High Score Competition #136 Anteater

[Comtek]

Previous winners:

#001 thru #099 - For list of winners for those competitions  please refer to this link
#100: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: Winner - Gray_Area, Second - Tafoid
#101: Marvin's Maze: Winner - Kixfan, Second - Hammerfist
#102: Rally-X:  Winner - Tafoid, Second  djm858
#103: Lock 'N Chase:  Winner - Kixfan, Second - Jasonbar
#104: Space Fury: Winner - Gray_Area, Second - kixfan
#105: Pig Out: Winner - Kixfan, Second - Gray_Area
#106: Carnival: Winner - rick6668, Second - Kixfan
#107: Rastan: Winner - popsicle, Second - rick6668
#108: Peguin-Kun Wars Winner-dancawar, Second - Popsicle
#109: Blood Bros.* Winner - harveybirdman, Second - Jasonbar *scores reflect use of game features considered cheats
#110: Rabbit Punch: Winner - jasonbar, Second - mimic
#111: Alien Syndrome: Winner - mimic, Second Comtek
#112: Block Hole: Winner - Comtek, Second - idsane
#113: Pepper II: Winner - Comtek, Second - Kixfan
#114: Break Thru: Winner - jasonbar, Second - mimic
#115: Ninja Baseball Bat Man: Winner - mimic, Second - Tafoid
#116: Shao-lin's Road: Winner - mimic, Second - Kixfan
#117: Scramble: Winner - Kixfan, Second - jasonbar
#118: Lost Tomb: Winner: Jasonbar, Second: mimic
#119: Green Beret: Winner: LeapinLew, Second: popsicle
#120: Lady Killer: Winner: Comtek Second: Mimic
#121: Qix: Winner: Comtek Second: sorhp
#122: Halley's Comet: Winner: Jasonbar Second: Mimic
#123: Cyber-Lip: Winner: Jasonbar Second: epetti
#124: Lode Runner: Winner: JDFan Second: kixfan
#125: Snow Bros. - Nick & Tom: Winner: Comtek Second: JDFan
#126: Bosconian: Winner: Cynicaster Second: kixfan
#127: Eggs: Winner: Cynicaster Second: kixfan
#128: Eyes: Winner: kixfan Second: Comtek
#129: Galaga '88: Winner: jasonbar, Second: opt2not
#130: Final Fight: Winner: opt2not, Second: Comtek
#131: Hammerin' Harry: Winner: lettuce, Second: kixfan
#132: Battle Circuit: Winner: lettuce, Second: jasonbar
#133: Giga Wing: Winner: edekoning, Second: spoot
#134: Osman: Winner: edekoning, Second: lettuce
#135: Surprise Attack: Winner: Comtek, Second: edekoning

Competition #136: Anteater







Name: Anteater
Lives: 3
Settings: Default

Last day: Saturday March 22, 2014, midnight Pacific Time.

Description: You play an anteater that elongates his sticky tongue through maze-like anthills eating ants, other bugs and insects

General Rules:
- One Credit, No Continues.
- 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.

- Quest for the Bronze Joystick! The most successful competitor of each calendar year will possess & display the BYOAC Bronze Joystick Trophy. See this thread for details:The BYOAC Bronze Joystick.
Happy Gaming!

Scoring Table

Kixfan:                119,150
comtek:              90,980
Jdfan:                87,610   
Well Fed Games: 76,800
Edekoning:          64,650
epetti:                56,490
jasonbar:            46,260
PBJ:                   14,010

[JDFan]

Since I forgot to post for the last competition - I'll start this one off   -- 13,580

Tough game to score on when that stupid spider follows your tongue so that you have to get one of the queen ants to clear the screen before an ant gets you.

[jasonbar]

Love it. Tough. Wow, how many games condemn you to losing a life if you don't make the right decision within 3 seconds of starting a level?

Took several games just to learn what does what, but, now that I'm savvy, I dig!

16,550.

Also, we seem to have been leaving settings off of the top post for a while. "Default" is up for interpretation. Different revs of MAME sometimes have different default settings, & they don't always match Twin Galaxies, which is what we usually use. As for Anteater, this actually seems to have *no* settings, beyond 3 lives. How very simple!

-Jason

[edekoning]

Also, we seem to have been leaving settings off of the top post for a while. "Default" is up for interpretation. Different revs of MAME sometimes have different default settings, & they don't always match Twin Galaxies, which is what we usually use.

Did not know about matching the Twin Galaxies settings, but I did include a screenshot of all settings to the Osman comp.

Comtek, would you mind keeping a scoring table up to date in the first post (similar to what I did for the Osman comp)? I like being able to see all scores at the start without having to scroll though all replies.

[Comtek]

I will do my best with a scoring table

[Ginsu Victim]

It's about time this game got picked. Get ready to have your asses kicked!





Oh, not by me. By the game. It's rough!

[jasonbar]

Also, we seem to have been leaving settings off of the top post for a while. "Default" is up for interpretation. Different revs of MAME sometimes have different default settings, & they don't always match Twin Galaxies, which is what we usually use.

Did not know about matching the Twin Galaxies settings, but I did include a screenshot of all settings to the Osman comp.

Comtek, would you mind keeping a scoring table up to date in the first post (similar to what I did for the Osman comp)? I like being able to see all scores at the start without having to scroll though all replies.

Thanks. A screen shot works as nicely as text in the header. I'm no authority, but I do have the occasional vague memory of deviating from my MAME settings once or twice, waaaaay back when, in order to match TG, but my opinion is that it's OK to go w/ MAME defaults--as long as we spell them out.

My $0.02. 

Thanks,
-Jason

[lettuce]

Thought Twin Galaxies wasnt a thing anymore??

[JDFan]

Since jasonbar decided to top my score had to go back and play a couple more times -- new score 35,080

[Comtek]

23820

[Comtek]

34,890

[JDFan]

Comtek -- It should be JDFan at 35,080 not jasonbar ! 

Though I'm sure he'll check back in with a higher score soon.

[kixfan]

Kixfan is here!

45,230

[Comtek]

Nice score I upped my a little but never took a screen shot
I also fixed up the scores in the original thread keep an eye on me

[JDFan]

Nice score I upped my a little but never took a screen shot
I also fixed up the scores in the original thread keep an eye on me

Still shows you in 2nd and me third with a higher score  So Just to make sure I had to go back and up the score to make it easier to tell and figured while I was doing that might as well put Kixfan down to #2   

New High Score  55,390

[Comtek]

Lol I wasn't placing them in order just made sure right name was with right score 
should be good now I hope 

[JDFan]

Lol I wasn't placing them in order just made sure right name was with right score 
should be good now I hope 

Ahh thought you were keeping them sorted.

Figured I'd make a video of some gameplay in case anyone wanted to watch it ( Forgot to record the high score inp but here's one @ 51,520 )

[kixfan]

64,590

 

[JDFan]

64,590

 

Figured you'd be back - Nice score 

[Generic Eric]

So you can't eat a blue worm head first, but it can walk across your tongue.  You can't let a red ant touch your tongue unless you eat it from the back?

Is that correct? 

[JDFan]

So you can't eat a blue worm head first, but it can walk across your tongue.  You can't let a red ant touch your tongue unless you eat it from the back?

Is that correct?

Yep -- pretty much all of the ants need to be taken by the front of your tongue if they touch any other part it kills you - the spider and worm can touch your tongue but you can only eat the worm from behind if you touch the front portion of the worm it kills you so you have to either avoid him or get him from behind - the spider can't be killed and will go to the back of your tongue and start to follow it  until it reaches the tip  which kills you - only way to kill the spider is to grab one of the two queen ants at the bottom of the screen which kills all enemies on screen including the spider and restarts him from the top of the screen buying you time to clear more of the screen ( So save them until the spider is on screen if possible !)

Sounds easier than it gets as you have to keep an eye on the sides of the screen and get back to the ants before they touch your tongue and once the spider is on the tongue you really can't get around most of the screen to prevent the ants from getting you so you need to head for one of the queens. As you can see in the video I made it is pretty easy to mess up and do some stupid things that cost you a life (ie. the first 2 kills I had and miss timing getting the queen at the end by a split second)

Overall a pretty fun game with a simple concept that is more of a challenge than it would seem to be.

[Generic Eric]

Sounds easier than...

Thats how they get your quarter!

[jasonbar]

A less low score for me. What sort of difficulty multiplier do I get for playing with a 1-year-old on my lap, always lurching for the controls?

29,220--forgot to turn off the flash. Time to dust the monitor glass...

-Jason

[pbj]

14,010.  Forgive the potato pic and ABJ initials. 

Beating the first level on this game is borderline orgasmic.  I thought I'd never do it.

 

[Generic Eric]

I did finally play at lunch.  It is harder than it looks.  It's fun though.

[Comtek]

43820

[kixfan]

Here are a few hints..

1. Except for the first 2 screens I pretty much concentrate on clearing board and only defensively eat the ants and worms.
2. Shoot to have atleast the first 4 rows completed by night time.
3. Make sure that when it gets to be night time that you make your way close to the queen ants.  Try to avoid taking a path that is along the outside.

[epetti]

This game is crazy hard. I almost got past the second level. 16,040.

[epetti]

Upped it a bit, this time almost got past fourth level. 31,970.

[Comtek]

52,260

[edekoning]

64650

some tips:
-always retract the tongue using the action button (its way faster)
-first clear the top 4 rows, before eating any queen on the 8th row
-try to eat ants from multiple rows at roughly the same time, as this will maximize the amount of time you have before you need to retreat the tongue to the upper rows
-waiting for a worm so you can eat it is generally not worth it, as its dangerous and costs valuable time

Did anyone else notice that there is a limit to the length of your tongue? I've had a few times that I was unable to eat a queen ant, because my tongue would not extend any further.

[Comtek]

84,290
I agree just eat the ants and worms defensively the points you get at the end is peanuts compared to completing the frames

[JDFan]

Man - take a break for awhile and you guys all report in with higher scores 

Guess I'll have to load up the game again - Who will be the first to break 100K -- Still a ways to go to get to Freddie Morrish's world record score for Anteater of 219,320 points on October 9, 1983.

[epetti]

Good to see a lot of people playing and some tight competition. I need to try to find some time to squeeze in a few more games.

[Well Fed Games]

Not as high as some scores in this thread but my wife is awesome at Anteater (I of course cannot clear that first board).

[epetti]

Looks like your wife just moved into second place with that score.

I upped my score a bit. Now at 56,490.

[JDFan]

Back in the hunt @ 69,570

Hopefully will improve before the end of the week 

[kixfan]

Nice Score JDfan!

Since Twin Galaxies seems to be unavailable for the foreseeable future, are the high scores hosted anywhere else?   I was wondering what a good score is on this game.

[jasonbar]

Ooooh, look at me. I got a big score. I'm so proud of myself. Hooray for me.

I'm still nearly in last place, huh? You people...

46,260

-Jason

[epetti]

Ooooh, look at me. I got a big score. I'm so proud of myself. Hooray for me.

I'm still nearly in last place, huh? You people...

46,260

-Jason

+1. I'm right there with you. Well, just ahead of you.