Extreme Robotron trick: 9 wave special

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So by now some of you realize I've been looking for people that enjoy Robotron, so they can contribute to my little website experiment. And it has provided the pleasure of meeting some really fun characters in the hobby.

Have you met "(+_+)" from BYOAC, yet?
(If not, his robo-bio is under Introduction>Robotron Players on my site.)
The guy plays "extreme" master level robotron on difficulty 10.

Here is a tip he contributed that I've just gotta share. Crazy, crazy, crazy skill level.

BONUS TRICK- Nine Wave Special-
•This trick provided by "(+_+)" from BYOAC.
•You need to break out of the center on the grunt wave (9, 19, 29,... etc waves).
•Let's say straight downword, proceed into one of the corners.
•Let's say the bottom, right hand corner and then break through the grunts once again by going diagonally up towards the left.
•It can be insane especially on the harder difficulties since the grunts tend to "leap".
•If done correctly, it appears as though the grunts are melting up against you because you are shooting them at such close range.
•Sometimes it is easy, sometimes impossible and sometimes you experience a "Nine Wave Special with Meltations".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBZ8QaxQ3VY
(Wave 9 starts at the 2:40 mark)

That is difficulty setting on 10! (using non-current version of mame which is over twice as fast a real machine no less...oi vay!)
 
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That was incredible. Man there are some dedicated talented game players out there. Too bad I am not one of them. But I am having fun trying.
 
Wave 9 is a wave that you can usually go through and not lose a life. Just find the biggest opening and move towards the edge and then kind of move around in a circle while shooting non-stop. That way you can pick up the humans as you move along. That's pretty much the strategy for this wave every time it comes up.

These waves are all very early in game and a good player can usually go well past these without losing many lives, if any. I'd say the player in that video is an average Robotron player. Plus this was not the arcade game that was being played. A game that is not played on the original machine does not count. Being able to move faster than the original game make the game easier, not harder.
 
uhhhh, right...... the player is not moving faster. the poor blitter emulation is causing the enemy projectiles to be twice as fast.

thanks for the insights, though.

UPDATE-
I understand that some people see MAME in a poor light compared to the real William's boards and can respect that. Playing Robotron should be about bringing enjoyment in the challenge, same as playing chess. Some people like playing humans, some like playing computers. It's all good. :)

But, If you enjoy that last video. Check this out. extreme player from the UK who plays level 10 and uses a cheap joystick/4 button stick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVboj6BgzUc&feature=g-upl
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Hey Jon, when I was still working on building skills at Robotron you had written this in a thread in June 2011.

"I am of the opinion that the average person can score 1-2 million on this game but to do better it takes someone with better than average eye hand coordination and reflexes"

After I learned to hit 10 million, and I'm a very average player on any level. I would challenge that the statement isn't completely accurate. Here is some inspiration I wrote on the site to help people overcome frustrations to keep the game fun.
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Know thy opponent. Know thy self. And you will fear not the results of battle. -ancient wisdom
Invincibility is in the defense. Possibility of victory in the attack. -ancient wisdom
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the fastest route to defeat. -ancient wisdom

General Plateaus of progress-
• Wave 1-4 - Gaining basic familiarity with the joysticks
• Wave 5 – The strategies to deal with Brains
• Wave 7 – How to deal with Tank projectiles
• Wave 9-10 – Getting out of the Grunt mob and a fast Brain stage
• Wave 12-17 – Mastering the strategies for Tanks
• Wave 22-28 – Dealing with fast gameplay of mixed enemies
• Wave 32-50 – Learning the pace of the repeated waves and finding your own comfortable style of play
• Wave 100 – Perfecting your game strategy to keep from bleeding off your extra men
• Wave 200 – Stamina and staying focused for extended periods
• After wave 200 you'll be ready to roll the waves at 255 then roll the score at 9,999,975 around wave 350.

• At some point you will become frustrated and believe that your reflexes are inadequate. Don't believe your instincts. When you have maxed out your reflexes (defense), you simply need to figure out a better strategy for dealing with the wave (offense). Watch the World Record videos and observe that the masterful technique being used allows the player to move at a comfortable pace.
• Keep your Spirit strong- Robotron is the ultimate game of redemption. You'll be ontop, then get beat down, and if you have heart you'll get back up and triumph. "Robotron won't break my spirit today." Humans love a comeback story. Hulk Hogan used it in the WWF ring, the Rocky sequels used it, Ali's boxing career, Ultimate fighting champs Randy C and Iceman Chuck L, computer giant Apple's iphone is an example. The list is long of warriors who came back from the bottom to achieve greatness. Dare i call it the Charlie Sheen factor?….winning!

Overcoming Plateaus - using "Reflex Confusion"
• Spend a day or two practicing in these parameters:
• Set starting men at 20 and hardness at 0. This will build confidence and let you push to waves beyond your skill level.
• Set hardness to 10. This will push your twitch reflex skills to new boundaries
• Set starting men to 5 with no free men on hardness setting 5. This will force your precision at the early waves.
• Set starting men at 20 and hardness at 10. How far can you get?
• Then go back to the usual format of starting with 3 men and hardness 5. Surprise, your skills are much better now!
 
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So by now some of you realize I've been looking for people that enjoy Robotron, so they can contribute to my little website experiment. And it has provided the pleasure of meeting some really fun characters in the hobby.

Where do I sign up?

Here is my Robotron resume:

1. I play at least 3 nights a week, 2-3 games per night (any more and I start sweating profusely).
2. My current high score is 1.5M.
3. Robotron recently replaced Donkey Kong as my favorite game of all time.
4. I have owned the game in both upright and cabaret form. Maybe one day I will complete the trifecta with a Robotron cocktail!

Am I in the club?

Steve
MM
 
ha, I never thought of it as a club.
but everyone is invited.
I've added your bio.
By the way, the formal questions are here with my email address, incase you want to update it. If you have a link to your gameplay I'll add that too. (see some of the master level player bio's. some of you guys are insanely good.)

http://www.robotron2084guidebook.com/?page_id=435

Where do I sign up?

Here is my Robotron resume:

1. I play at least 3 nights a week, 2-3 games per night (any more and I start sweating profusely).
2. My current high score is 1.5M.
3. Robotron recently replaced Donkey Kong as my favorite game of all time.
4. I have owned the game in both upright and cabaret form. Maybe one day I will complete the trifecta with a Robotron cocktail!

Am I in the club?

Steve
MM
 
Finally experienced a "meltation" today!

Been playing on difficulty 10 trying to re-learn the game at that pace.
On wave 8, the grunts bunched up and sped up right in time with my player when I was beside them.
All of a sudden I was side by side with the grunts exploding, moving at an angle. Felt like they were melting by touching me.
That is a crazy experience.

If you haven't seen the video above, check it out.
 
Man I feel so inadequate watching redelf. That dude is on fire.

Getting all of the player bio's lately, it is no doubt there are some very high level players out there. It's like the master player brains are on a different playing field than the rest of us.

Reminds me of going to college with a feeling that I was acceptably smart, then sitting in class with people that were so smart it was boggling. I'd study like crazy and do decent on a test but they'd walk in and Ace every test effortlessly. Some of these robotron players are like that. much respect.

Here is what Walter Day wrote on the subject-

Of all games of the Golden Age, to me Robotron was the perfect game — the game that challenged "fast-reaction-time," "eye-hand-coordination," "mind-body-coordination" and "deep comprehensive thinking." The gamer need to have all these facets completely developed or they would not survive very long in the gameplay. And, the champions were the ones who could clearly understand the dynamics on the screen at a deeper, more intuitive level, than their less-gifted counterparts. To survive, you had to instantaneously recognize the "next-best-maneuver" in order to move from screen to screen without losing your man. This "deep-thinking" was even rare among champion Robotron players. -5/29/2012
 
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