forums.marpirc.net

kranser wrote:

Phil Lamat wrote:Super Puzzle Bobble has still puzzle and vs mode, but another debate to come :
http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/misc/spuzbobl/0013.png

And also this: http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/misc/spuzbobl/0035.png!

http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/misc/spuzbobl/0036.png shows the normal route selection, but http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/misc/spuzbobl/0035.png indicates that several courses are available (maybe in the same way as in racing games?!).

Kranser.

Haze wrote: the chain reaction / no chain reaction is for vs.cpu

kranser wrote:Thanks Haze - can you make any screenshots showing the 2-player puzzle mode, where two players can work together to clear the puzzle screen? [this mode is unique as it is not in any previous puzzle bobble games - however, as it is 2-player it is not suitable for MARP ]

Thanks in advance,
Kranser.

Haze wrote:there's this too.. bit slower than super puzzle bobble due to the resolution tho

kranser wrote:

Haze wrote:there's this too.. bit slower than super puzzle bobble due to the resolution tho

Thanks Haze for the pictures of spuzbobl 2-player and flipmaze! Very nice pics!

I don't know if anyone has asked yet - but how fast does spuzbobl run? Would it be possible to reach 99-100% on some systems?

Kranser.

mahlemiut wrote:So, about the same speed as Rival Schools (also PSX-based), although that being said, Rival Schools runs at a high resolution, and high CPU speed (100MHz).

kranser wrote:

***PL*** wrote: Kranser raises some good points, but one thing that has been not discussed is DEMAND. If only a couple of people want special rules for a specific hard course, then why bother?

I agree that demand would play a factor if for example we were adding many splits, but for adding one extra split for hard mode (and that split could even just be on the parent (Euro region?) of the game if demand was really an issue) I wouldn't consider demand to be an issue, as there are some unknown factors:
A) Would the -hard versions (with added "challenge" factor) attract more players (old players coming out of the woodwork and brand new players wanting a challenge!)
B) Current demand has no bearing on possible future demand!

***PL*** wrote: My initial reaction is that the pbobble programmers blew it. They created more difficult routes but did not increase the points awarded for completing those stages.

I'd agree with you there - especially as the levels appear to be laid out in a logical order of difficulty (easier on the left and harder on the right). Well - seeing that having a different high score table for each route would be very confusing - so Taito couldn't have done that, I'd agree that extra points for completing the difficult levels would certainly change the challenge factor of the Puzzle Bobble games.

***PL*** wrote: Part of gaming has always been for players to figure out which methods give you maximum points -- there is no better measure -- unless you want to independently challenge yourself, which in turn improves your skills on the pre-determined "best path".

True - however for Puzzle Bobble and for Popnpop especially, the best path for points is always straight down the left-hand side! So not much to figure out really!

***PL*** wrote: I think a good compromise would be to have only ONE additional course, in effect an "easy" course which already exists, and the suggested "hard" solution. However, as Phil had mentioned, these would extend to several games beyond the pbobble series.

Agreed. So what games should MARP consider adding a -hard mode for? pbobble2, pbobble3, pbobble4, spuzbobl, popnpop, puzznic?

Kranser.

gat wrote:I don't know about any of the other Puzzle Bobble games but Puzzle Bobble 2X the most points productive route is not straight up the left hand side but all the way up the far right up to the 'Z' ending and on Puzzle Bobble 4 the best path for points I have found ends on the '?' ending. With regards to there being another track then I believe that one extra track for the games that have an expert mode would suffice as it would still be up to the players to figure out the best points productive route, which is not necessarily up the left hand side.