Author Topic: High Score Competition #165: Acrobatic-Dog Fight (Read 9811 times)

j.fitzenr · « **on:** May 04, 2015, 07:38:13 pm »

High Score Competition rules and scoreboard
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,143138.0

--------------------------------
Game Name : Acrobatic Dog-Fight
ROM Name = dogfgt
--------------------------------

Settings:
default : Difficulty : Normal
Lives : 3

Controls:
Joystick: 8-way Joystick
3 buttons: Fire, Eject, Alternate Weapon

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrobatic_Dog-Fight

A hopefully off-the-wall but crowd-pleasing selection once people get their hands on it... Acrobatic Dog Fight! I'm ludicrously bad at this game, but I thought a slight step back in time and complexity was warranted after UN Squadron and I will never forget the one time I saw this cab in the wild during a family vacation as a kid and wasted so, so, so many quarters. I still can't decide if the game is stupidly simple or crazy deep... let's figure it out together.

Game Play:

Acrobatic Dog-Fight, released in Japan as Dog-Fight, is a side-scrolling shooter arcade game released by Technos in 1984, featuring "cute" cartoon graphics and gameplay similar to the 8-way scrolling of Time Pilot but differs from that game in many respects. In Acrobatic Dog-Fight the playing field was limited with a ceiling and ground as well as an ultimate destination to navigate to. Acrobatic Dog-Fight also added two buttons, a secondary weapon and an eject button. Eject could be used at any time and made it possible to hijack enemy planes and continue flying them. If the pilot failed to hijack an enemy plane he would parachute to the ground where a standard plane waited nearby.

- 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 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137522.0).
Happy Gaming!

Last Day:
Sunday, May 17th 12:00am PST (right? I've never done this before!)

Scoreboard
==============
1.) WakiMiko - 1,474,400
2.) popsicle - 882,600
3.) yamatetsu - 854,000
4.) BorgDog - 237,200
5.) Tomstewdevine - 234,550
6.) j.fitzenr - 182,000
7.) jasonbar - 32,850

BorgDog · « **Reply #1 on:** May 04, 2015, 08:43:03 pm »

Ha, fun little game. This is going to take some time to figure out how to fly. Is there really 3 buttons? By default it put eject over on my third one, but number 2 doesn't do anything yet.

Vigo · « **Reply #2 on:** May 04, 2015, 08:47:50 pm »

So this game isn't two dogs fighting on a tight-rope while spinning plates?

j.fitzenr · « **Reply #3 on:** May 04, 2015, 08:54:53 pm »

Quote from: BorgDog on May 04, 2015, 08:43:03 pm

Ha, fun little game. This is going to take some time to figure out how to fly. Is there really 3 buttons? By default it put eject over on my third one, but number 2 doesn't do anything yet.

I dunno! Everything I find says there's secondary fire. Haven't found it yet. Guessing some of the planes you hijack might have another wep or something

popsicle · « **Reply #4 on:** May 04, 2015, 09:00:03 pm »

"Loopin' Louie has a video game?" says my 6 year old girl walking by.

tomstewdevine · « **Reply #5 on:** May 04, 2015, 11:12:21 pm »

Oh man this is not going to be pretty.

BorgDog · « **Reply #6 on:** May 05, 2015, 12:06:03 am »

ok, so i cheated and looked at a youtube to see about the buttons. 1 is fire, 2 is hold down to go fast, and 3 is eject. now we all know

j.fitzenr · « **Reply #7 on:** May 05, 2015, 11:48:49 am »

Makes sense... and very useful (the turbo booster thing!) I understand the secondary fire confusion now; the planes you can hijack do indeed have different weapons; they're still all fired by the normal button but some of them fire in a few directions, faster, slower, etc.

Those damned UFOs, man, those damned UFOs. Just have to set my bar somewhere. 62600

j.fitzenr · « **Reply #8 on:** May 05, 2015, 03:37:44 pm »

Alright, so since I feel like we're all stumbling our way through the dark so far so here's what I got for ya's so far, because this game is kinda infuriating without having at least a little background.

It appears that all planes, at least that I've found, have two-shots worth of survivability; first time you're hit, you start spazzing out, second time you blow up. When you're spazzing, or if you're parachuting, or on the ground, you're a one-shot-wonder.

You do NOT have to be damaged/spazzing to eject, and you can eject yourself into any other enemy airplane (and... I'm wondering if there's any tricks here, like secret stuff you can hijack) at any time. All you have to do is eject, and have your character hit/land on the plane and you'll have a new ride. These other planes have different characteristics, weapons, etc. When you first eject you don't deploy your chute right away; so you can hop from plane to plane with impunity without losing lives or chutes. This is pretty much the key game mechanic that might not be obvious on the first play or fifty, but I bet it was pretty clear somewhere on the bezel or something! I really like the depth this adds; if you're damaged, do you risk trying to get close to steal an enemy plane, or do you just go ahead and use the chute?

Always be ready to jump when you hit the ground with your chute btw. End of levels; there's a platform that it appears you just have to 'land on' by crashing into it (at least that's what I did, maybe you can eject onto it too) but there's enemies firing at you from it. Arrows will point you to it, and you get a point-bonus at the level end for how many kills you got.

Blammo! 182000

EDIT
Okay, so if you guys will notice, each level is more or less divided into waves of certain types of enemies. If you 'clear' a wave, you get a 20k bonus and an extra parachute. I think I've finally figured out how this game is supposed to work!! I still get spanked by those UFOs tho

WakiMiko · « **Reply #9 on:** May 05, 2015, 06:05:59 pm »

This game is weird as hell. While you are on the ground you can jump and duck. Jumping over your plane gives you 1000 points every time.

291,750

tomstewdevine · « **Reply #10 on:** May 07, 2015, 10:35:52 am »

87,550

Played a couple more games did better, but I'm having trouble jumping planes. Out of the 10 quarters I've put into it, I have yet to successfully jump off my plane and land on another.

j.fitzenr · « **Reply #11 on:** May 07, 2015, 01:50:19 pm »

Get close! I actually don't know if you can land in another plane once your chute is deployed, I haven't managed it... but it looks like crashing into enemy planes either doesn't damage you, or the hitboxes are frickin' tiny as hell. So you can pretty much just run right into them and slap the eject button to hijack.

BorgDog · « **Reply #12 on:** May 09, 2015, 08:16:38 pm »

Bump back up, and post another score.

107,550

WakiMiko · « **Reply #13 on:** May 10, 2015, 09:29:29 am »

Is there any point in jumping into the UFOs or the weird pole guys? They just seem to drag you upwards/into space and kill you.

popsicle · « **Reply #14 on:** May 10, 2015, 11:10:40 am »

177,200

popsicle · « **Reply #15 on:** May 10, 2015, 12:38:42 pm »

375,100

I got 250,000 without even firing a shot. Sped past UFO's, but shot down three first by dumb luck (spazz-ing directions and rapid firing).

popsicle · « **Reply #16 on:** May 10, 2015, 02:23:25 pm »

440,750

UFO's aren't so bad if you just keep going right, shooting, and dodging the mines he lays. For the pigs in helicopters, I go to the top. Plane jumping is still the best way for points - they double each successive one (400,800,1600,3200,6400,12800,25600,51200, then back to 400).

WakiMiko · « **Reply #17 on:** May 10, 2015, 05:13:44 pm »

Nice score Popsicle. How far did you get in your run?

Improved my score to 371,300

popsicle · « **Reply #18 on:** May 10, 2015, 05:47:30 pm »

Not far. I haven't even been 1/2 way to the end.

WakiMiko · « **Reply #19 on:** May 10, 2015, 06:27:22 pm »

574,800!!!

popsicle · « **Reply #20 on:** May 10, 2015, 08:28:47 pm »

514,600

The planes right after the UFOs take all three of my lives. Maybe I should stop plane hopping at that point and just start shooting.

liquidblueflames · « **Reply #21 on:** May 10, 2015, 09:07:27 pm »

Whew man this game is kicking ---my bottom---. Going to give it another go tomorrow

tomstewdevine · « **Reply #22 on:** May 11, 2015, 10:55:49 am »

Nice, so this score I barely shot at all and just did what Popsicle talked about. This game is way more fun now that I'm figuring out the plane jumping part.

112,000

popsicle · « **Reply #23 on:** May 11, 2015, 06:05:56 pm »

585,600

WakiMiko · « **Reply #24 on:** May 11, 2015, 06:29:04 pm »

Argh I almost made it to the end. I was burning and this cat UFO was chasing me. 0 lives and only 1 chute left. Figured I'd just jump to the ground and get a new plane. But I never made it to the ground, instead I landed on the goal platform and got shot

1,114,200

Some tips/observations:

Every once in a while (maybe just before the current "section" ends?) your starting plane comes from behind allowing you to jump on it. It doesn't look like you get points for jumping into it though, but it might advance your jumping chain. Not quite sure. Shooting it gives you only 50 points so it's not worth it to kill it.

Always flying in a straight horizontal line seems to be the best strategy. Almost all planes will enter the screen with the same angle as you, making it WAY easier to jump into them. That's also why it sucks to be burning; your plane jerking up and down causes the other planes to enter at weird angles, making the next jump much harder.

Anyone know what the non-mine-laying UFO does? It shoots you with some kind of laser and causes your plane to blink, but otherwise there doesn't seem to be any negative effect?! I think it might also put a marker on your progess meter (you can see it in my first screenshot).

Mr_Numbers · « **Reply #25 on:** May 11, 2015, 06:42:10 pm »

Keep going WakiMiko, in less than 2 weeks you are a serious contender to make a world record in this game:

http://www.champow.com/game.php?id=497

Rank: 1 Score: 1,445,050 » Player: Antonio Colangelo

WakiMiko · « **Reply #26 on:** May 11, 2015, 08:10:32 pm »

Oh wow, that seems really low. I guess its horribly outdated like pretty much everything on Twin Galaxies. Or maybe really nobody has played this game since 1985?

Played a few more games and improved my score to 1,260,300. ---goshdarn--- cat UFOs.

I recorded that game and the one before it (~900k). It's currently uploading and I will edit this post with the link. Kinda scared of posting it though because I don't think my score is that hard to beat especially once you see how easy it is

Edit: Here it goes:

940k run starts at 0:50, 1.2M run at 8:10

BorgDog · « **Reply #27 on:** May 11, 2015, 08:46:59 pm »

dude, that's crazy! I've tried doing that, just need more skills I guess.

j.fitzenr · « **Reply #28 on:** May 11, 2015, 09:42:39 pm »

Sorry just wanted to post that I've been busy as HELL this weekend and had some medical/family issues but will update the leaderboards, and then learn how to pwn this game, and then destroy all of you, within the next 12-16 hours, so you have been warned.

Mr_Numbers · « **Reply #29 on:** May 11, 2015, 11:30:43 pm »

It probably is outdated but still quite an impressive feat in a weeks time.

tomstewdevine · « **Reply #30 on:** May 12, 2015, 10:11:16 am »

Doing Better.....

234,550

WakiMiko · « **Reply #31 on:** May 12, 2015, 07:15:35 pm »

1,474,400

So, world record I guess??

The bonus for reaching the goal isn't very large:

Another thing I noticed (and that got me that score): When you jump planes again just right after getting the 51,200 in your chain, you will get another 51,200.

Mr_Numbers · « **Reply #32 on:** May 13, 2015, 12:19:07 pm »

I just asked in the old DK forums and when anyone in the retro game community (that I know) looks up this game and WR they find the same old score I do from 1985. Even marp doesn't have this one listed with an updated score yet so you should seriously submit the score, you might be surprised.

Some of these people I asked would be considered experts on retro games and where to look for the record so it does sound possible that your score is higher than any that's been submitted to date.

Send it to Marp!

pbj · « **Reply #33 on:** May 13, 2015, 02:46:34 pm »

Coin Ops on the Xbox brings up the wrong game if you try to play this.

j.fitzenr · « **Reply #34 on:** May 13, 2015, 06:10:59 pm »

Holy crap on a triscuit, Waki. Impressive!

I also can't believe I picked this game, and like, knew maybe 5% of what we've (read as; you guys) have already figured out about it! I'm also glad I'm not the only one that seems to be enjoying this bizarre little game.

WakiMiko · « **Reply #35 on:** May 13, 2015, 06:56:42 pm »

Yeah this definitely is a fun little game. Weird, but in a good way!

I love this high score competition, I keep finding out about cool games that I would never have played otherwise.

Numbers: It might be the WR, but only because nobody seems to be playing this. Way too lazy to submit it to Marp.

Besides, I only have this screenshot. No input or video recording. Thanks a lot for asking around though!

popsicle · « **Reply #36 on:** May 13, 2015, 09:10:37 pm »

715,300

I'll keep trying till I get a mill

BorgDog · « **Reply #37 on:** May 14, 2015, 10:54:46 pm »

Played a few more times got a little better, but I think this is about it for me, it's a fun little game but just can't get into it enough to play more than a few times in a row.

186,900

BorgDog · « **Reply #38 on:** May 16, 2015, 10:52:31 pm »

One more day folks! I'm not in the money, maybe, but I upped my score a little.

237,200

jasonbar · « **Reply #39 on:** May 17, 2015, 06:45:37 pm »

Set up my WingMan RumblePad on my laptop while my cab is inaccessible.

Played this game a few times. Got a few points. Don't understand this.

-J


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