Username:
B
I
U
S
"
url
img
#
code
sup
sub
font
size
color
smiley
embarassed
thumbsup
happy
Huh?
Angry
Roll Eyes
Undecided
Lips Sealed
Kiss
Cry
Grin
Wink
Tongue
Shocked
Cheesy
Smiley
Sad
123 ->
--
--
List results:
Search options:
Use \ before commas in usernames
Poll:
Poll (hidden)
You do not have permission to vote in this poll.
Exit Poll - How did I handle this tourney?
Perfectly run! (2)
Very good - but a screwup here and there. (1)
Fairly good - could use work. (3)
Meh, needs notable work. (1)
Rather disappointing. (0)
Very disappointing. Maybe not your thing. (0)
LEAVE THESE TO ENHASA NEXT TIME DAMMIT (0)
Edit history:
AquaTiger: 2009-04-07 01:05:17 pm
Never give up!
Yes, another speedrunning tourney already.  For those who haven't been in our tourneys yet, go here and here for some idea how they're run.

I'll re-post some basics here:
- First, a point of emphasis. No signups, just play whichever weeks you want. If you miss a week, you can still play in other weeks.
- Instead of playing for score, we are playing for time! I'll explain how it works later, but since not everyone will even beat the games in question, how far you get is criteria #1 and speed (e.g. for people who completed the game) is #2.
- There will be voting for games this time. For every competition week, you will be given 5 choices and you vote for the one you want in a poll.
- The goal of this tourney is to highlight games which don't have a run (or much run discussion) on SDA. I'm more focused on games that don't have SDA runs already. Hopefully you can play some great games you haven't before though (but yes, some games will be recognizable). Even more hopefully, the winner of a given week might feel compelled to run the game for SDA.
- Six weeks this time.  I'll detail it below.  It's actually seven, but there's only six games involved as one will get two weeks to itself.
- As this tourney is for fun, playing the games via emulator is acceptable.  I won't force recordings because of how easy it is on an emulator to make a run with rerecords that looks like it has 0, but note that I cannot make people trust your time.  If you decide to submit your best completion time to SDA as a speedrun, normal rules regarding emulation/etc. still apply.
- I'm thinking no prizes, because I don't think it affects turnout any, but it's possible that we help out the weekly winners with buying the game? Probably not, but we'll see.
- Yes, I know most of the basics was copy/pasted off of Enhasa's speedrunning tourney thread, but it fit almost perfectly so I felt no need to make too many changes.


Now, a few quick differences:
- Enhasa used one system per week in his last tourney.  I will be splitting the weeks based on genres and having one choice for each system involved.
- Speaking of systems, let me cover that: For each week there are guaranteed spots for NES, SNES, Genesis, and PC.  The last spot will be covered by a 'guest' system (I've done my best to have a different guest system each week).
- As I've hinted, one of the genres has two weeks to itself.  (It should be obvious what genre.)


I've also contemplated the concept of 'bonus challenges'.  If there is interest in noting how they were going to work then I'll explain in further detail.


Basically, I was originally going to wait a couple more weeks to start on this, but I felt I was stringing certain people along for waiting too long so I wanted to get going on it sooner rather than later.  Besides, starting a bit sooner means we avoid certain things in May that would cripple any chance of participation.

Don't fret as far as the PC game category or any of the 'guest' systems.  For PC games I made certain to pick games that would work in DOSBox.  And as far as 'guest' systems?  I'll note any emulator that I know can be used for those during the voting.


And when we get there, do try all the games before voting.  Please.

[hr]

Prior Week Voting Results:

Week 1:
Super Dodge Ball (NES) - 2
Biker Mice from Mars (SNES) - 1
Rock 'n' Roll Racing (Genesis) - 5
Wacky Wheels (PC) - 2
Ninja Golf (Atari 7800) - 3

Week 2:
Darkwing Duck (NES) - 4
Magical Pop'n (SNES) - 5
Pulseman (Genesis) - 3
Dark Ages (PC) - 1
Umihara Kawase Shun (PS1) - 1

Week 3:
Jackal (NES) - 8 
Wild Guns (SNES) - 2
Dinosaurs for Hire (Genesis) - 1
H.U.R.L. (PC) - 0
Shock Troopers: Second Squad (NeoGeo/Arcade) - 1

Week 4:
Fire 'n' Ice (NES) - 5
Fire Striker (SNES) - 1
Lost Vikings (Genesis) - 3
Super Solvers Operation Neptune (PC) - 4
Flipull (GB) - 0

Week 5:
River City Ransom (NES) - 4
Sonic Blast Man 2 (SNES) - 0
Streets of Rage 3 (Genesis) - 3
Ninja Rabbits (PC) - 0
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (Arcade) - 6

Week 6 & 7:
Magic Candle (NES) - 0
E.V.O. (SNES) - 9
Shining Force (Genesis) - 4
Excelsior Phase One: Lysandia (PC) - 1
Spellcaster (Sega Master System) - 0

Bonus Games:
Namco - 3
Taito - 4
SunSoft - 0
Rare (oldschool) - 1
Capcom - 4
Square - 1
Data East - 1
Thread title:  
Exoray
Sounds great. I never really had time to participate in the last tourney so I'm looking forward to this iteration.
My feelings on The Demon Rush
Looks good, I would say I'll participate in this tourney, but I thought I would do that in Enhasa's tournament, and I ended up 0-4.

When is this tournament starting btw?

Quote:
- As I've hinted, one of the genres has two weeks to itself.  (It should be obvious what genre.)


Shmups!
Never give up!
Quote from mikwuyma:
Looks good, I would say I'll participate in this tourney, but I thought I would do that in Enhasa's tournament, and I ended up 0-4.

When is this tournament starting btw?

Quote:
- As I've hinted, one of the genres has two weeks to itself.  (It should be obvious what genre.)


Shmups!


Plan is to start between the 13th and 19th, depending on what day is used for the start/end of a game week.

And think of a genre whose games are so long that a one-week competition would inherently only be open to people who had all the time in the world.  (Mind you, some of the possible choices for that week aren't THAT long.)  I actually came up with the 'bonus challenges' concept mainly because of the genre involved in the doubled week.
Quote from AquaTiger:
And think of a genre whose games are so long that a one-week competition would inherently only be open to people who had all the time in the world.  (Mind you, some of the possible choices for that week aren't THAT long.)  I actually came up with the 'bonus challenges' concept mainly because of the genre involved in the doubled week.

Ooh, ooh, I've got it!
Quote from mikwuyma:
Shmups!

Cheesy
Haters gonna hate
I'm up for another one of these things certainly, hopefully I can finish my Ristar run before this starts.  Though I will drop it completely for a week if Strider for the Genesis wins platformer week (Oh yeah, put Strider in platformer week!).

And don't be silly guys, no way the double week will be shmups.  It's obviously going to be board game and game show home versions.  Duh. Tongue
sda loyalist
I prefer to think it will be a rousing game of Stars!

Might take part. Tried to on Enhasa's and never did.
If we're allowed to lobby for particular games, I say we toss Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt into the ring.

Not that there's any sort of ulterior motive going on there.
1-Up!
I'm going to do what I can to get involved this time around.  The last iteration seemed like too much fun to miss out.
Hi! I'm andrewg!
mach 2 tourney ay? I may attend.
Jumping Turtle
I'm considering it, but I also feel bad spending my free time freely. Because I have far too much of it. And it's starting to cost me. :^\
@_@
I might throw in some times for a few weeks, depending on whether or not I like the game when I start playing it. Wink
Never give up!
To the people who suggested games:

I've had most of my game selections in mind for a while now.  The best I could do is re-evaluate the set for a particular system and week (in one case I actually intended to re-evaluate to make sure I had a good game to work with) - and even if I did rope other people into deciding for me, in order to keep my possibilities secret, any voting of that sort would be kept off of this forum.

Anyway, I may be starting even sooner than I originally thought - I'm itching to get this going.  So let me explain:
-For the first week, voting will probably start on Monday.  Voting on any further weeks would start late on Sundays (well, for Eastern time it'd be late Sunday).
-So game competition would start late Sundays.
-Despite the actual competitions starting late on Sundays, I intend to accept entries for the previous week up to about noontime on the following Monday (again, Eastern time) or maybe a little later, depending on when I have free time.  (But when I state the competition for a week is over, it is OVER, no questions asked.)
-Yes, all of this means there will be overlap for when one week ends and another starts.  I'm willing to accept that.
Never give up!
Voting for Week 1 games is now underway.


Week 1 is "Sports/Racing" week.  Let me quickly go over the games:

Super Dodge Ball: This ain't your sissy 'one hit and you are out' dodgeball.  This version is much more brutal - as you have to knock out other players and you get special shots (but the enemy gets special shots too!).
Biker Mice From Mars: Yes, a racing game licensed from a 90s cartoon.  At least Konami did a decent job of it.
Rock 'n' Roll Racing: Not sure what I can say about this one.  Futuristic racing, and unlike most 'battle racing' games, your weapons come with the vehicle you pick.
Wacky Wheels: A bunch of animals escape a zoo and decide they'll race each other in go-karts.  I wish I was making that up but I'm not.
Ninja Golf: Yes, ninjas participate in recreational sports too.  Of course, your ninja forgot his golf cart, so he has to walk to the ball and face a whole lot of hazards on the way.

I may add a couple screenshots later.  We'll see.


Note: The suggested emulator for Atari 7800 games is EMU7800.  And you do need to get a separate BIOS file.
I used to be athiest until I realized I was God.
man that ninja golf game is funny
everybody wanna tell you the meaning of music
Ok I'm like some guy who doesn't check the forums or something so I almost missed this completely. Saw Aqua say something in IRC logs. Tongue

This week I have actually played all 5 games prior to the tourney. I don't expect that in future weeks. Rock 'n Roll Racing will probably win, but I voted Wacky Wheels because I used to rule at that game but I haven't played it since like 1995 or whenever and I want an excuse to. It's like such a blatant Super Mario Kart ripoff but a billion times worse. I just have a weakness for old Apogee/Epic/etc shareware games I guess.

Quote from Lag.Com:
Might take part. Tried to on Enhasa's and never did.

Yeah we get it, we all know you're too cool and disaffected to actually do anything.

psst Aqua, you can thank me later pending participation++
Never give up!
Friendly reminder:

For those who have not yet voted, you have until Sunday, February 8th, at about 10PM EST.  At that point (assuming I'm not too blitzed - if I AM blitzed, the actual transition will be on Monday morning as soon as I wake up) I will be tallying the votes, putting up the thread for the week 1 game (and jury-rigging it so it can be used for all competition weeks like how Enhasa did it), and beginning voting on week 2's games.

Just a note: If, at the end of voting, Ninja Golf is tied with any other game, the other game will take precedence on account of the fact that one of the votes for Ninja Golf is my own.  Any other tiebreaker situation will be resolved by some secret manner that I'm choosing not to explain here.


P.S. Do NOT be creeped out into not voting simply because of my avatar - I won't bite.
Edit history:
AquaTiger: 2009-02-08 08:39:46 pm
Never give up!
Week 1's polls are closed.  Rock n' Roll Racing won, and I've started the tourney thread here.


Week 2 is Platformer Week and a couple of games make return appearances from Enhasa's last tourney.  A quick rundown:

Darkwing Duck: This week's license game is probably fresh in most people's minds, seeing as it had a MAGFest challenge (I think).  For the two or three people who are completely in the dark on this, it's basically Disney's take on Batman.
Magical Pop'n: Returning from Enhasa's tourney is a game I really don't understand too well.  It was also Japanese-only, so there's probably not a lot of people who know about this.  Maybe Enhasa can explain more?
Pulseman: My understanding of this is that you're a superhero who can go freely between the digital and normal worlds, as well as control electricity in some ways (travelling along wires and also a 'pinball' sort of attack being among them).
Dark Ages: Apogee before the VGA era.  And if any of you knows Apogee, a very large chunk of their repertoire is platformers (yes, I know their by-far-most-famous game wasn't one - deal with it).  Very, very basic - you run, you shoot, you get coins to restore health, you retrieve items for sages to go to the next level, that sort of thing.
Umihara Kawase Shun: Before Enhasa's speedrunning tourney, I had only heard of an SNES game by a similar name.  I believe it was about a girl with a fishing line (used like a grappling hook, no less) who was saving the world from various sea life, or something along those lines.  I thus suspect this game is pretty similar to that.  (I'll admit it - I didn't play it back then.)


I know some people are going to be disappointed with my choice for the Genesis game, but I had to play quite a few games before I settled on that one.

Let me also be transparent in saying that my vote went for Pulseman.  I put quite some effort into deciding the Genesis game - after that, do you really think I'd pick otherwise?
My feelings on The Demon Rush
Yes, Darkwing Duck was a MAGFest challenge. This week's choices look good, but I'll have to find a way to play Dark Ages before voting.

Also, I hate everyone who didn't vote for Biker Mice from Mars. Sad
A winner is you!
Man this is a sweet concept.
I might participate in this! I just have to read everything and make sure I understand how to submit/time and stuff
boss
POP'N!!
Jumping Turtle
Oh man if Jumper 2 Time Trial edition makes it into the tournament I'm golden. ^_^

You're pretty much just doing "real" but obscure games that nobody's going to run though, huh? Those kind of games have communities for themselves already pretty much, so I figure they're ruled out. Chances I'm going to be faster than double the record is slim to nil in any game that's gonna come up here. :^\
Edit history:
AquaTiger: 2009-02-15 06:29:55 pm
Never give up!
Week 2's voting is now finished.  It was a close one, but Magical Pop'n won.  I hope for more participation this week since this game is far easier to get into than Rock 'n' Roll Racing was on Warrior.

Week 3 game descriptions:
Jackal: Drive around in jeeps, save hostages and shoot enemies with a forward-facing machine gun and aimable explosives.  Simple.
Wild Guns:  Wild Wild West in game format, is what the story amounts to.  As far as the gameplay?  You're in the foreground, shooting enemies in the background.  Note that your aiming reticle moves when you do, though you can stand still and aim if you're actively shooting.
Dinosaurs for Hire: This week's license game (and, I think, the last license game of the tourney) is a Contra knockoff, with dinosaurs (alien dinosaurs, if I'm not mistaken - I have to check the comic again) as the main characters.  I hardly expect anyone to be familiar with this, in all honesty.
H.U.R.L.: What's a first-person shooter doing here, I hear you ask?  Well this one... it's one of the few first-person shooters that doesn't have blood and gore - hell, this game has 'environmentalism' written all over it.
Shock Troopers - Second Squad: I chose this one over the original because I feel things are faster-paced with this version.  For those unfamiliar with Shock Troopers, it's basically Metal Slug in a sort-of-top-down format (except you can take more hits).

I don't know what one I'll vote for, and I'll update here when I decide, except that I know for sure I'm not voting for Jackal.


Note that for Shock Troopers: Second Squad, if you must emulate (and I suspect most people do), I actually recommend using nFBA.
Edit history:
mikwuyma: 2009-02-16 09:26:22 am
My feelings on The Demon Rush
I'm posting my opinions because this week is dear to me and people should vote for what I want because I'm a mod which makes me super important. Tongue

Jackal: Awesome game, good candidate for the tourney. I approve of any game with a rocket-launching jeep. Vote for this game

Wild Guns: Another fun, solid game, but this wouldn't be fun for a speedrunning tournament. Too many random factors (getting good weapons and hoping you don't get the pellet gun.

Disnosaurs for Hire: Honestly, this game sucks. Your hitbox is fat and anything inside it can roam around freely and damage you to its heart's content. There's also the issue of guns shooting you from offscreen. :-/

H.U.R.L: I could hardly play this game because it either ran too fast, or it crashed when I set dosbox to 1% speed. What I played of it did not impress me though. Why does a simple duck take about 10 hits to defeat? Sad

Shock Troopers - Second Squad: I know I told you this over IRC, but I'm still completely baffled as to why you chose the second Shock Troopers over the much better first game. Second Squad isn't faster-paced than the first game, in fact, it's slower-paced. There is more slowdown, and the roll button (which made you move a lot faster in the first game) is replaced by a jump button.

The game is also hard for the wrong reasons. I'm not sure why there is a life bar when you die in just two hits. It's also incredibly difficult to regain life back after being hit because you don't recover any life after you beat a stage and health pickups recover maybe a quarter of your health, assuming you can even collect health pickups, you almost never get any. The hordes of bullets wouldn't be such a bad problem if health pickups were more common. Sad

My final point: No team battle Sad

Second Squad isn't a bad game, it's just nowhere near as good as the first game. If you put the first Shock Troopers in the first slot, well you might see some ballot fixing and an awesome week ahead. Wink (for those curious, no, I can't really fix the poll in my favor)

VOTE JACKAL!

EDIT: I will personally hunt down and maim the person who voted for Dinosaurs for Hire. It's obvious that person just thought the name was cool and didn't bother to play the game. Roll Eyes

DOUBLE MEGA SUPER IMPORTANT EDIT: Why the hell wouldn't you vote for Jackal, AquaTiger?
I used to be athiest until I realized I was God.
Quote from mikwuyma:
I'm posting my opinions because this week is dear to me and people should vote for what I want because I'm a mod which makes me super important. Tongue

Jackal: Awesome game, good candidate for the tourney. I approve of any game with a rocket-launching jeep. Vote for this game

Wild Guns: Another fun, solid game, but this wouldn't be fun for a speedrunning tournament. Too many random factors (getting good weapons and hoping you don't get the pellet gun.

Disnosaurs for Hire: Honestly, this game sucks. Your hitbox is fat and anything inside it can roam around freely and damage you to its heart's content. There's also the issue of guns shooting you from offscreen. :-/

H.U.R.L: I could hardly play this game because it either ran too fast, or it crashed when I set dosbox to 1% speed. What I played of it did not impress me though. Why does a simple duck take about 10 hits to defeat? Sad

Shock Troopers - Second Squad: I know I told you this over IRC, but I'm still completely baffled as to why you chose the second Shock Troopers over the much better first game. Second Squad isn't faster-paced than the first game, in fact, it's slower-paced. There is more slowdown, and the roll button (which made you move a lot faster in the first game) is replaced by a jump button.

The game is also hard for the wrong reasons. I'm not sure why there is a life bar when you die in just two hits. It's also incredibly difficult to regain life back after being hit because you don't recover any life after you beat a stage and health pickups recover maybe a quarter of your health, assuming you can even collect health pickups, you almost never get any. The hordes of bullets wouldn't be such a bad problem if health pickups were more common. Sad

My final point: No team battle Sad

Second Squad isn't a bad game, it's just nowhere near as good as the first game. If you put the first Shock Troopers in the first slot, well you might see some ballot fixing and an awesome week ahead. Wink (for those curious, no, I can't really fix the poll in my favor)

VOTE JACKAL!

EDIT: I will personally hunt down and maim the person who voted for Dinosaurs for Hire. It's obvious that person just thought the name was cool and didn't bother to play the game. Roll Eyes

DOUBLE MEGA SUPER IMPORTANT EDIT: Why the hell wouldn't you vote for Jackal, AquaTiger?


someone doesn't have much respect for democracy... sheesh

when i was young, i must have rented Dinosaurs half a dozen times... some fond memories gunning through that game with my brother.

Still, I gotta agree, Jackal is hella cool