Re: Tempest Multigame (behaviour)

On Wed, 26 May 1999 16:46:57 -0700, you wrote:

>> Just because the first player walks away, doesn't make the high-score
>> list a bad metric of a player's skill. It just means he walked away!
> [...]
>> Take my challenge, start at any level and tell us the highest score
>> you could acheive, you'll see what I mean.
>>
>I think we just have a philosophical difference here. It's the old
>"elegance" vs. "brute force" problem. I just have it engrained in my
>head that someone that can walk up to the machine, play a single game
>and get 19,500 points is a better player than someone that gets 20,000
>points after playing it 20 times.
>
>I will agree that if both players are willing to play to the point where
>it takes "30 or 40 games to finally make it through a level once" you'd
>probably find the better player. What I don't agree with is that in a
>setting where there are many players on the machine that the high-score
>shows who's better.
>
>Give a "good" player one quarter and let him play one game. Give an
>"average" player 100 quarters and let him play and continue. I think at
>least some of the time the average player will be able to oust the good
>player's score.

Give the first player two quarters and your premise falls apart. If
you allow the first player to restart at least once, the second player
will never beat his score, unless by using 100 quarters he improves
his playing skills. Part of "rules' playing Tempest is that you must
always do one restart after making it to your highest level, by doing
so it puts you on a level playing field with someone who has a 100
quarters.

>That leads me to believe that at some point the
>high-score list will have an "average" player that's willing to spend
>$25 ranked above a "good" player than only needed $.25 for the same
>feat.

Nope. Trust me, I spent $$$'s of dollars playing Tempest it don't
work that way.
>
>Looks like the high-score list doesn't equate to a high-skill list to
>me. ;-)

Your premise was wrong, hence your conclusion is flawed.

I think I just figured out the confusion here! You think someone can
buy there way to a high score on Tempest!

Do you know about the "fall back catch"?

On Tempest if you do not make it through a level when restarting, you
cannot try again to restart at that level, instead it falls back 3 to
9 levels, you get no bonus points, and you must try restart at the new
(much less bonus point) level, and if you don't make it there, you
fall back yet another 3 to 9 levels. This is what keeps you from
*buying* your way to a High score on Tempest.

You have Tempest confused with some type of JAMMA, play as you pay
game.

Let's say a player has the skills to only make it to level 20
consistently. I allow him to start at level 80.

He won't make, and the next time he restarts he's only allowed level
72, he won't make it, then level 65 (I don't remember the real
levels), he make be able squeek through around level 27 or so where
he'll get level 27's bonus points, but thats really not that much
better than were he was and certainly reflects his skill level.

You cannot BUY points in Tempest. A level 20 player cannot BUY his
way to level 40! The software simply does not allow it! It's like
physics or math! The only way he can make it to level 40 is by
practicing.

That's what is so cool and addicting about Tempest, you can't just buy
points! If you see a 700,000 point score on Tempest you know the only
way the score was put there was by someone getting bonus points at a
700,000 point level. Regardless of how much or little money it took,
that guy is a damned good player!

-Zonn
Received on Wed May 26 19:18:18 1999