Astyanax infinite leech
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2022 2:37 am
http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/b/e/7/pg3 ... olf242.zip
http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/2/d/d/pg3 ... olf242.zip
http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/a/a/7/pg3 ... olf242.zip
http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/c/1/3/pg3 ... olf242.zip
http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/6/c/7/pg3 ... olf242.zip
as I expected, PG3 decided to make use of an infinite leech exploit in The Astyanax / The Lord of King. I knew of this trick but didn't want to use it because it's in direct violation of rule 2H - "h) Point or life leeching is strongly discouraged, and banned on some games, as described in the banned techniques list, or in the specific game's special rules. You cannot continuously gain points without some degree of risk and you must keep moving to complete a level."
What is the leeching in question? Early in level 1 you can position yourself in a spot in which you can keep killing enemies over and over. The game has a timer, but it also has a secondary timer in which a blue flame is spawned to chase the player. When sitting in this spot though, the flame never touches the player, and eventually leaves. This leeching is possible because the game awards way too many extra lives - by default it awards them at 30k, 70k, 110k, and then every 30k thereafter (140k, 170k, 200k, etc). The only other setting for extra lives is 50k, 100k, and then every 40k (140k, 180k, 220k, etc). They can not be disabled entirely.
A sped-up sample of the leeching in question can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ylSqwYOeUo
No effort is made to make progress and this should 100% be banned. What special rules should be used though? The most obvious solution would be a 5 lives limit like Ghosts 'n Goblins - although I don't think encouraging someone to leech here for 4 lives and then try to finish the game on their 5th life is very exciting.
Since the blue flame only appears when deliberate leeching is done without any effort to make progress in the game, I feel like your credit should be over if the blue flame appears. It is possible to leech on certain points and keep advancing the screen little by little without triggering the blue flame.
http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/2/d/d/pg3 ... olf242.zip
http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/a/a/7/pg3 ... olf242.zip
http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/c/1/3/pg3 ... olf242.zip
http://replay.marpirc.net/inp/6/c/7/pg3 ... olf242.zip
as I expected, PG3 decided to make use of an infinite leech exploit in The Astyanax / The Lord of King. I knew of this trick but didn't want to use it because it's in direct violation of rule 2H - "h) Point or life leeching is strongly discouraged, and banned on some games, as described in the banned techniques list, or in the specific game's special rules. You cannot continuously gain points without some degree of risk and you must keep moving to complete a level."
What is the leeching in question? Early in level 1 you can position yourself in a spot in which you can keep killing enemies over and over. The game has a timer, but it also has a secondary timer in which a blue flame is spawned to chase the player. When sitting in this spot though, the flame never touches the player, and eventually leaves. This leeching is possible because the game awards way too many extra lives - by default it awards them at 30k, 70k, 110k, and then every 30k thereafter (140k, 170k, 200k, etc). The only other setting for extra lives is 50k, 100k, and then every 40k (140k, 180k, 220k, etc). They can not be disabled entirely.
A sped-up sample of the leeching in question can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ylSqwYOeUo
No effort is made to make progress and this should 100% be banned. What special rules should be used though? The most obvious solution would be a 5 lives limit like Ghosts 'n Goblins - although I don't think encouraging someone to leech here for 4 lives and then try to finish the game on their 5th life is very exciting.
Since the blue flame only appears when deliberate leeching is done without any effort to make progress in the game, I feel like your credit should be over if the blue flame appears. It is possible to leech on certain points and keep advancing the screen little by little without triggering the blue flame.