Leaderboard Bug? (or: I've lost WiredWorm!)

TodaysForgotten · Post by **TodaysForgotten** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 6:50 pm 0

ManicMiner wrote:another good reason why I'd prefer it was known about... If everyone knows its a glitch, then they know not to do it, and then I can sneer at those who do without wondering if they did it in good faith, like Today'sForgotten did

I appreciate that people are keen not to upset Giles and Yak any further, this must be gutting for them, it really must, but this problem really does affect those of us who are gunning for the top of the leaderboard quite severely.

ha, trust me dude, i want the boards wiped. I hate having a score that for a few days i thought was "the shit". Since 1million is probably nearly impossible to get without my method - i dont find joy in saying, ok, im only 800 million off my fake score. No motivation for me. So i wait a few weeks..

axel000 · Post by **axel000** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:23 pm 0

Now I finished the 100 levels yesterday I'd love to go back and pump up my starting bonuses, but theres not much point until the scoreboard gets reset, which could be weeks away.

I'm going to pass the time in Super Ox mode - no leaderboard there to worry about (actually, can we add a Super Ox leaderboard too ?)

/runs away quickly

Googer · Post by **Googer** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:33 am 0

Harlequin wrote:The person who brought the jump bug to light had believed it to be an intentional game mechanic. Some other people here, and presumably elsewhere, apparently made the same assumption.

In talking with my brother, who isn't even particularly good at SG or have a great position on the LB's (last I saw he was in the mid-1000's), he was using the jump-bug thinking it was by design as well. So the jump-bug is indeed likely helping boost quite a few people who haven't ever realized they were cheating by using it (as was the case with TodaysForgotten as well).

Tetra Elemental · Post by **Tetra Elemental** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:45 am 0

disciple wrote:
Harlequin wrote:
Misfit wrote:
TodaysForgotten wrote:who else knows about it? and if so why arent scores sky-rocketing? I havent discussed this outside of this board.
I agree, if it were out there the scores would be much higher. The person who originally found it demonstrated it didn't take long to destroy what is up there.
I'm inclined to feel the scores are fine.
The person who brought the jump bug to light had believed it to be an intentional game mechanic. Some other people here, and presumably elsewhere, apparently made the same assumption.
Yes that is the issue. I imagine a lot of people who are using it don't even realise they are cheating.

Shit. I'm worried now.
How do we know if we've been playing legit?
I use the jump pods all the time to activate the power zone. Is that the bug? My score isn't very impressive (113 million) and I've only got to level 48 so I think it's a legit score but is there any way to tell if you're doing it wrong? Does the score really shoot up or something if you're exploiting the bug?

Googer · Post by **Googer** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 3:17 pm 0

Your score won't just 'magically' shoot up on its own by exploiting the jump bug. You still need to understand the game's mechanics well enough to rinse the levels for all they're worth, etc. The bug, however, makes doing this far easier than is intended in a lot of cases.

Refilling the power zone itself isn't the bug (as that's supposed to occur) but is related to it.

TodaysForgotten · Post by **TodaysForgotten** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 3:37 pm 0

Tetra Elemental wrote:
disciple wrote:
Harlequin wrote:
Misfit wrote:
TodaysForgotten wrote:who else knows about it? and if so why arent scores sky-rocketing? I havent discussed this outside of this board.
I agree, if it were out there the scores would be much higher. The person who originally found it demonstrated it didn't take long to destroy what is up there.
I'm inclined to feel the scores are fine.
The person who brought the jump bug to light had believed it to be an intentional game mechanic. Some other people here, and presumably elsewhere, apparently made the same assumption.
Yes that is the issue. I imagine a lot of people who are using it don't even realise they are cheating.
Shit. I'm worried now.
How do we know if we've been playing legit?
I use the jump pods all the time to activate the power zone. Is that the bug? My score isn't very impressive (113 million) and I've only got to level 48 so I think it's a legit score but is there any way to tell if you're doing it wrong? Does the score really shoot up or something if you're exploiting the bug?

Exactly. thats the same problem im at now. I cant play the game right now since i have no idea "how" its suppose to be "played". Meaning: When you get-air,how long does the ya know stay extended for? 1 second? 3? 5? until you come back to the rim of the web? Unplayable for me until fixed. I assume everyone has milked it unknowingly to some extent.

U-B · Post by **U-B** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:16 pm 0

TodaysForgotten wrote:Exactly. thats the same problem im at now. I cant play the game right now since i have no idea "how" its suppose to be "played". Meaning: When you get-air,how long does the ya know stay extended for? 1 second? 3? 5? until you come back to the rim of the web? Unplayable for me until fixed.

As I understand it, the intention is that you either jump to extend the power zone, which only requires a quick tap of jump and that will immediately extend the power zone to it's fullest, or you jump to get over obstacles on the rim, which only needs to be held down long enough to "complete" the jump and get over those obstacles.

To me, that jumping mechanic seems very clear and obvious, and, to be honest, I struggle to see how you misunderstood it.

TodaysForgotten wrote:I assume everyone has milked it unknowingly to some extent.

I would disagree - as someone in the top ten of both normal and hardcore, I can categorically say that I have not "milked it unknowingly".

stefcha · Post by **stefcha** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:19 pm 0

TodaysForgotten wrote:All my other top 10 scores are tastey and only one score was embellished in order to beat a glitcher (heavy weapon single player)

Damn right your other scores are tasty! Decided to have a go on Jetpac Refuelled last night after I was worn out playing SG, and a quick check when I'd done my best was to see a score by one "TodaysForgotten" towering several magnitudes over the rest..... given I'd just been browsing this place for the first time earlier in the day it's nice to recognise a name at the top, even if it did make me feel a bit deflated

TodaysForgotten · Post by **TodaysForgotten** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:24 pm 0

U-B wrote:
To me, that jumping mechanic seems very clear and obvious, and, to be honest, I struggle to see how you misunderstood it.

it's quite simple my friend. Go to the tutorial and it clearly stats hold down such and such button to extend so and so longer. So, when you hold down the said button for longer and the ya know stays...

I hope this doesnt come off as macho or what-have-you, but i could easily knock into the top 10 playing normal. I gave it a go for kicks the other night and was only a few million off my score at level 12. Which the way i had been doing it was 47m. I think i was at 39m playing normal.

the only thing is i dont full know what normal is until the bug is fixed. Again meaning, how long a jump lasts given what the tutorial stated.

choddo · Post by **choddo** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:38 pm 0

Yeah my assumption is that the PZ is supposed to start retreating at normal pace immediately after you jump and before you choose to land if you hover for a bit. That won't be happening for anyone at the moment, at best it will happen when you release RT to land.

axel000 · Post by **axel000** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:41 pm 0

Its very simple, the bug has no effect on the jump, its on the continued expansion of the power zone. With or without the bug, the jump lasts the correct amount of time. What the bug is allowing you to do is continue to hold down the RT and keep the power zone extended once your return to the web.

Played correctly, the RT should be released when you return to the web immediately allowing the powerzone to contract. This is how I played it, feel a bit silly not ever noticing that if I'd just kept on holding it down....

Anyway, I checked the bug the other day and to be honest, the game is much more enjoyable the way its designed to be played, anyone continually holding down the RT after landing on the web is just ruining the experience for themselves by making the chaining of bulls far too easy.

Of course, our manly scores will be proven out when the bug is fixed

U-B · Post by **U-B** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:43 pm 0

TodaysForgotten wrote:
U-B wrote:To me, that jumping mechanic seems very clear and obvious, and, to be honest, I struggle to see how you misunderstood it.
it's quite simple my friend. Go to the tutorial and it clearly stats hold down such and such button to extend so and so longer. So, when you hold down the said button for longer and the ya know stays...

To me, it's seems obvious because it wouldn't make any sense for the mechanic to work the way you used it - but maybe that's just because I'm a programmer myself. If I had accidentally encountered the same thing while playing, my immediate thought would have been: hang on, that can't be right.

But, anyway, I'm not actually having a go at you - it'll be fixed soon hopefully, and it's then a moot point anyway

ManicMiner · Post by **ManicMiner** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:56 pm 0

you still don't seem to be understanding the full essence of the problem...

By design, you can hover during a jump for a period of time... This is quite useful on the later levels, when finding a safe landing spot can be tricky, and the volume of enemies may mean they require a bit of "gentle persuasion" to clear off out of your way... so you hold the trigger to hover...

When, after the initial trigger pull, should the PZ start receding? I suspect by the original design the answer should be "immediately", but that's not what happens at the moment, meaning any time any of us has "hovered" at all, we have unknowingly cheated.

l1n3n01z · Post by **l1n3n01z** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:59 pm 0

ManicMiner wrote:you still don't seem to be understanding the full essence of the problem...

By design, you can hover during a jump for a period of time... This is quite useful on the later levels, when finding a safe landing spot can be tricky, and the volume of enemies may mean they require a bit of "gentle persuasion" to clear off out of your way... so you hold the trigger to hover...

When, after the initial trigger pull, should the PZ start receding? I suspect by the original design the answer should be "immediately", but that's not what happens at the moment, meaning any time any of us has "hovered" at all, we have unknowingly cheated.

This is a good comment and you should prolly add it to the bugs thread.

U-B · Post by **U-B** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:05 pm 0

ManicMiner wrote:you still don't seem to be understanding the full essence of the problem...

By design, you can hover during a jump for a period of time... This is quite useful on the later levels, when finding a safe landing spot can be tricky, and the volume of enemies may mean they require a bit of "gentle persuasion" to clear off out of your way... so you hold the trigger to hover...

When, after the initial trigger pull, should the PZ start receding? I suspect by the original design the answer should be "immediately", but that's not what happens at the moment, meaning any time any of us has "hovered" at all, we have unknowingly cheated.

Well, only the devs know for sure - but I would disagree. I believe that's the meaning of the tutorial message that TodaysForgotten misunderstood - that the power zone will stay extended during the jump, but will start receding again when you land. In which case, you would only be "cheating", if you kept jump held down after landing.

We'll see when it gets patched I guess ...