Robotron

[Smeghead]

Did robotron use two joysticks for control?

Wasnt there a fire button?

How could you do that in mame? Use the p2 joystick as well? How would you set that up using the TAB menu

[yotsuya]

It did use two, and it's easy to do in Mame. When you tab to do the inputs, it asks what you want to use for left and right joystick input. Simple!

[Paul Olson]

the left joystick was for movement, and the right is for directional firing.

[Smeghead]

Thanks I know I should be ashamed for not knowing that about this classic

It will remember next time if I set the inputs for this one game right?

[Paul Olson]

Thanks I know I should be ashamed for not knowing that about this classic

It will remember next time if I set the inputs for this one game right?

Yes, it will save the changes. don't feel bad, I never played robotron until last year..just never looked fun. Now that I have tried it, it is a blast to play. I am going to pick one up if one ever turns up locally.

[Savannan]

When I was younger, I really never played Robotron....My game of choice was Bubble Bobble. My best friend and I RULED at that game.  On one quarter my friend could get to level 78 on the 1st guy and myself level 75 also on the 1st guy(playing every single level, not skipping any)....mind you that the machine that we played on never gave us a free guy while spelling EXTEND.  Him and I could easly be on the Twin Galaxies for that game..

Since then, my friend is getting a divorce so hes been crashing at my place.  Now we play ROBOTRON exculsively.  What a great game!  We currently have it setup for 5 men, no extra life, hardest level.  My best is 180k and his is 230k.  My only complaint about this game is I wish it kept track on how fast you clear a wave.  That would be the cats meow!

Nonetheless its a GREAT GAME!

[JODY]

Thanks I know I should be ashamed for not knowing that about this classic

It will remember next time if I set the inputs for this one game right?

Yes, it will save the changes. don't feel bad, I never played robotron until last year..just never looked fun. Now that I have tried it, it is a blast to play. I am going to pick one up if one ever turns up locally.

Better yet get a JROK board which is a Multi-Williams JAMMA board.  You probably don't know what that is.  Read about it on klov.com's boards.  JROK is the guy's userid to PM and get on the list.  Took months to get one but plays perfect so great for a dedicated Robotron (can disable selection menu to boot directly to Robotron) or leave the selection menu intact to enable selection of the other available games (e.g. Joust, Defender, etc.).

[opt2not]

Since then, my friend is getting a divorce so hes been crashing at my place.  Now we play ROBOTRON exculsively.  What a great game!  We currently have it setup for 5 men, no extra life, hardest level.  My best is 180k and his is 230k.  My only complaint about this game is I wish it kept track on how fast you clear a wave.  That would be the cats meow!

Tournament settings, nice!  I've been able to break 300k at those settings, and am getting better at stretching each life, but every-time I play I think to myself "I really need to get onto restoring my cabinet". THEN i can really train for the world record!

I too would love to see more stats on each wave. Point and time tracking would be great, as well as tracking near misses, or "fancy footwork" dodging.  An acquaintance of mine were going to make an indie remake of Robotron, he was going to do the coding, I was going to do the artwork. But he ended bailing on me, so it never happened

In any case, Robotron is one of the greatest games ever made. It really relies on the control scheme to be as close to the original as possible to really appreciate it. Leaf-switch Wico's w/ 4 inch shafts or bust!

[Savannan]

WOW! 300k..nice!

For the people who are reading this thread and dont play this game... YOU MUST... its such a great game! its one of the best hand/eye coordination games to date!  hands down. 

My stratagies for tourny settings..

level 1 : easy. max score 4800
level 2 : kill circle once you start
level 3 & 4 : just avoid everything but family, stay alive, try to kill circles 1st. avoid snowflakes
level 5 : right away head towards the most congested area of brainiacs. kill.  shoot all projectiles coming at you. save 1 enforcer.
level 6 : just avoid everthing but family, stay alive
level 7 : this is really a hit or miss level.  you can die instantly....or not...i tend to go out then back in the center.
level 8 : just avoid everything but family, stay alive, avoid snowflakes
level 9 : immediately once you start..get out of the middle!!! blast a path to the outside and circle around.
level 10 : like level 5 but with more obstacles

from there its mostly a repeat. the key with all these levels is... #1 DONT BE GREEDY!!!  #2 once you start..blast your way to the outside..dont hug wall and run around in a circlular pattern..  #3 dont stop moving or shooting, dont stand in place or you will die. #4 - if you are GREEDY...chances are you will have to perform some fancy footwork to stay alive....good luck!

any other tips for tourny settings? 

[D_Harris]

Since then, my friend is getting a divorce so hes been crashing at my place.  Now we play ROBOTRON exculsively.  What a great game!  We currently have it setup for 5 men, no extra life, hardest level.  My best is 180k and his is 230k.  My only complaint about this game is I wish it kept track on how fast you clear a wave.  That would be the cats meow!

Tournament settings, nice!  I've been able to break 300k at those settings, and am getting better at stretching each life, but every-time I play I think to myself "I really need to get onto restoring my cabinet". THEN i can really train for the world record!

I too would love to see more stats on each wave. Point and time tracking would be great, as well as tracking near misses, or "fancy footwork" dodging.  An acquaintance of mine were going to make an indie remake of Robotron, he was going to do the coding, I was going to do the artwork. But he ended bailing on me, so it never happened

In any case, Robotron is one of the greatest games ever made. It really relies on the control scheme to be as close to the original as possible to really appreciate it. Leaf-switch Wico's w/ 4 inch shafts or bust!

I know that 4" sticks are a must have, but does it really matter whether or not they are leaf switchers as opposed to Micro switches?

One of the best players in the world is a friend of mine and it doesn't matter to him if the sticks have micro switches.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[Smeghead]

I feel really bad now, I cant remember playing this much, maybe, yeeeeeeeeeeeears ago
But now I configed my 2 sticks for this WOW what a fun game.
Great sound and graphics for the age was a real pretty game, so much color!

tough though! I cant get past about round 5!
Getting your right stick to work independantly from your left while watching everything is hard!

Thanks for the tips

[Cenobyte]

And forget playing the game with anything else than two sticks, cause then it sucks big time

[opt2not]

level 5 : right away head towards the most congested area of brainiacs. kill.  shoot all projectiles coming at you. save 1 enforcer.

For the Brain waves, there is a strategy that came up out of a bug that was written into this wave. Basically the brains all go after one particular human first (in the case of wave 5 - a Mikey)... before trying to assimilate the rest. If you can protect the Mikey without picking him up, you can avoid a lot of headache from this wave. Protect Mikey, try to destroy all the brains quickly, and leave a single Enforcer (the guys that shoot stars) behind so you can pick up all the remaining family members.  If you can finish this level with over 100K score, you're in pretty good shape.
Brain waves happen every 5 levels, but vary in "type".  For instance, in wave 10 all the members are Daddies, I like to call this wave "Wall Street" as it looks like a bunch of guys in suits.  You have to try to recognize which Daddy all the brains are moving towards, and protect that area to maximize your score. There are other waves like this where it's all Mikey's, they seem to alternate every 5 waves.

IMO this is the most important wave to get as much points as possible. If you do it right, you get a high score easily.

level 7 : this is really a hit or miss level.  you can die instantly....or not...i tend to go out then back in the center.

Forget the family members in this wave. Just try to kill as many tank-spawners as possible first. If tanks spawn, deal with them first!
Don't hang around the corners or edges of the screen, as the Tanks shoot bouncy shots and tend to want to ricochet bullets to kill you.  Stay close to the middle and go after the first set of spawned tanks as quickly as possible. Tanks take a moment to shoot their bullets after being spawned, so if you're on top of things, you can keep their shots under control.

There is a lot of points on this wave since the spawners give you 1000 points per, and if you pick up humans as you're concentrating on thinning out the enemies, you'll get a good boost of points.

level 9 : immediately once you start..get out of the middle!!! blast a path to the outside and circle around.

This is one of the most rewarding levels for me. I affectionately dub this wave "the Zombie level", cause it feels like you're being attacked by a horde of zombies.  Quickly punch-out of the middle, then start circling the group, as if "peeling an onion skin", thinning out the crowd while trying to shoot the Spheroids.

any other tips for tourny settings? 

Just some general tips:

- Learn to waggle. You can get a "spread" shot effect if you waggle the firing stick back and forth between a diagonal and cardinal directions quickly. I do this a lot for the defending against stars, bullets and brain-missiles shot at me, or for thinning out the hordes. Once you get used to it, you'll find yourself surviving a lot longer.

- Learn the Brain wave trick. Keep Mikey alive!

- Leaving one Enforcer behind can help you save the rest of the remaining humans. Enforcers are also easier manageable than the rest.

- This game is about Threat Assessment. Kill the most threatening thing first, most of the time it's the spawning enemies. But, Grunts speed up over time! Don't let them stay alive for too long as well!

- Push the Blockers around. If you shoot them in the back, they move faster away from you. And remember, they will always try to turn towards you, so if you're in the vicinity of one, be sure to keep cognizant of their movement direction.

- Every-time you die, things get faster. Grunts react quicker off the start, Spheroids and Tank-cubes will spawn faster.  Keep this in mind when you re-spawn another life.

- Projectiles (except for Brain missiles) travel faster when you're further away from the shooter.  If you can keep a mid-ranged distance, shots will be slower and easier to avoid.

Here's a good page that outlines a few of these tips and more: http://everything2.com/title/Robotron+2084

Good luck saving the last human family!

[Gray_Area]

I've been trying tournament settings, and I'm fighting to get 150,000, or past level 9. Score has been harder.

[JODY]

I know that 4" sticks are a must have, but does it really matter whether or not they are leaf switchers as opposed to Micro switches?

Leaf switches should have an advantage as micro switches have to be moved far enough for the switch to click whereas leafs only have to make contact.  Thus, leafs should have an edge for speed and precision of play.  But to take advantage of it you would need to play with a stick long enough to have a good feel for it and know just how far to move it to register.

[opt2not]

I know that 4" sticks are a must have, but does it really matter whether or not they are leaf switchers as opposed to Micro switches?

Leaf switches should have an advantage as micro switches have to be moved far enough for the switch to click whereas leafs only have to make contact.  Thus, leafs should have an edge for speed and precision of play.  But to take advantage of it you would need to play with a stick long enough to have a good feel for it and know just how far to move it to register.

+1
Absolutely, it's pretty vital to have the intended controls the game was built for if you're looking to get a serious score. This is true for any game.

[D_Harris]

I know that 4" sticks are a must have, but does it really matter whether or not they are leaf switchers as opposed to Micro switches?

Leaf switches should have an advantage as micro switches have to be moved far enough for the switch to click whereas leafs only have to make contact.  Thus, leafs should have an edge for speed and precision of play.  But to take advantage of it you would need to play with a stick long enough to have a good feel for it and know just how far to move it to register.

+1
Absolutely, it's pretty vital to have the intended controls the game was built for if you're looking to get a serious score. This is true for any game.

Well I don't play Robotron, but my friend who had the tournament world record until a year ago says there is no difference to him.

I remember when the incorrect (short) sticks were on the Robotron at Funspot. Original Wico 4"joysticks were donated and even though the players liked the classic feel, the controls are always malfunctioning because of the leaf switch's inherent problems. After a couple of years of that Abdner no longer goes to Funspot for the annual tournament.

I finally talked him into going to a contest again in New Jersey last month and guess what happened twice while he was playing Robotron. 

He called it quits and we went home.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[opt2not]

I know that 4" sticks are a must have, but does it really matter whether or not they are leaf switchers as opposed to Micro switches?

Leaf switches should have an advantage as micro switches have to be moved far enough for the switch to click whereas leafs only have to make contact.  Thus, leafs should have an edge for speed and precision of play.  But to take advantage of it you would need to play with a stick long enough to have a good feel for it and know just how far to move it to register.

+1
Absolutely, it's pretty vital to have the intended controls the game was built for if you're looking to get a serious score. This is true for any game.

Well I don't play Robotron, but my friend who had the tournament world record until a year ago says there is no difference to him.

I remember when the incorrect (short) sticks were on the Robotron at Funspot. Original Wico 4"joysticks were donated and even though the players liked the classic feel, the controls are always malfunctioning because of the leaf switch's inherent problems. After a couple of years of that Abdner no longer goes to Funspot for the annual tournament.

I finally talked him into going to a contest again in New Jersey last month and guess what happened twice while he was playing Robotron. 

He called it quits and we went home.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Some people have a preference, some don't. Whatever floats your boat.

[Lilwolf]

Wow...  All you youngsters here talking about high scores.  Back in my day, Robotron in mame was way too hard and you liked it.  Nobody could get past just the first or secod level on normal settings and you didn't complain.  Just seeing the game was enough.

But really.  Robotron added a lot of emulation perfection to a ton of games in mame.  It was the game that showed (andy?) that some arcades maxed out the video also, and you needed to throddle the video to only display what the circuits could do in the arcade.  Robotron arcade slows down a bit when the screen is sack full of guys.  Mame  used to go full speed no problem. 

And everyone was like 'I remember being good at this game... what happened?"

Now I think its been added to a ton of drivers.

[Xiaou2]

I call BS.

 A hardcore Robotron player is going to pretty much ask for real Wico Leafs every time.

 Anyone who wouldnt notice the difference has no awareness whatsoever.

 Leafs can and do get out of adjustment, as well as get dirty contacts.  The guys at FunSpot are not the best at their upkeep.  Then again, its not as if you can easily get new Wicos / parts.  If the stick is too worn out, it could cause the thing to de-calibrate a lot faster than normal.

 Properly calibrated wico leafs give a huge reaction time / mechanical advantage that is very noticeable.  My non-classic playing friend noticed the difference Immediately, and gave up trying to play with micros & mini analogs in a matter of mere minutes.  Where as with the Wicos on a real machine, he played for hours at a time, getting very high up in levels.

[WhereEaglesDare]

I have two leaf sticks and a handful of the buttons and switches, how much do they go for in good shape?

[opt2not]

Robotron arcade slows down a bit when the screen is sack full of guys.  Mame  used to go full speed no problem. 

Umm, I think you mean the other way around. My original cabinet does not slow down during the most condensed of levels (mainly brain ones). It's dedicated hardware. On mame, at least the version I've settled for (not latest), the slowdown is atrocious. If this has changed, then great! But thank goodness I was able to get my grail-cabinet last year 

But back in my day, playing Robotron in the arcades, I was able to stretch my quarter out using the above game information. But now-a-days, the only thing making me hit game over is fatigue from playing. After about 2 hours of playing on one credit, I was pretty much satisfied to let the rest of my lives die off. I really don't have the mental fortitude to do those marathon runs. But I am curious to how long I can go till I eventually pass out

A hardcore Robotron player is going to pretty much ask for real Wico Leafs every time.

Hell yeah!!

[D_Harris]

Wow...  All you youngsters here talking about high scores.  Back in my day, Robotron in mame was way too hard and you liked it...

Well, back in my day MAME didn't exist, youngster. 

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[TOK]

Robotron arcade slows down a bit when the screen is sack full of guys.  Mame  used to go full speed no problem. 

Umm, I think you mean the other way around. My original cabinet does not slow down during the most condensed of levels (mainly brain ones). It's dedicated hardware. On mame, at least the version I've settled for (not latest), the slowdown is atrocious. If this has changed, then great! But thank goodness I was able to get my grail-cabinet last year 

But back in my day, playing Robotron in the arcades, I was able to stretch my quarter out using the above game information. But now-a-days, the only thing making me hit game over is fatigue from playing. After about 2 hours of playing on one credit, I was pretty much satisfied to let the rest of my lives die off. I really don't have the mental fortitude to do those marathon runs. But I am curious to how long I can go till I eventually pass out

Lilwolf had it right. Robotron ran too fast in old versions. It was fixed in .99

[D_Harris]

I call BS.

You call BS on what?

 A hardcore Robotron player is going to pretty much ask for real Wico Leafs every time.

That's probably right.

 Anyone who wouldnt notice the difference has no awareness whatsoever.

Probably everyone who has tried both would notice the difference. But noticing the difference, and it makes no difference are two different things.

He's obviously good enough to outscore most everyone else either way.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[opt2not]

Lilwolf had it right. Robotron ran too fast in old versions. It was fixed in .99

Ah, yeah, I'm not too familiar with all the Mame changes. I basically stuck to one version that fulfills my needs.

[Savannan]

So....from what I take it on this thread is that a leaf switch is more responsive(due to the throw) and all the top dogs who play this game perfer it.

How much of a throw difference really is there compared to a microswitch....perhaps 1/8" difference?!?!?!? What I'm trying to say is that if your good at a game...and your sticks are working 100% in tip top shape...I don't think it matters what sticks you are using...the point of mastering a game is to expect the unexpected to counter act it...reguardless on what sticks you use...the better than average player will adapt on the fly.  

[NickG]

Yep, and the distance difference can be even lesser in some joysticks, depending on geometry of actuator and switch organization/proximity.  I wonder if anyone has modified Happ/iL Competitions with a larger actuators and versa micros to tighten up the action for something like this.  I like U360s for this game, too, but then, I do not have a dedicated cab...

[shfifty]

i just started playing this after reading this thread. I never had it on my cab beforehand. Damn its fun! i Cant remember playing another game that is as challenging, and addictive as this. Robotron definitely hits the fun factor in classic gaming. anyway, i'm off back to robotron, gotta beat my P.B.

[arzoo]

I love Robotron - but my fingers can't take it - I end up with blisters! I've actually put on those rubber finger tip thingies used to turn pages to try and prevent the pain. Must be how I hold the joysticks - but when you're in the heat of battle, it's hard to change your grip!

And the final insult is - no matter how much I play, my reaction time and situational awareness will never be as good as my son - he's scored over 1 mil and only plays occasionally 

By the way - I use 360's.

[Smeghead]

Glad I sparked renewed and new interest in this classic!

The cool thing for some reason is saves my high scores too      I like that but still cant get past about round 6

[Savannan]

I love the hardest setting, 5 lives, no extra...been playing this way for the longest time now...

I can get to level 10...and thats about it...but

is there any way to make it even harder...i mean faster game play???

can mame be throttled to 102%  104% or what ever % you choose....

 

[Xiaou2]

 Its not merely the throw... but throw is important.  For example, going from center to left might be short.. but what happens when you have to go from far right to far left?  That makes it twice as bad.

 Then theres the Restrictor shape.  In some microswitch joys, there is a square pathway... and so
you can get sorta stuck in the corner when going quickly in a circular movement.    On Wicos, the outter path is a smooth circle shape... so its easy to roll around the edge without getting any resistance/stuck.

 Next there is the Friction.  In a typical joystick, there are two main friction sources:
1) Centering Spring
2) Microswitch internal Springs.

 When you start to move from center to a direction, you are immediately slowed down with some friction from the centering spring... and then more friction/tension, when you start to engage the microswitch springs.  This might seem trivial... but these two spring sources actually add up to both faster fatigue when playing... and losses in reaction times, both non-fatigued, and even more so as fatigue increases.

 The Wico has does not have traditional springs.   It has a 'center-pivot' rubber thingy that sorta bends/flexes in the direction you press.  A happs spring is constant forces of vertical pressure on the shaft at all times... but the wicos center pivot is not under any vertical pressure at all.  It only exerts some mild resistance when you start to tilt the stick... and even that is pretty light compared to the happ spring system.

 The Wicos other spring is the actual bending of the leafs.  Which if adjusted well, only need a hair touch to activate.  Even at stock "un-enhanced' adjustment distance, its still very light activation pressure.

 In Robotron, its pretty common to narrowly escape death by a mere pixel countless times on a board. The robots are a little slow but with so many to deal with... and the projectiles are wicked fast.

 That kind of intensity isnt many games... and so the difference between joysticks may be negligible and barely noticeable for other such games.  But for Robotron, the difference is like running an obstacle course on a dry sunny day  -vs-  running it through 4" deep snow.

[opt2not]

The Wico has does not have traditional springs.   It has a 'center-pivot' rubber thingy that sorta bends/flexes in the direction you press. 

Its called a Rubber Grommet, or Centering Grommet:


Good explanation Xiaou2. I agree with except for the last part. It's more like: "the difference is like running an obstacle course  -vs-  running it while wearing ankle weights". It's the quickness in response that you need. That, and definitely a round gate.

[wongojack]

In how many directions could you fire in the original game?

[RayB]

In how many directions could you fire in the original game?

8
And being able to switch from shooting left to right within micro-seconds matters.

[danny_galaga]

I never played Robotron until two or three years ago. It's surprisingly good with a 5 buck two stick joypad on my pc. And ok on my GP2X. Alas, I have a cocktail, so only one stick each side. I do have another Eugene Jarvis classic on the cab though. Can you guess which? 

[WhereEaglesDare]

Easy, Defender.

[WhereEaglesDare]

I get that leaf sticks have better response times, but what about buttons.  Are there any advantages to leaf buttons as opposed to microswitched buttons?

[shfifty]

ive been playing with 2x sanwa JLF's with square gates... far from ideal for this game. I can already tell that changing the stick setup could vastly improve my game, especially having round gates and leafs

[Xiaou2]

I get that leaf sticks have better response times, but what about buttons.  Are there any advantages to leaf buttons as opposed to microswitched buttons?

 Yes.  A leaf button is pretty much the same as explained, where as it can be adjusted so that only a feathers touch of pressure will make or break connection.

 Main Advantage: They can fire much more rapidly in succession with much less physical effort.


 In a game like Asteroids Deluxe, you can rapid fire shots nearly back to back if your fast enough... and being able to bounce the leaf from open to closed rapidly is easy as pie.  But Not easy on a micro... because a microswitch will always have a much much greater distance to both activate and then reset. This distance takes more time... and also, each time you have to activate, you run into that heavier spring resistance.  It becomes a lot more fatiguing to press them so rapidly.

 The biggest problem with leaf buttons is that Although the activation is nearly immediate... the button can be pressed much further down. (long travel)  Many people think you have to press the button fully flat... using its full travel, and so waste a lot of time and energy doing so. 

 Instead, you just have to bounce/vibrate the button lightly, at only a partial / small depth.   Once a player understands this... they will realize the benefit of the leaf buttons in rapidfire games.

 In a game like Street Fighter II... leafs wouldnt be needed, cause the button presses are not very rapid in succession.

[Paul Olson]

I never played Robotron until two or three years ago. It's surprisingly good with a 5 buck two stick joypad on my pc. And ok on my GP2X. Alas, I have a cocktail, so only one stick each side. I do have another Eugene Jarvis classic on the cab though. Can you guess which?  

One more button to add Stargate! Damn, now I have to go play for a bit.

[WhereEaglesDare]

is that a giant CP for StarGate alone?

Do you have the two way stick on it too?

[Paul Olson]

That is my modular cp. I made the 3 panels shown just for defender and stargate. The original Defender joystick is used on the panel. I actually put these panels on fairly often. I am terrible at the games, but they are fun in short bursts.

I just took off the dual wicos for robotron so I can try to test the new 720 controller. I think the wicos will go back on when I am done. Robotron is just a great game to have available for little homework breaks. Like defender, I don't think I will ever be good at it, but it is fun.

[Gray_Area]

These don't have the centering grommet Wico sticks do - but - What about using the Happ optical sticks for Robotron?

[RobotronNut]

In my humble opinion, the best sticks for Robotron are Happ P360's with the kowal mod. You can read about them here, here, and here.

Nowadays, I pretty much turn the score over every time I play (default difficulty). I've decided not to up the difficulty, because I don't want hours of non-stop adrenaline. I can play at default difficulty without breaking a sweat.

[RobotronNut]

I just skimmed those old threads, and it's a lot to wade thru.
This excerpt from the page linked in my signature boils it down:

Kowal's mod is a replacement actuator that is a simple cylinder of length 0.678", inside diameter 0.375", and outside diameter 0.541" (= 13.7 mm), made to +/- 0.001" tolerance . I had mine made of stainless steel, and I blackened the outsides with a black sharpie pen.

[Malenko]

I do alright on the xbox360 live! version.....with the dual analog sticks

[(+_+)]

I know that 4" sticks are a must have, but does it really matter whether or not they are leaf switchers as opposed to Micro switches?

Leaf switches should have an advantage as micro switches have to be moved far enough for the switch to click whereas leafs only have to make contact.  Thus, leafs should have an edge for speed and precision of play.  But to take advantage of it you would need to play with a stick long enough to have a good feel for it and know just how far to move it to register.

+1
Absolutely, it's pretty vital to have the intended controls the game was built for if you're looking to get a serious score. This is true for any game.

Well I don't play Robotron, but my friend who had the tournament world record until a year ago says there is no difference to him.

I remember when the incorrect (short) sticks were on the Robotron at Funspot. Original Wico 4"joysticks were donated and even though the players liked the classic feel, the controls are always malfunctioning because of the leaf switch's inherent problems. After a couple of years of that Abdner no longer goes to Funspot for the annual tournament.

I finally talked him into going to a contest again in New Jersey last month and guess what happened twice while he was playing Robotron. 

He called it quits and we went home.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Malfunctioning joysticks really bite. I remember playing where the fire joystick wouldn't fire a certain way or the move would stick and man would it suck.

I was toying with the world record last year some time with the 5 men, no extras, difficulty 5 and was able to get about 620,000 points. I have a picture somewhere. I may have even posted it. The best I've ever done though was 1,417,000 with 12 men, no extras on difficulty 7. I got 511,000 (I think) on my first man. It was a monthly contest at Pinochios Arcade. Whoever won each month on a selected game got to play all day for free. It was great.

I enjoy 3 men, extra at 25,000 and difficulty 10 the most. I enjoy the hecticness. Espiciaally the tank wavs. I still play a few times a week and it still remains one of my all time favs.

I use the U360s and like the smoothness of play.

[captainobvious]

I get that leaf sticks have better response times, but what about buttons.  Are there any advantages to leaf buttons as opposed to microswitched buttons?

 Yes.  A leaf button is pretty much the same as explained, where as it can be adjusted so that only a feathers touch of pressure will make or break connection.

 Main Advantage: They can fire much more rapidly in succession with much less physical effort.


 In a game like Asteroids Deluxe, you can rapid fire shots nearly back to back if your fast enough... and being able to bounce the leaf from open to closed rapidly is easy as pie.  But Not easy on a micro... because a microswitch will always have a much much greater distance to both activate and then reset. This distance takes more time... and also, each time you have to activate, you run into that heavier spring resistance.  It becomes a lot more fatiguing to press them so rapidly.

The biggest problem with leaf buttons is that Although the activation is nearly immediate... the button can be pressed much further down. (long travel)  Many people think you have to press the button fully flat... using its full travel, and so waste a lot of time and energy doing so. 

 Instead, you just have to bounce/vibrate the button lightly, at only a partial / small depth.   Once a player understands this... they will realize the benefit of the leaf buttons in rapidfire games.

Reviving an old thread here...

About the button travel distance on leaf pushbuttons:
Can't the buttons be modified to a shorter travel distance?

For me, a leaf switch sounds perfect, if it could be combined with a very short button travel.
You'd have really low actuation force needed, together with short travel = win.

[Cynicaster]

I've never played this game on an original machine (never seen one, that I can recall).  But I did have it on Atari 7800 back in the day (a decent port), and I do play it on my MAME cabinet.  I suck at the game, but it's on my list of games to work on eventually.  There is definitely something magical about it--the frantic pace, the twitchy goodness, the difficulty level, the colors, and those wicked sound effects when you warp from level to level--it really is a quintessential 80's classic arcade game. 

[opt2not]

I've never played this game on an original machine (never seen one, that I can recall).  But I did have it on Atari 7800 back in the day (a decent port), and I do play it on my MAME cabinet.  I suck at the game, but it's on my list of games to work on eventually.  There is definitely something magical about it--the frantic pace, the twitchy goodness, the difficulty level, the colors, and those wicked sound effects when you warp from level to level--it really is a quintessential 80's classic arcade game.