Author Topic: High Score Competition #106: Carnival (Read 5274 times)

kixfan · « **on:** December 29, 2012, 12:17:06 am »

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_%28video_game%29

KLOV: http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7286

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ROMSet: carnival
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Default Settings:

Does not seem to be any settings to modify.
Let me know if I missed something.

- Last day is Saturday January 12th (11:59:59pm Pacific Daylight Time), 2013.

General Rules:

- Highest 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!

kixfan · « **Reply #1 on:** December 29, 2012, 12:26:42 am »

Hope someone other than me likes this!

I can remember playing this in the early 80's at our local Hill's department store. I then got this game for my Colecovision.

Good Luck!

danny_galaga · « **Reply #2 on:** December 29, 2012, 08:02:43 am »

Quote from: kixfan on December 29, 2012, 12:26:42 am

Hope someone other than me likes this!

I can remember playing this in the early 80's at our local Hill's department store. I then got this game for my Colecovision.

Good Luck!

I'll sure to have a go at this. I used to get decent scores on this when I first built my mame cab (",)

BadMouth · « **Reply #3 on:** December 29, 2012, 11:14:27 am »

Quote from: kixfan on December 29, 2012, 12:26:42 am

Hope someone other than me likes this!

I can remember playing this in the early 80's at our local Hill's department store. I then got this game for my Colecovision.

Good Luck!

Had it for the Colecovision as well. I might have to participate in this one.

vanrose72 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 29, 2012, 01:35:52 pm »

Quote from: kixfan on December 29, 2012, 12:26:42 am

I can remember playing this in the early 80's at our local Hill's department store. I then got this game for my Colecovision.

I absolutely LOVED Hills Department Store as a kid. It was the go-to place for toys and video games.

kixfan · « **Reply #5 on:** December 29, 2012, 02:49:22 pm »

If you get tired of the music you can move all the way to the right and shoot the music note to stop the background music.

The pipes can get you a bunch of points if you shoot them early. The more you shoot other things the less you get for each pipe. I usually ignore the bonus part. Either I get them out of order or I only get a few hundred points for it.

ninjasquirrel · « **Reply #6 on:** December 30, 2012, 12:56:19 am »

Interesting game...so what's a post-worthy score

I finally have my cab finished so I hope to be participating in these competitions finally. Played a few times, hovering around 10k...pretty sad, so what's norm? 20k-40k?

danny_galaga · « **Reply #7 on:** December 30, 2012, 03:05:51 am »

Ok, to get the ball rolling- 18380

Gray_Area · « **Reply #8 on:** January 02, 2013, 02:57:51 am »

I'm not getting something here. I shoot all the stuff, and then only ducks start coming out. Never once did a duck get down to eat my ammo. But I eventually ran out.

Gray_Area · « **Reply #9 on:** January 02, 2013, 03:07:43 am »

Okay. I finished the first one. I shot about half the stuf, then shot the pipes. Second time was harder, and I ran out of ammo. You have to shoot the pipes to finish the round....which is fine if you didn't have such a small window on either side of the points display. That's totally lame.

kixfan · « **Reply #10 on:** January 02, 2013, 06:16:35 am »

Quote from: Gray_Area on January 02, 2013, 03:07:43 am

Okay. I finished the first one. I shot about half the stuf, then shot the pipes. Second time was harder, and I ran out of ammo. You have to shoot the pipes to finish the round....which is fine if you didn't have such a small window on either side of the points display. That's totally lame.

Yeah, there is only that small section on either side to shoot the pipes. The first screen is pretty forgiving about ammo. Each round after, you start with less. You have to be very careful to get all the bonus ammo you can. If you wait around too long you will get nothing but ducks and not enough ammo.

kixfan · « **Reply #11 on:** January 02, 2013, 06:32:10 am »

here is my most recent score: 22,260

I noticed that to maximize score in the first round you shoot most (or all) of the pipes early then shoot all the animals without starting the bonus part. The bonus part is based on how many animals (other than rabbits) you shoot BEFORE you start shooting the bonus letters. That being said, this strategy is probably not very successful on the subsequent rounds cause the game gets faster and you have less ammo.

Also, on the bonus screen with the bears, it is possible to move back and forth in a manner so as to keep the bear(s) on the screen. Eventually after so many hits (20 or so) it will increase speed and leave the screen.

danny_galaga · « **Reply #12 on:** January 02, 2013, 07:02:26 am »

Bummer about how that bonus works then. My strategy was to shoot the bonus letters first, because they are smaller targets and shooting at them and missing early on means you are more likely to at least hit SOMETHING! Damn Sega, they think of everything! You are wrong about the bears, in so much as every single hit from the get go increases their speed. Are you shooting them slowly and moving, or spamming them with bullets? My guess is you are spamming and waggling? Never thought of that actually! There's no way I can hit them more than ten times I reckon...

The only other thing to bear in mind in case people haven't noticed is that the higher up you hit targets, the higher the score. If you wait for them to get low, you don't get much. And the 'extra bullet' targets disappear one level before the other targets, so you want to get them as soon as possible...

BadMouth · « **Reply #13 on:** January 02, 2013, 09:00:58 am »

Quote from: kixfan on January 02, 2013, 06:32:10 am

I noticed that to maximize score in the first round you shoot most (or all) of the pipes early then shoot all the animals without starting the bonus part. The bonus part is based on how many animals (other than rabbits) you shoot BEFORE you start shooting the bonus letters.

Thanks. I shot the bonus first and had concluded that it wasn't worth enough points to worry about.
It makes sense. The longer you wait to shoot it, the more likely you accidentally shoot a letter out of order.

Quote from: danny_galaga on January 02, 2013, 07:02:26 am

The only other thing to bear in mind in case people haven't noticed is that the higher up you hit targets, the higher the score. If you wait for them to get low, you don't get much.

There are numbers on the right side of the screen that show you what they're worth.

Top Row 50, Middle Row 30, Bottom Row 10
So you're only getting 1/5th of the points for each target if you shoot it while it's on the bottom row.

I know all this and yet I can't break 13,000.

rick6668 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 02, 2013, 02:10:12 pm »

Great game! Remember this fondly playing it at the bowling alley when I was a kid.

Just played it a few times after sseing this thread and managed a score of 29,360.

Missed the my high score board by a few thousand, have to give it a few more tries and try for 40K+

Hints (some have posted similar hints)

Go for pipes first, pipes go down in value the more you shoot the bunnies/owls. Be sure to shoot the ducks before they come down and eat your bullets. It is easier to clear pipes on the right side as they are coming down into your line of fire.

Once the pipes are cleared, clear the board of bunnies/owls and try to save the bonus to the end. The bonus keeps increasing in value the longer you wait to shoot the 'b'.

Be ready to shoot the +bullets box whenever it appears and try to shoot the 5's and 10's early as they don't pass to the third level.

If you find yourself with less bullets than items left, shoot the ducks only and wait for +bullets, 5's or 10's to try and get more bullets so you can finish the round.

Gray_Area · « **Reply #15 on:** January 02, 2013, 04:22:01 pm »

Quote from: rick6668 on January 02, 2013, 02:10:12 pm

The bonus keeps increasing in value the longer you wait to shoot the 'b'.

This is an important one.

I remember this game, and I remember not liking it. I generally (still) don't care for ultra 2-D raster games, and 1980 was a little late for this kind.

kixfan · « **Reply #16 on:** January 02, 2013, 06:11:51 pm »

@rick6668 - Nice Score!

@danny_galaga - What I mean is that after about 6 shots the bears speed does not increase anymore (until the end) and if you time it properly you can go back and forth for about 20 or so shots before he speeds up again and disappears. I'll try to post a video soon.

rick6668 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 04, 2013, 09:52:51 pm »

38,280! Beat my all time high! Level 5 was brutal, I don't know how anyone can beat that.
A couple more pipes and I would have broke 40K. Way too many ducks to start the level on this one.

secret80sman · « **Reply #18 on:** January 05, 2013, 08:13:57 am »

What perfect timing as I just got back into this game but your scores are smoking mine fellas. Cool tips and a very cool thread. I haven't even broken 10k yet but will work on it and post my score regardless of how embarrassing to help the thread.

Kixfan, are you in Baltimore? Would make sense if you were.

rick6668 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 05, 2013, 02:12:53 pm »

Gave it a few more tries this afternoon after reading some more about this game.

45,000 - Wow and I only made it to round 4. Tried some new strategies.

1. Pipes, get them early as before, but I read online that if you shoot 2 pipes in a row of the same color, you get 4x the score. This can be huge as early in the round the pipes are worth a lot of points. Problem is, the screen is littered with items to hit and every hit of something else reduces the point value of the pipes. Not only that, but the 2 pipes you hit of the same color must be hit on consecutive shots without hitting anything else. This is hard as hell to do. Seems that if you can clear 1/3 of the items (Ducks first) than you can find some gaps to shoot the pipes and go for the bonus.

2. Ducks, you need to pick them out and keep targeting them to clear them from at least the bottom and middle rows before concentrating on pipes if you want the 4x bonus, otherwise you'll have a red pipe gone and need another, but here come the ducks to eat your bullets.

3. Bonus, wait as long as possible before shooting the letters for the bonus. The higher up the item is, is not only a higher score when you shoot it, but also adds that same value to the bonus. Ideally, you'd want the b-o-n-u-s letters to be the last ones on the board.

Not sure if I can top the last score, but maybe. I've made it to round 5 a few times before, If I can do that and employ the strategies above it's definitely doable.

Good Luck!

mimic · « **Reply #20 on:** January 05, 2013, 02:26:41 pm »

I think I'm giving up got 3260 after like 3 or 4 games. This game not for me. Someone post a vid. how to play it.

danny_galaga · « **Reply #21 on:** January 05, 2013, 06:23:00 pm »

Quote from: mimic on January 05, 2013, 02:26:41 pm

I think I'm giving up got 3260 after like 3 or 4 games. This game not for me. Someone post a vid. how to play it.

You need to add a zero to that to get at least a fair idea for most old school arcade games...

mimic · « **Reply #22 on:** January 05, 2013, 09:37:15 pm »

Quote from: danny_galaga on January 05, 2013, 06:23:00 pm

Quote from: mimic on January 05, 2013, 02:26:41 pm
I think I'm giving up got 3260 after like 3 or 4 games. This game not for me. Someone post a vid. how to play it.

You need to add a zero to that to get at least a fair idea for most old school arcade games...

I'm not even sure what are you trying to say?

spoot · « **Reply #23 on:** January 05, 2013, 09:44:51 pm »

Quote from: mimic on January 05, 2013, 09:37:15 pm

Quote from: danny_galaga on January 05, 2013, 06:23:00 pm
Quote from: mimic on January 05, 2013, 02:26:41 pm
I think I'm giving up got 3260 after like 3 or 4 games. This game not for me. Someone post a vid. how to play it.

You need to add a zero to that to get at least a fair idea for most old school arcade games...

I'm not even sure what are you trying to say?

I'd guess he's saying play 30-40 times to get a fair idea?

mimic · « **Reply #24 on:** January 05, 2013, 10:04:20 pm »

Quote from: spoot on January 05, 2013, 09:44:51 pm

I'd guess he's saying play 30-40 times to get a fair idea?

I re-read that post maybe 10-15 more times and finally came to that same conclusion as you (before you posted, word!)

I guess I don't like this game enough to play over and over to get better. Back in arcades times one could just look over player's shoulder to get an idea how to play, that's why I'm asking for video it sort of a 'virtual shoulder"

secret80sman · « **Reply #25 on:** January 06, 2013, 09:09:26 am »

Quote from: mimic on January 05, 2013, 10:04:20 pm

Quote from: spoot on January 05, 2013, 09:44:51 pm
I'd guess he's saying play 30-40 times to get a fair idea?

I re-read that post maybe 10-15 more times and finally came to that same conclusion as you (before you posted, word!)

I guess I don't like this game enough to play over and over to get better. Back in arcades times one could just look over player's shoulder to get an idea how to play, that's why I'm asking for video it sort of a 'virtual shoulder"

Lots of good tips in this thread and there may be something on YT that might help. My high score after about 15 games is like 7000. Yes it is hard but you will eventually have a breakthrough on your game play and that is rewarding.

Just this week I was able to double my Donkey Kong score so had a breakthrough. I love this thread because it gets everyone focused on a particular game and working towards improving our skills, even if most of us don't end up being the top dog.

kixfan · « **Reply #26 on:** January 06, 2013, 03:00:20 pm »

36,480

I'm getting closer but not sure which method I should be focusing on. I have been trying the 4x score for same color pipes with consecutive shots. I was able to get as much as 12k after the first round but then the game seems to go into another gear for level 2 and I quickly die. This score I am posting I scored going after the pipes first, disregard the bonus cause even when I try I seem to screw it up. Not sure I can reach the top score using this method.

dancawar · « **Reply #27 on:** January 07, 2013, 04:27:04 am »

I was flying along at 27k ish, and missed the last duck and hit the - bullets and wiped myself out!! The rage!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting into this now!

Gray_Area · « **Reply #28 on:** January 08, 2013, 01:02:21 am »

I thought he meant add a 0 to the score - which might equate to the same thing as playing 30 or 40 times. Sometimes that's the case, true. And some times I've actually sat in that much, or come back to it enough, to get into a game that didn't juice me after a few tries. But I don't know as I feel in that mode right now.

danny_galaga · « **Reply #29 on:** January 09, 2013, 11:24:23 pm »

My bad. I was wondering how it wasn't plain as day what I was saying, but re-reading my post you could surmise I was suggesting to add a zero to the score

No, what I meant is that it takes effort to get the reward (the reward being good scores). There's a music album that summarises what Mimic was saying - You wanna get there, but you don't wanna travel.

I myself am stuck at 18k or so. I guess there is some more travellin' in store for me

mimic · « **Reply #30 on:** January 10, 2013, 08:57:22 pm »

8K something, this game's not for me. Read the tips that are accessible with mame32, waaaaay too much strategies for a single unattractive static screen. On top of that even nostalgia cant save it for me, since I never played it when I was a kid... NEXT!

dancawar · « **Reply #31 on:** January 11, 2013, 05:24:14 am »

think i've peaked at 32290.

kixfan · « **Reply #32 on:** January 12, 2013, 07:26:33 am »

Quote from: secret80sman on January 05, 2013, 08:13:57 am

What perfect timing as I just got back into this game but your scores are smoking mine fellas. Cool tips and a very cool thread. I haven't even broken 10k yet but will work on it and post my score regardless of how embarrassing to help the thread.

Kixfan, are you in Baltimore? Would make sense if you were.

Sorry secret80man I missed your post. No, I'm in Ohio. I am a huge KIX though! They just played near by in New Castle, PA. I've seen them live 7 or 8 times (all but one was a small venue). Are you in Baltimore and have you seen them?

kixfan · « **Reply #33 on:** January 12, 2013, 07:55:56 am »

There is less than 24 hours left in this competition. I would like to see 10 posted scores. I know there are people on this board who play but don't post (I was one for quite a while

). If you played at all during the competition please post a score! Unless your posting a winning score, no screen shot needed.

Thank You!

dancawar · « **Reply #34 on:** January 12, 2013, 09:10:13 am »

i'll have a few last goes and post my score later if i can improve!

Gray_Area · « **Reply #35 on:** January 12, 2013, 04:19:16 pm »

Quote from: kixfan on January 12, 2013, 07:26:33 am

I am a huge KIX though! They just played near by in New Castle, PA. I've seen them live 7 or 8 times (all but one was a small venue).

I thought maybe you were Kix [cereal] fan. Anyways, I think in the middle of things, my best was about 18 grand.

jasonbar · « **Reply #36 on:** January 12, 2013, 04:50:50 pm »

New baby, new job, new home, etc.

I had to disassemble my cabinet (remove the giant panel from the cabinet) to get it out of my old house. It's reassembled in my new garage, but I haven't had time to plug all the internal cables back together yet. Hopefully soon, then I'll "only" have to find time between feedings & diaper changes to pick up the competitions again! :]

-Jason

kixfan · « **Reply #37 on:** January 12, 2013, 09:34:34 pm »

Quote from: Gray_Area on January 12, 2013, 04:19:16 pm

Quote from: kixfan on January 12, 2013, 07:26:33 am
I am a huge KIX though! They just played near by in New Castle, PA. I've seen them live 7 or 8 times (all but one was a small venue).

I thought maybe you were Kix [cereal] fan. Anyways, I think in the middle of things, my best was about 18 grand.

Yeah, should have been Kix (the band) fan!

kixfan · « **Reply #38 on:** January 13, 2013, 06:48:28 am »

Congratulations to Rick6668!

It's your pick for next game. We came up 1 short for reaching 10 score posts.

Rick6668 45,000
Kixfan 36,480
Dancawar 32,290
Gray_Area ~18,000
Danny_Galaga 18,380
Badmouth ~13,000
Ninjasquirrel ~10,000
Mimic ~8,000
Secret80sman ~7,000

rick6668 · « **Reply #39 on:** January 13, 2013, 02:34:42 pm »

Thanks!

I will be posting the new thread in a minute.


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