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Robotron CPU performance in relation to marathoning?
I'll forward this 2 weeks old post by another member, "1500points", from the Twin Galaxies forums. I'd like to hear if anyone here could shed some more light on this?
(I've been thinking about wether this could be done for Defender (Williams 1980) - to create a super fast machine, without the lag and disappearing enemies. Played on the Blue/Green roms, and set to maximum difficulty (99-99), this would be a monster!)
(Link to the thread here: Robotron CPU performance in relation to marathoning? http://forums.twingalaxies.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=26839)
I recently acquired a Robotron which I'm trying to stabilize so Tim Nibbler McVey can start marathoning. I'm looking for some technical insight about these observations.
Background:
I know from playing 19in1 Robotron PCB and xbox 360 robotron, that those versions have some inconsistencies from the real game.
--The player moves a bit slower in relation to the enemies.
--The speed of the projectiles is a lot faster and the amount of projectiles put on screen is greater.
--On xbox the speed of the hulks is faster.
--by wave 28 the game is wickedly hard.
--personally watching Todd R. and Tim M, who are marathon level players on real robotron, they too struggle by the 20 series of waves.
--I have attributed this to running the program in a faster/more efficient processor environment.
In playing 2 real robotrons this year, and watching the Redelf million point game on youtube, I know that
--the speed of the projectiles isn't as great for the tanks, as 19-1
--the aggressiveness of the brain's projectiles is much less than 19-1
--the time it takes the brains and tanks to create projectiles is affected by the cpu performance.
--on busy screens like brain waves the cpu seriously bogs down to very slow.
--much like joust, the cpu slowdown gives you time to really pick off the enemy before they can react.
--the result is that the tank wave in the early 30 wave on real robotron is EASIER than tank wave 7 on 19in1 Robotron.
Observations on real robotron:
--I have 2 original CPUs. One came from a joust (has a service sticker from 1994 that indicates it was in a stargate at one point in time) Other is the early stargate rev b board that has jumper wires to make it compatible with later games like robotron.
--both cpu's have original parts, but some of the ram chips were faulty on one board
--the same 24 old but working 4116 ram chips in either cpu created same performance as per above. (bogs down during heavy screen enemies)
--i put in about 10 4164 converted ram chips from Real Bob Roberts. cpu performance the same
--so then i put in 2 brand new video decoder chips and 24 brand new 4116 ram chips from real bob roberts.
--hardness setting at default of 5.
--the cpu performance immediately increased so the game didn't bog down as much. the projectiles became more prolific and fast. I'd say it double the hardness level of the real game so it is more on par with 19-1 robotron on setting 1.
So how do you explain this. If the age/brand of Rom can greatly affect the performance I've observed it seriously changes the level of play needed to marathon the game.
Who has a technical explanation for these observations?
by the way, I wasn't a robotron player in the 80s. only learned it this year after hearing Eugene J. speak at the milwaukee pinball show. i'm about a wave 28 player on 19 in 1 robotron. I've hit wave 58 on real robotron. same skills but greatly different outcomes depending on the game platform.
I'll forward this 2 weeks old post by another member, "1500points", from the Twin Galaxies forums. I'd like to hear if anyone here could shed some more light on this?
(I've been thinking about wether this could be done for Defender (Williams 1980) - to create a super fast machine, without the lag and disappearing enemies. Played on the Blue/Green roms, and set to maximum difficulty (99-99), this would be a monster!)
(Link to the thread here: Robotron CPU performance in relation to marathoning? http://forums.twingalaxies.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=26839)
I recently acquired a Robotron which I'm trying to stabilize so Tim Nibbler McVey can start marathoning. I'm looking for some technical insight about these observations.
Background:
I know from playing 19in1 Robotron PCB and xbox 360 robotron, that those versions have some inconsistencies from the real game.
--The player moves a bit slower in relation to the enemies.
--The speed of the projectiles is a lot faster and the amount of projectiles put on screen is greater.
--On xbox the speed of the hulks is faster.
--by wave 28 the game is wickedly hard.
--personally watching Todd R. and Tim M, who are marathon level players on real robotron, they too struggle by the 20 series of waves.
--I have attributed this to running the program in a faster/more efficient processor environment.
In playing 2 real robotrons this year, and watching the Redelf million point game on youtube, I know that
--the speed of the projectiles isn't as great for the tanks, as 19-1
--the aggressiveness of the brain's projectiles is much less than 19-1
--the time it takes the brains and tanks to create projectiles is affected by the cpu performance.
--on busy screens like brain waves the cpu seriously bogs down to very slow.
--much like joust, the cpu slowdown gives you time to really pick off the enemy before they can react.
--the result is that the tank wave in the early 30 wave on real robotron is EASIER than tank wave 7 on 19in1 Robotron.
Observations on real robotron:
--I have 2 original CPUs. One came from a joust (has a service sticker from 1994 that indicates it was in a stargate at one point in time) Other is the early stargate rev b board that has jumper wires to make it compatible with later games like robotron.
--both cpu's have original parts, but some of the ram chips were faulty on one board
--the same 24 old but working 4116 ram chips in either cpu created same performance as per above. (bogs down during heavy screen enemies)
--i put in about 10 4164 converted ram chips from Real Bob Roberts. cpu performance the same
--so then i put in 2 brand new video decoder chips and 24 brand new 4116 ram chips from real bob roberts.
--hardness setting at default of 5.
--the cpu performance immediately increased so the game didn't bog down as much. the projectiles became more prolific and fast. I'd say it double the hardness level of the real game so it is more on par with 19-1 robotron on setting 1.
So how do you explain this. If the age/brand of Rom can greatly affect the performance I've observed it seriously changes the level of play needed to marathon the game.
Who has a technical explanation for these observations?
by the way, I wasn't a robotron player in the 80s. only learned it this year after hearing Eugene J. speak at the milwaukee pinball show. i'm about a wave 28 player on 19 in 1 robotron. I've hit wave 58 on real robotron. same skills but greatly different outcomes depending on the game platform.
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