Discussions Below:
David Palmer Star Wars
Guinness Book Record Holder -
Score NO LONGER on Hiatus
High Score 31,660,614
Retro Gamer Magazine Retro Gamer 15 (vol 2 issue 3)
Article: David Palmer Star Wars High Score
High Score: Roma Family Fun Center, 457 Grass Valley Highway HWY 9, Auburn, CA.
As Star Wars fever builds in the run-up to Episode III, Retro Gamer speaks to
David Palmer, holder of the all-time high score on Atari's original Star Wars
coin-op. Link
Retro Gamer is the UK's first regular retro magazine. Published monthly, each issue
delves into the glorious, ever-growing retro scene and covers all the classic games,
computers and consoles from your misspent youth.
 |
|
Why "Pull" classic Era Guinness Book High Scores when no wrong doing is found?
The list of seasoned scores pulled in year 2002 are as follows: (Spy Hunter,
Star Wars, Joust, and Robotron).
Both Paul Dean with the 1986 Guinness Book World Record on
Spy Hunter and David Palmer with the 1986 Guinness Book World Record
on Star Wars are fighting to be put back onto the high score board
which they have been illegally removed from by Walter Day. The reason
these scores have been pulled is because Walter Day is not satisfied
that these scores are legitimate even after all of these scores have
been published several times over the last 20 years and have been
scrutinized by many referee's in the past in tournament settings.
I say that if you have no proof that there is wrong doing then why
go out of your way to upset these classic era players? It takes
considerable expense and time to fight off a score challenge.
It is up to the player to produce notarized documents, affidavits, witness
statements, and articles of achievement - after 20 years of time have
passed. All of the Twin Galaxies main judges must be called several
times in order to have a strong case. Alliances must be formed and
you must be a quick study of new rules and old as well as being current
on all aspects of the gaming industry.
Walter Day reports that the challenge process is in effect after 20 years
and anybody can be challenged. It doesn't matter if you haven't played
in 20 years or you have moved on in your life. You are supposed to buy
a video game, come out of retirement and tape your high score after
practicing every day in order to keep your score valid. Does this really
show that a score is valid or does it show that Walter Day is putting
up enough road blocks so that he can have his own modern high score
tournments and press events for these lower high scores.
David Palmer Contact Information 1985:
David Palmer
Citrus Heights, CA
United States
August 10, 2004: David Palmer: RainBoKatchr@aol.com
State of Residence: Oregon
David Palmer now lives within 100 miles of Ground Kontrol Arcade,
A famous Retro-Gaming Arcade in Portland, Oregon.
Ground Kontrol Contact Information:
HOTSPOT LOCATION NAME: Ground Kontrol
ADDRESS: 610 SW 12th Avenue
CITY STATE ZIP: Portland, OR, 97205
COUNTRY: United States
PHONE: (+1) (503) 796-9364
DESCRIPTION: Retro arcade featuring classic games,
free wireless Internet,
and more! http://www.groundkontrol.com/
CATEGORY: Other
WIRELESS NETWORK CARRIER: Independent
WIRELESS PROTOCOL: 802.11b
David Palmer is currently looking for a Star Wars Standup video game so that
he can get back into gaming again, after several decades of retirement.
Mark Alpiger, (Crystal Castles Champion) writes the following on his web page:
Another High Score is pulled: Star Wars score by David Palmer (funspot Threads)
David Palmer / birth date 05-01-1958, Auburn, CA
contest results: 1984 Video Game Masters Tournament:
wr set on Firefox (9000), Tron
1985 Video Game Masters Tournament:
wr set on Battlezone, Red Baron,
Star Rider, Star Wars,
The Empire Strikes Back
wr kept on Firefox (9000), Tron
1986 Video Game Masters Tournament:
wr set on Star Wars
wr kept on Battlezone,
Firefox (9000), Red Baron,
Star Rider, TESB, Tron
1987 Video Game Masters Tournament:
wr kept on Battlezone,
Firefox (9000), Star Rider,
Star Wars, TESB, Tron
(Red Baron is not included above, as it
was not made part of the 1987 tourney)
world records: Star Rider, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, TX-1
contender: Battlezone, Firefox (9000), Red Baron
"David Palmer Twin Galaxies High Scores"
http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&p=3601
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B R E A K I N G N E W S: August 16, 2004
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----- Original Message -----
From: Walter Day
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 7:36 PM
Subject: Spy Hunter and Star Wars
TO:
Paul Dean (spy hunter champion),
David Palmer (star wars champion),
Both scores, Spy Hunter and Star Wars, are not partitioned
in any way. They are the official world records.
regards,
Walter Day
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David Palmer - Twin Galaxies Scoreboard Statistics on Star Wars Scores
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Star Wars
Variation: Tournament
Platform: Arcade
World Records
Rules: Difficulty : Hardest. Start Units : 6. No Extra Shields.
Rank % Score Score Player DateVerified Score Ranking/Method
1st Place 100.00 % 31,660,614 David Palmer 08/04/2004 31,660,614 Witness
2nd Place 16.42 % 5,198,043 Mark D Boolman 05/31/2003 5,198,043 Referee
3rd Place 12.77 % 4,044,601 Robert T Mruczek 07/25/2001 4,044,601 Referee
4th Place 10.51 % 3,327,828 Donald Hayes 05/04/2001 3,327,828 Referee
5th Place 6.02 % 1,905,844 SHAWN CRAM 07/15/2002 1,905,844 Referee
6th Place 5.20 % 1,647,659 Aaron Van Buren 06/11/2004 1,647,659 Referee
7th Place 4.95 % 1,568,660 John Frye 06/11/2004 1,568,660 Referee
8th Place 4.68 % 1,481,025 David Nelson 07/02/2002 1,481,025 Referee
9th Place 3.59 % 1,136,118 Cameron K Feltner 05/11/2001 1,136,118 Referee
10th Place 3.43 % 1,084,500 Ron Corcoran 05/13/2001 1,084,500 Referee
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Twin Galaxies Scoreboard results for David Palmer:
World
Game Settings Score Rankings
Battlezone Factory 10,000,000 3rd Place
Empire Strikes Back 1,345,049 1st Place
Firefox Factory Settings 707,790 3rd Place
Red Baron Factory Settings 214,230 3rd Place
Star Rider default settings 539,960 1st Place
Star Wars Marathon 108,251,034 2nd Place
Tournament 31,660,614 1st Place
Subroc-3D 1,049,700 1st Place
Tron Factory Settings 1,695,463 5th Place
TX-1 Factory Settings 277,400 1st Place
NES 2806 Rampage 2,708,576 19th Place
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Palmer
Star Wars Champion
David Palmer was one of the 80's players that highly impressed me, along will
Phil Britt, and, Donn Nauert. Obviously, his performance in the 1985 VGMT is
legendary, and the fact that all his wr scores up to that point were unbeaten
the next two year's tourneys, except for him topping his own Star Wars score,
is basically just as incredible. Many of his 'marquee' scores now are beaten,
but, the one that still stands alone as a unbelievable feat, in and of itself,
is his 31,660,614 points accomplished on Star Wars in the 1986 VGMT. He managed
this God-like performance on the tournament setting of 6 shields to start, with
no bonus shields. Unfortunately, this historic performance has been marred by
the 'powers-that-be' at Twin Galaxies - his score was pulled, since numerous
players have expressed strong doubt that it can be done (including Mark
Longridge, and Rob Mruczek). I've vehemently argued against pulling any
score, unless true proof, or incredibly strong anecdotal, or a preponderance
of, evidence, is given. The fact that many of his other scores have been
topped is strong evidence in and of itself that he was not submitting false
scores. In any case, I declare that his SW score is the true wr, at tournament
settings, until proven otherwise...
-------------------------------------------------------
Mark Alpger Post on his own classicgaming.com site:
-------------------------------------------------------
08-04-2004 Twin Galaxies reinstates 'pulled' Star Wars score
Rob Mruczek announced today on a post at the TG forums that, for the second
time this year, Twin Galaxies would be reinstating a formerly 'pulled' score
- namely, David Palmer's incredible 31,660,614 on Star Wars. This was a bit
unexpected, even tho I knew that David (or, Dave as he prefers in casual
conversation) had been found, and that TG was in conversations with him.
I am also surprised at the great speed at which the ruling came about,
and also, which of David's two scores were reinstated.
I had argued for the longest time that David's score(s) shouldn't have
been removed from the scoreboard, and especially the one from the 1985
Video Game Masters Tournament (a fantastic 15,250,793 point effort, which
is David's second highest score ever). The 31M score, set at the 1986
VGMT was admittedly another matter, as that contest was held under the
auspices of the APA (Amusement Players Association), which was a Steve
Harris entity. I had no big problem with that score not (necessarily)
being recognized by TG, but, the 1985 score was made while at a TG
overseen and run tourney, and that was my argument (and, gripe) to Twin
Galaxies personnel for many years (more on this will appear in an upcoming
article about pulled scores, and the details behind the pull-downs).
In any case, the situation is resolved, and to the benefit of one of the
greatest players of all time, who had pretty much the greatest contest
performance of all time during that 1985 tournament (he set five wr scores
in a single weekend !). Here's congratulations to David, who is now back
where he belongs - on top of the Star Wars record listings.
---------------
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Joined: 25 Sep 2004 -- The Below: Orginally Posted On Twin Galaxies Message Board
Posts: 2962
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 12:53 am Post subject: Star Wars TGTS -
Formally Recognizing a NEW TGTS Record !!
Robert Mruczek/Chief Referee Twin Galaxies Post
DAVID PALMERS STAR WARS SCORE REINSTATED! OFFICIAL TWIN GALAXIES ANNOUNCEMENT LINK
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Hello fellow gamers:
Twin Galaxies is proud to announce that effective immediately, and after much
discussion between members of the Twin Galaxies Board of Directors, we are
hereby formally recognizing one of the greatest achievements in the history of
classic video gaming performances.
David Palmer, perhaps the finest classic-era 1st-person flight perspective gamer
of all time, had achieveded a score of 31,660,614 points on Twin Galaxies
Tournament Settings (TGTS) way back in 1986. The score was initially believed
to be at marathon settings for the longest time, and although the staff of Twin
Galaxies knew that such a score was conceiably possible, we had no way to prove
Walter Day and I spoke with David recently, several times in fact, and discussed
this crowning achievement of his classic-era video game career. In addition to
his lasting more than 4-5 hours under these conditions, David sets the standards
for all other "Star Wars" fans to aspire to, including players such as Mark
Boolman, Donald Hayes, Brandon Erickson, Shawn Cram, and myself.
So, I am pleased to be afforded the honour of formally recognizing David's
amazing score from yesteryear, and that after 18 years since it was accomplished,
it is finally receiving it's due accord and recognition in the Twin Galaxies
Intergalactic Scoreboard.
Congratulations, David, on your previous achievement, and on your returning to
the hobby that you were borne to compete in. From one "Star Wars" player to
another, I salute you !!
Robert
_________________
Robert T Mruczek
Twin Galaxies - Editor and Chief referee
Star Wars classic arcade marathon champion
rmruczek@doremus.com (work E-MAIL)
******************************
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Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 12:37 am
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Dave Palmer here......yes, I'm B-A-C-K!! But I haven't been in hiding like
some people have suggested, I had simply gone on with my life and didn't even
know till a few weeks ago that anyone still talked about my old scores or even
cared about them, let alone that I would be a source of controversy such as I
have seen here (and I must admit, it's all been rather flattering!). I guess
it's thanks to the internet (which didn't exist in the mid 80s) that there
seems to be more talk about my scores, almost 20 years after the fact, than
there was at the time they were attained. AND, I have been hard to find because
a lot of the old contact info was apparently lost, plus I have moved to another
state (Oregon, originally from California). Right now, I earn my living in a
home-based business, parting out old cars and selling the parts online
(especially eBay).
Concerning Star Wars.....yes, I did indeed score 31 million on 6 shields. I
played Star Wars in three years of Masters/Guinness Tournaments, and in all
three years the machines were set the same, 6 shields with no bonus shields.
The first year I played ('84) I hadn't gotten good enough yet on the game
to get the high score in the tournament (plus I had to drive several hours
to reach the nearest participating arcade, so I was tired before I even
started, and I had less than a day to play). The second year went a lot better,
because there was an arcade 30 miles away (the Game Room in Citrus Heights,
CA) and I had a chance to play most of my games, and got the high score on
Star Wars of 15 million, as well as the high scores for Battlezone, Red Baron,
Firefox, Empire Strikes Back, and Star Rider (I was especially proud of my
Battlezone performance, where I reached 10 million without having lost a single
tank, "turning over" the machine after ten hours of play, at which time I
simply quit, so I'd have time and energy to play the other games). The next
year, there was also a local arcade (one of the Bally's Aladdin's Castle chain,
in Sacramento), and I just concentrated on Star Wars, and was quite pleased
with the result of 31 million (that arcade didn't have any of my other games
anyway).
Battle Zone
As far as how to verify my 31 million on 6 shields.....well I have talked to
Walter Day and Robert Mruczek at length, and have also mailed Walter a copy
of an interview that was done of me after the tournament, in the first issue
of Top Score newsletter, in which the setting of 6 shields is discussed (he
says he'll decide after reviewing this literature whether my score should be
reinstated). Aside from this, I don't think I have any paperwork that documents
the setting.....I didn't know 20 years ago that I would need any from the
arcades I competed at.....they were simply following the published rules for
settings that they had been issued, and whatever paperwork they had was sent
to either Twin Galaxies/Walter Day ('84 and '85), or Steve Harris & Co. ('86).
I know that Walter Day was closely involved in the tournament in '85, and I
and the arcade manager and the notary were in phone contact with him at the
time concerning my scores and the machine settings, so it seems like my 15
million (at least) shouldn't be in dispute.
As far as proving NOW that I can achieve a performance of 15 or 31 million....
well, I wouldn't mind doing this, it would actually be fun to come out of
"retirement" (I feel like I am an old soldier who is being called back....
hey, I'm 46!!), And I also have little doubt that I could get back in shape,
given enough time.....but there is also a bit of a problem. Around here
there is no arcade with Star Wars within easy driving distance that I can
practice at, with the nearest one I know of being at Ground Kontrol in
Portland at 100 miles away. Close enough to go to for a tournament or to
otherwise defend my capabilities, but not to practice. And practice it
would take to get back in shape....lots and LOTS of practice.....I used
to find I'd get out of shape in that game after a mere several months of
not playing, and now it's been almost 20 years. And I would like to get a
machine to practice on in my home, but they are currently out of my price
range, at well over $1000 (and as high as $2600 on eBay recently). Too bad
I didn't get one back in the late 80s when they were a lot cheaper (I did
get a Battlezone and Red Baron sit-down in the 80s, for $100 and $350). I
may be earning a living with my home business, but I am certainly not getting
rich. If anyone does know of a good deal on a Star Wars machine, I'd appreciate
it if they'd let me know (my e-mail is RainBoKatchr@aol.com).
Here's something that some of the current avid Star Wars players might be
interested in....nearly 20 years ago, when strategy books on arcade games
were being published, I wrote a strategy book (or booklet) for Star Wars.
This was after I had successfully published a strategy book on a home-computer
game (Elite) which the distributor had initially approached me to write
because I was the first known person to master it. Unfortunately, arcade games
were in a downturn at the time and I didn't find a publisher for my Star Wars
booklet.....although I would be happy to provide copies to those who are
interested.....assuming I am able to find it! You see, most of my belongings
(including my video gaming relics) are still at my parent's place in CA, 500
miles from here. And I'm having problems getting down there, although I'm
having my parents looking to see how much they can find. But for you players
who are working to best my 31 million, I may have a bit of a disappointment.....
there is no single, magic strategy or trick that I used and which is outlined
in my booklet....I simply got to that level by using a bunch of little
strategies, and a LOT of hard work (playing the game maybe every other day
for 3 years).
Which brings us to another subject. For a lot of my games, I got scores higher
(often far higher) than the scores in the Guinness tournaments or what are
otherwise listed in Twin Galaxies. But a lot of the documentation that was
received by Walter Day was lost, and other documentation was never received
by him at all because I sent it into Steve Harris. Or in the case of Red
Baron, where I purchased a machine, I got new high scores in a setting where
I couldn't provide documentation (at home, with no witnesses or camcorder).
In any case, I am having my parents look for this info, and they will mail
to me what they can find, and I will in turn forward it to Walter Day. My
mother says she has already found the documentation for my high score in
Battlezone (23 million, which took 23 hours to obtain and which involved
the arcade staying open all night for me). I also got higher scores for
Empire Strikes Back, Firefox, and Star Rider, for which the documentation
can hopefully be found. And of course Red Baron, which I have several times
turned over at 1 million when playing at home, but for which I had only gotten
300-and-something thousand when playing in the arcade, prior to buying that
machine. Finally, I also got a higher score for Star Wars (on factory
"marathon" setting) than listed in Twin Galaxies, I played a game where I
simply quit at 150 million (Robert Mruczek outdid me by 2X on this, but I
simply don't have the physical stamina for those ultra-long marathons).
I will let everyone know what happens! And if anyone wants to ask me something,
or just write, they are more than welcome to do so.
David Palmer
RainBoKatchr@aol.com
Museum Notes: [Article]
Star Wars, Atari Inc., 1983. Designed by Mike Hally, programmed & developed
by Greg Rivera, Norm Avellar, Eric Durfey, Jed Margolin, & Earl Vickers.
The basic game engine for Star Wars was converted from a 2-year old space
game project called Warp-Speed, which was designed to develop 3-D image
capabilities. Star Wars originally used a joystick. The Flight Controller
was designed by modifying the controller created for the military version
of Battlezone.
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Anonymous
Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 02:00 am
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Now there's a genuine reply if I ever saw one. I don't have a doubt in my mind
he did it now.
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Zotmeister
Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 10:17 am
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To think I almost missed this at the bottom of the page! We need to find a
way to get David to attend the next Funspot tourney. - ZM
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Anonymous
Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 10:44 am
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but do we know for sure if those machines he played star wars on were set to
"hard". maybe they were set to "hardest", or medium setting. it's not just about
6 shields, but the difficulty setting too. that is important.
Anonymous
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David Palmer
Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 01:34 pm
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For the '85 tournament, when I got 15 million on six shields, I remember the
arcade manager opening up the machine and setting everything per the instructions
he had gotten from Walter Day, including the difficulty setting. In fact, I saw
him go through all the machines I played that year and check the settings,
and where needed adjust them (Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Red Baron, Star
Rider, Firefox, and Battlezone.....for example, Battlezone was set for 3 starting
tanks and no bonus tanks). I was a regular customer at The Game Room and had a
good behind-the-scenes view of what went on there. The next year (when I got 31
million), I don't remember seeing the manager of that arcade check the settings,
but the machine played correctly as far as I could tell, and of course was set
on 6 shields.
As far as my participating in the Funspot tournament.....well, because of the
day-to-day responsibilities of my business, it is very hard to get away. I am
even having a hard time getting down to my parents' place, 500 miles away. But
I COULD go up to Ground Kontrol in Portland to compete (I go up to Portland on
business now and then anyway).....does anyone know if Ground Kontrol participates
in any tournaments? However, the lack of a Star Wars machine for me to practice
on (either in a local arcade or in my home) is a major impediment.
Dave
Empire Strikes Back
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Robert T Mruczek
Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 08:28 pm
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Hi Dave:
I just re-forwarded to Dwayne Richard your contact information. If anyone
can help you get a new SW machine quickly, he can. Same for fixing the Battlezone,
and that other title you mentioned ("Star-something")
Upon receipt of your docs, Walter will give me instructions at that time.
For those who do not know already, David spoke twice with Walter and myself
concerning his achievements. The SW resolution is underway. What David may
not have mentioned in his earlier posts was his much higher scores on both
"Battlezone" and "Red Baron". I skim-read and think he mentioned RB but not BZ.
Not sure what games Ground Kontrol has access to. Brandon posts on this site,
and possibly Bill Carlton. Either knows what's in the pipeline for the arcade.
The only "Red Baron" machines that I am aware of are your own, and the one
at Funspot. That's a rare one. And no one I know of has a "Firefox".
Glad to see you posting on the forums. Hope to meet you in person one day
at a live event !!
Robert
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David Palmer
Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 08:57 pm
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I did mention my marathon performance in Battlezone (23 hours, at which time
I just quit at 23 million even, with 3 spare tanks left). I will be forwarding
the documentation of this game to Walter when I receive it from my parents
(the old Twin Galaxies verification form, signed by three witnesses....the
arcade manager, an employee of his, and the employee's wife).
The other arcade machine besides Star Wars that I would like to eventually
get, is Star Rider (laser disc game by Williams). As far as I'm concerned,
Star Rider is not only the greatest racing game of all time, but the greatest
game, period. Unequaled gameplay, plus the best graphics of its era. It's
like "The Road Warrior" in an outer space setting.
Dave
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Zotmeister
Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 10:56 am
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Last time I was at DisneyQuest in Orlando, they had a Red Baron upright. It
was in bad shape - the monitor didn't show the outer edge of the playing area,
so the score wasn't displayed among other things - but it was there and
otherwise functional. - ZM
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Gregory Erway
Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 11:59 am
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I got a friends of mine into collecting video games. One put together a
working Firefox complete with a autographed Clint 8x10 from the movie. He
has since sold it and has on occasion thought about putting another back
together again (collecting the parts and getting it working). His brother
and he also bought a Star Rider upright and a sitdown (motorcycle looking
thing). Both worked. But again they have sold both of them. Bummer. I do have
one more connection that had a Firefox last I knew but don't know if he still
has it or not. I think possibly not. Let me know if you want me to look into
it for you though.
I've played both games while in my friends collection. I think Firefox was
the better game. Star Rider seemed to play "on rails" too much. Similar game
to something like Road Blasters in my mind. I personally preferred M.A.C.H.
3 to Firefox.
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jjt_defender
Saturday, August 07, 2004 - 12:50 pm
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The Legendary Star Wars Master David Palmer Has returned to reclaim his title.
Good luck David Palmer on your return.
God Bless you
your fellow gamemaster JJT
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David Palmer
Saturday, August 07, 2004 - 06:15 pm
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JJT,
Thank you, and thanks to all the other people who have supported me in my
quest to regain recognition on Star Wars!
Also, I have received (via mail, from my parents) my old video gaming notes
and verification forms, a lot of the verification forms either having been
lost by Walter Day, or never received by him because they were sent into
Steve Harris instead.
I would like to correct an earlier mistake in this column on my part, I assumed
that Red Baron turned over every million points, but I had forgotten that it
actually turns over every 100,000 points!
In any case, here are the scores I have documentation for, and which I will
be sending to Walter Day:
Star Wars marathon (factory settings with a bonus shield for each round):
155,010,148. I simply quit at this point, after having played around 17 hours.
This was prior to Robert Mruczek getting 300M. The machine turned over at
100 million. I "used the force" in most of the rounds, but I never do this
in a 6-shield tournament game.
Battlezone: 23 million even, with factory settings. I simply quit at this
point, with 3 spare tanks left, after having played for 23 hours. An
interesting thing about Battlezone is that it gives you two bonus tanks
shortly after turning over every 10 million, because it "thinks" it has
gone back to zero. My tournament score for this game was 10 million even,
at which point I simply quit, without having lost any tanks.....tournament
setting for Battlezone was 3 tanks with no bonus tanks).
Red Baron: 447,860 in the arcade with verification, and on factory
settings (prior to this, in the '85 tournament, I had only gotten 214K) .
I got far higher scores later at home (over one million), but of course
I will only be submitting the documented arcade score (still high enough
to get the #1 spot). This game turns over every 100,000 but unlike Battlezone
does NOT give you bonus lives when it turns over (on factory settings they
are given at 4K, 15K, and 40K).
Star Rider: 3,008,923 on a multiple-credit game, and with factory settings.
My high score on a single-credit game is 523,870. The tournament rules
limited play to single-credit, and in the tournament my high was 339,015
(I hadn't fully mastered the game at that point, and it was later that I
got my 523K on single credit play). The way that multiple credit works in
this game is that if you lose a race, you get the option of putting in
another quarter, and if you then win, you can continue on with the game and
keep the score you'd built up to that point. For this game, I believe that
the Twin Galaxies scores should be divided up as to single vs. multi credit
play, and I will be bringing this subject up with Walter Day and Robert Mruczek.
The Empire Strikes Back: 1,556,836 on single credit and 2,873,487 on multiple
credit, both on factory settings. In the tournament (where I got 1,345,049),
play was on single credit. I think that, as with Star Rider, the Twin Galaxies
scores need to be divided up as to single vs. multi credit play.
Firefox: 712,157 for the 9,000 mile mission and 800,877 for the 12,000 mile
mission. The current high score for me in the TG listings is 707K (9K mission)
which was achieved in the tournament. This is #3 ranking in the listings,
but it is not clear to me whether the higher rankings were on the 9K or the
12K mission (this info isn't on their site). I think that TG needs to have
listings broken down between the two missions. The time I got 800K, was
the one and only time I completed the 12K mission (very difficult to do!).
I achieved my scores on factory settings, and the machine had the ORIGINAL
Firefox program. There was a second and easier program released (when Atari
decided they had made the game too hard), but I only had access to this program
for a brief period when I was learning to play the game, and I didn't achieve
my high scores on it. I don't know what program the other player's scores in
the TG listing were attained on.
My scores at Twin Galaxies for TX-1 (277,400) and Subroc-3D (1,049,700) are
my all-time highs on these games, and were obtained outside the tournament,
as these games were never included in the tournament.
I achieved a higher score for Tron outside the tournament that what is listed
for myself, but I can't find the record of just what that was (I seem to
remember it being around two and a half million). But in any case this is
well below the world record achieved outside the tournament and recognized
at TG. Tron was the first video game I learned to play (they brought it into
the cafeteria where I went to college.....I'd never had the nerve to go to
an arcade before that!), but it wasn't the sort of game I gravitated towards
as a mature player, which was the first-person simulator-type of game.
I achieved a higher score on Vertigo than the high score listed on TG (664,871
vs. Don Nauert's 595,028), but unfortunately I have no verification of it.
It was achieved in the arcade, but I didn't bother to do a verification form
because I was planning on playing it to a far higher level (which I was
convinced I could do), but I never got the chance to try (the machine broke
down and the arcade got rid of it).
I played an arcade laser-disc game called Cobra Command which is not listed
at TG (I'll ask them about this). I got a high score of 697,900 in normal play,
and 20,001,500 by using a trick that caused the final round to be repeated
again and again (with the points adding up each time).
I also mastered a number of Atari 2600 and home computer games (again, all
were first-person type games), but I don't have any way to document my scores.
An example is the Atari 2600 Battlezone, where I reached 10,305,000 (at which
time I simply quit)....which way above the TG listing of one-and-a-half million.
Please note that I am listed on Twin Galaxies as #19 for Rampage (NES), but
this is an error, as I never even played the game!
Dave Palmer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard M.
Saturday, August 07, 2004 - 06:56 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps there is another avid gamer named David Palmer who happens to play
Rampage? Although in that case clicking on the name (within the TG Scoreboard)
should bring up the other player's scores.
Congratuations David on the acceptance of your Star Wars score from 1986.
-- Richard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Palmer
Saturday, August 07, 2004 - 07:35 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard,
Thank you!
Well the Rampage score comes up under "David Palmer (of) Citrus Heights CA,"
and I doubt that there would be another same-name scoreboard player that close
by (actually, I didn't live in Citrus Heights, I lived in nearby Auburn and
played many of my record games in Citrus Heights).
Dave
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard M.
Saturday, August 07, 2004 - 07:48 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, I doubt that too. But it's still possible that someone named David Palmer
submitted a score on Rampage, that due to clerical error was mistakenly
attributed to you.
-- Richard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TJT
Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 11:12 am
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David, couple questions about Empire strikes back, out of curiosity...
How many shields did you start with, 4 or 5?
was difficulty easy or moderate?
Not sure what "default settings" are for the game. Here default was easy+5,
at mame it seems to be mod+4.
What level did you reach?
(some play for points -flybonus, some try get later levels)
....If you can remember, that is
Thanks,
TJT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Palmer
Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 02:04 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TJT,
I don't remember any of this, but fortunately I took notes, and according
to them the Empire Strikes Back factory setting (which I played on) was
"hard" and you started with 4 shields. On the single credit game I reached
level 12, and on the multi-credit level 21.
Dave
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert T Mruczek
Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 06:29 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David:
We can discuss the single vs multi-credit game records at your convenience.
As I never really played ESB much, and have never, ever played "Star Rider",
I have no idea what the impact of a multi-credit game entails (i.e. score
retention, mid-wave continuation vs beginning of wave continuation, etc)
However, in general, only in games with finite completions ("House of the Dead"
for example) does TG allow multiple buy-ins, in general. So we would have to
understand your reasoning for why these two titles should be tracked with
multiple buy-ins.
Next time you have a chance, call me to discuss, or call Walter and he can
conference me in so we can discuss together. Thanks.
Robert
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Palmer
Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 09:04 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert,
Star Rider and Empire Strikes Back are both set up such that you have the
option of replaying a round in which you "failed" (lost the race in Star
Rider or "died" in Empire Strikes Back), and if you win or survive through
that level, you go on to the next level and keep the score that you have built
up to that point.
Actually, I'm not so much arguing that you SHOULD necessarily list high scores
for multiple-credit play, but rather that if you DO include high scores attained
through multiple-credit play, you should identify them as such, and should
separately list high scores for single-credit, since the single-credit play is
more of a test of skill. And if you only want to list single-credit play scores,
that's OK with me, but you need to state on the scoreboard that they are highs
for single-credit play, since these scores will probably look pretty unimpressive
to someone who assumed they were attained ANY way and who was used to attaining
a given score by multiple-credit (or who had heard about a score that was so
attained, or seen it as a high score on a local video game machine).
Dave
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TJT
Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 10:55 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the ESB info David. I think game increases difficulty forever, so
that next wave is allways harder than previous, more firing. Tie fighters get
really really hard quite soon. Your SW experience must have helped there...
Anyway, stage 12 about matches your score...You must have been getting quite
plenty flybonus at earlyish levels. Risky stuff!
IMO, no point listing multiple credit score for esb. It's bit same as tempest
bonus, but you don't have to finish level to be able continue from same wave
reached before. You might have to get into "jedi mode" again to rise up
starting wave.
I will be playing the game with MAME in near future.
TJT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert T Mruczek
Monday, August 09, 2004 - 06:30 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Dave:
We should be okay then...the general TG policy is single-credit only. The
few exceptions are modern finite-completion titles like "House of Dead" series
and a few others.
Thanks for the valuable info !!
Robert
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scootie
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 06:13 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey David
Already sent you an e-mail but I just wanted to congratulate you on your 31M score.
You also have some serious competiton at your heels in the form of Brandon Erikson!
May the force always be with you
Scootie
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Ahlers
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 07:15 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Correction.....May the force be with you, always !!
Congrats Dave !! remarkable score
Eric
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Ahlers
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 07:19 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speak like a true Jedi, Scootie does not !!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joined: 26 Sep 2004
Posts: 3
Location: Louisville, KY
Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 11:08 pm Post subject: Thanks, TG - your efforts are
appreciated !!
Mark Alpiger Post
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow - here's the second score reinstatement this year ! I must say I was
speechless at both the speed, and which score out of the two, was reinstated for
David Palmer's Star Wars efforts. Twin Galaxies, and the board, has definitely
bent over backwards to be fair, thorough, and generous in this reinstatement.
As a matter of fact, I almost consider it overly fair (!!), given that the 31M
was made under the auspices of another (tho pretty reliable, and closely related !)
entity.
Some may consider me a bit of a critic of TG, but, that isn't (and never has been)
the case. Instead, I am merely an advocate of the players, and knew, from two good
sources (a letter to me from David himself back in the 80's, along with the Top
Score interview, both soon to be posted at my site) that Mr. Palmer's scores were
very likely totally legit. I'm glad he seems to have good backing evidence of
many of his accomplishments, on top of a good presentation of himself (see the
TG forums for some of his posts) - a little proof never hurts, after all !!
Well, let's all remember that the TG staff (especially Rob and Brien, but most
likely others that I'm not aware of) works for free, and while we can still have
expectations of them and their duties, we must also weigh the fact that they
volunteer their time ! In that light, let's support them as much as possible,
and also, I advocate cooling things down in total, as far as the occasional
negative anonymous (and sometimes non-anonymous) posts, especially at Funspot.
As I've said before, a single, reasonable, private message or mail to Rob is
the best way to go, for sure.
Oh, and before I forget - congrats to Dave, for again being recognized as #1 by
the most important source for scores, Twin Galaxies !! - Mark Alpiger / MDA
www.classicarcadegaming.com - Chronicling the history of the 'Golden Age'.
Brandon Erickson, Champion, Saturday, July 24, 2004
At Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade in Oregon.
Brandon Erickson (Second Best Player In The World):
STORY http://www.groundkontrol.com/news/index.php
Brandon Erickson beat the 5.1 million point world record on Star Wars Classic
in tournament mode (Hard, 6 starting shields, no bonus,) scoring 5,294,612
and later surpassing that with a 5,508,635 performance. This is still far
away from David Palmers First Place High Score of 31,660,614 done in 1985.
Death Star
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert T Mruczek - Chief Referee Twin Galaxies
Friday, August 06, 2004 - 11:07 am
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon and I spoke just yesterday...he's already pushing 6M (I think be passed
his own score again) and he's improving at a frightening pace. He definitely is
on path to 10M before year-end, and maybe even more !!
Robert T. Mruczek
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon Erickson - Star Wars World Record
Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 07:47 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Everyone,
I just got a new personal best today on Star Wars TGTS (setting: Hardest; 6
start shields; 0 bonus shields). My score was 8,143,471 points, on I think
wave 45.
And there is definitely room for improvement, since most of my mistakes were
what I consider dumb mistakes, all done in the trench. There was only one hit
in the trench that I felt like I couldn't really understand how it happened,
otherwise it was all explainable. I didn't get hit at all on the Tie or Tower
stages, and I think I might have missed like one or two Tower sequences in
the whole game. I've been getting most of the wave 11 sequences pretty
comfortably now. I've got a specific routine I use for all the wave 11
patterns and I can almost always complete it.
The game wasn't taped though; I wish it was so that I could at least review
over the mistakes. I probably won't videotape again until I break 10M
in my practice.
That's all for now.
-Brandon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Funspot's Classic Arcade Game Forum: General Discussion: Star Wars TGTS -
New Personal Best
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon Erickson
Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 07:47 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Everyone,
I just got a new personal best today on Star Wars TGTS (setting: Hardest; 6
start shields; 0 bonus shields). My score was 8,143,471 points, on I think
wave 45.
And there is definitely room for improvement, since most of my mistakes were
what I consider dumb mistakes, all done in the trench. There was only one
hit in the trench that I felt like I couldn't really understand how it
happened, otherwise it was all explainable. I didn't get hit at all on the
Tie or Tower stages, and I think I might have missed like one or two Tower
sequences in the whole game. I've been getting most of the wave 11 sequences
pretty comfortably now. I've got a specific routine I use for all the wave
11 patterns and I can almost always complete it.
The game wasn't taped though; I wish it was so that I could at least review
over the mistakes. I probably won't videotape again until I break 10M in
my practice.
That's all for now.
-Brandon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scootie
Monday, August 09, 2004 - 12:49 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey Brandon
WAY TO GO DUDE!!!!!
Hope to see you at Funspot 7!!
Scootie
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert T Mruczek
Monday, August 09, 2004 - 06:20 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Brandon:
We're routing for you to pass the 10M mark...keep at it and I'm sure you will
reach that goal. Your rate of improvement is staggering !!
Robert
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon Erickson
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 07:30 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Everyone,
I hesitate to make seemingly grandiose statements/predictions, mainly for fear
that I may not be able to deliver the goods. But let me say this: I am determined
to break David Palmer's 31M score before the year is over, and to capture the
whole thing on videotape. And barring some unforseen life change or cataclysmic
event (e.g., the Star Wars machine goes goes on the blink, or my hands are
crushed by a train), I feel that I have a good chance of achieving this goal,
provided I maintain my focus and determination. Why am I determined to do
this? Well, I don't have a good answer for that right now. Maybe just to
try and prove that I am capable of doing something that many people regard
as nearly impossible.
So stay tuned.
Brandon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, August 16, 2004 - 11:10 am
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Everyone,
I played a game on Saturday that lasted around 2hrs 15min, and ended with a score of
11,690,371 points. I don't remember which wave I ended on. I want to say it was 68
or 69. I didn't take my first hit until wave 27 when I was over 5M. I ended up
taking 2 (maybe 3) hits on the Tie stages, which was inexcusable, and the rest
were in the trench, but there were some distractions; for example, a very very foul
smelling homeless guy who was standing over my shoulder muttering things; it
sounding like he was counting towers or something as I was shooting them. At any
rate, I took a hit during the few minutes he was watching, probably because of the
stench. I also slacked a little after 10M. I had two shields left after 10M, but
I didn't concentrate as hard after hitting that mark because that was my goal for
the weekend and I didn't anticipate going much further than that, plus I wasn't
being taped.
So there it is. My next goal is to break 15M.
Brandon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon Erickson
Monday, August 16, 2004 - 03:55 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ET Agrats,
I try to practice a little each day if I can. I work a lot of hours at my day job
(50hrs/wk), so that's not always easy, plus I work in the evenings sometimes.
But I try to get an average of at least an hour a day. With my most recent
personal best at over 2hrs, it's not going to be a possibility to play as many
games out during a weeknight, and I'll have to save playing out full games for
the weekends. What I will probably start doing on the weeknights is seeing how
far I can go on 1 or 2 shields.
Brandon
Brandon Erickson Contact Information:
Brandon Erickson
BRE
contender on Star Wars; currently gunning for world record in
tournament mode (now at 11.69M, and rapidly increasing skillset)
brandonrerickson@yahoo.com
503-201-3914
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/Walter Day, Final Referee Writes:
================================================================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Day
Monday, August 16, 2004 - 11:10 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon: Very impressive. Keep on going. You have to break David Palmer's
31 million because that has been reinstated.
Walter Day
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
==================================================================================
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robotron marathon record ??? THREADS BELOW
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twin Galaxies Forums Forum Index -> Coin-Op Video Games
HAL-9000 Writes:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joined: 19 Nov 2003
Posts: 67
Location: Montreal, Canada
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2004 9:05 pm Post subject: Robotron marathon record ???
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How it is possible to make a marathon high score of near 350,000,000 to Robotron
with the TG rules ? If i remember well, it take nearly 4 hours to make 10,000,000.
350,000,000 would take 140 hours !! Nobody can play that long without sleeping
for hours !!
_________________
Le palais du Video
Le Paradis des années 80'
Back to top
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RMRUCZEK
TG Board of Directors
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 Sep 2002
Posts: 3025
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:28 pm Post subject: Actually it's less
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Hal-9000:
It is possible to score higher per hour...all depends on your skillset at the title.
The most proficient players, at those settings, will score a LOT faster than a
novice or intermediate player. Please bear that in mind.
That aside, as for the precise specifics on this one, I have to defer this question
to those who have familiarity with it's initial submission, so will forward this
link to Walter for commentary. Thanks for the diligence.
Robert
_________________
Robert T Mruczek
Twin Galaxies - Editor and Chief referee
Star Wars classic arcade marathon champion
rmruczek@doremus.com (work E-MAIL)
******************************
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAL-9000
19 Nov 2003
Posts: 67
Location: Montreal, Canada
Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 9:11 pm Post subject:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks !! I think that some old marathon world high score need to be reevaluate.
I remember in the 80's that some marathon world high score were done by a team
if i'm right.
_________________
Le palais du Video
Le Paradis des années 80'
dbh
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joined: 11 Nov 2002
Posts: 125
Location: Salem, NH
Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 1:26 am Post subject:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
it take nearly 4 hours to make 10,000,000
I think this is much too conservative of an estimate. I know I can do roughly
4M per hour. However, that would still be 80+ hours for 350M.
Quote:
I remember in the 80's that some marathon world high score were done by a team if
i'm right.
Certainly a possibility. It wouldn't even need to be a "team"...just one more player
who can hold his own for an hour would be enough.
Actually, if the current number of free men were tracked accurately by someone else,
a player could get the game to a point where they could legitimately take a fairly
long break by just letting men die off. For example, if one were to have say 200 free
men at a point where they rolled the wave counter, they could kill all but one grunt
on wave 1 and then just let men die off. It probably takes 15-20 seconds for a single
grunt on wave 1 to reach the center where your man starts and for the machine to
redraw the whole wave again. At 15 seconds per man, 200 me would take 3000 seconds
(50 minutes) to completely deplete your free men.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rwmarsh741
Joined: 06 Nov 2002
Posts: 285
Location: Connecticut
Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 8:17 am Post subject:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dbh wrote:
Actually, if the current number of free men were tracked accurately by someone else,
a player could get the game to a point where they could legitimately take a fairly
long break by just letting men die off. For example, if one were to have say 200
free men at a point where they rolled the wave counter, they could kill all but one
grunt on wave 1 and then just let men die off. It probably takes 15-20 seconds for
a single grunt on wave 1 to reach the center where your man starts and for the
machine to redraw the whole wave again. At 15 seconds per man, 200 me would take
3000 seconds (50 minutes) to completely deplete your free men.
Wouldn't it be even better to wait until wave 5 and kill all but one Brain?
-- Richard
_________________
-- RWM
-- 3 jun 2004: Verified score in Gyruss (arcade, 5-ships) of 1,306,100 points
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dbh
Joined: 11 Nov 2002
Posts: 125
Location: Salem, NH
Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 11:11 am Post subject:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
Wouldn't it be even better to wait until wave 5 and kill all but one Brain?
True, the brains take somewhat longer to materialize, but they also shoot which will
likely shorten the time they take to kill your man. Maybe someday I'll sit down and
actually time some of these things to see which method has the longest average time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAL-9000
Joined: 19 Nov 2003
Posts: 67
Location: Montreal, Canada
Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 6:54 am Post subject:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm an average player and i make last night, the perfect score to Robotron, blue roms,
level 5, 9,999,975 in about 2 1/2 hours, that means 1 million every 15 minutes. Still
to make 350,000,000 it will take for a better player than me, almost 2 hours per
10,000,000. 70 hours if he can perform all the way at this high rate.
I think that the Robotron old 350,000,000 marathon world record was not acheive with
the same modern TG rules, i have the impression that somebody help this person to
reach it.
_________________
Le palais du Video
Le Paradis des années 80'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ripper
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 64
Location: Charleston, SC
Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 8:47 am Post subject:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm just curious of what arcade would stay open for 80 straight hours to have
this score achieved? LOL
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ripper
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 64
Location: Charleston, SC
Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 8:59 am Post subject: one or two more thoughts...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of team play and high scores... A friend of mine and myself once played
Track & Field for 12 straight hours back in 1985. We scored right at 15 million! We
were not looking to set any kind of world record or anything but we did want to set
a record at the local arcade that could not be beat. We started playing from the time
they opened the doors at the arcade till they closed up. And then we had to kill
off a lot of extra men towards the end.
Team play does happen and we sure used it to our advantage so we could get something
to eat and use the bathroom when needed. We were both expert players at the time and
could have played it for 80 hours while taking turns sleeping if that were the case.
And in Robotron you could even have one guy shooting while the other guy moves the
man. It's something like playing flipper flipper on pinball. All you have to do is
concentrate on one flipper and multiball is half as hard as before. Yep, I did that
as well and set some stupidly high scores.
I'm not sure how the score on Robotron was recorded (witness, arcade manager or TG
ref) but I do remember back in the day in, I think, Joystick Magazine where all you
had to do was get the arcade attendant (and most of the time he was your buddy) to
sign a piece of paper saying you scored something like 12 million on Donkey Kong
and the magazine would publish your score. LOL That's to funny!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dbh
Joined: 11 Nov 2002
Posts: 125
Location: Salem, NH
Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 12:06 pm Post subject:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
And in Robotron you could even have one guy shooting while the other guy moves the
man. It's something like playing flipper flipper on pinball. All you have to do is
concentrate on one flipper and multiball is half as hard as before. Yep, I did that
as well and set some stupidly high scores.
Hey, someone else who used to do that In college, I used to play this way with a
friend of mine and we could basically score higher than almost everyone else in our
local arcade. I did movement and my friend did the firing. It does require that both
players have similar technique and decision-making process for clearing the various
boards though.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
permafrostrick
Referee
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1551
Location: Gaithersburg, MD
Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:50 pm Post subject:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAL-9000 wrote:
70 hours if he can perform all the way at this high rate.
yep..I remember seeing that score back in the 80s a few of us had estimated it
was a 65-70 hour marathon.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ripper
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 64
Location: Charleston, SC
Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 11:03 am Post subject:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I believe that Defender world record is a 70 hour game as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Alpiger writes article about Brandon Erickson: Below. (Link to Story)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
08-14-2004 Brandon Erickson raises personal Star Wars score
Well, Star Wars has certainly been in the news a lot lately, and and here's
the latest from red-hot Brandon Erickson. After playing the game for a mere
2 1/2 months, he continues to ramp up his personal bests - the mark now stands
at a lofty 11,690,371 (see picture, below left, provided by Brandon (shown
below right) and his cam-phone). It was his first game of the day, but he
neglected to take his video camera, so it wasn't recorded. He recalls a
few highlights of his game: he had "over 5 million" points, and was on wave
27, before taking his first hit, which is an incredible feat, even for seasoned
players; the game lasted "around 2hrs 15min"; and, he thinks that the game
ended with him on wave "68 or 69", approximately. As always, he set the mark
at a local arcade (only 8 blocks from where he lives), which is Ground Kontrol,
located in Portland, Oregon (see www.groundkontrol.com). Oh, in case you're
wondering, the other scores shown in the top four on the picture are previous
marathon scores, explaining why his new score is in the middle, and not on top.
Less than a week ago, Brandon made a (then) personal high on the game of
8,143,471 points, getting to around wave 45. Like today's effort, he didn't
videotape this game either, but I would wager that he will be taping, from
now on (just in case !). As you can tell, his improvements have been remarkable,
and, like today, on the 8M effort, he pushed up his score by about 3 million.
The score he beat then was a 5,508,635 effort that he made on 07-24-2004.
That actually beat an earlier effort that same day of 5,294,612 points, which
actually beat the (then) Twin Galaxies wr of 5,198,043, held by my gaming
friend Mark Boolman. Because of various policies and decisions, the scores
on Star Wars has varied wildly in the past year. Mark made his 5.1M score
during the Funspot 2003 tournament, but wasn't taping, as he didn't know about
this new requirement. He later taped a 3.9M score, and made the 'world record'
on that one, even tho he had beaten it earlier, and even tho both he, and
David Palmer, had actually decimated these weak marks in the mid-80's, at the
Video Game Masters Tournaments held then. Later in the year, Rob Mruczek made
a 4,044,601 score, meaning he now had the 'record'. Then, at the Funspot 2004
tournament, a decision was made (partly with generosity on Rob's part) that
Mark's 5.1M score would now be accepted, on the status of it being played on
a machine that was known to be properly set up in a contest situation.
Thereafter, Brandon seized the official TG record with his two 5M efforts,
but then David's true world record was reinstated a week and a half later.
Whew - that whole situation had more twists than a mystery movie marathon !
Now, let's get back to Brandon. Based on his rapidly rising skill, he
estimates that he will eclipse the now reinstated wr mark of 31,660,614,
held by the legendary David Palmer. David feels that he will also, but Rob,
and myself, feel that Brandon's skill-set will soon meet its match, especially
in the 20 to 25 million range. Still, he is shooting for David's score, and
feels it can be done by the end of the year. Good luck on this one - you'll
need it, Brandon !
Ground Kontrol Arcade: Brandon Erickson High Scores
Brandon Erickson High Score
Brandon Erickson still needs to improve in order to beat
David Palmers 31 million high score
Picture taken by Brandon Erickson's Phone
Brandon Erickson Leaving Oregon Arcade, Ground Kontrol Arcade
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/Walter Day, Final Referee Writes:
================================================================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Day
Monday, August 16, 2004 - 11:10 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon: Very impressive. Keep on going. You have to break David Palmer's
31 million because that has been reinstated.
Walter Day
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
==================================================================================
Brandon Erickson
Monday, August 30, 2004 - 10:57 am
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
I videotaped on Sunday, and I achieved a new personal best on Star Wars TGTS of
13,691,031pts. The game ended on Wave 77. I actually died while shooting the
porthole. I was a little incredulous, because the game actually registered the
shot to the porthole by making that characteristic sound effect indicating that
the porthole has been successfully hit. But I guess I got hit exactly simultaneous
with that. So in a sense I martyred myself on the last trench run in that I
destroyed the Death Star and died in the process.
Since the game was caught on videotape I won't try to remember any more details
about it; I'll save that task for Rob once he reviews the tape.
Brandon
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, August 30, 2004 - 04:02 pm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey Brandon
Did you still get credit (as far as score) for destroying the Death Star?
Scootie
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TJT
Monday, August 30, 2004 - 04:30 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WOW! Congrats for TG 2nd position.
Wave 77 makes 11 waves per shield, huh...Star Wars is NOT easy game...Towers and
tiefighters are not so hard, but trench...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon Erickson
Monday, August 30, 2004 - 06:40 pm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scootie,
As far as points go, I did not get credit for destroying the Death Star. According
to the game's programming, you cannot accrue any more points once you are "dead"
(i.e., game over). To reap the points awarded for destroying the Death Star, the
player must not only deliver a torpedo to the porthole but also survive the ensuing
explosion.
Brandon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jjt_defender
Monday, August 30, 2004 - 10:09 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congradulations Brandon on your Star Wars arcade TGST score.
Getting closer to 15/20/25 & finally David Palmers 31-million Star Wars World
TGST record.
Good luck Brandon on your quest in breaking Star Wars TGST WR.
God Bless
your fellow gammer JJT
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Monday, August 30, 2004 - 06:39 pm
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I have heard that a Sui Ming Louie had a TGTS star wars score of something like
61,000,000. is that a real score, or is that a marathon score?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gary
Monday, August 30, 2004 - 10:30 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since this is a Twin Galaxies scoring question, it belongs on their forum.
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Dunga
Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - 02:51 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You know, I was just asking about the score. I don't care whether or not it is
posted on twin galaxies. It was just a general inquiry to see what people knew
about the score.
Jeez. Everytime I ask about a score somebody jumps down my throat about twin
galaxies. We are still allowed to discuss video games on funspot, right?
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Brandon Erickson Scores 13M on "Star Wars" (TGTS NEW SECOND PLACE RECORD)
By ROBERT T. MRUCZEK
Author Message
RMRUCZEK
TG Board of Directors
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:24 pm
Post subject: Brandon Erickson Scores 13M on "Star Wars" (TGTS) Link
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon Erickson Scores 13 million on "Star Wars" (TGTS) !!
As reported on Sunday, December 12th, 2004
Hello fellow gamers:
This story is long overdue, so my apologies to Brandon.
Many of you know that one of my own personal gaming achievements
involves the very game that I am writing about. I never claimed to be
"the best" at it...I simply played it out the longest. In Walter Day's
great wisdom, it was for reasons like that which lead to the establishment
of "Twin Galaxies Tournament Settings", also known as "TGTS" for short.
In general, marathonable titles were assigned tougher settings to weed
out the masters from those players that were above average, and from
everybody else playing the title. These settings did the trick. On titles
such as "Robotron", "Star Wars", "Q*Bert", and many others, marathon
performances...tests of endurance, mostly...were replaced with achievements
featuring precision, expertise and proficiency.
Some performances under these severe conditions were inevitably better
than others, as is always the case with competetive video gaming. In the
case of "Star Wars", a long-standing listing under dispute has finally been
given it's recognition. David Palmer's 31 million points was officially
recognized by Twin Galaxies this year, an awesome achievement from
yesteryear.
However, the rest of the performances including some from today's
active roster of players, were far apart from David's score. Several
players, including Mark Boolman, Donald Hayes and myself, are in the 4-5
million point range right now, just about 15% of David's score. Again, that
just shows that TGTS is having it's intended effect on score submissions.
Enter Brandon Erickson who hails from Portland, Oregon.
Brandon is a regular at the "Ground Kontrol" arcade from that area,
which is quickly making a name for itself as the proving grounds for some
of today's hottest players. It is definitely the place to be to set records
on the west coast !! Brandon contacted Twin Galaxies as he climbed past the
5 million point barrier as set by Mark Boolman after, believe it or not,
just a few weeks of practice. Speaking as one of the better "Star Wars"
players out there, Brandon's expertise was increasing at a frightening pace.
I personally have never, ever, seen or heard of a "Star Wars" player get so
good so fast. Mark Boolman and I both agree...Brandon is a natural at the title.
As Brandon's quest continued, he reported getting scores well past the
5 million point barrier. Soon he hit 6 million. And then he got serious.
As of this writing, Brandon has submitted to Twin Galaxies a verified
score of 13,691,031 points on "Star Wars" at tournament settings, the second
highest score in the world. This performance, which lasted for more than two
hours on the same credit, establishes Brandon as today's hottest "Star Wars"
player, and a bonafide contender to make a run at David Palmer's vintage
record of 31 million points, once deemed "incredibly difficult" by Mark
Boolman and myself. And he has more that a passing chance at it too.
After his submission was verified, Brandon continued to practice, and
reported a practice session of over 15 million points. Even more impressive,
he told me that he recently lasted on his first shield to wave 48 where his
score was about 7-8 million points. Considering that you get a total of seven
(7) shield hits in the game before your game is over (the last hit occurs when
you have no shields remaining), and adjusting for the initial 800K wave 5
starting bonus, Brandon has the potential to soar past the 31 million barrier
and possibly hit even 50 million. In fact, he told me that he is hoping to
reach wave 99 on his 1st shield, something no "Star Wars" player, David Palmer
included, has ever done before.
Not just content with establishing himself as the hottest active "Star Wars"
player at TGTS, Brandon ALSO set a personal best at the marathon settings,
lasting 10 hours and breaking 50 million points in the process. He can clearly
do more as his game ended voluntarily. Who knows...by next year he may be going
after my own namesake record !!
Whatever Brandon's plans are, the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard
wishes him all the best, as we are very excited at the prospect of his
taking "Star Wars" into realms never before reached.
SO that you can appreciate what it takes to pull off a score of 13
million points at tournament settings, I have recapped his achievement
below in fine detail.
Watching Brandon's tape was a thrill for me. It's been awhile since I
was at peak proficiency at the title, so this was an exciting moment. I had
the chance to see what may be the world's best "Star Wars" player just
getting started. And I am grateful that Brandon entrusted me with the task,
being that I am a contender on the very same title.
Interestingly enough, I have had the honour of also watching performances by
Mark Boolman as well as Donald Hayes, and the four of us all have remarkably
different playing styles and techniques that we employ at various points in
the game. We each approach the trench with a different perspective, we each
have our own favourite ways to execute the tower patterns, and we each make
different choices when it comes to the tie fighter wave.
So when I watched Brandon's performance and the choices he made, it
was quite refreshing. There were many times when I said to myself "Wow,
I never thought of trying this tower pattern THAT way before". In truth
the patterns that I have used for years are so ingrained I doubt I ever
will change them...they have a certain comfortable familiarity...but it's
nice to see a fresh perspective out there that also gets the job done.
We each differ the most when it comes to the trench stage which is
virtually a freestyle expression in technique and skill. What I like about
"Star Wars" is that the trench is not a matter of executing textbook precision
maneuvers. It allows for creativity, which is why I enjoy it so much.
Anyway, here now is how Brandon got the job done, and earned himself a
second place berth in the all-time list for "Star Wars" at TGTS. Enjoy !!
*********************************************
THE PATH TO VICTORY
Brandon started his game way back on August 29th, 2004 at 4:02.43pm
and started from wave 5, the maximum allowable starting point which awards
a completion bonus of 800,000 points. He has six shields, and when they
are gone he can continue to play without a shield, where the next hit is
game over. Here's how he did it.
Note that due to the proximity of the camera to the score, I have to
round to the nearest thousand until the final score. Sorry, but that's the
best that I can do under the circumstances.
Wave 5 - 959,000 points...this includes all (24) towers and the 800K
completion bonus. He has six (6) shields remaining
From here on in, I will report on the wave-end score, whether the
towers were all destroyed, and whether any hits were sustained, or if
any other significant happening warrants inclusion.
Wave 6 - 1,111,000 points...all 20 towers, 6 shields remain
Wave 7 - 1.277M...all 20, 6
Wave 8 - 1.441M...all 21, 6
Wave 9 - 1.611M...all 21, 6
Wave 10 - 1.803M...all 27, 6
Wave 11 - 2.006M...all 28, 6
The wave 10 and 11 tower patterns yield the most points. A complete
tower pattern is worth 200 points per tower progressively (200, 400, 600,
etc) with the last tower destroyed yielding an additional 50K bonus.
The wave 10 pattern ultimately has 31 towers to destroy, and the
tough wave 11 pattern maxes out at 32, as the game difficulty increases.
The point value for completing a level 10 or 11 pattern is more than
150K, a huge amount of points in this game.
Wave 12 - 2.163M...all 20, 6
This is the last of the tower waves where the red tanks fire back.
From now on it's smooth sailing ahead for Brandon !!
Wave 13 - 2.330M...all 20, 6
Wave 14 - 2.501M...all 24, 5
Brandon takes his first hit in the tie fighter stage. He had a small
gap in the lower right where he shot at a series of fireballs coming at
him. One snuck through. The impact as far as points means 5K less per wave
as far as "Death Star" shield bonus points awarded at the end of each wave.
Every shield intact is worth 5K at wave-end, so a full compliment which was
previously worth 30K is now worth 25K. No big deal...he has a lot of gaming
ahead of him. Besides...the impact over 30 entire waves is 150K, the value
of just one completed wave 10 or 11 tower pattern down the line, so the point
impact is indeed minimal.
Wave 15 - 2.677M...all 24, 5
Wave 16 - 2.859M...all 24, 5
Wave 17 - 3.041M...all 25, 5
Wave 18 - 3.215M...all 25, 5
AT this point, a major glare is hitting the screen square, affecting
Brandon's ability to see clearly. As a testament to his expertise and skill,
he games on without missing a beat.
Wave 19 - 3.425M...all 31, 5
Wave 20 - 3.584M...30/32 towers destroyed, 5
The first wave where Brandon misses the tower bonus. This is the tough
wave 11 pattern with 4 additional towers. Only the best players can routinely
pull this one off. And this is a fluke, actually, as Brandon never misses this
pattern again !! The point-loss impact was approx 63K.
Wave 21 - 3.796M...all 31, 5
Wave 22 - 3.971M...all 20, 5
Wave 23 - 4.149M...all 24, 5
At this point Brandon passes my own registered best at TGTS. Only
Mark Boolman and David Palmer are higher...and now Brandon.
Wave 24 - 4.325M...all 24, 5
Wave 25 - 4.507M...all 25, 5
Wave 26 - 4.681M...all 24, 5
Wave 27 - 4.897M...all 31, 5
Wave 28 - 5.074M...all 24, 5
At this point, or very close to it, Brandon will pass Mark Boolman's
registered score, and will face a steep climb towards David Palmer's
mammoth 31 million point game. If Brandon is thinking about the tough
road ahead, he doesn't show it. He retains his focus and keeps on gaming.
Wave 29 - 5.251M...all 24, 5
Wave 30 - 5.423M...all 24, 4
Brandon takes another hit, reducing his shields to 4. In the tricky
tie fighter wave, he was faced with dual-circling tie fighters trailing
fireballs in opposite directions, and Darth Vader's ship also firing away.
This is a situation that is not easy to extricate yourself from unscathed,
and the number of fireballs on screen was too great at one particular moment,
thus the second hit.
Wave 31 - 5.635M...all 32, 4
Wave 32 - 5.808M...all 25, 4
Wave 33 - 6.020M...all 32, 4
Wave 34 - 6.238M...all 32, 4
Wave 35 - 6.405M...all 24, 4
This was without a doubt the easiest trench wave this game, ideal for
using "The Force", the ultra tough technique whereby you negotiate the
entire trench without firing a shot to protect yourself. Do it, and you
are awarded 100K in bonus points.
Brandon exercises discipline by not using this tactic, which is not
a good idea when in pursuit of the TGTS record, as every shield is potentially
worth so much more than 100,000 points, especially with a completed wave 10 or
11 tower pattern worth 150K at any point. In fact, the lowest valued completed
tower pattern at this point in the game (24 towers) is worth 110K, more than
"The Force".
This is not to say that you have to refrain from using it...each
"Star Wars" player must make their own decisions. Brandon opts not to use it,
and obviously he is doing quite nicely at the game in not doing so !!
Wave 36 - 6.574M...all 24, 4
Wave 37 - 6.745M...all 25, 4
Wave 38 - 6.956M...all 32, 4
Wave 39 - 7.171M...all 32, 4
Wave 40 - 7.337M...all 24, 4
Wave 41 - 7.505M...all 24, 4
Wave 42 - 7.714M...all 31, 4
Amazingly, Brandon still is dealing with the glare at this point in the game,
as I have in my recap notes that he is commenting about the glare.
So...Brandon has now nearly twice my own registered personal best, AND he is
playing with a glare problem. Yep, I have my work cut out for me if I want to
get back to my old proficiency level !!
Wave 43 - 7.930M...all 32, 4
Wave 44 - 8.139M...all 31, 4
Wave 45 - 8.309M...all 24, 4
Wave 46 - 8.473M...all 25, 3
As with his second hit taken, Brandon again has problems with dual-
encircling tie fighters along with Darth's ship causing trouble at the same
time, and he takes hit number three.
To recap...three hits, all in the tie fighter stage, and three shields
remain plus one last chance to fly sans-shield.
Uh oh...imagine they programmed the game where you didn't have ANY shields at
all ? On that scary note, let's move on. This game's hard enough at TGTS as it is.
Wave 47 - 8.625M...31/32 towers destroyed, 3
This is the second time Brandon missed a tower pattern, and again it
is the tough wave 11 pattern. It is also the last time he will miss a tower
pattern this game.
Wave 48 - 8.830M...all 32, 3
Wave 49 - 9.001M...all 25, 3
Wave 50 - 9.167M...all 24, 3
Wave 51 - 9.377M...all 32, 3
Wave 52 - 9.550M...all 25, 3
Wave 53 - 9.705M...all 24, 2
Brandon misjudges a disjointed wall segment in the trench, in a sequence
reminiscent of wave 7's unique looking trench segments, while trying to
duck under a fireball. Two (2) shields remain, and then "No Shield".
Wave 54 - 9.901M...all 31, 2
Wave 55 - 10.094M...all 31, 1
Brandon cracks the 10M mark !! However, this is not without it's toll.
He takes a hit near the very end of the trench due to the slightest
miscalculation of the proximity of a fireball. Happens to the best players.
One (1) shield in reserve.
Wave 56 - 10.245M...all 25, 1
Wave 57 - 10.414M...all 25, 1
Wave 58 - 10.571M...all 24, 1
Wave 59 - 10.732M...all 25, 1
Wave 60 - 10.891M...all 25, 1
Wave 61 - 11.084M...all 31, 1
Wave 62 - 11.237M...all 25, NO SHIELD !!
Disaster happened at the end of the trench. Brandon grazes a wall
near the end of the sequence and loses the last of his protective shields.
R2D2 can't help him now. The next hit ends his game. Additionally, it makes
going through the trench (without using "The Force") worth only 25K for
destroying the "Death Star", plus any incidental points along the way from
shooting incoming fireballs and the tanks along the walls.
Brandon puts on his best game-face, I have to imagine, and continues.
Wave 63 - 11.434M...all 32, 0
Now this impresses me. Regardless of his proficiency at executing the
wave 11 tower pattern, it is still the most dangerous one of the game, and
one mistake could easily mean a fireball hit or tower graze. But world
records are not made by being timid, so Brandon really gets to show us what
nerves of steel he has.
Wave 64 - 11.624M...all 31, 0
Wave 65 - 11.775M...all 25, 0
Wave 66 - 11.926M...all 24, 0
Wave 67 - 12.077M...all 24, 0
Wave 68 - 12.232M...all 25, 0
Wave 69 - 12.420M...all 31, 0
Wave 70 - 12.614M...all 32, 0
Wave 71 - 12.766M...all 25, 0
This wave was almost it for Brandon. Near the end of the tie fighter
wave, all of one second before the music started, there were three (3)
fireballs clustered near the lower left corner, spaced apart from eachother.
As all "Star Wars" players know, fireballs in the corner at wave-end when
the music comes can be devastatingly hard. Brandon manages to shoot some of
them the instant before the music starts, and polishes off the rest after.
The slightest hesitation would have cost him the game at this point, so nothing
can be taken for granted. If this moment startled him, and it would definitely
have opened up my eyes, he didn't show it.
Wave 72 - 12.916M...all 24, 0
Like the last wave, there are three (3) fireballs near wave-end, a moment
before the music starts. Brandon pulls through, but the game is definitely
trying it's best to snag him if he's not at his sharpest. Not that the game
actually knows how wide awake a player is, but all gamers get the feeling
that at some point, the game is out to get them, meaning cause their game to
come to an end. You just "feel" it. Call it gamer's intuition. Of course it
could be fatigue, or pushing the envelope once too often, but after 35 years
of gaming, I have my own little superstitions about gaming. Hey, I'm entitled !!
Wave 73 - 13.061M...all 24, 0
Towards the end of the tie fighter wave, one tie fighter tried to lay
up a shot near the top just when Brandon was battling with Darth Vader's
fireball volley mid-left. A quick reaction saves Brandon's game as he picks
off the shot. But like I just said, I think the game was now trying to
get him with anything it could. After all, I hadn't seen a sneaky tie
fighter trick like this for the entire performance thus far. This is just an
opinion about the game trying to "get him", of course, but I have to wonder.
Wave 74 - 13.222M...all 24, 0
Wave 75 - 13.372M...all 24, 0
Wave 76 - 14.561M...all 31, 0
Wave 77 - 13,691,031...all 24, Game Over !!
Brandon survived a near-problem at the end of the tie fighter wave
before the music started due to corner fireballs again. No biggie. The
towers were a cakewalk. Now let's go to the trench.
The time is 6:40.07pm and "Aaaaaahhhhh !!" is what Brandon screams out.
He cleared the final wall and was right by the exhaust portal, HIT the
exhaust portal, and THEN a fireball must have simultaneously fired as he
took a hit, ending his game.
"No....and it was even in the port hole. You HEARD it. It counted !!"
said Brandon to his friends and onlookers. "This beats my personal best
by 2 million, so I'm on a 1 million per week practice track".
His final words, and this is an amusing quote from Brandon...
"Such an ignominious way to end. I destroyed the 'Death Star' but killed
myself in the process...so it was noble."
What happened here to cause this as far as I can tell...
The end of the trench resembled the end of the wave 11 pattern. On the
way up before the final wall, Brandon accidentally shot one of the fireballs
coming at him from the red tanks guarding the exhaust portal. Thus, the
familiar fireball dodging pattern that all "Star Wars" players deal with at
this point in the game (down-up-down/shoot) had one problem...the fireballs
would be out of sync. As he shot the portal, one launched too close to his
ship's "area" and he took a fireball hit at the very end of the trench as
he shot the portal.
And so, after two and a half hours of masterful gameplay, Brandon's
game is over, and he easily claims a 2nd place berth in the TG all-time list
for this challenge.
*********************************************
AFTERTHOUGHTS
I envision great things ahead for Brandon. A 20 million point game
seems inevitable, and based on the fact that he recently reached wave 48
on his first shield, maybe a 30, 40 even 50 million point game. As for the
marathon settings, I think that my 20-year old marathon world record has
it's first serious challenger. My next closest competitor, the great David
Palmer, voluntarily quit after approx 20-21 hours at approx 155M. Since then,
no one has seriously made a run for it. Maybe that could be Brandon !!
On behalf of Twin Galaxies, and from one "Star Wars" player to another,
congratulations Brandon on a very jedi-like performance in which you displayed
skill, grit and determination, including lasting for 14 waves without any shields
to back you up. Truly the sign of a jedi master !!
Robert
_________________
Robert T Mruczek
Twin Galaxies - Editor and Chief referee
Star Wars classic arcade marathon champion
rmruczek@doremus.com (work E-MAIL)
******************************
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally published on WEDNESDAY, 3/30/2005
by: Williamette Week Online, Portland News Weekly
2. Return of the Jedi: Video warriors go for broke in Chinatown. - BY BRANDON HARTLEY.
Issue: 31.21. Published on 3/30/2005. Link
Brandon Erickson is among the wannabe arcade-game record holders at Ground Kontrol.
NEWS STORY Link
Return of the Jedi
Video warriors go for broke in Chinatown.
BY BRANDON HARTLEY
bhartley at wweek.com
Brandon Erickson Holding the Portland Mercury Newspaper, Like a Jedi Warrior
There's no time for a trip to the bathroom or a sip of water. Brandon Erickson has just
steered his X-Wing into the belly of the most powerful space station in the galaxy.
Wall-mounted cannons spew fireballs at his head as he ducks and weaves towards his final
target.
"Hey, what are you doing?" asks a long-haired kid, pointing at a video camera. Erickson
has no time to respond. He's just destroyed his fifth Death Star of the day, and another
phalanx of Tie Fighters is already hot on his trail.
Every Saturday, Erickson heads down to Ground Kontrol, the classic video arcade that
moved to Chinatown last fall. After downing a tiny bottle of ginseng, he sets up a
camera to record and later prove his efforts. This could be the day he sets the world
record on Star Wars, an arcade game originally released in 1983.
Erickson is hardly alone. Over the past year, Ground Kontrol has played host to more
and more customers bent on breaking world gaming records. In March 2004, a regular named
William Carlton achieved one of the world's Top 10 scores in Asteroids ever. Players at
Ground Kontrol have also broken records on classic titles like Spy Hunter, Missile Command
and Astro Fighter.
What, exactly, is the point of setting a record on an antique game? Unlike flying an
experimental plane around the world, becoming a retro video warrior is a down-to-earth
goal. You don't have to be a millionaire to drop a quarter in a machine. While they
aren't risking their lives, these weekend pixel warriors have a shot at catapulting
themselves into fame-within the gaming community, at least. "It's The Challenge,"
Carlton explains. "It's hard to do this, and it makes history."
Erickson's goal is to surpass 31 million points. The highest he's managed so far is 21.5
million. If he's going to beat the world record, he'll be spending the next six hours or
more on his feet, locked in the matrix of nonstop, low-res combat.
"It's the most intense thing I've ever done," he says. "Star Wars only gives you a
seven-second break between levels. The game is relentless."
Erickson isn't your typical geek. He is a Yale graduate, doesn't live with his parents
and is even "seeing someone." His significant other doesn't know about his weekly trips
to Ground Kontrol, but he has told his parents.
"The Force has always been strong with that one since he was an infant," his father,
Ken Erickson, recalls. "He's always been focused and determined, no matter what he
pursues. I'm optimistic that he'll beat the record."
Players stop by Ground Kontrol regularly to train on everything from Robotron to Q*bert.
Chris Magee, who is getting close to topping the world record on Galaga, comes in every
Monday and Tuesday at noon. While playing a video game for hours on end may not sound
taxing, the level of unwavering concentration required is astounding.
"Magee starts one game at noon and plays until it ends," says Ground Kontrol co-owner
Anthony Ramos. "This typically isn't until 7 or 8 at night."
Carlton's record run on Asteroids took him 27 hours. "Orange juice, peanut butter and
jelly sandwiches kept me going," Carlton says. "And Prince. Lots of very loud, early-era
Prince."
Setting marathon records on arcade games isn't a new phenomenon. In 1982, a 15-year-old
named Scott Safran spent 60 hours in front of an Asteroids machine in Newton, Penn.,
achieving that game's all-time top score of 41.3 million points. Twin Galaxies, a Guinness
Book of World Records for gamers, has been tracking high scores since 1981. Its website
(www.twingalaxies.com) contains tens of thousands of scores on everything from ancient
pinball machines to more recent Xbox titles.
More names from the Pacific Northwest are popping up on the site. In July, Perry Rogers,
a game designer from Redmond, set out to beat the record on Galaxian and his all-time
top score for Mario Brothers at Ground Kontrol. He's been setting records on arcade games
since 1981 and even owns a few machines.
"I remember kids getting a lot of notoriety back in the day," he recalls. "In the '80s,
players were winning vacations and making the pages of Life magazine. As for me, I found
this was something I was good at and I enjoyed it. The records are just gravy."
Erickson offers a different reason for what drives him to spend his Saturday afternoons
staring at a 22-year-old arcade game. "I know it sounds weird, but if I win it'll be like
I'm a Jedi master. I'd be the best in the world at Star Wars: The Arcade Game."
If he breaks the record on Star Wars, Erickson also hopes it will help establish Ground
Kontrol, and Portland, as the biggest spot in the world for classic arcade games. "Portland
would wear that title pretty well," he says. "It's a quirky town."
DVD of Brandon Erickson High score is for sale, see the details Link
On January 2, 2005, At Ground Kontrol Brandon Erickson made a personal best 20,891,403
point score on Star Wars. This Star Wars game took just over four hours. Link
Brandon Erickson is ramping up for a new Star Wars high score as a tribute to the
the next movie in the Star Wars series will be released May 19th, 2005.
Brandon Erickson Link
Portland, OR 97214
Brandon Erickson
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:13 pm Post subject: 20M points reached!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twin Galaxies Forms: Link
Well, sure enough, I've now broken the 20M point barrier. On Jan. 2, I videotaped
a 4+ hour game, that ended just shy of 21M points. I had to cut the game a little
short actually due to an event that was about to start at the arcade, but I was on
NO SHIELDS when they were clearing everyone out, so I probably wouldn't have lasted
that much longer anyway. I'll send the tape to Rob in a few days after I get a
copy made.
Best,
Brandon
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Technorati Profile, Marathon May 16th-18th, 2005, Ground Kontrol Arade, Oregon
05/18/2005 came to an end at 283,779,000 points
Star Wars Arcade World Record Tragedy!
This past Monday morning, Brandon Erickson, a friend of Ethan and Cary's from
college and a teacher in the Portland Public Schools, began an atttempt to break
the all-time record on the 1984 Star Wars arcade game. I just read the following
heart-breaking announcement on Ground Kontrol's site (the retro-arcade at which
the attempt was made):
After over 54 hours of continuous gameplay, Brandon was overcome by a combination
of fatigue and especially difficult gameplay and was forced to end his game just
18 million points shy of the 300 million point record and settle for second place...
an amazing accomplishment in itself. Congratulations, Brandon!
Cary and I went and visited Brandon last night at about 10pm and he seemed to
be going strong, using a back brace to stay upright at his stool and dependably
beating the game every two or three minutes.
The most tragic part of Brandon's noble and quixotic quest was the fact that he
has already seemingly been cheated out of a quite similar record. In February,
he set the record for "Tournament" mode on the same game with 20,891,403 points.
Then, one David Palmer "remembered" that he had, the previous year, scored 31,660,614
points. He could provide no other source of verification besides "witness" whereas
all of Brandon's attempts have been verified on video and all the other top scorers
seem to have been checked by referees. Check out Twin Galaxies for the unbelievable
proof.
To now get so close to the unapproacable 300,007,894 record (suspiciously held by
the same David Palmer) and not get there is just too much for one person to have
to take (especially when the third-placers are so far back). Until that Palmer
character can produce a video of either of his records, I'm going to consider
Brandon the official IDFDZ Star Wars World Record Holder (for whatever that's worth).
If you want to find out more, you can get a DVD of Brandon's Tournament Mode
record game and read an article about Brandon's record setting attempts in the
Willamette Week and see Brandon's original announcement of his attempt on
classic-games.com.
Also, Brandon (sort of) did the whole thing as a fundraiser for Portland Public
Schools (I kicked my ten bucks in to his $746.25 total) and the contributions
are still open. Email him at starwardspledge@gmail.com to contribute.
Tagged: Star Wars, world, record, arcade, video, game, Brandon Erickson,
Ground Kontrol, Portland, Oregon, Twin Galaxies
Brandon Erickson
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local Teacher Completes Star Wars Marathon Link
May 16th-18th, 2005
FINAL SCORE: 283,779,000
Elapsed Time: 54 hours, 10 minutes
After over 54 hours of continuous gameplay, Brandon was overcome by a combination
of fatigue and especially difficult gameplay and was forced to end his game just
shy of the 300 million point record. Not the highest scoring game, but the longest,
and enough to claim second place, an amazing accomplishment in itself. Congratulations,
Brandon!
Brandon tackled this feat in an attempt to raise funds for Portland schools. If
you want to support his effort, make a donation to the Portland Schools Foundation
by calling Amy Anderson at (503)234-5404, extension 28 or emailing your name,
contact info, and pledge amount to starwarspledge@gmail.com.
The original announcement for this event follows:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Portland, Oregon -- May 16, 2005 Link
To celebrate the release of Revenge Of The Sith, 25-year-old Brandon Erickson
of Portland, Oregon will begin a single game of Atari's Star Wars at Ground
Kontrol classic arcade at Noon, May 16th and play it continuously until the
movie's premiere at Midnight, May 18th in an attempt to break a record which
has stood since shortly after Return Of The Jedi first screened in 1983.
Brandon, who is “the world's premiere classic Star Wars competitor” according
to videogame record keepers Twin Galaxies, says beating the 300 million point
score is his most ambitious attempt yet. “The challenge is maintaining focus
over such a long period of time. Letting go for even 30 seconds means ‘game over.’
There is very little room for letting my concentration flag.”
With newer Star Wars games available, why play the first one? “It's a way to
celebrate the original films, and the games of that era,” he says. “Aside from
that, it's a heck of a lot of fun. It's hard to top playing Luke Skywalker as
he blows up the Death Star.”
Brandon's dedication and endurance will mirror that of Star Wars fans standing
in lines at movie theaters worldwide. “I feel a sense of solidarity and camaraderie”
he says. “May the Force be with them. Hopefully someone will save me a seat!”
But his gameplay isn't just for the love of Star Wars and classic arcades: it
will also benefit education. Brandon asks that supporters pledge a dollar amount
for every hour he plays to The Portland Schools Foundation by contacting
Amy Anderson at (503)234-5404, extension 28.
“If I complete this challenge, I hope George Lucas grants me the rank of
Jedi Master,” says Brandon. “That will look great on my resume.”
came to an end at 283,779,000 points
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon Erickson
Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 9:45 am Post subject:
All Good Things...Brandon Came Close
Goto page Previous Link
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello everyone. I just read your messages and I appreciate all of your support.
It is a tad difficult to type right now.
As a quick note, I did not have any stimulants of any kind during the entire
course of the marathon and I am very proud of that. The only things that went
into my body were (water, fruit juice, a couple bites of a muffin, and a few
bites of a coffee cake). I took a single aspirin tablet once when my head
started hurting really bad. That's it. No caffeine, no nothing.
First and foremost, I want to thank my friend Dave Foster. Without his support
I never would have made it through the second night. Every time I felt like
my body had been pushed to the absolute extreme and that I just physically
could not go any further, he kept pushing me. For at least a couple hours I
was doing sprints and jumping jacks in the arcade in the 10 second time intervals
between the waves and if not for him pushing me, I would have ended the game
long before I did.
Second, I want to note something else that will explain some of the drop of point
gain during the second night. On the second evening, sometime around when I was
approaching 200million points, the yoke began behaving in a way that I could only
describe as twitchy. Particularly when I tried to make precise vertical moves.
The cursor was not exactly following the speed of the yoke and would sort of zip
upwards at a certain point during the movement. In essence it felt as if something
had kind of come loose inside the yoke and it was causing me to take hits in the
trench. At the time I became aware of this and the effect it was having I had a
horrible sinking feeling that my game was going to be destroyed as a result. I
was still plugging along but I felt like sooner or later I was going to take too
many hits because of this and hte game would end. I mentioned this to Dave at the
time I noticed it and he suggested that maybe it was only in my mind, but it pretty
much stayed like that until the end of the game. I also mentioned it to Anthony
on Wednesday night but I knew that there wasn't any way to really go inside the
controller safely during the game.
So as I was passing the 200million point and looking at the prospect of going
another 100million with this controller probably that I thought could do me in
at any moment Dave had said to me that I can only deal with the cards that I'm
dealt. So I remember making a very concious decision to change my play strategy.
Most of the hits I was taking because of the irregular movements of the cursor
were during the trench, particularly when I was using the force, because using
the force requires at times very precise up and down moves. But since the cursor
was sometimes responding late or make sudden fast jumps (mostly in the up direction)
I couldn't do that safely without taking unintentional hits. So I decided to just
focus on getting through the trench and relying entirely on tower sequences for
my points. Now, I'm sure that this was an actual problem and not in my head because
I had to adjust my gameplay to it. And it was a persistant and unchanging problem
until the end of my game that was still there even when I adapted to it. During
the night I had basically gotten used to it and was able to play pretty effectively
with the controller problem. I was still always aware of it but I had basically
managed to adapt my playing around it. Kind of like Django learning to play the
guitar as well as he did even though his hands were deformed.
So at any rate this is what I was dealing with, but by the time I had made it
through the night and was feeling slightly re-energized by the third morning I
felt like as long as I could just keep lasting that I would still make it. Now
by the time I was past 275million I adopted a very conservative (perhaps too
conservative) strategy of trying to keep my shields at 5 or 6 above all other
considerations. This meants that I was now taking it easy on certain tower sequences.
Also, I should note that by this time I was in a delerious and hallucinatory state.
My mind was playing a lot of weird tricks on me. At different stages during the
marathon I can remember my mind attaching strange meanings to things that were
happening on the screen and that the game itself I thought was changing. I was
convinced towards the end that the game had changed into a different game and
that some of the tower sequences were different and that the tower sequences
were actually representative of groups of people standing around and I was
thinking that it was strange that the game would have these people looking like
towers and that it was extremely strange that they were shooting. So for the
last several hours I basically though the towers were people and that the
arrangements were supposed to be some kind of standing arrangement that I was
following. I couldn't figure out why the game was having fireballs comign out
of these people but I just went along with it.
The tie fighter sequence seemed to have changed. I thought that the tie fighters
were actually press people trying to shove microphones at me and that the fireballs
were microphones. I felt that the game was making kind of an interesting commentary
on the behavior of the press because there was more than one tie fighter (i.e.,
press person) and that were trying to shove fireballs (i.e., microphones) at me
simultaneously. It just seemed kind of funny that the tie fighters were just so
insistent and unwavering in their desire to flash me with these bright objects.
When I got hit at times I thought it meant they had taken a picture of me and I
had to remind my self that I didn't want that and that I needed to make sure they
didn't get close to me.
The trench stage was getting weird. I think I felt that game had somehow changed.
Like the tie, tower, and trench sequences all seemed a bit compressed. It was
happening very fast. The game felt like it was moving a lot faster, but I felt
that this was probably something in my mind. I never experienced what Robert claims
to have experienced as far as the games speed doubling at 5 hour intervals.
In the trench, towards the end, I thought that I was going through a hallway and
that I was experiencing catwalk sequences that I had never seen before. I also
thought that the fireballs were not actually fireballs but were some kind of
representation of the dark side and that my going through the trench was merely
a matter of the light side and the dark side learning to live in harmony. I didn't
feel that one side was necessarily better than the other. But rather that the
fireballs coming at me were merely playing by their rules that were give to them
by the dark side of the force and that to be successful I needed to understand
that they were just doing their job. They were going in their direction and I
was going in mine and we both needed to learn how to avoid each other.
By the second night of the marathon I was seeing very serious tracers. The stars
in the game didn't look like stars anymore. They looked like little points of
light with long tails coming out of them, like tadpoles or something. Towrds the
end of the game, it was becoming extremely difficult to keep my vision focused
and the transparent catwalks in the trench were at times hard for me to distinguish
and just appeared as a jumble of lines that I couldn't sort out.
And getting back to the second night. I do remember that a few times I hallucinated
people in my peripheral vision that weren't there and I thought that I was at Ground
Kontrol's old location.
I'm still pretty tired and that's all I remember right now. I know that at different
points a lot of other weird things were happening in my mind in terms of how I was
interpreting was was happening in the game (i.e., the different stages taking on
some kind of new or different significance when different meanings attached to things,
which I the time I thought was just some change in the game that happens as you get
further into it.)
If the controller hadn't gotten weird on the second night then it seems likely
that I would have made it and probably in less time than I actually ended up
lasting, so I'm very proud that I went as far as I did in spite of that problem.
I made a choice to adapt my playing which I felt was a necessary choice for my
own survival and I don't regret that, because I think I wouldn't have lasted as
long as I did. But I'm happy that in spite of that I went as far as I did and
nearly met the projected points goal for the fundraising effort.
It's tough to get so close to something and not quite make it, but I truly feel
like I did my best under the circumstances, and that's what matters.
I gave it my all, but in the end the game always wins.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally published on WEDNESDAY, 3/30/2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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[Monday, June 28, 2004 - 11:22 pm Funspot Discussion Group on David Palmers Score (]
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David Palmer Mastered Tron
1984 Video Game Masters Tournament results
(as printed in the 1985 GBWR)
Tron
1,695,463
David Palmer
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--------------------
Star Wars Game Play
--------------------
from the dogfight in space to the HUGE explosion of the Death Star. The graphics of
this game use an all new mathbox and hardware system to produce all the smooth game
action. Star Wars was also the FIRST Atari game to produce speech and although it is
slightly mechanical sounding, all the phrases were taken directly from the movie
soundtrack.
You must survive three phases of play to reach the exhaust port of the Death Star.
The first phase of play will engage you in a spectacular battle in space. TWIN-ION
ENGINE (T.I.E.) Fighters from the Death Star attack you. Darth Vader's ship appears
in theis phase. Your goal is to shoot the T.I.E. Fighters and their shots to protect
your shields.
The second phase of play takes the X-Wing down to the surface fo the Death Star
which is covered with laser bunkers and laser towers. You must avoid collision
with the enemy towers and their shots. A bonus can be earned by destroying all
the laser towers.
The third phase of play takes Red-5 down into the Death Star trench. The walls
are lined with laser gun turrets that fire as you approach. Trench catwalks also
appear in varied shapes and altitudes throughout the trench. Near the end of the
trench is the exhaust port. You must shoot a proton torpedo into the exhaust port
to destroy the Death Star.
I know everbody already knew this but I copied all that from the Star Wars game
manual just for fun. If you succeed in hitting the port the death star explodes in
a big bright white flash!!
Apparently in the Tie Fighter wave, there is the possibility of gaining 255 extra
shields or mucho grande points if you can just hit Darth Vader's ship more than
thirty (count 'em..30!) times. I think my record is about 20 but I haven't really
tried that hard. Good Luck!!
Using the "Force", i.e. dont fire any shots during the ventilation shaft approach,
will give bonus points. 5000 for the first wave, 10000 for the second and 100,000
on every level from 3 up!
If you turn up the intensity on the monitor (just a little) so that you can see
the retrace lines....you will see some leftover "Words of Wisdom" as you approach
the Death Star. (Connect the dots!)
Star Wars Arcade Game
Atari 1983
---------------------------------------------
Klov - Introduction to Star Wars - Link
---------------------------------------------
Description
Pilot the X-Wing Fighter in the classic color vector arcade game! Blast away TIE
Fighters, zoom across the surface of the Death Star, and roar down the trench
with sampled voices and effects from the movie!
Cabinet Information
Nearly the entire cabinet, except for the back, top, and coin doors, is covered
with artwork, including several molded plastic sections.
Cheats, Tricks and Bugs
In the tower scene, you can shoot fireballs that are hidden behind the towers.
In the trench scene, you can shoot fireballs through the catwalks.
Moving the flight yoke far left and far right during the attract mode will switch
between the instructions and the high score list.
In the trench you can "use the force" and get an extra 100,000 points by not
shooting anything except the exhaust port. The text "USE THE FORCE" will be at
the top of the screen until you shoot. The 100,000 is actually awarded just
before you have to shoot the exhaust port, so it's possible to take out some
of the gun turrets at the end, too. (The bonus is actually lower on the first
two waves.)
It's rumored that if you shoot Darth Vader more than 30 times, you get 27 shields.
It is said you can also get 255 shields, but this is rare.
Conversion
Conversion kits exist to turn this game into The Empire Strikes Back.
Game Introduction
Before the action starts, the player is allowed to choose which level of
difficulty to begin at, with compensating bonus scores for each higher level
of play. Once the preliminaries are finished with, the battle begins, and
the incredibly smooth first person perspective and 3-D effects take over.
The steering mechanism and four built-in triggers enable pinpoint shooting and
flying accuracy as well as rapid-fire. The four laser-cannons that are located
on the sides and bottom of the video monitor hit the "cursor", which is manipulated
by the steering mechanism that also controls the direction of your ship. The
mechanism is a good copy of the firing triggers in the movie.
There are three chapters in the story of the game. In the first, your X-Wing
Fighter dogfights with Imperial TIE Fighters and Darth Vader's ship. In the
second, you maneuver past bunkers and deflector towers on the face of the Death
Star, blasting them along the way. In the final scenario, you find yourself
speeding through the trench of the Death Star, avoiding obstacles and blasting
gun turrets then, finally, hopefully time a proton torpedo for a direct hit on
the exaust port target. What follows, if you are successful, is the Death Star
exploding in a multitude of different colors. Then it is on to do battle again.
Throughout the game, you are bombarded by fireballs and lasers, which you must
destroy or avoid. Each hit on your ship destroys one of your shields. Any
collision will also lose you a shield and the game ends when you run out of
shields and you get hit by anything. You do, however, receive an additional
shield every time you destroy the Death Star.
The game features a dramatic state-of-the-art color vector graphics system
that produces surprisingly realistic effects. The sound track is laced with the
familiar voices of Luke Skywalker ("Red Five standing by.", "I cannot shake
him!", "This is Red Five. I'm going in!", etc.), Obi-Wan Kenobi ("Use The Force,
Luke!", "Remember, The Force will be with you. Always.", etc.), Han Solo ("Yahoo!
You are all clear, kid!"), Darth Vader ("I have you now!", "The Force is strong
with this one!", etc.), Wedge, and even R2D2 (various beeps and electronic
sounds, documented in the manual as "Yes", "No", "I agree", "Sequence completed",
"Ouch!", and "That really hurt."). There are also seven different musical themes
from the movie that are played throughout the game including the Star Wars Theme,
Game Play
The object of the game is to destroy the Death Star. You battle squads of attacking
TIE fighters as well as Darth Vader's ship in the attempt to accomplish your goal.
Miscellaneous Manufactured in partnership with Lucasfilm Ltd.
Trivia
The controller is a derivative of the legendary military Battlezone version.
After fighting the TIE fighters, when you are flying towards the Death Star,
the yellow lines on the Death Star spell out either "MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU"
(odd-numbered waves) or peoples' names (even numbered waves). The text is faint,
but definitely there. It is possible to see this just as the screen zooms into
the Death Star at the end of the dogfight sequence. The text is clearly there
if the game is paused, either via MAME, or by flipping DIP switch 8 in the
options bank on the logic board.
With regards to the order of their release, Star Wars was actually followed by
Return Of The Jedi, a raster game that used the same flight controller, then
by The Empire Strikes Back, a vector game shipped as a conversion kit for the
original Star Wars.
---------------------------------------------
Dip Switch Settings for Star Wars Video Game
---------------------------------------------
Star Wars
Table 1-2 Switch settings for play options
seeetings of 8-toggle switch of Star Wars game PCB (at 10D)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 options
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On On 6 starting shields
Off On 7 starting shields
On Off 8 starting shields
Off Off 9 starting sheilds
On On easy game play
Off On moderate gaem play
On Off hard game play
Off Off hardest game play
On On 0 bonus shields for dest. Death Star
Off On 1 bonus shield for dest. Death Star
On Off 2 bonus shields for dest. Death Star
Off Off 3 bonus shields for dest. Death Star
On Music in Attract mode
Off No music in Attract mode
On Freeze Mode
Off Normal game play
the recommeneded settings are 6 shields, hard game play, 1 bonus shield, music
in attract, and normal game play
There is another 8-toggle switch that controls the amount of coins and such
If you have setting 1 and 2 both On, it will give free game play, otherwise
the sequence is the same as above, with options as follows: 2 credits, 1, 1/2.
The other settings just deal with the 2 coin mechanisms, and I doubt they
would be important to you. This setting switch should be called 10E/F
There is one more 4 setting toggle switch, only 1 is used. If it is on then
The outputs of counter driver 1 and 2 are tied together (for 1 counter). If it
is off, then the counters are separate (for 2 counters).
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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