EAB/Lemon Super League Rules and FAQ

[Graham Humphrey]

EAB/Lemon Super League Rules and FAQ

This thread will tell you everything you need to know about the Super League.

The first post is for newbies to get a feel for what goes on.
The second post is a more detailed breakdown of the rules.
The third post is a schedule of when the 2017 rounds will be played.
The fourth post is for the separate knockout tournament at the end of the year.

You don't have to read all this in order to play, although it is advised. The very basic rules to get started are always at the beginning of every thread. For more information this should be your first stop, and will hopefully answer all questions.

What is the EAB/Lemon Super League?
Simple. Everyone plays the same game for three weeks and the person with the highest score wins. Players get points for each round that go towards a year long championship. One player will be crowned champion at the end of the year.

What's so super about the Super League?
It brings the Amiga community together. Gamers from the websites Lemon Amiga and EAB all play together from their own forum. In every round the site with the highest average submitted scores gets a point. At the end of the year the site with the most points is declared the winner.

How do you choose the games?
Everyone gets a say in the matter. There are voting threads for each round, where you can vote for five games you'd like to play (that haven't been played before). The game(s) with the most votes gets played in the next round.

How do I take part?
Easy. Firstly get yourself either a real Amiga or an emulator like WinUAE or E-UAE. The current round thread will tell you which game to play, give links to where it's available, link to manuals (if they are online), and tell you any extra rules for that game. To enter take a screenshot of your highscore (or a photo of your tv/monitor screen if you're using a real Amiga) and post it in the game thread. You can use free image hosting sites like Imageshack or Photobucket to post your scores. Don't forget to vote for the next round's game too.

Where do I post my screenshot, Lemon or EAB?
The time has come to choose young padawan. You can either post here at EAB, or defect to the evil ways of Lemon. If you're reading this, the chances are you want to join the good ship EAB, otherwise you will be forever known as a traitor. You can still join the other site and chat (or taunt), but you must only post your scores to the one you want to win. The Moderators will bring all the scores together, so they can be seen at a glance in the current game thread.

Where can I get ROMs for this competition?
If you mean Kickstart ROMs (that you need to get the emulator up and running) then we’re not allowed to distribute them due to copyright, but they are available. They can be bought from Cloanto's Amiga Forever Package, or there are some disreputable free outlets for those who take time to search and enquire. Game disk images (and - where applicable - WHDLoad pre-installed versions) will be linked to in each round.

What are Special Rounds?
There are four special rounds over the season. In them we narrow the options for voting (except for one where it is actually expanded), and increase the number of games played that round. It makes a nice change of pace, and more championship points are available. The voting thread and round thread will describe the special round changes in the first post. So make sure you read it.

And what about Open Rounds?
There are three of these over the season, in which any game can be voted for, regardless of whether we've played it already or not - the total opposite of Special Rounds, if you like. This is to allow our more recent converts to play some of the classics and for old times' sake for the veterans.

Why should I play?
Because it's fun! You get to meet new people, really talk about the game you’re playing, and learn many of its secrets. It gives you a good reason to play a game you might not know very well. You might even discover a gem you've never heard of before. And it keeps you in touch with the Amiga, even if you only have a little time for it. There are no prizes on offer for winning, but imagine the looks you’ll command from people in the street. That just cannot be measured in money.

I missed a few rounds, should I bother joining in?
Of course you should! It’s all for fun, and not all about the League anyway. If you only fancy playing certain games then dip in when you like. The regular players like to see new people. Besides, everyone had to start at some point, and you’ll really get into it once you start.

I finished bottom and only scored one point. Should I quit?
No way. Over the 14 rounds there are a total of 18 different games played. Plenty of chances to score some points and get on the leader board. Most of all, just enjoy each round as it comes, and after a while those points will stack up. Remember, it's a relaxed friendly league.

I still have questions...
No problem. The next post has a more detailed description of the rules. Keep reading.

[Graham Humphrey]

This is a longer, more detailed description for anyone that wants a more precise answer to how things work. It's a lot simpler than it looks.

Super League Structure
The Super League consists of fourteen rounds played across the year over two separate legs.

(2 weeks voting)
Leg 1 = Rounds 1-7 (21 weeks play)
(2 weeks break)
(2 weeks voting)
Leg 2 = Rounds 8-14 (21 weeks play)
(4/5 weeks break)

Each round lasts for 3 weeks, starting on a Sunday. The round officially starts at 00:01 GMT on the Sunday, and end at 23:59 GMT on the saturday three weeks later. A thread will appear later in the day to reflect this (obviously we can't all hang around stopping and starting threads on the dot of midnight). Rounds are played back to back with voting taking place alongside in a separate thread (see the voting section).

There are also three special rounds over the course of the year, in which two games are played instead of one - see the special rounds section a bit later on.

At the end of the year the player with the most points overall will be named Champion, and the winning website crowned, and both showered in glory and jealousy.

The gap between seasons will be four (or five, depending on the format of the Knockout tournament) weeks over the New Year period. That's the maths of it.

Players should vote and submit their scores to only one website (Lemon or EAB), making them a part of that 'team'. It is okay to register at the other site and chat though, in fact it is a lot of fun, so do.
Any scores submitted must have been played and posted during the named time period (see season schedule below).
Any scores submitted before or after the round will not be counted.

Voting
Each new Leg will begin with a voting thread for the next round. After this, the voting threads for the next round will be started on the same day as the current round. Voting lasts for two weeks.

To vote you choose any five different games you would like to play and put them in order of preference. Please remember to try and choose games that will be suitable for competition play. The games you choose are given the following points:

1. 5 points
2. 4 points
3. 3 points
4. 2 points
5. 1 point

As a bonus, the winner of a round has double voting power for the next round. (1 = 10 points, 2 = 8 points etc). However, because the voting for the next round ends before the current round ends, players must place their votes and wait for the current round to end to see who will have their vote doubled. Leaving the possibility of an unexpected game suddenly coming top. The only exception to this are rounds one and eight which, of course, come after a break so it will be known in advance who has double voting power. However if first place is tied between at least two players in a round then double voting power will not be awarded.

The game with the most votes will be played. In the event of a tie the game with the most 5 point votes will win. If it is still tied then the most 4 point votes is looked at and so on.

If a game comes in both OCS/ECS and AGA, or has special editions, players must make it clear which version they want to play when voting. If nothing is stated we will always revert to the A500/original versions.

The rules for voting differ slightly during special rounds. See the special rounds section for details.

Once a game has been played it cannot be voted for again (except for Open Rounds - see below). Each voting thread will tell you what games have already been played.

IMPORTANT: Votes cannot be edited. If you edit your vote it will not be counted. This is to avoid any manipulation of the result. So think carefully before you vote. There's a whole two weeks to think.

Bugged/Ineligible Games
Unfortunately some games have bugs which makes organizing a competition very difficult, so from time to time a game may be excluded from voting as they are discovered. Currently there are only two games causing problems. They can be voted for but with certain limitations - read below. If you think other games may be problematic please let us know.

Lotus 2: The different online versions all have different scoring systems. If Lotus 2 is played everyone must use a special version that will be provided by this board, in WHDload and ADF format. (UAE requires A1200 setup, High-Density floppy drive, 4MB Fast RAM)

Pinball Fantasies Stones and Bones Table - Bugged (random crashing, infinite balls, messed up scores). This table will be excluded - you can still vote for Pinball Fantasies, but we will only play the other 3 tables.

Special Rounds
There will be four special rounds played over the course of the year. These are...

Special Round 3: PD Games
When voting you can only choose games that are listed as either Public Domain, Freeware, Shareware, Coverdisk full games, Promotional, or even hidden games. Basically anything considered non-commercial. The two games with the most votes will be played.

If you are in doubt about a game's status, ask in the thread before you vote, or contact a Moderator. It will be sorted out before the end of voting.

Special Round 6: Games released in the year ____
The winner of Round 4 will get to choose a year between 1987 and 1995. Only games originally released in the chosen year can be voted for. The top two games at the end of the vote will be played. Once a year is chosen it can't be used again until they've all been used.

Special Round 9: Will Be Represented by the Letter __
The winner of Round 7 will get to choose a letter for this round. Only games beginning with that letter can be voted for, and the top gamr will be played with the winner of Round 11 picking a second game. Games beginning with 'The' will not be listed under 'T' (eg The Great Giana Sisters is considered beginning with 'G'). Once a letter is used it can't be chosen again until all letters are used. That's 26 years of the Super League.

Special Round 12: Open
This one is open season. Pick any games you like (within reason), regardless of whether it's on the Already Played list or not. Simple.

Remember that both games will be played over 3 weeks so pick things that are suitable for that length of time.

In a special round there are two sets of championship points available - one for each game - which could lead to a big shake up in the leaderboard.

Open Rounds
Starting from the 2011 season, certain rounds will be designated as Open Rounds, meaning any game can be voted for, regardless of whether it's been played before or not - giving newer players the chance to play some old favourites. From the 2017 season, these will be Rounds Four, Eight and Twelve.

Themed Rounds
Starting from the 2016 season, certain rounds will be designated as Themed Rounds. Before the season starts, the moderators will announce a theme for these rounds. Only games that meet the stated criteria can be voted for. From the 2017 season, these will be Rounds Two and Eleven.

Mystery Rounds ! NEW !
From the 2016 season, Rounds Seven and Fourteen will be designated as Mystery Rounds. There will be a window during Rounds Five and Twelve where players who have submitted at least one score during that 'half' of the season can PM a moderator with two games they're not too familiar with they'd like to play. These will be kept secret until the voting starts, when the full list of nominated games will be announced, and voting will be restricted to these games only.

Scoring
For each game played championship points will be given to all who compete with bonus points on top depending on how competitive your score is.

1st = 10 pts
2nd = 8 pts
3rd = 7 pts
4th = 6 pts
5th = 5 pts
6th = 4 pts
7th = 3 pts
8th = 2.4 pts
9th = 2.2 pts
10th = 2 pts
Lower = 1 pts

+ Bonus Points calculated as 10*(your_score/best_score). Winner gets 10 points everyone else gets a proportion of that amount.

Points will be rounded to the nearest whole number.

For multi-event games, like pinball or sports events, a modified scoring system will be used depending on the game. There will still only be one set of championship points given, and details of the scoring system will be put in the game thread.

Lemon vs EAB
For each game played the scores of the top five players from each site will be averaged - if one site has less than five entrants, the number of scores averaged on both sides will be reduced to make things fairer. The highest average score will be declared winner of that game and a point given. The site with the most points at the end of the year is declared the champion (best of 17 games).

No Cheating
Don't tamper with your score by altering the numbers.
No continues allowed.
No use of trainers, action replay, or any other get-around to make the game easier.
No use of emulator save states (including as a way to practise parts of a game).

Occaisionally restrictions will be placed on specific games, such as the banning of autofire if it is a power-up within the game.

The spirit of the rules is to play games as they were originally intended, creating a fair playing field between real Amiga users and emulator users.

Score whoring/leeching/taking advantage of infinite spawning enemies or bugs in the game is seriously frowned upon. If you are discovered doing it, you're not going to make any friends, and your score will not be counted.

This is an honest competition, we’re not playing for money or prizes, simply the honour and glory, and of course the taking part. If someone is found to be cheating (and fake scores tend to be easy to spot), they will get a ban. It's not worth it, so play fair.

IMPORTANT: If you do suspect someone of cheating then please PM a Moderator. It's okay to query a score to understand how they achieved it, but refrain from posting wild accusations in the game threads.

Additional Rules
This is a worldwide tournament, but for simplicity all times and dates are done using London, UK Time. Please be aware of the time difference.

[Graham Humphrey]

2017 Season Schedule
Rounds start Sundays at 12:01am UK time, and finish Saturdays at 11:59pm UK time, on the relevant dates. Make sure you use that 2 minute break wisely.

Leg 1 [Rounds 1-7]
Jan 01 - Jan 14: Round One voting
Jan 15 - Feb 04: Round One
Jan 15 - Jan 28: Round Two voting [Theme: Games reviewed in selected issues of a magazine]
Feb 05 - Feb 25: Round Two [Theme: TBC]
Feb 05 - Feb 18: Round Three voting [Special Round 1: PD Games]
Feb 26 - Mar 18: Round Three [Special Round 1: PD Games]
Feb 26 - Mar 11: Round Four voting [Open Round]
Mar 19 - Apr 08: Round Four [Open Round]
Mar 19 - Apr 01: Round Five voting
Apr 09 - Apr 29: Round Five
Apr 09 - Apr 22: Round Six voting [Special Round 2: Year]
Apr 30 - May 20: Round Six [Special Round 2: Year]
Apr 30 - May 13: Round Seven voting [Mystery Round]
May 21 - Jun 10: Round Seven [Mystery Round]

Leg 2 [Rounds 8-14]
Jun 18 - Jul 01: Round Eight voting [Open Round]
Jul 02 - Jul 22: Round Eight [Open Round]
Jul 02 - Jul 15: Round Nine voting [Special Round 3: Alphabet]
Jul 23 - Aug 12: Round Nine [Special Round 3: Alphabet]
Jul 23 - Aug 05: Round Ten voting
Aug 13 - Sep 02: Round Ten
Aug 13 - Aug 26: Round Eleven voting [Theme: Beat-Em-Ups]
Sep 03 - Sep 23: Round Eleven [Theme: TBC]
Sep 03 - Sep 16: Round Twelve [Special Round 4: Open]
Sep 24 - Oct 14: Round Twelve [Special Round 4: Open]
Sep 24 - Oct 07: Round Thirteen voting
Oct 15 - Nov 04: Round Thirteen
Oct 15 - Oct 28: Round Fourteen voting [Mystery Round]
Nov 05 - Nov 25: Round Fourteen [Mystery Round]

It's a Knockout 2017/18
Nov 05 - Nov 18: Voting
Nov 26 - Dec 09: Qualifying Round
(12+ plyrs) Dec 10 - Dec 23: Round One
(12+ plyrs) Dec 24 - Dec 30: Quarter Finals
(12+ plyrs) Dec 31 - Jan 06: Semi Finals
(12+ plyrs) Jan 07 - Jan 13: The Final and 3rd place Play-off
(8 plyrs) Dec 10 - Dec 23: Quarter Finals
(8 plyrs) Dec 24 - Dec 30: Semi Finals
(8 plyrs) Dec 31 - Jan 06: The Final and 3rd place Play-off

Dec 31: 2018 Super League Voting starts (or Dec 24 if only 8 players compete)

You can find out the results of Lemon and EAB's previous seasons here:
Lemon Amiga: 2005 | 2006 | 2007
EAB: 2007
EAB/Lemon Super League: 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016

We hope you enjoy playing in the tournament, and special thanks to VermillioN for first saying those fateful words 'Super League', and to Biscuit for taking the time to type all this up initially, leaving me with the embarrassingly simple task of copying and pasting it here, with a couple of subtle modifications (not forgetting various updates as the years go by).

If you've still got a question you can't find an answer to, post it below and someone will try to answer it for you. Don't be shy, you may have discovered something we all forgot.

If you have any suggestions to improve the season feel free to post your thoughts here. We're open to all new ideas.

[Graham Humphrey]

It's a Knockout!

Voting
Duration: 2 weeks

You must vote for five games out of the 17 games played during the previous season, in order of preference.
Vote scoring is the same as for the Super League (see above)
Sometimes the way a game is played will be altered to fit better with the shorter round lengths. For instance only playing one pinball table out of four. This will be highlighted in the voting thread, and voters asked to nominate any preferences. Such as voting which pinball table to play. If the game goes through the votes will be tallied.

The game with the highest votes will be played in the qualifying round. Then the game with the second highest played in next round, and so on until the end. A different game for each round.

Qualifying Round
Duration: 2 weeks

This is a free-for-all round, anyone can enter. When the round ends, players with the best scores will continue to the next round. How many depends on how many entered the qualifying round.

9-13 entries: 8 people qualify
14-17 entries: 12 people qualify
18-24 entries: 16 people qualify
25+ entries: 20 people qualify

If only 8 people qualify, the tournament skips onto the quarter-finals. A random draw will decide which players face each other, and the quarter-final round will last 2 weeks.
If 12+ people qualify, we move on to Round One.

Round One
Duration: 2 weeks

Qualifying players will be seeded into groups, based on their high-score in the last round.

12 Players: Players are split into four seeded groups of three players.
16 Players: Players are split into four seeded groups of four players.
20 Players: Players are split into four seeded groups of five players.

Players compete for the highest score within their group.
The top two players from each group go on to the next round.
The bottom players are knocked out.

One-on-One Rounds
Duration: 1 week for each round (unless round one is skipped - see above)

Group winners from Round One will be seeded against group runner-ups for the quarter-finals. Group winners can only play runners-up from the other groups.

From here on it's a straight one on one knockout tree up till the grand final. Including a third place play-off.

Additional Bits
For all other rules and info refer to the Super League rules.
The Knockout schedule is listed in the post above.

[Graham Humphrey]

The Hall Of Fame (Last updated: November 27 2017, 7:51)

The EAB/Lemon Super League

Winners/Current Standings

2008: 1. john4p - 183 2. Biscuit - 118 3. TodaysForgotten - 114
2009: 1. rexsu - 162 2. john4p - 117 3. Robo-Sparkle - 101
2010: 1. rexsu - 196 2. john4p - 113 3. mailman - 105
2011: 1. john4p - 161 2. capehorn - 153 3. lifeschool - 131
2012: 1. premmisseth - 167 2. Biscuit - 144 3. lifeschool - 129
2013: 1. ED-209 - 147 2. lifeschool - 131 3. capehorn - 118
2014: 1. ED-209 - 293 2. Harry - 197 3. lifeschool - 192
2015: 1. ED-209 - 248 2. ChrisN82 - 200 3. capehorn - 188
2016: 1. ED-209 - 234 2. LinesMachine - 212 3. Joni - 170
2017: 1. john4p - 317 2. liviux76 - 228 3. LinesMachine - 209

Number of competitors

2008: 49, 41 of whom scored points (average 14 competitors per game)
2009: 47, 35 of whom scored points (average 17.2 competitors per game)
2010: 50, 39 of whom scored points (average 14.6 competitors per game)
2011: 48, 42 of whom scored points (average 15.9 competitors per game)
2012: 49, 44 of whom scored points (average 16.6 competitors per game)
2013: 57, 43 of whom scored points (average 18.2 competitors per game)
2014: 38 (average 15.6 competitors per game)
2015: 43 (average 18.1 competitors per game)
2016: 40 (average 16.1 competitors per game)
2017: 37 (average 17.2 competitors per game)

Most competitors for a single game: 25 (Apidya, R2 2017)
Fewest competitors for a single game: 9 (Alien Breed, R7 2008, Dogs Of War R12 2013)

EAB vs Lemon

2008: EAB 6 - Lemon 9
2009: EAB 12 - Lemon 3
2010: EAB 15 - Lemon 2
2011: EAB 12 - Lemon 5
2012: EAB 1 - Lemon 16
2013: EAB 12 - Lemon 5
2014: EAB 13 - Lemon 5
2015: EAB 4 - Lemon 14
2016: EAB 9 - Lemon 9
2017: EAB 12 - Lemon 6

Season wins: EAB 6 - Lemon 3 - Draws 1
Aggregate wins: EAB 96 - Lemon 74

Number of Gold Medals

28: john4p
16: ED-209
12: capehorn
11: Harry, Robo-Sparkle
10: rexsu
9: lifeschool
7: LinesMachine, liviux76
6: premmisseth
5: Anakirob, Biscuit, xpect
4: jPV, myk
3: Acid, ChrisN82, Graham Humphrey, Lonewolf10, Stimraug, TodaysForgotten
2: mailman, turrican3
1: aca0808, akabei, cadaver1210, eMTe, Gildorn, humble worm, JanciB, Joni, maddi, Masterblaster, mihcael, mosfet, off1k, Parpala, peace, Rinusch, Shawn Dimery, Simon Humphrey, steef-online, TheCyberDruid, TroelsDK, yaztromo

Number of Silver Medals

16: ED-209
13: john4p
10: Harry, rexsu
9: capehorn, lifeschool
7: Biscuit, jPV, TodaysForgotten
6: LinesMachine, Robo-Sparkle
5: Lonewolf10, mailman, Parpala, premmisseth
4: liviux76
3: Ze Emulatron
2: Anakirob, Bamiga2002, DamienD, el_pasi, Graham Humphrey, JanciB, ransom1122, Retroplay, roy bates, TheCyberDruid
1: akabei, bbsteal, BlackOceans, blade002, dirk_the_daring, eMTe, Joni, m.c.t., mipe, modrobert, myk, Nibbler, Predseda, Shatterhand, Shawn Dimery, steef-online, TurricanX, xpect, yaztromo

Number of Bronze Medals

14: ED-209, john4p
12: lifeschool
11: mailman
10: Harry
8: capehorn, LinesMachine, rexsu
6: jPV, Lonewolf10, yaztromo
5: aca0808, Biscuit
3: ChrisN82, Joni, liviux76, mipe, mosfet, Parpala, Robo-Sparkle, Ze Emulatron
2: Anakirob, Gildorn, Graham Humphrey, leathered, Predseda, premmisseth, Shatterhand, TodaysForgotten
1: CHook/OTT, comiga, DJCruicky, dlfrsilver, el_pasi, frikilokooo, nujack, ppill, Shawn Dimery, Simon Humphrey, Steve, TurricanX, Wayne

Top ten all-time appearance makers (Maximum 170 games)

1. Graham Humphrey - 155
2. mailman - 134
3. lifeschool - 117
4. LinesMachine - 110
5. capehorn - 106
6= mihcael - 104
6= Harry - 104
8. Lonewolf10 - 98
9. john4p - 92
10. ED-209 - 86

It's a Knockout!

Winners

2008/09: 1. rexsu 2. turrican3 3. ElB
2009/10: 1. jPV 2. rexsu 3. john4p
2010/11: 1. rexsu 2. john4p 3. capehorn
2011/12: 1. john4p 2. Harry 3. Simon Humphrey
2012/13: 1. john4p 2. Harry 3. jPV
2013/14: 1. capehorn 2. premmisseth 3. Harry
2014/15: 1. Harry 2. john1979 3. ChrisN82
2015/16: 1. capehorn 2. jPV 3. Joni
2016/17: 1. capehorn 2. ChrisN82 3. Joni

Number of competitors

2008/09: 21
2009/10: 16
2010/11: 22
2011/12: 29
2012/13: 20
2013/14: 19
2014/15: 17
2015/16: 22
2016/17: 14