Track Field

[Hurray Banana]

Just been playing a friendly competition with the students. Showed them how to play it.

I know there are some great players here and you really need proper leaf switches for this.

This is my one round score, playing on mame in a bartop cabinet in my computer lab.

79,400

Muerto2015-07-23 14:43:55

 

[Pacman83]

Great score nevertheless

 

[Hurray Banana]

Cheers jon. btw what's your best

 

[silverfox0786]

great score eric

when i used to play r looked at my score

i was more into breaking WR records and having my name there every time someone played

 

[Carlito3]

I've finally managed to get on to 3rd round (that's after weeks playing it constantly - this time round not back in the 80s anyway). Scored something like 120,000 overall. But that was on EASY setting with 2 lives.

I cannot, for the life of me do 110 hurdles though. I qualify in that event first time round but then fail every time after.

Any tips?

Never thought of leaf switches before though - now you got me thinking!

 

[silverfox0786]

original t n f had leafs

so much easier to play with leafs

 

[Hurray Banana]

On the hurdles it's important to concentrate on a rythm rather than running speed specifically. when you sort that you can work on increasing the speed.

eventually you're jumping again as soon as you land

 

[Pacman83]

Cheers jon. btw what's your best

Over 7 million BITD. Just played forever.

The real skill lies in one round. I've had over 92k and most recently, 92560 on Funspots original cab.

It's a bit of a lottery T&F when you're going for a big score on the single round. The elite players have the buttons set up specifically for their style (3,4 finger techniques etc) and most cabs that you play on are on a 'get what you're given' basis. That said, I've had 90k on Arcadeclubs cab and over 91k on RGP's cab. I'd love to have my own dedicated cab at home and invest some time in the single round. There's an element of luck in T&F, but of course, a big slice of skill too. These have to combine on the day after a LOT of practice to push for something over 94k.

 

[Hurray Banana]

91k is a long way from my best. need to get some practice in for sure. you're not that far from the wr pretty awesome.

 

[Pacman83]

91k is a long way from my best. need to get some practice in for sure. you're not that far from the wr pretty awesome.

Thing is though, although it seems near, it's miles away in reality.

You'd need a sub 7.7sec 100m / 9.6m+ long jump / sub 9.8sec hurdles / 99m+ javelin / 99+m hammer / 2.48m+ high jump, just to have a shout.

Like I said, it's tough (sometimes near impossible) on some cabs as the run buttons can cancel themselves out used in unison, so the high jump is very limited in these cases.

It's one of those WRs that need a 'golden run'. On Crystal Castles, Mark Alpiger had 904k and claimed the WR in '84. His practice buddy, Frank Seay, had one of these runs soon after and did 910k, a record that will probably never be beat without months of solid gameplay by an elite player. Were all getting older too and to have a new gamer to take the reigns of a classic title and attempt a new WR nowdays, is very unlikely. This is why I'm still attempting perfect Pac Man. Although 90 points away, if I don't do it, the chances are that there'll be no UK gamers on that list, something I'm not allowing

 

[Hurray Banana]

Yeah I realise how tight that record is.

when is your next scheduled live attack on pacman?

 

[Pacman83]

I cannot, for the life of me do 110 hurdles though. I qualify in that event first time round but then fail every time after.

Any tips?

Biggest tip for all budding T&F players. The start.

You can lose over 0.5 seconds waiting to get a great start. Might not seem much, but it's massive when you need it. Listen to the starter. He says 'On your marks','Get set'.

You'll notice that there are 2 alternating flashing arrows either side of the screen. Look at these in your periphery and when the starter says the 'set' part of 'get set', look at the arrow that's just illuminated and count the next six flashes. You run on the sixth flash. With practice, you can get a near perfect start. I use it every time (including the hurdles) and have had a sub 7.6sec 100m. Unless you're a very fast runner, if you fall at a hurdle on the 3rd round, it's likely you'll not qualify. If you don't use a 6 finger run technique, you can try an alternating 'thumb and index' finger in a rocking motion on each button, leaving your other hand free to jump. Again, with practice, this technique can speed up considerably.

 

[Pacman83]

Yeah I realise how tight that record is.

when is your next scheduled live attack on pacman?

Play Margate for sure.

 

[Hurray Banana]

Yeah I realise how tight that record is.

when is your next scheduled live attack on pacman?

Play Margate for sure.

nice

 

[Hurray Banana]

I cannot, for the life of me do 110 hurdles though. I qualify in that event first time round but then fail every time after.

Any tips?

Biggest tip for all budding T&F players. The start.

You can lose over 0.5 seconds waiting to get a great start. Might not seem much, but it's massive when you need it. Listen to the starter. He says 'On your marks','Get set'.

You'll notice that there are 2 alternating flashing arrows either side of the screen. Look at these in your periphery and when the starter says the 'set' part of 'get set', look at the arrow that's just illuminated and count the next six flashes. You run on the sixth flash. With practice, you can get a near perfect start. I use it every time (including the hurdles) and have had a sub 7.6sec 100m. Unless you're a very fast runner, if you fall at a hurdle on the 3rd round, it's likely you'll not qualify. If you don't use a 6 finger run technique, you can try an alternating 'thumb and index' finger in a rocking motion on each button, leaving your other hand free to jump. Again, with practice, this technique can speed up considerably.

Nice tip Jon, just made a poster to stick between some of the machines in my computer lab at college

 

[Pacman83]

 

[Hurray Banana]

Having a bad day at work so went on the bartop for a bit of stress relief.

Managed to get over 80,000 for the first time got my best high jump of 2:43 which is good for me.

80,730

 

[CharlieFar]

[

I'm sure it's been said many, many times before...That's one of the coolest classrooms around

 

[virtvic]

Leaf buttons, Eric?

 

[Hurray Banana]

Cheers David, I try

Leaf buttons, Eric?

That's a slight issue, I've got cherry's in the two single player machines and Ultimarc gold leaf's in the 2 player machine (which is the one I used for this last score).

I have got some leaf switches designed for standard IL buttons that I ought to install. But what I'm gonna do cause I'm mad is build a TnF cocktail to sit in the lab which I'll get proper leafs for, just need to work out designs and then run it past money people to get it approved (need to explain it's purpose properly).