High Score Competition: The Annual Bronze Joystick Trophy

[jasonbar]

EDIT 2015/01/04:

There is now a stickied master post for high score competitions. Please go to:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,143138.0.html/all.html

Thanks,
-Jason

---

Howdy-

When my boy was born a little over a year ago, a friend gave me a gift certificate for a bronzing of something or other like shoes or a pacifier. He didn't have any special something or other (he's still on his first shoes, & he has nothing really specific that's special to him & already discarded).

So, I put some extra $ in & got the bronzing company to go a little bit out of their element & bronze & mount something that they've never bronzed & mounted before.

Behold the bronze Atari 2600 joystick.

I've been trying to think of how best to award this & at what event, and the BYOAC high score competition is what I've chosen. Sure, it's a home console joystick & we're playing emulated arcade games, but that's close enough...


I propose an annual presentation of the bronze joystick. Each year, the most successful BYOAC member in the high score competitions will receive the joystick, with a small engraved plate (i.e., "Joe Blow, 2014 BYOAC High Score Competition Champ"), & own it for a year. At the end of that year, a new plate will be engraved for the next year's winningest player & mailed to them, etc.


I'll start this year (2014) & use a simple scoring system.

2 points for a 1st place.
1 point for a 2nd place.
If there's a tie at the end of the year, the player with more 1st places wins.
If that's still a tie, we'll have the 2 tiers play a short play-off game.


I'll add some verbiage to the current Giga Wing top post so that this thread gets copied & pasted into all future competitions.

I'll keep running totals in this thread, going back in time to include previous 2014 competitions.

Good luck on your quest for the bronze joystick!

-Jason

[jasonbar]

2014:
Hammerin' Harry, 2014/01/05: 1st: Lettuce, 2nd: Kixfan
Battle Circuit, 2014/01/20: 1st: Lettuce, 2nd: Jasonbar
Giga Wing, 2014/02/05: 1st: Edekoning, 2nd: Spoot
Osman, 2014/02/20: 1st Edekoning, 2nd: Lettuce
Surprise Attack, 2014/03/08: 1st Comtek, 2nd: edekoning
Anteater, 2014/03/22: 1st Kixfan, 2nd: Comtek
Jr. Pac-Man, 2014/04/06: 1st: Kixfan, 2nd: Popsicle
Chelnov-The Atomic Runner <World>, 2014/04/23: 1st: Popsicle, 2nd: Comtek
Berzerk (set 2), 2014/05/07: 1st: Popsicle, 2nd: Kixfan
Mystic Marathon, 2014/05/23: 1st: Popsicle, 2nd: JDFan
Moon Cresta: 2014/06/06: 1st: Kixfan, 2nd: Jasonbar
Star Force (Tehkan): 2014/06/20: 1st: big10p, 2nd: jasonbar
Armored Car: 2014/07/04: 1st: Popsicle, 2nd: Kixfan
Pinball Action: 2014/07/18: 1st: JDFan, 2nd: Popsicle
Mr. TNT: 2014/08/01: 1st: Kixfan, 2nd: Comtek
Space Zap The End: 2014/08/17: 1st: Popsicle, 2nd: Kixfan
Space Zap Land Sea Air Squad: 2014/08/31: 1st: Popsicle (yet again), 2nd: Big10p
Armor.. .. .. ..Attack: 2014/09/14: 1st: HanoiBoi, 2nd: Popsicle
Pooyan: 2014/09/28: 1st: HanoiBoi, 2nd: Kixfan
Thief: 2014/10/12: 1st: HanoiBoi, 2nd: Kixfan
Navarone: 2014/10/26: 1st: HanoiBoi, 2nd: Kixfan (see a trend?)
Mr. Do!'s Castle: 2014/11/09: 1st: Kixfan, 2nd: HanoiBoi
Journey: 2014/11/23: 1st: Popsicle, 2nd: Kixfan
Star Trek: 2014/12/07: 1st: Popsicle, 2nd: HanoiBoi
Frenzy: 2014/12/21: 1st: HanoiBoi, 2nd: Popsicle

Points totals:

Popsicle: 20
Kixfan: 18
HanoiBoi: 12
Comtek: 5
Edekoning: 5
Lettuce: 5
Big10p: 3
Jasonbar: 3
JDFan: 3
Spoot: 1

Winner: Popsicle!!!

[opt2not]

That thing is awesome.

[edekoning]

Looks amazing --> me want!

[wp34]

Really cool.  Thanks for doing this.   

Makes me want to get off my butt and participate more this year.

[Generic Eric]

Neat!

[lettuce]

Great idea, i love it. No points for a 3rd place then??

[Generic Eric]

2014:
Hammerin' Harry, 2014/01/05: 1st: Lettuce, 2nd: Kixfan
Battle Circuit, 2014/01/20: 1st: Lettuce, 2nd: Jasonbar
Giga Wing 2014/02/05: 1st: edekoning, 2nd:  spoot,
 
Points totals:
Lettuce: 4
Edekoning: 2
Jasonbar: 1
Kixfan: 1
Spoot: 1

FIXT

[Xiaou2]

Its a nice gesture, with some nostalgia around it.. but its somewhat comical in the grand scheme of things.

 The Atari 2600 stick is arguably the Worst controller ever released.

 Its also in a way, very opposite in the line of Arcade games & Arcade quality.. 
 Nor in the spirit of  "Build you own Arcade controllers".

 Its kind of like giving a Formula 1  racecar driver, a trophy of a Yugo.
 

[danny_galaga]

A great idea, but might I suggest a deeper level of point scoring? Most of the High Score Competitions are won between maybe five people at most. I myself kinda gave up because it's a bit 'A league' without having a corresponding 'B league'. If you score only on first and second place, there is not much fun or interest for all the others since they will almost never get even second place and thus will have a score of zero for the whole of the comp? How about something along the lines of 10 points for first, 5 points for second, 3 points for third, 2 points for fourth and 1 point for anyone else who happened to play?

[Le Chuck]

A great idea, but might I suggest a deeper level of point scoring? Most of the High Score Competitions are won between maybe five people at most. I myself kinda gave up because it's a bit 'A league' without having a corresponding 'B league'. If you score only on first and second place, there is not much fun or interest for all the others since they will almost never get even second place and thus will have a score of zero for the whole of the comp? How about something along the lines of 10 points for first, 5 points for second, 3 points for third, 2 points for fourth and 1 point for anyone else who happened to play?

No danny, this isn't kindergarten.  Not everybody gets a trophy!

Now if you haven't please go vote in the BYOAC threads!

 

[JDFan]

A great idea, but might I suggest a deeper level of point scoring? Most of the High Score Competitions are won between maybe five people at most. I myself kinda gave up because it's a bit 'A league' without having a corresponding 'B league'. If you score only on first and second place, there is not much fun or interest for all the others since they will almost never get even second place and thus will have a score of zero for the whole of the comp? How about something along the lines of 10 points for first, 5 points for second, 3 points for third, 2 points for fourth and 1 point for anyone else who happened to play?

No danny, this isn't kindergarten.  Not everybody gets a trophy!

Now if you haven't please go vote in the BYOAC threads!

 

[epetti]

Love the idea. I agree adding third place would be nice although that probably won't change any results.

But also to danny, I'm definitely in the 'B league' but not really in it for the competition. I compete because it's a fun way to discover new games and play what other people are playing to share strategies and experiences.

[jdbailey1206]

Well since we are doing the first place trophy is it possible to create a 'Sacko' award for last place? For those of you who arent famailiar with this concept its from The League.  A horrible trophy that no one wants.  A boobie prize if you will.

[Generic Eric]

Well since we are doing the first place trophy is it possible to create a 'Sacko' award for last place? For those of you who arent famailiar with this concept its from The League.  A horrible trophy that no one wants.  A boobie prize if you will.

A custom printed raffle ticket with  "A winner is you"  on it.  Twist is that its been washed at least once, and looks used. 

[danny_galaga]

Well I hope the five of you have fun...

[edekoning]

Well I hope the five of you have fun...

As each competition states:

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.

It seems to me not many people are actually participating in these competitions, or at least not many are actually posting scores. During the Giga Wing competition only 11 people submitted scores. So those 5 people you are talking about actually represent 50% of all contestants. Meaning 1 in 2 will end up with points! Furthermore, we only had three competitions yet, and already 5 people have points.

You should just see this trophy as an incentive for more people to participate and submit scores.

If you think you will never have a shot at the top position, then just accept that. Focus on people with comparable scores and try to beat those. I mean the hole point of hi scores is continuously trying to improve and beat your own scores, or the next guy's scores.

[ark_ader]

Can we not buy one and just pretend we won it.? 

[danny_galaga]

Well I hope the five of you have fun...

As each competition states:

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.

It seems to me not many people are actually participating in these competitions, or at least not many are actually posting scores. During the Giga Wing competition only 11 people submitted scores. So those 5 people you are talking about actually represent 50% of all contestants. Meaning 1 in 2 will end up with points! Furthermore, we only had three competitions yet, and already 5 people have points.

You should just see this trophy as an incentive for more people to participate and submit scores.

If you think you will never have a shot at the top position, then just accept that. Focus on people with comparable scores and try to beat those. I mean the hole point of hi scores is continuously trying to improve and beat your own scores, or the next guy's scores.

I guess what I'm saying is that in a forum of thousands of members, a competition that has maybe 5 contenders is rather niche. When people see they have virtually no chance of competing, then they don't bother joining in, hence only 11 people (in how many thousands of members?) playing Gigawing. It wouldn't matter how many played anyway, since only the top two get the points. You are wrong to say 1 in 2 would get points. And that's MY point. I think 

 Just for a laugh, I went through the scores of 100-133. There are more people showing than I imagined (so I am happy to be wrong there) but there are only four people who really show on the radar. out of those it's:

kixfan  17
jasonbar 16
comtek 13
mimic 11

(assuming 2 points for first, 1 point for second)

the next closest is gray area at 5. Comtek seems to be a late comer to the comp (I could be wrong, just I remember the other 3 in the earlier ones when I used to have a go), so if he keeps at it, the competition is between those four people. One of these four will win the trophy. Yes, it can change if say these four all happen to stop playing and then some other guys start winning. And the competition would be quite close then, because then the four 'A leaguers' won't be absorbing all the points. The 'A leaguers' like to watch all the youtube tutorials and walkthroughs and learn how to get the best score that way. Whereas I think many of the others (like me) just want to play the game and see what can be discovered on their own, just like wandering in to an arcade and having a go. Nothing wrong with either method, but being all in one group makes it a bit disheartening.

I'll give you a 'real world' example and then I'll shut up because I don't actually have an answer to pulling in more competitors (other than having two leagues). I used to captain an indoor beach volleyball team. There were three divisions from memory. We were in the 'B league'. We actually worked our way up and won the final. That was a great feeling! I got a trophy and everything. the guys in the 'A league' were of a much higher level. If all the leagues were mixed in, how much fun would it have been for anyone who wasn't A league material? How many of the rest would even bother turning up after a few months of getting their asses handed to them? Just like here, that was 'competition' but also 'fun'. The fun came from having a go and having half a chance of winning from time to time.

Anyway, as you were 

[edekoning]

If all the leagues were mixed in, how much fun would it have been for anyone who wasn't A league material? How many of the rest would even bother turning up after a few months of getting their asses handed to them? Just like here, that was 'competition' but also 'fun'. The fun came from having a go and having half a chance of winning from time to time.

Ah but these competitions are not versus competitions (like real life sports are). I mean we are not playing street fighter (or whatever) against each other. So there is no getting your ass kicked. Instead its a high score competition where you should compete directly against yourself, or against whoever has a comparable score. Forget about the top scores and the trophy, that stuff is irrelevant man. Its all about you improving your scores and having fun doing it. A bit of competition just means you might try a bit harder

You can also get a trophy (sort of) by winning one of the UCA categories. There are some extremely talented people building arcade cabinets. Does that mean you should not build your own, because you think you are in the B-league? Hell no!

[opt2not]

We could always make it easier for more people to get points by adding a 3rd placing for points only. It'll at least add a bit more point-spread for people to gain.
Personally, I know I'd be good competition if I made a better effort to compete more consistently.   Which is why this prize is a good incentive, so I'm all for this.

[epetti]

Agree. Third place is pretty standard in most competitions.

[kixfan]

For the record, my machine is in the basement and with the current temperatures in the North East I find it hard to spend much time on the current competitions.  My house is like an icebox!

In regard to getting more participation.  If your going to add 3rd place we might as well add 4th and 5th as well (Danny's suggestion).   Also, I like to think there are more people competing then people posting scores.   Sometimes a large score gets posted early (and looks daunting) or the game is just not their cup of tea.    The last 2 competitions fall into those categories for me!      

Also, this is Jasonbar's award and he really hasn't commented on any of these suggestions.   Remember, he who makes the award gets to set the rules.   

Thank you Jasonbar for creating this new award!   

[edekoning]

If you want everybody to get points than this scoring system might be an option:
Top score X gets 100 points, each lower score Y gets (100/X)*Y points with a minimum of one.
So we are basically converting each score to a percentage relative to the top score. This way everybody gets points, and close scores get awarded roughly the same amount of points.

So take the scores from the current Osman competition:
1720280 lettuce
1654180 edekoning
1653980 Mr_Numbers
0514700 epetti
0475900 jasonbar
0004600 kixfan

Converted to points this would be:
100 lettuce
096 edekoning
096 Mr_Numbers
030 epetti
028 jasonbar
001 kixfan

The previous Giga Wing competition:
4669654169760 edekoning
2734348542650 spoot
2604217272270 lettuce
1028935624800 jasonbar
0937700715870 thrasherx
0429374097740 Connorsdad
0414227101170 epetti
0194766707830 JDFan 
0084186663040 Generic Eric
0055395116070 pbj
0003229605730 thomas_surles

And in points:
100 edekoning
059 spoot
056 lettuce
022 jasonbar
020 thrasherx
009 Connorsdad
009 epetti
004 JDFan 
002 Generic Eric
001 pbj
001 thomas_surles

But as Kixfan noted, its Jasonbar's call.

[epetti]

Interesting. I like it. Only downside is it does kind of award you more not just for winning, but for crushing everyone else. On the other hand, it gives you incentive to keep upping your score whether you're in first place or last.

[edekoning]

Well if you look at the Osman comp, the top three are pretty close together, meaning points wise, its not that rewarding anymore to try and obtain the first spot. For GigaWing the difference is a lot bigger, but even so, the first spot gets less than twice as many points than the second spot. Only if you really obliterate the competition could you get more points (relatively speaking) than in the old system, but even that is capped at 100 (1st=100, 2nd=1, etc). If needed we could limit this to some arbitrary other number, say 5. Then even if you score is 1000x higher, you will only gain 5x as many points (1st=100, 2nd=20, 3rd=based of 2nd score). On the other hand, if the amount of points you make is tied directly to your hiscore. Then even if you have the current hiscore by a comfortable margin, it would still make sense to try and improve on that score. As that will get you even more points. I hope this makes sense.

[epetti]

Exactly -- you always have incentive to improve no matter where you stand.

[jasonbar]

Edekoning, Kixfan, & Lettuce are all tied for 1st as we approach the 1/3 point of this year's race, but they're not so far ahead that they can't be easily caught before the end of 2014.

Super exciting!!!

-Jason

[danny_galaga]

If you want everybody to get points than this scoring system might be an option:
Top score X gets 100 points, each lower score Y gets (100/X)*Y points with a minimum of one.
So we are basically converting each score to a percentage relative to the top score. This way everybody gets points, and close scores get awarded roughly the same amount of points.

It turns out that another forum I am on  has a comp that scores much like you've outlined! So I've joined in on that. They do 8 games a round over a certain time, and there's normally at least two games overlapping, I guess because if you get stuck on one game, or bored, you can play the next. Here's two screen shots to show what it looks like, I'm guessing it's done in Excel or something. First is for game 4 alone, which is where I joined in.



Next is for the running score so far.



 A few things to note:

I can immediately see where I stand. With just two places like here, saying everyone is in the competition is like saying you are in the game show when you 'play at home'- not quite the same thing! on the comp I am now in, I am already on the board and I can see where I am. This is not the same as a 'ribbon for turning up'.

Notice that groups emerge. For instance, if you look at the total scores in the second pic, there is a group from player 9 to 14 who are obviously in roughly the same 'league'. I know if I was in position 14, quite close to 13 I'd be trying my hardest to beat him. That is my competition. I have clear rivals to challenge and rib. Without even creating specific barriers you sort of have an A, B and C league. Obviously right now I am in the C league 

Note too that The current leader has absolutely slain everyone in Game 1. But that isn't the end of it since the guy in second has been quite consistent. And that the top say, 5 guys are in a league of their own. Same as here. But there you can see the relative difference, and I really think that is part of the fun.

The comp I am now in is on an Australian forum. It would have a lot less members than here, yet there are 22 guys on the board.

Food for thought for a future comp. I've kinda given up on convincing anyone here that two places is not much fun. And now I'm playing on the other comp I won't badger anyone here about it again. I'm happy, you guys are happy. Just showing that it can work and just like NASCAR and all sorts of competitions, it is not a 'special school' scoring system!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Tetris and Metal Slug to play 

[jasonbar]

Hi Danny-

Thanks for your posts & enthusiasm & passion. I appreciate it. I know that, no matter what I chose as a scoring format, not everybody would be pleased. :]

Therefore, given my limited time this year, I chose to keep it simple. I agree that your system is nicer & more interesting & gives more information/motivation to all contributors. Had I more time, I would have liked to have employed such a system. Also, I didn't want to impose on another party or depend on another to maintain a more complex scoring system--life happens & even the most enthusiastic & responsible person might not be able to follow through for a whole year.

When we approach end of the year, let's bring this up again & ask the frontrunners to weigh in on whether they'd be able to accept scoring duties along with the trophy. So, right now, Danny, start buttering up Kixfan, Popsicle, Comtek, Edekoning, & Lettuce, because they're smoking everybody else!  (At least per my scoring system...)

Thanks,
-Jason

[epetti]

Jason, it's your trophy, your rules for this round and it's just awesome that you set up the Bronze Joystick Trophy.

Danny, do you have any idea if they have something automated on that other site or is someone just doing all the legwork of doing all the math and reordering and everything else each time?

I think that system is great and does make everyone feel like they have a bit more chance of being in the running. The real problem seems to be maintenance of the system. Top two (or three) is very simple.

Who would run it and how would we make sure it's clearly and consistently maintained. Almost needs a database a simple submit field of its own to make it not an undue amount of work over time. Our own little mini-Twin Galaxies.  Or maybe as simple as a shared Google Sheet or something. Gets to be too much work and it will collapse under its own weight and won't be any fun.

[pbj]

Nothing like a group of men to queer up something fun and simple.

[Generic Eric]

:shazzle:

I must be the atomic stander!  I don't recognize half the names on that list.

[epetti]

I had some free time so I played around with a spreadsheet of the competitions of the year based on that scoring system. Ends up being really easy to update once it was all set up. We don't need to use it, but I would be willing to keep it updated if anyone is interested in the info going forward. Some interesting bits from it:

- 20 total players have posted scores over all competitions this year. Seems low given the number of members on the forum.
- It changes the standings quite a bit so I wouldn't recommend it for this year. Not fair to change the rules halfway through the competition. But maybe next year...
- There's definitely blocks of people all around the same score. But playing consistently pays off more than winning one or two more like say a golf tournament.

Top three are:
kixfan
jasonbar
comtek

For those who are curious, here it is, sorted by grand total:

[jasonbar]

 

Very interesting statistics. Thanks for doing the legwork, entering the scores, normalizing them, & totaling them up. I'm not suggesting you do any more work, but it's also neat to see this sort of data trending over time, to see where people's ranks change after each competition--indoor electric go-kart tracks do that to show how your position changes after each lap.

My first reaction: OMG, I need to change the scoring so that I can be in second place! 

Of course, that's slightly unethical.

It's interesting seeing how the rankings fall with your system vs. mine. There's one thing about your system that reminds me of something that bugs me in other scoring systems--most notably, IFPA WOPR (International Flipper Pinball Association World Pinball Ranking). With IFPA, you need to fly around the country & participate in as many events as possible to get as many points as possible. So, if you have the resources (time and money) to go to every event but are only an average player, you may end up with more points than an expert player who can't manage to attend so many events.

In other words, I seem to be the only competitor on your spreadsheet who posted a score on every single competition, which seems to be what drove my rank up, even though I've clearly been bested in every competition, either by a little or by a lot. Do I deserve 2nd place by often being pretty good vs. rarely being awesome?


Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to post an awesome score in the Star Force thread... :]

Thanks,
-Jason

[epetti]

It's a different approach that rewards different things. Both approaches have different advantages and disadvantages. Given the general low participation in the competitions, though, this might encourage more people to play more often as there is meaningful reward for doing so, versus if you know you'll never come in first or second there's less incentive for playing (even if it's just for fun -- we're all gamers so we all have a competitive spirit to some degree).

If you are pretty good in a huge variety of games versus awesome in a few, that does say something about your overall skill (and endurance). If you played in every round but got really low scores, it still wouldn't catch up to someone who won in just a few, so I think it all does balance out. After all, kixfan and comtek are first and third in both systems.

Regardless, I think the stats are interesting, and now it's really easy to keep it up to date, so maybe at the least after each match I'll just update it and post it in this thread, so people who are interested can keep track of it.

[jasonbar]

 

Thanks again for your efforts & enthusiasm. I hate asking people for help, so I didn't & won't, but, if you do keep your system updated through the rest of 2014, we'll have a year of data to see how things wrap up when using the different systems, & we can act accordingly.

("Act accordingly" could be: a-I pick, because I made the trophy, b-The 2014 winner picks b/c he earned it, c-We vote.)

I also personally fear the responsibility of entering lots of numbers manually & hoping there isn't a typo--we now seem to have handy summaries at/near the top of each thread, but that adds 1 more level of operator input error. Maybe I've just been in the aerospace industry too long & worry about having everybody's work checked by several others. 

Thanks,
-Jason

[epetti]

Not a problem. Hammerin' Harry was a pain but after that it was easy because of those summaries for each thread. I just copied and pasted them in. The rest is taken care of by formulas, so really each competition it's as easy as copying from that summary into my spreadsheet, which takes all of a minute. (I've also taken an aesthetic pass to it so next time it should be more compact and colorful).

[JDFan]

Not a problem. Hammerin' Harry was a pain but after that it was easy because of those summaries for each thread. I just copied and pasted them in. The rest is taken care of by formulas, so really each competition it's as easy as copying from that summary into my spreadsheet, which takes all of a minute. (I've also taken an aesthetic pass to it so next time it should be more compact and colorful).

Getting the spreadsheet setup initially is the hard part (and making sure you get those formulas correct !) -- would be interesting to see the outcome at the end of the year if you keep it updated. As mentioned it would probably at least get those participating to enter a score for every competition ( I know there were a couple I forgot to submit that would have meant several more points if I had submitted them but I figured it didn't really make a difference the way it is scored currently.)

[eds1275]

This seems like a fun idea. I am not all crazy about winning that joystick but it does inspire me to try a little more often and a little harder. What it HAS done for me though is give me the idea to do similar contests here at home (I do my arcade gaming more as a social event than sitting around at home alone trying to beat my own score). High score comps are crazy fun.

[epetti]

I updated the high scores based on the latest round. All rounds for this year posted below:

[epetti]

Scores updated again for Armored Car. After the latest round, there's actually a tie for second place with these stats.

[danny_galaga]

Jason, it's your trophy, your rules for this round and it's just awesome that you set up the Bronze Joystick Trophy.

Danny, do you have any idea if they have something automated on that other site or is someone just doing all the legwork of doing all the math and reordering and everything else each time?

I think that system is great and does make everyone feel like they have a bit more chance of being in the running. The real problem seems to be maintenance of the system. Top two (or three) is very simple.

Who would run it and how would we make sure it's clearly and consistently maintained. Almost needs a database a simple submit field of its own to make it not an undue amount of work over time. Our own little mini-Twin Galaxies.  Or maybe as simple as a shared Google Sheet or something. Gets to be too much work and it will collapse under its own weight and won't be any fun.

I must admit I don't know much about how it is run, I might ask them how and if it's much work etc. I agree you don't want it to be a lot of work or things just peter out. The one I'm in is up to number 21 so however they are doing it, it is holding up. And of course that could be down to one 'Walter Day' holding it all together.

Agreed also if you were to change the scoring system, it's definitely a 'next time' job. Just adding a third position would get a lot more people up on the board though and that wouldn't be too much extra work. Incidentally, I climbed the ranks to 18th (from 21st)in that competition I was in. If I had started from the beginning, it would have been higher. As you can see, not much in it for me to go another position or two up. I beat the guy in 17th in every game we both played, just that he played more games in total. And there really was that 'I'm going to cane this game until I beat so-and-so' atmosphere, for me especially for Qix. I beat my personal best (",)

[epetti]

Looks like they're using the same setup that I've got going now. So now that it's being tracked, if just informally for now, let's start seeing you in more of the competitions. Just a couple competitions would shoot you up the ranks.

[jasonbar]

Popsicle wins for 2014!

I'll get a little plate custom engraved to put on the trophy base. I'll leave plenty of room for future competitions.

The trophy will be mailed to Popsicle soon, & then I shall wash my hands of the trophy & scorekeeping, leaving that to Popsicle to decide. That's what he gets for winning so much. 

Thanks,
-Jason

[DeLuSioNal29]

Congrats Popsicle!  Would love to see a final pic of the trophy displayed one you receive it.   

DeLuSioNaL29

[epetti]

Awesome! Having a trophy added a fun little competitive edge to the whole thing.

I also finished compiling a spreadsheet of all the competitions this year with scoring based on percentage of high score for each competition. Results posted below.

A few interesting stats:

- popsicle would still be first and kixfan still second with this scoring
- 32 total contestants over the course of the year
- Most popular competitions (11 people played) were: Giga Wing, Star Force, Pooyan, and Mr. TNT had 10 people

[jasonbar]

Very cool. Thanks for putting this spreadsheet together. Can you share it in Excel or Google Sheets formats?

Wow, I would have had 3rd, rather than 8th, if I had only used a "better" score system! 

Thanks,
-Jason

[epetti]

Let's see. I think this should work. Let me know if you can see it:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1b0smcEQ1sbFmvUN4HQRDrKLSptd5x-hiYF3S5LYXpJI/edit?usp=sharing

[jasonbar]

See & love it.

[jasonbar]

See top post:

There is now a stickied master post for high score competitions. Please go to:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,143138.0.html/all.html

Thanks,
-Jason

[jasonbar]

2014 champ Popsicle will soon have this honey of a trophy in his hands.

Should we make a rule that the winner has to mount the trophy on his cab for the duration of the year? :]

-Jason

[popsicle]

 

Look great, thank you!

[yamatetsu]

Well, this is long overdue. Congratulations to WakiMiko for winning the 2015 BYOAC Hi Score Competition 

Props to yamatetsu for coming in (an extremely close) second place.

[yamatetsu]

[...] here I present to you the Bronze Joystick, newly engraved with the winner of the 2016 BYOAC High Score Competition, yamatetsu.

Also, the typo from last year was fixed.

Congratulations to yam! 

[yamatetsu]

Since popsicle refuses to let go of the trophy (just kidding, it's just to expensive to ship the thing across the globe), I can't properly display it on my cab. So I did the next best thing. Popsicle kindly sent me hi res versions of the pics, I took one, cut out the joystick and gave it a new background that I found via google.

[jasonbar]

Trophicial

[acvieluf]

Trophicial

Oh man, that looks sweet!

[acvieluf]

The hardware.

Sent from my car phone

[acvieluf]

I will also say: Thanks to all the better players that DIDN'T play, so I can impress all of my friends that don't know any better. Haha

This trophy looks awesome, and I have a cool idea to mount it as well.

Sent from my car phone