44 replies to this topic

[Ze_ro]

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted.

Here you are, at the olympics, about to go for the gold. You never thought you'd make it this far, but the cheer of the crowd and the cold bite of the wind remind you that it's real. Don't forget all the advice your coach taught you. The only thing standing between you and a record time is that tree!

Game Information

Game Name: Skiing Released By: Activision, 1980 Left Difficulty: B / Novice Right Difficulty: B / Novice Game Mode: Game 3 - Slalom, 30 gates, Expert Run Chosen By: Zoyx Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday December 30th at 1:00 AM (CST).

Current High Scores 27.96s (Zoyx) [+11] [+1] 27.99s (toymailman) [+10] [+1] 28.01s (Carey85) [+9] [+1] 28.04s (shadow460) [+8] [+1] 28.32s (aftermac) [+7] 28.41s (JacobZu7zu7) [+6] 28.67s (LarcenTyler) [+5] 29.92s (darthkur) [+4] 30.89s (roadrunner) [+3] 31.77s (4Ks) [+2] 33.17s (chuckwalla) [+1] 33.72s (MisterVCS) [+1] Best Tips shadow460 [+2] Challenges Patch Challenge - Ski Team - Finish with a time of 28.20s or lower and you get 1 bonus point! TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 3, Difficulty B) 27.51 (Todd Rogers) 27.96 (Douglas C Korekach) 27.97 (David B Yancey)

Current Standings toymailman [175] Zoyx [125] darthkur [101] shadow460 [99] Atardi [84] Deteacher [81] CebusCapucinis [71] vjames [71] aftermac [62] Captain Beard [61] roadrunner [57] godzillajoe [56] oyamafamily [42] keilbaca [42] Vectorman0 [29] homerwannabee [26] JacobZu7zu7 [26] Hornpipe2 [25] SpiceWare [24] Wickeycolumbus [22] Carey85 [19] LarcenTyler [19] pis [19] 4Ks [18] devwebcl [13] Mister VCS [13] Nathan Strum [11] LoneWolfSeth [10] LaserHawk [10] Tr3vor [9] kote [8] Animan [6] MIKE5200 [4] Skaarg [4] chuckwalla [3] Shannon [2] jeremysart [2] vintagegamecrazy [2] sloth713 [2] jjd [2] ChrisKoopa [1] SeaGtGruff [1] Impaler_26 [1] Nati [1] disjuakifa [1]

Scoring Points in Skiing

You do not score points in Skiing, rather you are judged based on the time it took to complete the run. Running into obstacles slows you down, while skiing straight down will cause you to go very fast.

Hints and Tips

The Manual

As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a scanned copy and a typed copy available online. Here are the hints it provides:

• The keys to success in Skiing by ACTIVISION, just as in real skiing, are learning to control the tips of your skis and anticipating and avoiding trouble.
  
• Keep your skis pointed as straight down the hill as possible. The less you traverse across the slope, the faster you'll make it to the bottom.
  
• Pick your line through the trees and gates by constantly looking ahead of your position toward the bottom of the screen. When you see the next set of treesand/or gates, point your skis to miss the trees or pass through the gates. Of course, the more you ski any particular hill, the more familiar with it you will become. To get the fastest times, you must memorize the run and ski the shortest possible route down the hill or through the gates.
  
• When you want to maneuver, I suggest you tap your Joystick lightly to the right or left to move your skis or change direction, rather than push heavily on the stick. There are 8 different positions for your skis (see my diagram below) and 15 different directions you can go (downhill plus two possible angles for each left or right ski position).
  
• We're organizing an Activision Ski Team. To qualify, you must run slalom course 3 (Game 3) in under 28.2 seconds. If you break that time, send us a picture of the screen and we will enroll you as a member. And if you break 28 seconds, consider yourself Olympic caliber.
  
• Of course, not everyone wants to ski down a hill in record time. Some of you may just like to ski back and forth and down the hill at your own pace. Go ahead, if you wish.

It's also worth pointing out that we played this game once before back in Season 3 (Though it was a different game mode).

shadow460

Try using the paddles. I put my fingers on the fire buttons. When I pushed on the skier went left, when I pushed the other, the skier went right. Fingers work faster than thumbs (ask any Quiz Bowl coach). Once you figure out which is which, just memorize the number of presses to go from angle to angle. You should only use four angles: One to make the skier go left, one to go right, and two to travel straight. If ever the skis look like they're not pointed downhill, you've lost time.

--Zero

[JacobZu7zu7]

1st run... 0:30.27----check out the pretty colors.

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by JacobZu7zu7, Wed Dec 23, 2009 12:30 PM.

[4Ks]

0:31.77

Edited by 4Ks, Wed Dec 23, 2009 12:24 PM.

[128bytes]

ooh, Skiing, game 3B -- I may have to rejoin the club

[LarcenTyler]

0:29.82

(Formatted to look proper.)

Edited by LarcenTyler, Wed Dec 23, 2009 1:31 PM.

[Zoyx]

27.97 - PATCH! The patch time is 28.20... should give +2 for getting that time.

[roadrunner]

0:30:89

[Zoyx]

Twin Galaxies is back up...

Todd Rogers - 27.51 (How the heck did he do that?)
Douglas C Korekach - 27.96
David B Yancey - 27.97

I just did 27.96 - I think that ties my teenager hi-score.

[oyamafamily]

Zoyx, on Wed Dec 23, 2009 3:51 PM, said:

Twin Galaxies is back up...

Todd Rogers - 27.51 (How the heck did he do that?)
Douglas C Korekach - 27.96
David B Yancey - 27.97

I just did 27.96 - I think that ties my teenager hi-score.

Skiing3b-27.96.JPG

Twin Galaxies Top 3 - Game 1, Difficulty B, NTSC (Fastest Time)
32.720 - Jonathan A Ewing / Tom Duncan / Frankie Cardulla
32.730 - David B Yancey / John Drake / Marc Cohen

Twin Galaxies Top 3 - Game 1, Difficulty B, EMULATOR (Fastest Time)
32.770 - Rodrigo Lopes
32.780 - Robert Macauley
32.800 - Giavanni Flamand

ZOYX, the records on Skiing for Atari 2600 (with Todd Rogers on first place) refer to variation Game 3, Difficulty B and console on NTSC color system.

[Zoyx]

@oyamafamily - We are playing variation 3b.

[aftermac]

28.52

[Zoyx]

A video of me doing a run is below. I usually use a Wico bat, but this is definitely a game that requires a tight joystick... so back to the old CX-40 for me. As you can see on the vid, no need for hard cutting to get through the course. Just well-timed subtle leans here and there. Good idea to pre-orient your skier in anticipation of the next set of gates you need to lean toward.

http://www.flickr.co...N07/4210255770/

Edited by Zoyx, Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:39 PM.

[toymailman]

Tied my all time best.
28.01


Hopefully, I can break 28 sometime during this week.

How the heck did Todd Rogers get 27.51?!?! I can see how a 27.96 is possible because my 28.01 wasn't perfect. Coulda cut some flags a pixel or two closer and saved a minor amount of drift. I can easily see how a few hundreths are still possible, but nothing will get me a whole half-second lower.

[shadow460]

0:28.04 ... using the paddles. I put my fingers on the fire buttons. When I pushed on the skier went left, when I pushed the other, the skier went right. Fingers work faster than thumbs (ask any Quiz Bowl coach). Once you figure out which is which, just memorize the number of presses to go from angle to angle. You should only use four angles: One to make the skier go left, one to go right, and two to travel straight. If ever the skis look like they're not pointed downhill, you've lost time.

WARNING: This run rated ****. Ski fast or don't ski at all!

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by shadow460, Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:20 AM.

[Zoyx]

Just got my foot pedals a couple days ago. I should see how coordinated my feet are.

[Mister VCS]

0:38.46 0:33.74

...never played this cartridge before

Edited by Mister VCS, Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:16 AM.

[LarcenTyler]

Getting closer to that 0:28.20 record time. For now, we'll have to settle for 0:28.67

[aftermac]

28.39

[toymailman]

Woo Hoo! Finally broke 28!

27.99

[Carey85]

28.22

I'm hoping to better that and at least win myself an imaginary Activision patch .

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by Carey85, Fri Dec 25, 2009 4:56 PM.

[4Ks]

Mini table time!

Zoyx 27.96
toymailman 27.99
shadow460 28.04
Carey85 28.22
aftermac 28.39
LarcenTyler 28.67
JacobZu7zu7 29.45
roadrunner 30.89
4Ks 31.77
Mister VCS 38.46

*EDIT* Corrections made.

Edited by 4Ks, Fri Dec 25, 2009 9:23 PM.

[JacobZu7zu7]

4Ks, on Fri Dec 25, 2009 7:00 PM, said:

Mini table time!

Zoyx 27.96
toymailman 27.99
shadow460 28.04
Carey85 28.22
aftermac 28.39
Mister VCS 28.46
LarcenTyler 28.67
roadrunner 30.89
4Ks 31.77

Hmmm aren't you missing someone? Also Mister's score is 38.46, not 28.46My new second score 0:29:45

Edited by JacobZu7zu7, Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:15 PM.

[Carey85]

28.06

I managed to trim a little bit off of my earlier time... still not good enough for 3rd . I ended up with 28.06 multiple times this morning, so I don't know if I'll be able to beat myself or not at this point.

[Atarian7]

Zoyx, on Wed Dec 23, 2009 3:51 PM, said:

Twin Galaxies is back up...

Todd Rogers - 27.51 (How the heck did he do that?)
Douglas C Korekach - 27.96
David B Yancey - 27.97

I just did 27.96 - I think that ties my teenager hi-score.

Skiing3b-27.96.JPG

Todd Rogers didn't do that. I've had a bounty up on twin galaxies for many months now for
27.80 and no one has claimed it yet because it is not possible.

[Zoyx]

Atarian7, on Sat Dec 26, 2009 11:37 AM, said:

Todd Rogers didn't do that. I've had a bounty up on twin galaxies for many months now for
27.80 and no one has claimed it yet because it is not possible.

Yeah, I call BS as well. Only way to do 27.51 is to find an exploit. I would believe 27.91. I had room for improvement on my 27.96 run. I sent a PM to Todd via AtariAge, asking how he did it... no response so far.