wahey!

howdy and welcome to yet another episode of the lemon games competition!

IRIDIS ALPHA





RULES:
games compo starts now and will end sunday the 29th of may, 24h00 PM
the aim of the game is to score as much points as possible.
post screenshots with your highest score in this thread.
don't cheat! (be fair alright?)
download the original version of IRIDIS ALPHA here.
version found at the magyar c64 hq.

EXTRAS:
if ya have the balls, check out The Scorelord pages!

REVIEW
read the full review of IRIDIS ALPHA here.

INSTRUCTIONS
click this link.

QUESTIONS:
please check the Lemon Games Compo FAQ.

STANDINGS:
here you go!



have fun!
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Sticky on.
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I would have liked to have waited and seen what qazi's got b4 I posted, but I seem to have some spare time this morning cos I've lost my swimming cozzie, so here goes:



60,130

This is a hard game. A very hard game. Often frustrating, too, since it seems like you spend a lot of time being prevented from doing something you need to do desparately. Don't worry, usually there IS something you could have done; have another look through the instructions.

Good luck!
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I dont think it is a good idea to post such a good score right at the start of the compo, especially if it is such a hard game which is not so easy to get into. I can only speak about myself but i haven't started playing seriously IA yet even though i knew it would be this month's game for a couple of days already. Most others will still be stuck at 2k-8k points like me in their first tries and then there are these 60k to start with....
Btw, i asked Qazi about his score already and he has not much more than you. Needless to say that neither of you can in in the end.

Then have a look at Mayhem's score in the Scorelord Page (updated with the latest compo's scores )

I agree that IA can be offputting in the beginning, as you have to learn many things (the reasons why you die and what to do to prevent it, mainly) before getting any enjoyment. But it's well worth it and if people won't stick to it becase they can't get it, sorry, but it's their loss in the end.

One thing that I didn't get in the beginning and that is very useful is that death from entropy decay can be avoided not only by tranferring on the other side of the planet (getting the Polo mint flashing icon) but ALSO by driving through warp gate (on the first planet, the Yak's head).
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The rules do not specify easy or hard (ugh!) mode - it would be a good idea to edit that into them, to make fair comparisons with other peoples' scores.

(Tip: the faster you fly, the more you score for shooting aliens, so DON'T STAND STILL!)
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I must say I agree with shteev, except that the game is 18 years old (released in 1986)

We have compos to have fun, and having one month to play a game means that even if you haven't played it before, by the end of the round you may score quite high. I see no reason why if somebody thanks to his previous experience gets a (quite) high score early, he should abstain from posting it for some time.

People know they can catch up as they learn the game, know that they'll get useful hints to improve their performances, and that they can have fun even if they don't win the round or get close to winning.

Besides, there's been a lot of talking about IA in the past here on Lemon, so that many of us have been tipped into trying it since months. There are some fans of the game here, it had great reviews back then, and personally I have checked it just for the fun of it in the past, when the perspective of having it in the compo was yet to come.

Play it people, you won't regret it.

@merman: I guess everybody will stick to the easy mode even if we don't set any rule. Do you get extra points in the game for playing in ugh! mode?
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First effort from me (actually my best ever): an inspired lunchtime

78,600

http://spazioinwind.libero.it/cabi/IAboc.bmp

(copy and paste the link in your browser)

This game gets better every time I play it

I love that it says "game completion chart for Boc, the hero"
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I completely agree with Shteev and SLF. I actually like ppl to post some decent scores early. This way I know what to beat. Withholding a score and posting it in the last minute is unsportsmanlike (is that a word?).

My own current highscore: ~11200

Perhaps we will be fighting about ranks this round, Apollyon

I agree with SLF, Shteev and hannibal as well. IMO that's what a competition is all about and makes it fun. It's like most sports leagues, you may start on the top but it's always possible for the underdog to come from behind and kick you to the curb. You never know what's going to happen which I see as the shining point of competitions. I personally enjoy seeing how everyone is doing whether it's early or late in a compo regardless of score. Like the others, seeing a score much higher then anything I think I can pull off, keeps me intrigued to continue on. Also, I've never played (and in some cases heard of) most of the games that are chosen for the compos which includes this one. For me, I love a new challenge and will get into it regardless of how good or crappy I turn out to be at it when all is said and done. Always fun when playing with others throughout the commodore world and that in itself is really enough for me.

@hannibal:yup unsportsmanlike is a word (i.e. Roger Clemens was involved in unsportsmanlike conduct when he threw a baseball at Mike Piazza's head.) Yeah that's an old example, but the only one I could think of at the moment.

Oh yeah... I managed 9500 points. (Haven't looked at the instructions yet.)
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Is this the right place for a competition?



Or drag it into your address bar.



Score: 69'210 (damn you SLF)

BTW: I'm glad some people enjoy it - you could say that my main objective with this compo is to preach the good word to people and get them all to adore this game.[/img]
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Not a good start. My score is 2300. I need more practice
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You have an odd concept of good news, mate

I guess that the key to do well is (apart from firmly grabbing the rules and status panel so that you know exactly what you're doing) to never stay on the edge: i.e. switch planet up/down or warp *before* even getting near to trouble (i.e. before getting low on energy on the main or the decaying/unused gilby).

A bit like in Paradroid, where it's useful to transfer before getting low on energy, even if it means to drop a powerful droid for a weaker one.

BTW chasing the second and third waves (i.e. "levels" as the game calls them) on the second planet at top speed really is exhilarating.

I wonder how the 5th planet will look like.
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I made 26000 in my first serious effort. WTF is the bonus screen about??????
This game rocks.

Well i was on the top a few times and i also noted controls are reversed, but once there what to i do? What about those blue faces(?) scrolling in and out?

Reverse into a blue/black ball and your "health" goes down (neutral faces stick their tongues out), shoot a ball and you get points added to your "Iball Bonus". When at the top launch yourself into the goal by continuing to hold the stick down.
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Lads, I'm afraid I won't have much more time on this
Upcoming hard work and stuff.
I hope you'll enjoy the compo. I certainly did until now, I hope I'll get a few more tries anyway. For now,
so long, and thanks for all the fish.
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I should really get to play this now.. I have only tried this five times, and my best score is 2000 something.. I guess i have to try avoid those black thingys..