Lol I'm sorry.

FYI I'm playing Bust a Move on Twitch, if anyone wants to see dem leet strats:

So, farming points by intentionally filling the level with your bubbles?

Hmm, what are people's thoughts on this? Not really what I had in mind for those rules. Would a low score + progress ruleset be more fun and work better?  Filling every level with bubbles sound like a massive drag and time sink


And I wouldn't consider changing the rules if it wasn't so early in the month.  Unfortunately these things occasionally happen (see Rollergames and Stinger for example)

That's the only way to get high scores on Bust a Move, is by dropping bubbles. Popped bubbles give next to no points, while dropped bubbles gives points based on a multiplier, up to 17, which doubles with each bubble dropped.

The goal for high scores in Bust a Move is to "drop" 17+ bubbles at a time, each time scoring 1.3m points. This is possible to do at least once per level in the game.


EDIT: I would personally suggest leaving the scoring as is. Anyone can learn how to do this in under an hour. I suuuuuucked at Bust a Move prior to last night. I never realized there was actual math behind it, and that each bubble doubled the points multiplier. If you change it to low score progression, I would argue that you'll make it even MORE boring, as to get a low score you'll want to play each level VERY slowly, even going so far as having to WAIT a bit before finishing each level, since you get a bonus based on speed at the end of each level.

I like the way the scoring works because it's a high risk/reward. On the one hand, you're trying to get 17+ bubble drops at once. On the other hand, doing so means having a huge amount of bubbles hanging on the screen, AND having to hit the bubbles at the TOP of the chain, which is not always so easy. I really like the strategy involved in getting a high score, so I'd argue that it's best to leave it as is.

It's only a few days into the month, and I have effectively shown everyone how you can get huge scores. I think that we'll see some really good scores now even from people who previously though these scores impossible.

Great. Well I guess I'll let people play and then they can give me their feedback.

My fault for not properly vetting the community selection games

I'm ok with keeping it as is.  Is it farming to a degree, yes.  Lesson learned, maybe choose a different title in the future or revise the goal for this one.  What he is saying is true though.  Some levels allow for you to net massive score jumps while others don't immediately (or least not seemingly) have that option available and you would have to create that "17+ chain" for the multiplyer that he's referring to.  Everyone now has the same opportunity to do it so technically we're all on the same playing field.  It may make for some wonky scores but it's hard to have a contest like this in a vacuum if you know what I mean.

 

Yeah, my hands are kind of tied because of the timer bonus. Well, if the game ends up being a drag, so be it. Lesson learned for this year's end-of-season poll

If it's any consolation, I'm having a lot of fun with the game, way more than I expected ti. I appreciate your hard work and don't want to undermine it, so if there's a different scoring method you'd rather use I'd personally be happy to adjust. I definitely don't want to ruin anything for anyone, which is why I wanted to share the strategy early on, rather than popping up at the end of the month with a score 10x or more than the next highest scorer and suddenly everyone be like "yo where'd this guy come from?", cuz that's no fun at all. I'm not here to be competitive, just to have fun playing games with you all.  

meh not a fan. it feels like you are cheating the scoring system instead of really playing. I was wondering how you had 4 times my score in half the rounds. This is point farming imo. Ruins the game. Thats not a fun way to play imo.


how is this any different than point farming? 

hes on fire! boom shaka laka!

its part of the game. he is point pressing but its fair play. he figured out a loop hole. hell kobra kai would have posted that shit last minute and told the contest coordinator the game didnt get tested completely   

around here someone always figures out a broken game before too long. 

the only rule set that works for SMB3 is to allow unlimited point pressing w/one life. some games work better than others for contest. 

 

If you guys want some laughs just wait til I post my Gradius III score.  

I can never tell if this means your score is good, or bad. xD
 

I am hideously bad at shmups in general, but Gradius III is one I actually like...but I have yet to finish the second stage.

I'm not sure if you'd want to change the rules now but I feel that a progression / high score would work the best for this game. 

A person that cleared stage 24 with 4 million points would place higher than someone else that cleared stage 23 with 14 million. 

I'm not sure how other people feel about this but I think it would be the best way to score Bust-a-Move
 

Does anyone have tips on how to keep that douchebag from stealing my power-ups on stage two. Really messing with my vibe

And please no "GET GOOD BRO" lol

He hovers around where you are the entire time, so stick to one side of the screen (top or bottom), and when he comes out towards you, move to the opposite side. He just goes in a straight line from the left to the right, so he should be pretty easy to avoid as long as you position him correctly.

 

OK thanks. I've only successfully dodged him one time out of maybe 20 attempts.

 

Try also to be as close to the big blue bubble as you can to destroy it more quickly, then when it separates, choose one smaller bubble to focus on and get close to it. Doing this will clear them out much more quickly. If you're interested, I made a clip of my 1LC run, wherein I got the current high score:

 Should give a general idea of what to do.

The Bust-a-Move rules will remain unchanged. Its not optimal, but its the best we can do with the game.

If it makes you feel any better I can't make it 3 minutes into the first statge!
 

Yeah it's really tough! I made it to the second stage a few times but I usually don't make it that far. Lol. I'm still gonna give it a go I think.

64,300




4,180,120



EDIT: Added Bust a Move score. Updated scores. 

Keep at it! Is there a specific section you're having trouble with? Maybe I can offer some pointers, if you like?  
 

No specific section, I just get overwhelmed with the amount of things on the screen. And I can't figure out which is the easiest setup to go with. The ripple laser seems to work best for me along with the F.Option. Also if I make the ship too fast I bump into enemy fire too easily, too slow and I can't get out of the way fast enough. Lol. I guess that's part of the challenge though huh?