EAB/Lemon Super League 2018 Round 13: James Pond - Underwater Agent

[lifeschool]

How do you use the top hat? Surely you have to drop it when you pick up a can of waste? It would be great if we could wear both the hat and and glasses and also carry items.

Level 6 contains a few lives, two of which are above water, and some are bonus lives when you get the points.

[john4p]

Of course you can only wear it when you're not carrying anything.

[Harry]

191.470


Dont know if I find the time to play it a bit more.

[el_pasi]

1,482,170

Finally completed fourth level! Third level was a bit easier after that struggle.

[john4p]

That's a major milestone, you're very close to getting the 10M bonus now.

[rexsu]

I died at level 10.
Level 9 is hell
Unpredictable and invicble divers who shoot many bullets.
Giant octopuses that get a move on you hyper fast.
Killer flowers and missiles everywhere.
You add the time and welcome to the stress
Fortunately there are many lives to take in this level.

14,825,680

[lifeschool]

Great score.

I think this game is not so fun for kids, and is very difficult for games players. The game is just too long with each level itself being too long to be fun. Usually we try to beat games in the compo, but from what you say, I dont want to try this again.

[john4p]

^ I still have a lot of fun with this game. You also have to restart most Shoot'em Ups from the beginning yet plenty of those are still motivating to have another go. I get further and further with each attempt.



13,200,990

Next time I'll go right to level 7 instead of 6 in order to learn it.

[rexsu]

Originally Posted by lifeschool

Great score.

I think this game is not so fun for kids, and is very difficult for games players. The game is just too long with each level itself being too long to be fun. Usually we try to beat games in the compo, but from what you say, I dont want to try this again.

Level 4 is a formality for me now.
Do like me on the video respecting placements and timeline and it will be fine.
Sorry for the bad colors, I had an encoding problem with the codec and WinUAE.

https://uptobox.com/jfl7imef8un1
https://uptostream.com/jfl7imef8un1

I think it's a game that you have to practice often to improve.
In the end we know the dangerous places and we try to minimize the risks by finding reperts, weapons or a way to kill the enemies or to seek the object to reach the objective.
It's also important to know where are the lives to collect, especially those hidden.

The main complaint is the energy gauge goes down too fast.

[capehorn]

12,331,310



I wonder what the mod's views are on revisiting previous levels? Say if you do levels 1-3-4-2, after completing level 2 you are taken back to level 4. Instead of moving straight on to level 5 you re-explore level 4 (there is a 500,000 bonus there), maybe even go and revisit level 3 (another 500,000). Is that score-leeching? What if you only revisited each level a maximum of once, or is even once too many? (remember you are forceably retaken to level 4 after completing level 2/3, so is it fair game to re-explore the level)?

It's possible to loop levels 3 and 4 infinitely and score 500,000 each time so obviously that's not allowed, but are you allowed to do it once?

My view would be - do not revisit level 3 (there is no reason to except to get that 500,000 bonus a second time). However as you are forceably re-taken to level 4, it might be fair to re-gain the 500,000 bonus there. It's very difficult to do anyway as all the big enemies on level 4 are superfast as the timer is on zero, it might even be a bad strategy.

[rexsu]

When I play I don't take bonuses in the levels I have already completed.

[john4p]

Nope, let's not do this - head straight to the exit when revisting a level.

[capehorn]

That's probably the most sensible thing.

While we are asking each other questions - does anyone know a way to get up here?



I'm sure I remember doing it when I used to play this in the nineties, but it escapes me.

[lifeschool]

Originally Posted by capehorn

It's possible to loop levels 3 and 4 infinitely and score 500,000 each time so obviously that's not allowed, but are you allowed to do it once?

My view would be - do not revisit level 3 (there is no reason to except to get that 500,000 bonus a second time). However as you are forceably re-taken to level 4, it might be fair to re-gain the 500,000 bonus there.

This is also mentioned at the bottom of page 1 on the Lemon thread. Here's a quote:

I think it would be great if we can all agree to only collect bonuses once, and not go back in the levels to milk, as this would greatly influence the scores. I guess if you dont collect the bonus on level 4 on the first try, you can go back and collect it. But this might be harder when you have the Terminator spy following you, so best to collect it in the level proper where possible.

So yeah, dont milk the 500Ks, although I like to collect the hidden blocks at the top of level 4 to stop the bullet, as this gives only a small score when looping back to level 4.

With the dynamite on the surface, I just kept trying to jump out of the water, and eventually it did it. I also tried collecting a red star fish and rushing diagonally up to the area, and got that to work once. But there must be some better trick. I'd be interested to find out.

[rexsu]

It's too boring to take this dynamite so I will not look for it.
Same thing for dynamite sometimes stuck at the exit.
If one is missing to finish the level, I'll pick up one at home.

[john4p]

^ Same. I never collect these two.



13,710,630

Got levels 1-8 down now. Level 9 is easy as long as you wear the top hat but sadly you have to take it off to bring the poisonous orchids to the trees.

[john4p]

14,162,150

So close to beating level 9.

[matburton]

It's the taking part that counts right?

308820



I remember playing this as a kid on a friend's Archimedes.
As far as I can tell the ARM port was pretty much exactly like the original.

[john4p]

Not bad for a first score. Welcome to the Super League!

[Graham Humphrey]

Gave this a bash recently, not too taken with it (just for a change). I might give it another chance before the round is out.





149,550