Ok, perhaps Circus Charlie wasn't the best example because that does require skill and lots of play to be able to max it out.
I was thinking though perhaps there should be some tiebreaker criteria then. Perhaps something like the number of deaths before reaching the max score. If still tied then the actual TIME to reach the max score could break the tie. That would have 1 person with the true 100 pts and all the other "ties" get 85 points each. At least that gives a little glory to the "#1" person who actually played it better than the rest. This could be the case for others as well. I guess code-wise that would require some admin manual flag setting in the case of ties which person gets to stay at #1 and get the full 100 pts.
I think I could max out Circus Charlie if I played it for a whole weekend. The game is patterned so it would just be figuring out patterns to run. I remember getting like 400+k just winging it in the past not having any patterns.
The one lode runner I was referring to with a score of "6". I wasn't referring to the ones that have scores in the millions where they have gone through all levels a few times. This one version was very limited in #levels you played. I think the "6" was maybe just the #levels completed. I would need to actually play the game and watch one of the inps to confirm that.
MARP Rule Change -- Broken "non-working" Games
Moderator: BBH
Here goes my opinions on all the games archivied:
alibaba:Just the bonus stage is broken due to protection.It should be possible to do more points I guess...
astrob1:broken
av2mj***:Doesn't have VCR tape recording.Nothing to do with the gameplay
bking2:No idea
blkheart,mustang:Has a wrong GAME_UNEMULATED_PROTECTION(i.e game works fine,but the one who patched the protection didn't removed that)
bullfgtr,equites,hvoltage,kouyakyu,splndrbt:Has some little discrepancies in gameplay due to missing MCU dump,but works fine.
chelnov
?? from when this is a BROKEN game ???
chqflag:No enemies,but the game works fine,you can do more points with the enemies though.chqflagj doesn't work at all(you can't steer on the left)
crystalg:no idea
glfgreat:Ball isn't detected properly...
flyboy:These recordings should be moved to flyboyb.
grdnstrm,stagger1:Doesn't work IF you don't insert the coin on the copyright screen.
gwara:No sprites visible...
harddriv:Bogus collision detection...
hunchbkd:No idea
lkageb:No idea
mach3:Just the laserdisk graphics are missing,then the game "works".
mermaid:Collision detection...
mightguy:Game crashes IF you reach the last boss(and it's not even confirmed,the dev played it with the invicibility Dip Switch on).
onna34ro:My guess is that this game had the GAME_UNEMULATED_PROTECTION before the MCU was dumped,then it wasn't removed from the driver.
pc_miket:Incorrect PPU emulation makes the score look garbled.There's a rough fix by swapping some lines in the Mike Tyson mapper emulation,but it could broke the sprites.I will distribute this later(Can't remember WHAT lines
)
pc_tkfld:You should press two times the start button for play(works fine after this).Probably the most useless GAME_NOT_WORKING flag in MAME(where the game really doesn't work).
[/b]
alibaba:Just the bonus stage is broken due to protection.It should be possible to do more points I guess...
astrob1:broken
av2mj***:Doesn't have VCR tape recording.Nothing to do with the gameplay
bking2:No idea
blkheart,mustang:Has a wrong GAME_UNEMULATED_PROTECTION(i.e game works fine,but the one who patched the protection didn't removed that)
bullfgtr,equites,hvoltage,kouyakyu,splndrbt:Has some little discrepancies in gameplay due to missing MCU dump,but works fine.
chelnov

chqflag:No enemies,but the game works fine,you can do more points with the enemies though.chqflagj doesn't work at all(you can't steer on the left)
crystalg:no idea
glfgreat:Ball isn't detected properly...
flyboy:These recordings should be moved to flyboyb.
grdnstrm,stagger1:Doesn't work IF you don't insert the coin on the copyright screen.
gwara:No sprites visible...
harddriv:Bogus collision detection...
hunchbkd:No idea
lkageb:No idea
mach3:Just the laserdisk graphics are missing,then the game "works".
mermaid:Collision detection...
mightguy:Game crashes IF you reach the last boss(and it's not even confirmed,the dev played it with the invicibility Dip Switch on).
onna34ro:My guess is that this game had the GAME_UNEMULATED_PROTECTION before the MCU was dumped,then it wasn't removed from the driver.
pc_miket:Incorrect PPU emulation makes the score look garbled.There's a rough fix by swapping some lines in the Mike Tyson mapper emulation,but it could broke the sprites.I will distribute this later(Can't remember WHAT lines

pc_tkfld:You should press two times the start button for play(works fine after this).Probably the most useless GAME_NOT_WORKING flag in MAME(where the game really doesn't work).
[/b]
Second round:
pettanp:Broken after the 10th stage
primrage:No idea
rrreveng:Doesn't have the turns...
shdancbl:No idea
shimpact:On the field goal attempt after a Touch Down the screen quickly change into a 10 yard attempt for the Touch Down...
slapfigh:Black Screen.Actual recordings needs to be moved to slapbtuk romset.
ssf2tb:Just the Network feature is missing(and it's a 2 player mode).
tetrisp2:Same as Blkheart(Game works but the dev didn't removed the flag when it provided the right rom).
tmnt2:Protection affects ONLY colors/graphics.
tokio:Black Screen.Actual recordings needs to be moved to tokiob romset.
usvsthem:Same as mach3.
videopin:Ball has a strange rebound...
volfied:Protection affects ONLY enemy colors.
wbml:Black Screen.Actual recordings needs to be moved to wbmlb romset.
pettanp:Broken after the 10th stage
primrage:No idea
rrreveng:Doesn't have the turns...
shdancbl:No idea
shimpact:On the field goal attempt after a Touch Down the screen quickly change into a 10 yard attempt for the Touch Down...
slapfigh:Black Screen.Actual recordings needs to be moved to slapbtuk romset.
ssf2tb:Just the Network feature is missing(and it's a 2 player mode).
tetrisp2:Same as Blkheart(Game works but the dev didn't removed the flag when it provided the right rom).
tmnt2:Protection affects ONLY colors/graphics.
tokio:Black Screen.Actual recordings needs to be moved to tokiob romset.
usvsthem:Same as mach3.
videopin:Ball has a strange rebound...
volfied:Protection affects ONLY enemy colors.
wbml:Black Screen.Actual recordings needs to be moved to wbmlb romset.
With Primal Rage, the protection is not fully emulated/hacked. I think various moves and other gameplay aspect may be missing. On a whole, though, it is playable.
With Shadow Dancer (bootleg), there is graphics corruption, made worse by the system16/18 driver being in disrepair until 2006. Older MAME versions should work better.
With Shadow Dancer (bootleg), there is graphics corruption, made worse by the system16/18 driver being in disrepair until 2006. Older MAME versions should work better.
- Barry Rodewald
MARP Assistant Web Maintainer

MARP Assistant Web Maintainer

Some games will be restored...
Kale, thanks for the through analysis! I think based on this latest info, comments from this thread, and what I've seen...
I will keep the following games archived:
*astrob1 "Astro Blaster (version 1)"
*bking2 "Birdie King 2"
*chqflag "Chequered Flag"
*chqflagj "Chequered Flag (Japan)"
*glfgreat "Golfing Greats"
*harddriv "Hard Drivin'"
*hunchbkd "Hunchback (DK conversion)"
*mermaid "Mermaid"
*shimpact "Super High Impact (rev LA1 09/30/91)"
These three games will also remain archived and their INPs moved:
*slapfigh "Slap Fight"
*tokio "Tokio / Scramble Formation"
*wbml "Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Japan New Ver.)"
Any others that I've archived that have scores will be brought back and LB points will be restored.
Most "non-working" games without scores will remain archived until further notice.
I will keep the following games archived:
*astrob1 "Astro Blaster (version 1)"
*bking2 "Birdie King 2"
*chqflag "Chequered Flag"
*chqflagj "Chequered Flag (Japan)"
*glfgreat "Golfing Greats"
*harddriv "Hard Drivin'"
*hunchbkd "Hunchback (DK conversion)"
*mermaid "Mermaid"
*shimpact "Super High Impact (rev LA1 09/30/91)"
These three games will also remain archived and their INPs moved:
*slapfigh "Slap Fight"
*tokio "Tokio / Scramble Formation"
*wbml "Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Japan New Ver.)"
Any others that I've archived that have scores will be brought back and LB points will be restored.

Is there anyone who has played the actual game? The game might be broken, or it might be the way the game actually is. The game is less about driving than about blowing up the competetion and avoiding barriers.Kale wrote:Thanks for the update Pat,but you missed rrreveng,which has (I repeat it),NO turns/corners or whatever you want to call them.It isn't the right behaviour to go straight in a racing game...
Ray
"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers.
You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." - Naguib Mahfouz
"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers.
You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." - Naguib Mahfouz
Just notice the map.It doesn't need a super intelligence to say that in some places there are turns.And like this is quite easy...cosumel wrote:Is there anyone who has played the actual game? The game might be broken, or it might be the way the game actually is. The game is less about driving than about blowing up the competetion and avoiding barriers.Kale wrote:Thanks for the update Pat,but you missed rrreveng,which has (I repeat it),NO turns/corners or whatever you want to call them.It isn't the right behaviour to go straight in a racing game...
broken?
Hi
Some games need 2 credits to start and are listed as broken?
One of the Astro Blaster clones is a game I can think of.......
My recording on that clone was played on one credit even though I had to put two credits in to start the game............
Just ;hought u might wanna know
GG
Some games need 2 credits to start and are listed as broken?
One of the Astro Blaster clones is a game I can think of.......
My recording on that clone was played on one credit even though I had to put two credits in to start the game............
Just ;hought u might wanna know

GG
"Life Is Short, Play MAME!"