happened. I should have put in the detail that the fireball was shot down the right edge of the screen. I'm not sure if Aimee got frustrated but it is an irritating bug. We kept playing though.

 

I'm not sure, but I'm guessing the same happens with the left players, with the top player having the priority in that case. This ends up leading to the unfortunate situation where the last two people end up being on a diagonal, which is a very difficult fight since you only have a few angles that you can launch with, and the game suddenly takes FOREVER. Every game of 2600 Warlords I've played ended up like this, with everyone either being bored or angry.

 

You do know that you can hit the empty castles and get a nice curve on the fireball. The sweet spot is right where the front corner of the castle used to be. It can make for a good killshot with the two remaining castles are on a diagonal, even if the other player knows it's coming.

[StanJr]

 

You do know that you can hit the empty castles and get a nice curve on the fireball.  The sweet spot is right where the front corner of the castle used to be.  It can make for a good killshot with the two remaining castles are on a diagonal, even if the other player knows it's coming.

 

That "curve" comes from the fact that your shield does not disappear when you die, it just goes black. The ball then occasionally banks off of it as if it were still there (at certain angles) and yes this is a WONDERFUL little bug that I exploit at every turn.

 

However I was unable to take advantage of it this past weekend, because people were leaving their shields in odd places when they died and I was unable to hit it. This is best realized when using a computer player because the shield tends to revert to a default position.

 

[Big Player]

So anyway, he made it and we tried all the 4-player simultaneous 2600 games. Here is how I would rank them, in order of best to worst:

 

Warlords

Video Olympics

Steeplechase

Street Racer

 

You're missing one

I once had a Pressure Gauge 2 demo that was 4-player simultaneous action. It had a little bit of a learning curve, but it was nevertheless quite enjoyable. It's probably available at "The Dig" somewhere.

 

Regards,

-John

 

Is this it?

 

http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/archiv...1/msg00047.html

 

The next time I get four Atari players together, I'll load it in my Supercharger and see how it ranks with the others.

[Big Player]

That "curve" comes from the fact that your shield does not disappear when you die, it just goes black.  The ball then occasionally banks off of it as if it were still there (at certain angles) and yes this is a WONDERFUL little bug that I exploit at every turn.

 

So it's the dead shields. I didn't know what it was, but I knew how to use it. There isn't any need to use this technique against the computer opponent, because they are so stupid and easy to beat. And the last time I played multi-player Warlords before Saturday was a year ago when you and Aimee stopped by on the way to PC5.

 

However I was unable to take advantage of it this past weekend, because people were leaving their shields in odd places when they died and I was unable to hit it.  This is best realized when using a computer player because the shield tends to revert to a default position.

 

I'm going to have to try this against the computer now. And yes everyone, Stan had the upper left castle.

[StanJr]

I'm going to have to try this against the computer now.  And yes everyone, Stan had the upper left castle.

 

and two of the three wins....

[+Propane13]

Is this it?

 

http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/archiv...1/msg00047.html

 

The next time I get four Atari players together, I'll load it in my Supercharger and see how it ranks with the others.

 

Bingo-- that's it! I'd actually love some feedback on it. When I posted it to StellaList a long time ago, I never got any feedback, since no one could seem to get 4 people together. So, I have no way of knowing if it's any fun, or if it was really a pretty crappy demo. Any feedback (even extremely negative, just so long as it's better than SSSnake) would be cool.

 

Regards,

-John

[Big Player]

I'm going to have to try this against the computer now.  And yes everyone, Stan had the upper left castle.

 

and two of the three wins....

 

Make that two of four wins, since I won once and my brother won once.

[StanJr]

did we play four games? I thought only three. Sorry Mark, props to you bro!

[Big Player]

We played at least four games. Don't try to slip anything past us accountants. Well, at least I used to be one.

 

On further study of Warlords, the dead warlord will also give you a nice curve on the fireball. Also, you can also move the shield once you are knocked out of the game. But it's tough to do, since you can only see yourself on the flashes that occur when a castle is hit. And there is a small turning radius for the paddle controls.

 

And after playing the one player catch version for a few games, if you can't beat the other three computer opponents 5-0, then you ought to retire from gaming. The rebound version is more interesting, but still, this game is great only with four people.

[akimmet]

 

You do know that you can hit the empty castles and get a nice curve on the fireball.  The sweet spot is right where the front corner of the castle used to be.  It can make for a good killshot with the two remaining castles are on a diagonal, even if the other player knows it's coming.

 

That "curve" comes from the fact that your shield does not disappear when you die, it just goes black. The ball then occasionally banks off of it as if it were still there (at certain angles) and yes this is a WONDERFUL little bug that I exploit at every turn.

 

However I was unable to take advantage of it this past weekend, because people were leaving their shields in odd places when they died and I was unable to hit it. This is best realized when using a computer player because the shield tends to revert to a default position.

 

 

It isn't a bug, it's a feature!

At least it was passed off as one... If you want to really piss people off, I think a dead player's paddle can still control its "invisible" (you can still see it briefly during screen flashes) shield.