High Score Competition #96 Black Widow

[Tafoid]

Previous winners
#1 - Shinobi - Winner: Destructor, Second: fixedpigs
#2 - Jungle Hunt - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: DeLuSioNal29
#3 - Zoo Keeper - Winner: DeLuSioNal29, Second: Ummon
#4 - Q*Bert - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: CrazyKongFan
#5 - Robotron 2084 - Winner: (+_+), Second: opt2not
#6 - Joust - Winner: (+_+), Second: Shoegazer
#7 - Elevator Action - Winner: FrontyDev, Second: Zebidee
#8 - Mr Do - Winner: DeLuSioNal29, Second: rotheblog
#9 - Hyper Sports - Winner: drawfull, Second: Ummon
#10 - Wonder Boy - Winner: DrFrag, Second: drawfull
#11 - Bubble Bobble - Winner: mrclean, Second: isucamper
#12 - Gun.Smoke - Winner: isucamper, Second: Ummon
#13 - Ghouls 'n Ghosts - Winner: Ginsu Victim, Second: Zebidee
#14 - Ms Pac-Man (with speedup hac) - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: wooowman93
#15 - Frogger - Winner: CrazyKong Fan, Second: Jasonbar
#16 - Grobda - Winner: mimic, Second: Cornchip
#17 - Bank Panic - Winner: ahofle, Second: Jasonbar
#18 - Juno First - Winner: RayB, Second: Shoegazer
#19 - Rolling Thunder - Winner: DrFrag, Second: isucamper
#20 - Terra Cresta - Winner: isucamper, Second: Jasonbar
#21 - Gladiator - Winner: Jasonbar, Second: Hewskie
#22 - Alcon (Slap Fight) - Winner: DrFrag, Second: Bender
#23 - Galaga - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: ToddH
#24 - Defender - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: tcleary
#25 - Klax - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: TAG
#26 - Funny Mouse - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: Epyx
#27 - Rampart - Winner: isucamper, Second: john_abey
#28 - Satan's Hollow - Winner: jasonbar, Second: ummon
#29 - The Speed Rumbler - Winner: Epyx, Second: mimic
#30 - Black Dragon - Winner: Epyx, Second: CrazyKongFan
#31 - Twin Cobra - Winner: ArcadeNerd, Second: jasonbar
#32 - Tetris - Winner: DrFrag, Second: qlunch
#33 - Gyruss - Winner: Hurray Banana, Second: vorghagen
#34 - Mappy - Winner: Jasonbar, Second: TAG
#35 - Bump 'n' Jump - Winner: Comtek, Second: DrFrag
#36 - Popeye - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: isucamper
#37 - Pengo - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: MazzMn
#38 - Bomb Jack - Winner: bpark42, Second: Flaptop
#39 - Smash T.V. - Winner: jasonbar, Second: quarterstringer
#40 - Rygar - Winner: Cakemeister, Second: jasonbar
#41 - Krull - Winner: jasonbar, Second: I/O
#42 - Tutankham - Winner: DrFrag, Second: creatine28
#43 - Astro Blaster - Winner: mimic, Second: WhereEaglesDare
#44 - Son of Phoenix - Winner: jasonbar, Second: syph007
#45 - Metal Slug - Winner: doteater, Second: Hewskie
#46 - Puzzle Bobble - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: Benevolance
#47 - Street Fighter 2 - The World Warrior - Winner: isucamper, Second: jordanshadow
#48 - Crazy Climber - Winner: jasonbar, Second: quarterstringer
#49 - Strider - Winner:Jasonbar, Second: Bender
#50 - Donkey Kong - Winner: wweumina, Second: javeryh
#51 - Champion Wrestler - Winner: vorghagen, Second: Bender
#52 - Karnov - Winner: DrFrag, Second: darcyp
#53 - Gauntlet - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: vorghagen
#54 - Tapper - Winner: CapriRS302, Second: quarterstringer
#55 - Namco Classic Collection Vol.2 - Winner: jasonbar, Second: CapriRS302
#56 - Gain Ground - Winner: jasonbar, Second: upprc04
#57 - Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters  - Winner: DirtyDachshunds, Second: upprc04
#58 - Raiden  - Winner: jasonbar, Second: Gray_Area
#59 - Buster Bros  - Winner: spoot, Second: jasonbar
#60 - Dig Dug  - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: Matthew Anderson
#61 - Mario Bros - Winner: LeapinLew, Second: Nickelstringer
#62 - Chicken Shift - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: jasonbar
#63 - Roc'n Rope - Winner: dfmaverick, Second: Nephasth
#64 - Moon Patrol - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: jasonbar
#65 - Nibbler - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: jasonbar
#66 - Truxton II - Winner: jasonbar, Second: spoot
#67 - Aliens vs Predator - Winner: Nbk_Orchid, Second: spoot
#68 - Caveman Ninja - Winner: Nbk_Orchid, Second: jasonbar
#69 - Majestic 12 - Winner: emphatic, Second: jimmy2x2x
#70 - Sky Shark - Winner emphatic, Second: jasonbar
#71 - Make Trax - Winner: djm858, Second: jasonbar
#72 - Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: djm858
#73 - Bomber Man (Japan) - Winner: djm858, Second: AlienInferno
#74 - X-Men - Winner: djm858, Second: jasonbar
#75: MotoRace USA - Winner: 51mmz0rz, Second: jasonbar, Third: CrazyKongFan
#76: Gaplus - Winner: jasonbar, Second: Gray_Area
#77: Time Pilot '84  - Winner: jasonbar, Second: Spoot
#78: Shadow Dancer  - Winner: StriderDSO, Second: Hurray Banana
#79: Omega Race - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: JasonBar
#80: Amidar - Winner: jasonbar, Second: CrazyKongFan
#81: Pleiads (Pleiades) - Winner: Hurray Banana, Second: jasonbar,
#82: Snap Jack - Winner: Kixfan, Second: jasonbar,
#83: Mr. Do's Wildride - Winner: Draginit, Second: Bender
#84: City Connection - Winner: patbb, Second: kikfan
#85: Space Dungeon - Winner: paigeoliver, Second: doteater
#86: Up 'N' Down - Winner: Draginit, Second: jasonbar
#87: Metro Cross - Winner: Draginit, Second: Kixfan
#88: Timber - Winner: PatBB, Second: Kixfan
#89: Ladybug - Winner: Kixfan, Second: PatBB
#90: 1942 - Winner: opt2not, Second: jasonbar
#91: Burgertime - Winner: Kixfan, Second: Yotsuya
#92: Gorf - Winner: Nephasth, Second: Gray_Area
#93: Exerion - Winner: mimic, Second: Nephasth
#94: Knuckle Joe - Winner: mimic, Second: Kixfan
#95: Flicky - Winner: Tafoid, Second: Kixfan
_____________________________

ROMSet: bwidow

Default Settings

Lives: 3
Bonus life: 20000
Difficulty: Medium

----------------------------------------------------

Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//Black_Widow_(arcade_game)

KLOV: http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7139





----------------------------------------------------

- One credit only!

- Start only on Wave 1!  

- No continues or adding credits!

- No MAME cheats!

- Last day is Sunday August 5th (11:59:59pm Pacific Daylight Time), 2012.
 
- High score wins.

- No savestates, savestate practices, etc. during the round.

- MAME INP recordings are encouraged but optional.

- A screenshot is required to enter a score (press F12 to save screenshot showing your final score) or take a photo of the game screen.

- If you're a MARP competitor on this title, keep in mind this is just a friendly competition among forum members, so maybe you shouldn't enter. However, if you're a forum member and this is a game you're good at and nobody knows about it, this is your time to shine!

- Even if you don't have a competitive score or if you don't *think* that you have a competitive score, please post it anyway to keep the thread fun & to give everybody a good sense of score ranges.

- Please make sure your scores are from games that take place during the competition period (no posting your best score from last year, etc.).

- Use of autofire or other non-standard hacks within MAME or your PC's OS are not allowed.  No program or other person or entity of any sort may manipulate your controls during your game.  Coaching & back-seat driving is fine as long as the party doesn't directly influence the game or controls.

- If you can beat any of the high scores from the previous competitions, you can submit your score to the BYOAC High Game Scoreboard.

Good luck!

[mimic]

28075 wave 9, after 2 tries.

Do you think robotron players have an advantage here? Out of curiosity, could I perform "scientific" experiment and have everyone (voluntarily) state if they're good or not at robotron. (Of course I have no idea what would be considered good). I think I'm getting better, but far from scores that were achieved during robotron competition. So I would say
robotron=bad

[mimic]

68070 wave 17 after 3 tries

[Tafoid]

1st Submit Score:

85,150 - Wave 19


Given the ability to read the original wasn't working out well, I chose to use "Image/AutoBalance" from Microsoft Photo Editor to make all the vectors come up solid.  This is about the best I've done in the past and I am not all the good at Robotron.  It has a similar mechanic but each bug has different reactions which make this a bit more difficult, IMHO.

[kixfan]

Never played this before.   This is fun so far but it's missing some music.   My control panel only has 1 joystick so I'm shooting from my keyboard.   54,850

[Cynicaster]

This game rules.

153,325

[jasonbar]

Now here's a great pick! No patterns, no need to hurry to get bonuses, good controls, just a matter of stamina & twitch reactions. My kind of game!

Figured I'd get 1 quick game in before work this morn. Here's the score from my first game. Can't wait to practice a bit to improve on this...

 

210,675 level 35

-Jason

[kixfan]

Thought I was going to at least temporarily slide into 2nd place with my 92,000 score, but Jasonbar put up a very nice score!   I think I lost half by spiders on the bonus rounds, you really have to be paying attention in this game.   

[TheShaner]

Now here's a great pick! No patterns, no need to hurry to get bonuses, good controls, just a matter of stamina & twitch reactions. My kind of game!

Figured I'd get 1 quick game in before work this morn. Here's the score from my first game. Can't wait to practice a bit to improve on this...

 

210,675 level 35

-Jason

Well ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.  This was the first comp I am joining in.  Was creeping my way up to 19 and then there it went, Jason jumps in and has to show off with his first game.  Its going to be a long night of bug eating!

[spoot]

The exploding ones make me explode in rage.   

Might have to fire up the cabinet for some dual joystick death action.

[jasonbar]

Heeey, I haven't bullied since 1942, 6 competitions ago! And that was only a 2nd place finish! My last 1st place was way back on Amidar, 16 competitions ago!

Actually, it is quite interesting how some of us excel at certain types of games but are dogs at other types. Shmups & Rbototron-esque games are my faves. I won the Smash T.V. competition.

And, that answers mimic's question. I'm good at Robotron. Dual-joystick games I do love so! I made a point of putting together proper 4" red ball Wicos for my dual-joystick games. Unfortunately, I'm not the tallest tool in the shed, & I had to offset these 4 extra joysticks a little bit farther away from my "main" 4 sticks on my cabinet, so the ergonomics are rather compromised: http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97/infernolab/Arcade%20Game/DrSatanInfernosHollowJrStick2.jpg


Thanks,
-Jason

[Gray_Area]

I haven't started from level 1 in an age - kind of like with Tempest, and a similar beast.  I'd play this in AAE, but it's a little weird. Well, maybe I will anyways. Note that MAME since .107 is different here.

Heeey, I haven't bullied since 1942, 6 competitions ago! And that was only a 2nd place finish! My last 1st place was way back on Amidar, 16 competitions ago!

Yeah, and I've been taking down some of his scores, so......

Unfortunately, I'm not the tallest tool in the shed, & I had to offset these 4 extra joysticks a little bit farther away from my "main" 4 sticks on my cabinet, so the ergonomics are rather compromised:

Je-sus Chri-st.

[Gray_Area]

Damn, it is agonizingly slow for a spell. Anyways, second game gave me this, though a third of it doesn't count because my machine was acting uber weird and speeding up (I DO NOT have frame skip selected) at times. I'll be back.

[Gray_Area]

It was close.

[draginit]

oh my god!!!! ...I am pulling my machine out of storage for this hehe.. my favorite game. starting from level one is going to suck but im def gonna try and make my mark on this one!

good pick.

[ChadTower]

One of my very favorites of all time. 

I'm in on this one.  I even built my mame cab with dual leaf wicos for this game. 

[Gray_Area]

New blood, but no new scores....

Here's an AAE shot for those interested. It was easier early on, but played different. Scoring might be a little different, too, as I was way low versus level.

The stock aspect in AAE is different.

[Gray_Area]

Well boys and girls. That was a game. This was....I think my third game of three...on .146 . (Only the first and fifth scores were part of that, as those in between were from earlier times where I normally start at 125k, and my second game I reset in the first or second board.)  It seems REAL easy at first - I hadn't died until at least 120k - and then somehow it just takes it out from under you. But I persevered. And survived. And was surprised.

And missed another dude by 800 points!

I probably should post this last minute so that jasonbar doesn't somehow, in his inevitable way, pull out a miracle score or something. But oh well.

[jasonbar]

Most impressive!

I played 8 more times the other day & couldn't best my own score, though I did get somewhat close to it...

I played a heckuva game on the Robotron at California Extreme--got the lowest all-time high score, around .87M. The highest was 2.7M or so(!)

When I grabbed my 4" Wicos the next evening to play some more Black Widow @ home, my palms were sore in the same spots where I apparently had a death grip on the Robotron sticks! Ow!

-Jason

[lettuce]

Damn i hope they update mame to look like AAE sometime in the future looks alot more authentic than what Mame does for vector based games

[Gray_Area]

I played a heckuva game on the Robotron at California Extreme...When I grabbed my 4" Wicos the next evening to play some more Black Widow @ home, my palms were sore in the same spots where I apparently had a death grip on the Robotron sticks! Ow!

-Jason

Hah, no doubt!

Damn i hope they update mame to look like AAE sometime in the future looks alot more authentic than what Mame does for vector based games

Mmm, that's a pot you have to occasionally stir at MW.

[kixfan]

I liked this game for the most part.   I always seemed to lose a guy on the special rounds.  After I got this score 156,150 I could not get anywhere close to that.   Bring on the next game!

[Gray_Area]

I liked this game for the most part.   I always seemed to lose a guy on the special rounds.  After I got this score 156,150 I could not get anywhere close to that.   Bring on the next game!

That's how it was for me a for a bit after my 200k score. Especially on the bonus rounds. Starting from scratch, they get harder a lot sooner, and then it's just a matter of surviving. Or not. One of the few games where you can lose a dude on the bonus round! Well, I guess I have to pick a game.

[TheShaner]

When is the next game?

[Tafoid]

Sorry to be so late for the wrap up..

The scores as I saw them posted:

Gray_Area:   339,200 - Wave 51
Jasonbar:    210,675 - Wave 35
Kixfan:      155,150 - Wave 29
Cynicaster:  153,325 - Wave 27
Tafoid:      89,150  - Wave 19
Mimic:       68,070  - Wave 17


Looks like Gray_Area is the winner and can choose the next game, if I understand the rules correctly

[Gray_Area]

Sorry to be so late for the wrap up..

The scores as I saw them posted:

Gray_Area:   339,200 - Wave 51
Jasonbar:    210,675 - Wave 35
Kixfan:      155,150 - Wave 29
Cynicaster:  153,325 - Wave 27
Tafoid:      89,150  - Wave 19
Mimic:       68,070  - Wave 17


Looks like Gray_Area is the winner and can choose the next game, if I understand the rules correctly

Oh. Thanks for tallying. Next game is posted: Mouse Trap

[kixfan]

I know this competition is well over but I thought I might share this.   I was at PAPA15 (Pinball Championship in Pittsburgh) this weekend and they have a few arcade games as well.   One of them was a Black Widow.   Considering I had to use a keyboard to shoot with I thought I'd try to see how much better this was.   I only tried once and got a score of 78,575.   While it was better I don't think I could have improved my score.   Also, notice the high score someone posted earlier in the day.

[Gray_Area]

I know this competition is well over but I thought I might share this.   I was at PAPA15 (Pinball Championship in Pittsburgh) this weekend and they have a few arcade games as well.   One of them was a Black Widow.   Considering I had to use a keyboard to shoot with I thought I'd try to see how much better this was.   I only tried once and got a score of 78,575.   While it was better I don't think I could have improved my score.   Also, notice the high score someone posted earlier in the day.

Hmmm. Too bad the vector glow doesn't come out in your image. Ummm, some people do well with a keyboard, some don't (or don't care to).

Also, hard to tell how that score was reached, as the default level selection stops at 125k, but increases every 25k reached. Could've quarter pushed a bit up to that.