High-Score Competition for some $$$!

[termis]

This idea might die out, but I think it's worth a shot...

So in the spirit of poker night or something similar, I'm thinking about a little shoot-em-up competition, similar to the Spriggan high-score competition that was on this forum some time ago.

The difference?  How about a minimal fee to buy-in via paypal (depending how many people decide to go in -- it could be little as $1, or a lot more, say, much as $20 or so if everyone is super-duper-competitive), and winner collects the entire pool?  Even just a little cash gets the competitive spirit flowing in most people.  I think it could be a lot of fun.

And we can pick a game out of Super HuCard, so that everyone can compete.  A game like Gunhed Special, with its time trial mode, can be especially fitting, considering it's meant exactly for a competition of this sort.

Waddaya think?  Any takers? 

[WoodyXP]

I'd play if the buy in was low.. say like $1.  There'll probably be some integrity issues with some
of the players so I wouldn't want to invest too much.

[nat]

Hmm...

I like the idea. The only issue I have is whatever game you pick, there will always be someone out there who has "mastered" it to one degree or another giving that individual an unfair advantage over everyone else.

Unless we want to do teams, like last time, and and randomly assign people together then use their combined scores. I guess that would be pretty fair.

There would have to be ground rules.

Since we're playing for money, screenshots of scores should be required or you are disqualified. In the same vein, playing via an emulator should be illegal since you could potentially use a save state to your advantage.

With a little structure, I think it's a great idea. I'd be willing to throw in as much as $20 as long as there were some pretty solid rules in place.

[nat]

BTW, you aren't thumpin' anymore? Did your subwoofer break or something?

[termis]

I'd concede that some advantage to certain players really can't be avoided, unless a game that no one has played is selected (unlikely).

I don't particularly like the team approach, as I'd personally like to rely only on myself to win.  Perhaps the final game can be be chosen (within the Super HuCard library) by an impartial user AFTER all buy-ins are decided?  That's about as an equal footing one should expect IMO.

I do agree on the no emulator & photo requirement rule (at least for the top scorer -- the only one that really counts).

I'm more interested in fun than the money -- if the buy-in was pretty low, like $2~$3, anyone else besides us 3 wanna go for it?   

BTW, you aren't thumpin' anymore? Did your subwoofer break or something?

Ah, logging in with such a long id in all these sites was becoming a drag. 

[Keranu]

[termis]

I guess not too much interest.

[nat]

That's too bad. I was excited.

[Ceti Alpha]

Crap, this sounded like fun.

[MissaFX]

I would have been interested, but I am still waiting for my CGII.

[shubibiman]

Sorry, I just play for fun ;)

[Ceti Alpha]

Sorry, I just play for fun ;)

I don't think I would have played for any big money. Maybe Galaga '90 but that's about it. 

[esteban]

I'm just so goddam busy. I didn't even have a chance to play Spriggan for the last competition and life was simpler then.



That said, I'll still try to be a part of anything you folks manage to organize... I just might end up being a "no show" in the end. I'd still contribute a dollar or two to the cause, of course.



We gotta support the community.

[guyjin]

bringing money into things always corrupts them.

[spenoza]

In that case, care to "sell" me some games for free?  ;)

[termis]

Well, shit.  So far, we have:

me
woodyxp
nat
ceti alpha
esteban

You guys wanna do it for like, say $2 each, and see if anyone else jumps on the bandwagon?

[nat]

Sure.

How do we want to do this?

And how do we choose the game?

We don't necessarily have to pick something on the Super HuCard CD provided we all own a copy of whatever game we choose.

[spenoza]

It's too bad emus are out, otherwise I'd ask you all to record (with Camtasia, Hypercam, or something) your play sessions and YouTube them.

[nat]

I refuse to play via emulation, even if it were allowed. Especially in a score competition for money. Somehow, I'm not quite as proficient at playing TurboGrafx games using SHIFT and CONTROL for buttons I and II.

[termis]

Well, here's what I'm thinking. 

THE RULES
- No emulators.  This is to keep the integrity of the competition.
- High score photo must be posted.
- Buy in at $2. Winner takes all.
- Once buy-in period closes, that's it.  One cannot join in late.  This is to prevent those who only buy in after finding out that they have a chance to win.
- Once buy-in period closes, everyone will have 2 weeks to submit their top score.
- Scores posted after closing period will be void. Time stamp on the message used to post the high score shall be used to verify that the score was submitted before closing time.
- Person may submit scores any time before deadline, and multiple times if they bettered their score from a previous try, before the closing of the competition.

And let's just do Gunhed Special on Super Hucard.  For those that don't know this game, it's a 3 or 5 minute time trial, competition-specific version of Gunhed/Blazing Lazers.  Some good reasons for choosing this game:
* We won't have to waste time figuring out who has what, and vast majority of players with real PCE/Turbo hardware can compete.  Just download the small ISO here, and you're ready to go!
* Gunhed/Blazing Lazers is a bad-ass shooter in its own right.
* Low learning curve -- only 1 stage, 5 minute option -- relatively evens out the playing field.  For your info, I actually don't own Gunhed/Blazing Lazers (though I really should!), and haven't played all that much of the game, so I'm not giving myself an advantage either.
* those without too much time (myself included) are more likely to spend 5 minutes here and there to try to get a good score for the competition.

Last Note:
Buy in via by sending US$2 via paypal to me at wspark.usc(at)gmail.com.  Or if folks here want some more established member who's in the pool to manage the money, I'm fine with that as well.  The one who manages the money can begin the competition whenever they think that not too many more people are going to join the pool.

I think I covered mostly everything.  LET'S GET THIS ROLLING!

[nat]

Unless anyone has any objections, I'm cool with termis handling the money. I mean, what are you going to do, run off with my $2 and buy a soda?

Once we have confirmations from everyone to the affirmative, lets send in our cash.

[nat]

So... what happened to everyone?

I'm ready to do this but everyone else disappeared as soon as sending money was mentioned.

[Ceti Alpha]

I have to wait for my Duo to get pimped. lol. But aside from that I'm in.

[esteban]

So... what happened to everyone?

I'm ready to do this but everyone else disappeared as soon as sending money was mentioned.

I don't own $$$$ special edition caravan hucards!

I have tons of shoot-em-ups...

[MissaFX]

So... what happened to everyone?

I'm ready to do this but everyone else disappeared as soon as sending money was mentioned.

I don't own $$$$ special edition caravan hucards!

I have tons of shoot-em-ups...

Doesn't gunhead normally have a 5 minute mode as one of the play options?  Wouldn't this be easier to do that using the special version of the game?

[nat]

So... what happened to everyone?

I'm ready to do this but everyone else disappeared as soon as sending money was mentioned.

I don't own $$$$ special edition caravan hucards!

You don't need to own it. We picked Gunhed Caravan because it is readily available as part of the Super Hucard ISO download.

http://www.zeograd.com/super_hucard_download.php

[termis]

Well as mentioned before, I don't own Gunhed, so I didn't even know that there's a 5 min caravan time attack mode on the regular ol' card.  (and is this mode the same as the "Gunhed Special" on the Super Hucard version?)

If they are indeed the same (and verified to be so), I don't see why one can't play the real card to compete.