Brainstorming / Testing area / Sharing opinions

So far the elements used in NLG 08 and 2011 were taken with much enthusiasm!
But we like to keep things sharp and interesting as much we can, so if there are any idea's to make NLG 2012 even better, please feel free to share it in this topic.
We will discuss our opinions among eachother and will test them along the way to see what will be the final setup and configuration.

Thank you in advance for yoru efforts!

Mario Party 1 Bumper Ball Maze 3 would work pretty nicely as a stage 2 concept challenge. It's very discriminative, short and risky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D5OaOWZPSo

For general concepts, I really liked the idea of every participant thinking up + testing and crafting their own challenge (of their preferred game, for example I create an SMK-based challenge, Illu a GoldenEye based one, etc.), which then everyone has to play.
Another option (not mutually exclusive to the above one) is swapping stage 1 and 2 around as suggested earlier by Marius I believe. Not sure if I like that idea though.

Ideally I would also like to get rid of the difference in potential total points for the various stage 1 challenges. We should just come up with challenges that are generally considered within the same range of difficulty, and therefore all be potentially worth the same amount of points. At least that's how I feel.

For a challenge I would maybe go with Wave Race 64, Drake Lake time trial, great level, smooth, pure steering skill only.

Many games are currently being screened and tested for viability to add on the next years challenge list!

Add yours by describing your challenge here and give it a few test runs so we can compare the times.

Current games are :
Starwing
Zelda 3
Wave Race 64
Mario 64
Zelda 64

So I tried Wave Race 64, level: Drake Lake

Driver: David Mariner, Custom Settings: Handling: light, Engine: top end, Grip: tight

Use any settings or driver but these are the best for this and for almost any other level

Attempts x5 (no warmup) NTSC
1. 1:14:840 - horrible, didn't get max power strat, you need to press A pretty much exactly as the commentator says GO!
2. X - quit
3. 1:12:808 - not bad
4. X - quit, very bad start, realized I couldn't beat 1:12.8
5. X - quit, could have got a 1:14 but what's the point

1:12:8 is around 1:27:5 on PAL






^my ntsc world record video for this^





^Stefan Mahrlas PAL world record^

Thanks for posting Illu, I will definitely give this a go after the SMK worldchampionships (which take place next week).

KVD wrote:
For general concepts, I really liked the idea of every participant thinking up + testing and crafting their own challenge (of their preferred game, for example I create an SMK-based challenge, Illu a GoldenEye based one, etc.), which then everyone has to play.
Another option (not mutually exclusive to the above one) is swapping stage 1 and 2 around as suggested earlier by Marius I believe. Not sure if I like that idea though.

Ideally I would also like to get rid of the difference in potential total points for the various stage 1 challenges. We should just come up with challenges that are generally considered within the same range of difficulty, and therefore all be potentially worth the same amount of points. At least that's how I feel.

1. Crafting own challenges would mean a lot of time would go testing each individual challenge. That has been somewhat the case earlier, of course, but I feel that this would mean jeopardizing the integrity of stage 2 (it's for stage 2 you mean, right?). Seeing as each of these challenges need to be discriminative and precise. Personal intentions would also be a factor, as one might choose a game which only he has played. Ex, the Star Tropics challenge I wanted in. Good challenge, but no one else had played the game, so it got scrapped. By this suggestion, though, I could say I wanted that challenge back, and I'd probably be the only one who finishes it. Bottom line, I think the challenges should be suggested by everyone, then the organizer would test them and see if they're good or not.

2. I like the current risk/reward system. If you do practice and nail that tough challenge, then you should get a just reward. It spikes up the competition. If everyone (hypothetically) practices a lot, and nails their games in stage 1 where each game rewards the same amount of points, then the entire stage would be pointless. that's my two cents, though.

Î must say I agree with Ulf, mostly, possibly because he is so damn cute

I must add a reply to his first arguement though. If he really wants his game in the tournament. For stage one, right?
Can't we all just test the game? If its a good game and possible suiting for the stage, it might be well worth it
I belive this is one of the ways we can have the nlg develop faster and get even better

Which brings me to my own little agenda. Mohahaha.
I never really thought much of this game as a possible nlg game, but hey, I felt like trying to bring something to the table:

I would like to suggest Prins of Persia for the nlg.(the snes version)

Its not too long and if you get decent in this game its very intertaining to watch. Its very possible to complete without too much practice. I did it when I was like 13 years old.

One could also use this game for a speed run challenge, as many of the levels can be completed speedy, AND again, if you are decent, the speed run will be shitloads of fun and there will be many "WHOAH'S"^^


As a final little comment. We did not play circuit breakers. We did not. WE DID NOT. This was most upsetting. I belive Marius had to stay drunk as often as possible because of this :O which turned out to be a tad too much..
In the future NLGs I need be assured that this horrible, unfair, gay incident, NEVER will happen again!

Thank you for your attention and cooperation

Captain Hindsight wrote:Î must say I agree with Ulf, mostly, possibly because he is so damn cute

You are such a homosexual.

Well, as I said. The thing with bringing in own challenges is a bit, well, challenging in some respects. Especially if there are certain conditions for the challenge in question. For instance, the Star Tropics challenge would require someone to play through the game completely before even starting the challenge. That's not ideal, I'll admit, as it makes it a bit tedious.

It can be circumvented by only playing an early portion of a given game, but I feel that would narrow down the selection of possible challenges, and we don't want that, do we now? Variety is the spice of life, right?

In either case, this would be of prioritizing, I think. Some games would be easily accessed and easily practiced, while others might be less accessible, with games being relatively unknown or something.

Also, Yngve. You're a raving homosexual.

"You are such a homosexual."

Now now, dont make this to be something about me.
I would feel more like a pedofile, if I was really into you.
You remind me of my self back in the days when I was almost 16, unspoiled, innocent and pure

Just because you find Daigo to be your idol, doesnt make you gay.
But what does it make you, when you want to let that Kara Leung have some?
You remember that Crimson Viper player who is a lady boy?
Never mind that, just remember, the one who calls other ppl stuff, is that stuff himself, thats really basic is it not?
Yes it is

Lets not make this thread to be about me, when my reply was simply stating that I agreed with you, and added some spice to make you feel better Maybe I just look at you as the little brother I never had?^^

Anyhow, since you love Star Tropics that much, I want to try the game and see for my self.
What console?

"In either case, this would be of prioritizing, I think. Some games would be easily accessed and easily practiced, while others might be less accessible, with games being relatively unknown or something."
This. I really would love it, if we could try to swap in some games. Like, Patrick, loves Castlevania. I think Castlevania 2 is way too hard to pick up and play like the first one in the series. But maybe we could add Castlevania 3 or 4? I belive they are both easy to access, play and be good at without raging too much^^ What do you think Patrick? Its not like we will remove your favorite game forever, but if might be interesting to put in a new castlevania game in the next nlg and see how that's like. It would be more fun if we can have some more Fresh blood/games into the nlg, instead of the old ones.
Hell, for my part, we can swap Probotector for contra or probotector on the ps2. I belive Marius really likes that game!

One other thing I would love to do, is to add Cooperation into the nlg.
If we have to time to do so.
I mean it would be way too random if we have a cooperation stage, as you could get knocked out, just because you have Yngve on your team.

But, if we make time, we could do that team thingy we failed to do before me and Illu left Holland.
It would be very fun.
The only team thingy we have had as I recall, is when the dutch mafia talk gibberish in their make belive language and gang up on Marius when we play Circuit Breakers^^

To be fair, that was a pretty goodlooking half man-half woman. I'm brimming with self irony about all this . Also, stop derailing the thread, you moron. Also also, the quote button is at the top right corner.

Star Tropics is on the NES.

Coop could only materialize in form of a team tournament, I believe. Trying to implement that in the "main" bulk of the NLG event would just clutter up stuff.

Hippobatman wrote:To be fair, that was a pretty goodlooking half man-half woman. I'm brimming with self irony about all this . Also, stop derailing the thread, you moron. Also also, the quote button is at the top right corner.

Star Tropics is on the NES.

Coop could only materialize in form of a team tournament, I believe. Trying to implement that in the "main" bulk of the NLG event would just clutter up stuff.

Moron

In 30 minutes there will be a stream somewhat related to off-season NLG.
It`s a tournament arranged by SnesOT.com, whereas today there will be a match between Xotic and myself in Super Mario Kart battle mode.
Tune in and troll the chat at will.

www.livestream.com/NLGtv

Another idea came to mind.

We are getting close to having testruns of NLG Radio, and at about the same time, I figured it could be interesting to have a weekly\biweekly NLG stream. This could be 4-5 people playing endless match in Street Fighter 4, or a slow-paced tournament of 1vs1 in a Retro game, or simply straight up 8 player carnage in IPCurve.

The first one of these will be attempted just about 2 weeks from now, on Sunday 23.10.11 at 20:00 GMT+1.
In the meantime, some suggestions for games and formats would be greatly appreciated.