Iowa, USAFeel free to resubmit if you can put it in any other form, this just can't be viewed. Throw it in a a Google Drive?
I should also add, Extra Life 1 and 2 will be under "misc." It still shows up on the "Full Runs" leaderboard. That's just how it works. But it won't be the first thing people see and maybe mistake for the primary category.
Hey guys,
Over the next couple days, I'm going to be working on cleaning up the layout of the leaderboards, and that will involve moving a lot of times.
Some of the changes: Main Full Run categories are going to be: Challenge Stage 8 Million Points Stage 255
All 3 of these categories can be seen as a "full game" for different reasons. CS8 is the canon ending of the game and where all Challenge Stages loop. On Namco Collections vol 1 they even added a "Congratulations," and official end and credits to the game. Million points is where Japanese players traditionally ended runs, as once the score rolls, it's impossible to add it to the in-game leaderboard, so score tracking in Japan ended there and the game was considered "beat." And Stage 255 killscreens and crashes the game on default settings, and is one full loop of the game.
I'll be importing all the other times to a Level leaderboard. It will take some time, I'm going to do the categories with the most runs last as to make sure I get them all right and preserve them. I don't know if this will cause a lot of notifications and confusion, but if you get a notification saying you have a new run submitted, that's what it is. It's me migrating everything.
Does this video have no sound? Since this is a 19th place claim and nothing looks out of place, it's probably OK. But a higher placing run, or a repeat omission, would likely result in a rejection. Just keep in mind in case you try to improve it. Either need video with sound or a wolfmame INP file for MAME if the video is lacking something. I'll calc out the time and approve it here shortly.
Hey, I host videos occasionally for some players who don't use Youtube, but stream and save to Twitch. But it's becoming a bit combersome to donwload, reupload, give to them, etc.
Is it acceptable to make a "redirect video" that is a filler, and has links to the games on Twitch in the comments section below?
I cannot comment on this, but I use MAME4Droid and a galaga.zip ROM on my Android phone and it is a 100% legit emulator experience without a PC if you're looking for another option.
I think you're delving well into the realms of being rude.
It is true the tracks tend to run similar, but if you'll simply look at CS 1 vs EL 1, you'll see that your theory is wrong. You have to hit a certain number of 400 pt Bosses in the air on Stages 1 and 2 to have enough points to get the Extra Life before the 10,000 bonus, which comes after the NUMBER OF HITS signifier, something most entries have not done, or have only done by sacrificing time to get doubled up, making it pretty much impossible to get a top time.
There is also the ability to skip Stage 2, which will grant you a very good time, but will not grant you an Extra Life, even after the CS is completed. This is true for CS2 / EL2, as well. Actually, there's a lot to be explored with stage-skipping, which would be a massive separation on points/time. And point pressing isn't a 1:1 thing, there are several hybrid theories and point-per-second exchange points. For instance, you can kill bugs do fast that Triple Bug bonuses don't even spawn. Now, it's almost certainly worth it to kill off the 1000s fast... but not the 3000s, as that's the lions share of a whole new stage. And what about the 2000s?
Your point loses merit as the game progresses. It's most true, but still wrong, for CS1 and gets less true as time goes on.
Why are you so combative on this? What is your expertise on the matter?
@lozplyr89 Thanks for the reply. I have done a lot of research on this topic with some of the top high score players of the game, and knowledgeable people in the arcade community, and we've discovered a lot. Let me clarify a bit based on what I know:
Ports use two sets of words to refer to the "Ranks," and they can be found by a couple of variables in gameplay.
Arcade / Other ports Rank A = "Easy" - ONLY mode where bugs do not shoot on Stage 18 (though they move faster) Rank B = "Normal"/"Medium" - Stage 10 - No shoot NO dive - Stage 18- Bugs shoot, no dive(?) Rank C = "Hard" - Stage 10 - NO shoot NO dive Stage 18+ - Bugs shoot and dive Rank D = "Hardest" - Stage 10+ - Bugs shoot and dive, full speed
Nobody plays B/Normal/Medium much, so I'm not aboslutely sure but the difference is at Stage 18. Anyway, original arcade units and Arcade1Ups came on A/Easy. Class of 81, multicades, and some console ports come on B/Normal/Medium, others on A.
Typically C and D must be changed in settings or dip switches. D/"Hardest" is never default settings to my knowledge, and that's what I wanted to correct. "Default" is a word that should never be used to describe Rank D/ "Hardest" settings. It is only known as common settings because for Marathon and Tournament tracks, that's what it is but that is not the same as Default. Galaga is one of the weirdest tracks in that high scores were originally not done on Default settings to avoid the killscreen that occurs on Ranks A and C. But everyone who has a machine on D has had to open it up and flip the dip switches to change it to that. That's why the category was dead for a while, good luck walking in to an arcade and finding a machine on those settings or a willing participant to let you go back there and poke around at their board.
smkrogman's Stage 255 run is on D. After the grid, it flashes the settings and you can see it say, upside down, "Rank D." Sintec's times show "Rank A" at the same time/place. I would post screenshots, but I'm not sure how besides uploading them to imgur so I'll have to do it a little later.
Again, personally, I think it's simpler to just allow all difficulty settings. The differences speed-wise are minor and not well calculated. There are advantages and disadvantages and if something wins out, people can gravitate towards it, just like they do for ports of games with different languages, etc in other game categories.
@Sintec that will be for the moderators to decide. I think Rank A is the most honest interpretation of "Default," but the truth is it is not default on all ports. Rank D is most certainly not "Default" on anything, especially not MAME. It is just what old Twin Galaxies tracks used for Marathon and Tournament points settings, which I think was a colossally confusing and limiting decision IMO. On top of being non-default, and something most people don't have access to in an arcade, there is just so little difference between them. Nobody is 5 million points or several minutes better on A over D, the differences entirely disappear at Stage 32. Many of them start on "normal," which is "B." So I guess to me the rules are just unclear.
EDIT: I think your records should stand and are fine. The way things are written vs the reality of ports and settings just needs to be clarified
And to be clear, this run: https://www.speedrun.com/galaga/run/yo24vw7z is done on Rank D : "Hardest" and is clearly displayed at the beginning of the run. As the rules currently stand, it should not have been accepted. Again, I, personally, don't have a problem with that, or even a problem with allowing all settings A-D, Easy-Hardest as the differences are negligible and yet to be proven conclusively. I just want to point out there is an inconsistency.
Taking a look at the current World Record, the settings, which sho at 0:03 are Rank A, which is the easiest, and which I agree are the "default," though lots of ports start on B, or "Normal." Many consoles, and Class of 81, for instance.
I was just confused by this: "If you run an official copy of the game whether be a port, or a legitimate arcade rom, these settings are typically the ones that are fresh when you start, and does not involve messing with any dip switches or settings in the in game menus.
The default settings are
Lives: Start with 3, get one for 20k points, one for 70k points, then everyone after is 70k points
Difficulty: Hardest If I recall correctly some Namco Arcade Ports sometimes don't point this out as hardest, but an easy way to check this is, if after round 1, and every round after enemies fire at you as they come in for formation. So I'd suggest playing rounds 1-3 and paying attention to what it is, if not change it till you get to the correct one.
These settings are essentially the "fresh out of the box" rules for Galaga and these are the important ones that are checked for verifying runs."
Difficulty: Hardest is D, not A, so I just wanted to be clear about the settings. I assume they are A/Easy 3_20k/70k/70k
EDIT: Other ways you can tell it is A/Easy is it is the only setting where bugs do not fire on Stage 18, though that's not applicable for a couple of the tracks
We have recently been having head to head races to 1 million. Can we also make that a track on here?
We have been playing on "any rank/difficulty." I know someone had said "Hardest" is default settings in another thread, but this not true across ports. Most ports start on "Normal" or Rank B. Arcade1Up emulators and many others start on Rank A. It's unclear if the original were A or B, but I believe they were A. At the time, B was not called normal, it was called "2nd level of difficulty."
D way only used because it was arbitrarily decided that's what should be played for two tracks, Marathon and Tournament settings. A and C will reach a Killscreen at level 0, B and D will continue forever.
... So the moral of the story is "it's complicated." We've recently moved more towards inclusion, i.e. our group let's anyone play on any settings, since the default settings were likely the easiest, and if you want to make things harder on yourself, more power to you. There is a slight chance you actually gain a speed advantage at higher ranks since bugs come out faster earlier, but that's as of yet unproven.
For Race to 1 Million on this board, I'd accept any decision. If you want the consistency of Rank D for all, that's cool. If you want to make it "any%" style like we already play, that's cool, too.
