Hi , I`m just wondering who is the better player on Ghosts'n' Goblins. The guy who can complete the game on one credit or the guy who can stay on the cave screen and amass 6 million points? According to the MARP administrator logic ( i.e ...INP`s submitted and accepted ) the latter would seem to be the winner. Surely this is wrong? And surely also , using the same logic , is it OK for me to upload a score of 1 billion plus on Paperboy thereby cancelling out the current scores which where obtained using skill and not cheats/bugs..etc..? Just wondering...... ALEX

-- Alex Weir (alexweir@indigo.ie), July 31, 1999

Answers

First off, Alex, if you would explore the MARP site more thoroughly you would find that there is a page that discusses banned techniques. Yes, the GnG point-leeching method is banned. But until someone speaks up on any infraction, the score will most likely stay in place. If you have taken the time to notice, this site is dependent on automation. Chris (the MARP maintainer\ administrator) simply would never have time to check each and every one of the submitted inps that come into this site at a healthy pace. When an infraction is brought to his attention, believe me, he takes care of the situation.

You need not come off so strong on everything you have initially perceived as unjust. We are a very understanding crowd here at MARP and we are always more than willing to listen to someone else's viewpoint. MARP is not perfect and probably can never be considering the increasing volume of games and players. That is to say that MARP is ever-evolving as a great gathering of the best players on the net. Chris has done a wonderful job of setting things in place so that we can have our live, up-to-the-minute competition with each other. But in return, to make this site work, we have to co-operate with each other to insure good, clean competition. So in the future, if you could just try to tone down the sarcasm ;), then we would be more than happy to hear you out as it seems that you are knowledgable about classic arcade games and would be an asset to the MARP community.

BTW, could you enlighten me on the cheats that you referred to with regards to Paperboy and Q-Bert? I'm not aware if cheats have been exploited on these games. If they haven't been exploited, then this would be a good time to address these techniques and ban them if needed.

Looking forward to your future inp submissions...

JoustGod

-- JoustGod (pinballwiz1@msn.com), July 31, 1999.

Keep in mind that the how the scores here were done is availible for anyone to watch and/or openly ridicule. Cheating might get leaderboard points but it won't fool anyone into thinking you're great for long.

Still, I do kinda wish it didn't always seem to take quite so much time ... Aqua

-- Aquatarkus (aquatarkus@digicron.com), August 01, 1999.

1 billion on Paperboy! NOT! The somewhat known cheat doesn't even give you 1/10 of that. I'm willing to bet that 99% of the players at MARP don't how it's done or couldn't even get to that point with standard PC controls. Also, considering the WR is 1.1M, it is VERY EASY to spot this cheat. I see it as a non-issue for that game.

Also, being someone who marathoned Q*Bert back in the 80's, I'm not aware of any cheats for this game. High scores are a result of spending time in front of the machine, not from taking shortcuts.

-- Pat (laffaye@ibm.net), August 01, 1999.

In response to the above , I`ve e-mailed Pat + JoustGod with details of the aforementioned cheats. I`ve also just sent some INPS showing some variable outcomes using the Lawnmower Cheat on Paperboy. This is the cheat whereby sometimes 1 Billion points can be registered. Obviously these scores are easy to detect , but sometimes when you do the Lawnmower Cheat ( as demonstrated in one of the INPS I sent ) , it`s possible to get a sneaky extra 60-70k bonus on your game. So in order to make sure nobody uses this method when submitting , it`s imperative that you watch the full recording carefully. For the benefit of other players following this discussion , if you`d like the details of these cheats, feel free to e-mail me. I just don`t wanna waste too much space here on the board. One thing I will do however , is apologise if I sounded sarcastic or arrogant towards the MARP Controllers ( thats you I think Zwaxy )...sorry. No offence intended. Hope to contribute some INP`s soon. ALEX

-- Alex Weir (alexweir@indigo.ie), August 03, 1999.