Golden Era Game of the Week 11/20/04: Gravitar

[Weehawk]

Golden Era Game of the Week

See introduction here

The Game: Gravitar

romname: gravitar

Screenshot:
(click to see current MARP scores)

Reward: $100 (usd)

Deadline for submission to MARP: November 26, 2004 2359 hours GMT

Further Bounty: $250 (usd) for completing all four universes, 12 solar systems total by January 1, 2005 (Claimed by Ian Sutton 11/28/04)

For those of you who weren't there, it's difficult to describe how cool Asteroids was when it first came out. Except for some privileged few who had played Spacewar there was really nothing like it before. Asteroids Deluxe brought more thrust and shields into the picture. Space Duel brought color, and different shaped objects, and other manufacturers made many games with similar controls. Gravitar was the pinnacle of this genre of games.

It was not a huge hit.

By this time people had gotten tired of this type of game, and it was dauntingly difficult. This on the other hand makes it an excellent test of our warriors' mettle.

As said before, I was always decent at these games, but never great.

Dan Coogan has devoted much time to this game. His site at:

http://www.cooganphoto.com/gravitar/gravitar.html

contains more information than anyone could want. He has tried unsuccessfully to beat the 20 year old world record held by Ray Mueller of 4,722,200 points, but I wish him luck and hope that he tries again. An account of his last attempt can be found here:

http://www.twingalaxies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1579

After some consideration, I have decided to limit the game for GEGOTW purposes to one "loop". This is 12 solar systems, three in each of four universes. See Coogan's page for further explanation. One loop should take over an hour, and as stated previously I do not want players to have to put in marathon performances for the sake of these bounties. To encourage someone to submit a recording completing the game (no mean feat) I will offer a further bounty.

Use WolfMAME .88

Requires -nosound for proper playback

[NotMan]

Boy that would be interesting if anybody could reach after the first loop then reach the reverse gravity on second loop in Mame. The reverse gravity is the hardest one and I highly doubtful if anybody could pass it. An old friend of mine did that once back in early '80's and made it through to third or fourth loop. Don't remember what his best score was?



Would love to see anybody could pass the reverse gravity?

NotMan

[The TJT]

Would love to see anybody could pass the reverse gravity?

NotMan

Marp 1st passes negative(reverse)gravity...second universe.
I think hes game ended at 3rd universe, which is invisible with positive gravity.
Gravitar is a game you could really grow to like, if you first learn good enough at it.
I personally am not sure if I hate or like it after few games I've played it. I rarely have felt so pawned by a game difficulty. And it seemingly does look like an easy game. I guess the control is just so tough to learn.

If somebody want's further bounty, then you'll have to pass 2 invisible universes...ouch.

http://www.cooganphoto.com/gravitar/flowchart.html

[Twix]

Dan Coogan has devoted much time to this game. His site at:
http://www.cooganphoto.com/gravitar/

...contains more information than anyone could want. He has tried unsuccessfully to beat the 20 year old world record held by Ray Mueller of 4,722,200 points , but I wish him luck and hope that he tries again.

An account of his last attempt can be found here:
http://www.twingalaxies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1579

After some consideration, I have decided to limit the game for GEGOTW purposes to one "loop". This is 12 solar systems, three in each of four universes. See Dan Coogan's page for further explanation. One loop should take over an hour, and as stated previously I do not want players to have to put in marathon performances for the sake of these bounties. To encourage someone to submit a recording completing the game (no mean feat) I will offer a further bounty.

Use WolfMAME .88

Hi everyone,

I received an email from George Strain on Friday informing me of the Gravitar MARP competition. I'm on a Mac, so a neighbor is going to help me get WolfMAME .88 working on his PC and I'll give it a shot to play through the entire game. Both George Strain and John Cunningham have been helpful getting the information to me that hopefully will get me into this competition.

I've completed 125 complete games on my full size Gravitar arcade game, but playing on the computer is more difficult than a real arcade game, mainly because of the keyboard controls (try playing Lunar Battle, that is even harder than Gravitar) and I've only been able to complete an entire game of Gravitar in mame twice -- with scores of 401,100 and just last night I just broke my own Gravitar mame record with a final score of 667,250.

I do plan on giving it another attempt for the Gravitar world record in a month or so, when Brien King is available to record the game ~ should take about 12 hours to break the record. See the page about Ray Mueller's world record here: http://www.cooganphoto.com/gravitar/mueller.html

Good luck to everyone, and if you have any questions feel free to contact me and check out the site for additional information about Gravitar.

best,
Dan

[Ian Sutton]

Hi Dan. Welcome to MARP! I'm looking forward to seeing what a pro can do on Gravitar.

[Twix]

Well so far no luck getting WolfMAME .88 installed on my neighbors PC. When he goes to the list of games it says Gravitar version 3 but some of the files are missing (from the rom I guess) -- this is the same Gravitar version 3 rom that I play Macmame with and it plays perfectly.

I don't have a PC and don't understand the PC side, so all the tech talk goes over my head. Anyway I posted a message to the Mame newsgroup: alt.games.mame asking:
Subject: Anyone in Phoenix AZ with WolfMAME .88 ? - MARP Gravitar competition
-- so far I've received one (all be it, funny) smart ass response.
Read it here: http://tinyurl.com/4sdfa

http://www.twingalaxies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3463
I also posted the same basic message on the Twingalaxies.com forum so we will see if I get a response from either place.

Unless there is someone in Phoenix AZ with WolfMAME .88 on their PC can help me out?

best,
Dan

[Weehawk]

Well so far no luck getting WolfMAME .88 installed on my neighbors PC. When he goes to the list of games it says Gravitar version 3 but some of the files are missing (from the rom I guess) -- this is the same Gravitar version 3 rom that I play Macmame with and it plays perfectly.

I don't have a PC and don't understand the PC side, so all the tech talk goes over my head. Anyway I posted a message to the Mame newsgroup: alt.games.mame asking:
Subject: Anyone in Phoenix AZ with WolfMAME .88 ? - MARP Gravitar competition
-- so far I've received one (all be it, funny) smart ass response.
Read it here: http://tinyurl.com/4sdfa

http://www.twingalaxies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3463
I also posted the same basic message on the Twingalaxies.com forum so we will see if I get a response from either place.

Unless there is someone in Phoenix AZ with WolfMAME .88 on their PC can help me out?

best,
Dan

If you're trying to use the same ROMset that you did with MacMAME .37b14, it's probably outdated.

Check your PM's

[Twix]

After some consideration, I have decided to limit the game for GEGOTW purposes to one "loop". This is 12 solar systems, three in each of four universes. See Coogan's page for further explanation. One loop should take over an hour, and as stated previously I do not want players to have to put in marathon performances for the sake of these bounties. To encourage someone to submit a recording completing the game (no mean feat) I will offer a further bounty.

Use WolfMAME .88

Requires -nosound for proper playback

Well we were able to get the game working on my neighbors PC on Monday evening -- but not till about 10PM so I had to leave cause it's his kid's bed time, so I went back on Tuesday and played terribly - only scoring around 200K -- not very good for me.

Though in my defense I've only managed to play through the entire game in MacMame on my computer twice before (of course I play with the game sounds on). Playing on the keyboard is more difficult as the keys are closer together, and my hands started cramping up a bit near the end of the games -- and it's a bit more confusing if the room is dark and you take your hands off the keys to scratch something -- it's tough to get them back in place quickly. Also, since I'm not at my house the lighting is different -- he has a light in the hallway and it reflects on the wall behind the monitor-- very distracting, but if you shut the door, then it's too dark (sort of a JFK Jr. flying over water at night feeling, if you get my meaning -- it's disorienting) and the lack of game sounds is also another difficult factor -- why not just make me play blindfolded -- also this is a short week with the Thanksgiving holiday cutting into my playing time -- anyway, excuses, excuses.

So I go back Wednesday and score about 271,000 -- not bad, but still not great for me. Tonight (Thursday) I go back at 6:30 and play 2 games -- scoring 281K and 241K respectivly.

That leaves tomorrow morning to get an acceptable score -- my wife has a jewelry show Friday night at the AZ Biltmore and we need to leave here at 2:30 PM, which means I will get roped into helping her pack up the stuff to get ready (there goes a few hours).

So I came back to my home office tonight (Thursday) where I have my computer and fire up MacMame -- only this time I play with the sound off -- I scored 396,450 getting all the way to the end of the final planet -- without the sound, I wasn't sure if I had destroyed the final gun turret -- turns out I hadn't and he shot me, so I attempted to go back in through the entire maze twice, with my last 3 men and couldn't make it back to the end as I ran ito the walls.

I tried playing 8 games with WolfMAME .88 this week and couldn't finish one of them - In the 281K point game I got almost to the end of the final planet (upper left) in the positive gravity/invisible landscape (3rd solar system of the 3rd universe) but ran out of fuel.

I've completed the entire game of Gravitar 126 times on my full size game (including 12 games over 1 million) -- highest score is 3.6 million -- and twice on my MacMame with my high score of 667,250 just this past Saturday 11/20/04, playing for a personal best once I heard about the competition (I recorded this game, but you said you can't accept macmame submissions)

The lack of game sounds makes it more difficult, as you are not 100% sure you killed the gun turret sometimes -- I tell you, I don't know if I can do it (I feel like I'm playing with my hands tied) -- I thought I was going to complete the game with the sound off tonight and it just makes it that much more difficult.

I can replay the Macmame version with the F10 key to make the replay go really fast and it doesn't mess up the playback -- you hear the sounds, and they sound messed up (i.e. not totally in sync with the game due to the speeded up nature of the replay).

Anyway, that's my report thus far. Good luck to everyone -- you are going to need it.

[Weehawk]

(I recorded this game, but you said you can't accept macmame submissions)

Well, they're not eligible for the GEGOTW prize, but they are accepted for MARP regulation play.

You can always submit it after the week is over, if it's the best you've done in MAME.

And remember to submit whatever you wish to count for GEGOTW before midnight GMT (I think that's 5:00 pm Mountain Standard Time)

And of course the further bounty is open until the end of the year (or until someone else claims it).

[tar]

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[/img]

[Weehawk]

so far
i have 1st place?
when will the weaseles creep in? 23:59.39 hours standard global time
Senior'
destruction (mr. knock-out)7 at that , gracias para el demon hombre. 130k
dan , hope for your troubles will be over. can i come over to play the real thing?
leftover turkey
set your watch
clockwork orange
revision in order
yes , i 've had a beer this morning & unhappy
come over and let us talk it over high gravity.
dbh , i want to visit tu" arcade man.

Yeah, so far you're in 1st.

[tar]

sorry (destructor)
turtles lose their temper sometimes
i took a nap at noon
all is well again
be glad i do not go to tg

[The TJT]

Damn, Ian. If you only play THAT game one week, then...you...really...have talent. !!!
Now sing me child in time, and I DO ask your autograph

[tar]

JBS is
good work on lunar battle ,
plus star castle as well...

[Twix]

Well my neighbor brought his PC over to my home office today and I played Gravitar in WolfMame 88 through the entire game -- 614,200 points -- so that should be enough to win as long as the game can be replayed on John's machine. My neighbor emailed the zipped file before 5PM MST -- the file was 19+ MB and compressed down to about 170K he told me.

It made a huge difference playing in my office on my 19" monitor as opposed to his house (bedroom) on his 17" monitor -- I had total control over my environment.

John, Let me know if you got the file and if it works for you.

I almost didn't make it through the entire game -- I really thought I wouldn't be able to do it -- some how I managed to dig down deep and persevere. I had 3 ships and about 5-6,000 fuel units going into the last part of the final planet of the 4th universe (Negative Gravity/Invisible Landscape) and my hands were cramping -- again, I really thought I would not be able to complete it.

A few highlights are the final planet of the 3rd universe (positive gravity, invisible landscape) -- I make my way out of the planet through the end of the maze -- then I have to go back in to finish off the final 2 turrets (that part is normal play for me - not the exiting the planet in the dark though)

Also right near the end of the game I make it back to the invisible planets and go into the Red Planet -- I make it through the spiral to shoot the Reactor -- though the game only gives you 9 seconds to get in, shoot the reactor and get out. It takes about 9 seconds to get in there and shoot the reactor as it is, so no time to exit.

I would have played to a higher score, but my wife had her jewelry show and I had to help her get ready for that, so I purposely ran the last few ships into the death star at the very end of the game -- still I was very pleased with the game. (my second highest Mame game so far).

Hope you all like it, enjoy,
Dan Coogan