Kongrefeint Semi-finals

The rain pours down on the shingles of my house. I’m staring outside the window, watching it come down. There’s something about the heavy rain that I find calming. Right now I need to feel calm. I need to feel relaxed. My heart is in my throat because I’m on the verge of being eliminated from the tournament.

Despite having breezed through the early rounds. I’ve found myself at an impass, here in the semi-finals. Two games, two very difficult games, are all that’s keeping me from reaching my first spreadsheet final. Those game are 88 Bricks and Fracuum. My opponents; Blizzard, VideoGames, and Louweed are obscenely good at them. Insultingly good. Which leaves me on thin ice, trying to fend off the remaining competitors.

I’m staring at the glass. What would it mean for me to be in the finals? I turn that thought over in my head. Gradually becoming aware of the time I check my watch. Six hours until the round ends. Time for me to put an end to this.

I jump into my chair and go to work. The job at hand isn’t an easy one. Shawner wants to go

through, I can tell that. He’s already ahead of me in 88 bricks. He’s trailing badly in Fracuum but

I know that he’s capable of closing that distance. In this late stage of the tournament the margins

between us is so small. It would only take a small improvement for any one of them to surpass

me and for my dream run to be over.

I pound away at Fracuum. Not with the hopes of positioning myself inside the top 3. My goal is

simply to qualify for the finals.

Having improved my score to the point where I’m so sick of playing the game that I can’t take it

anymore, I decide that I’m done with the game and will let the chips fall where they may.

I shut down feeling far less than confident in my positioning. It’s doubtful that I’ll still be in the

tournament tomorrow.

It’s morning. A beautiful day in early June. Part of me wants to go outside, I haven’t really been

outside all that much. The demands at this level are extreme. Four hours a day is what’s required

to keep you in this tournament and in many cases that’s not enough. I’ve been in this tournament

for almost a whole month and I’m so ready for it to be over. The stress and sacrifice is hard on

your regular life.

But right now, knowing that I’m so close to the end. Knowing that this is most likely my one and

only chance to win a spreadsheet tournament and complete, what I feel, has been an outstanding

career as an online flash gamer. I’m willing to let all of those things go. I’m willing to push past

my limits, one last time.

I flip through the threads and pull up the draw for the final. My eyes scour the names. I find mine.

Fourth. I did it! I’m one of five players to make it through to the finals.

I collapse on my bed. Unable to believe that I’ve made it through. A few moments later, it dawns

on me that this is 15th final. Fifteenth. I think back to when I played my first one against CNX.

Who would have never imagined it would ultimately lead to this. This moment feels like the

culmination of everything that I’ve been working towards.

The journey is nearly over but there’s still one more test that I have to pass. I have to get across

the finish line. I’m ready for it and as I pull up my chair and prepare myself for what’s to come. I

feel the desire to fight on. I’m going to see this through to the end.

Kongrefeint: My First Spreadsheet Championship

It’s story time guys. Today, I have a big one to share with you.

The story begins in April of 2012.

We flash back four years to find yours truly on the brink of elimination, while playing in the fourth round of WiiPlayer’s Kompetition tournament.

It was Give Up Robot, that did me in…that’s all I can say. 😦

Disheartened by my lackluster performance. I decided that it was time for me to step it up.

I signed-up for the next spreadsheet tournament, knowing that there was a lot on the line. Not only is it a big one (being the 25th edition.) But I’m also aware that my hourglass for winning one of these tournaments is running out.

At 22 years old, I know that I’m nearing the end of my prime as a gaming competitor. I need to win this championship before the window closes for good.

Resolved, I enter Kongrefeint with the belief that I’ll win.

Much to my surprise, Asmodous, the tournament host, starts us off with a game that is right in my wheelhouse. He picks Fancy Pants.

But there’s a catch. Asmodous, wants us to speed-run the game in under three minutes. That’s the minimum standard for qualifying in. I’ve never attempted a speed-run of this game before. It takes me several tries before I’m able to make the cut.

Normally, I’d be satisfied with that. This was only the qualifying round and there’s no risk of falling behind the red line.

I think back to The Kompetition. I remember how VideoGames, had torn through those early rounds. Placing 1st, 2nd, or 4th every time, until he eventually won the tournament.

I could have been like that. I even had an opportunity to take the lead during the second round. Instead, I chose to put in a B level effort and found myself out of it early.

My eyes narrow.

“Not this time.” I tell myself. “This time things WILL be different.”

I go to work on securing first place. I’ve got a fellow competitor who’s trying to do the same thing. Fusha, a former spreadsheet champion himself. Just like me, Fusha wants to declare himself right from the start. The only problem is that he’s competing against a guy who’s hungrier and crazier than him. I also pack a slightly larger arsenal.

I kick my game up a notch and go to work on optimizing my route. Studying youtube videos of other speedruns, I begin to map out a course to guarantee myself first place. Armed with a solid game plan, I sit down and proceed to play the game until I can beat it in my sleep.

Next, I go to work on putting together the run that I need. The dream run that will ruin anyone’s hope of catching me this round. It take me a few hours but eventually I pull out a 157.

Fusha, sees how far I’m willing to take this and decides not to challenge me further.

It’s only the qualifying round but I’m already in full force. Determined that I’ll win. Determined that I won’t bag it this time. I know deep down that this title has my name on it. It may be my last opportunity at a tournament (this sized.) I promise myself that no matter what it takes, I’m going to find a way to win.

In this video; Kongrefeint: My First Spreadsheet Championship I describe the experience of what it was like for me playing in the tournament.

The long days and sometimes nights of grinding it out against some of the best players on the forum. The final few rounds were just brutal. It’s difficult for me to even put into words the amount of insanity that went into reaching the final round and then winning the championship with Blizzard and VG, just a few days later.

 

 

I hope you guys, enjoy this preview video. Let me know if this is of interest to you.

JD

Early gaming memories: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 for the NES

We all have those special games from our childhood, which bring back memories of our early lives.

For me, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 on the NES, personifies that. It’s the game that got me into Nintendo.

I can still remember being four years old and playing it for the first time. The cartridge I had was a rental, which my mom, would occasionally check out from our local video store.

This was back during the mid 90s, when it was still possible to find games like this.

At the age of four, my nemesis was the dam. I could beat the first level easily enough, but the dam stopped me cold.

Like so many kids, who’ve played this game, I died all over the place. If the radioactive seaweed didn’t get me, then the bombs would.

As time went on, the video store liquidated their inventory and no longer carried the game.

Most of my friends, moved on to the newer console systems. But I stuck with the NES and Super Nintendo. It’s peculiar in a way, that I’ve always gravitated towards older games.

In 1999, I met my friend Jacob, who owned a Nintendo and a whole assortment of games, including TMNT 1. He showed me how to beat the dam, along with the following levels.

Jacob, had gotten to the end of the game, but he couldn’t get past the final hallway leading to Shredder. This stretch was known as the “Hallway of Death.” An incredibly challenging plat-forming section, which was packed with the game’s toughest enemies.

“It’s impossible, without a game genie.” He said.

In the summer of that year, I bought a Nintendo from Funcoland, along with a copy of TMNT 1. I was determined to finish the game.

Being a bit older, I could now get through the dam, without much trouble. The next two levels, didn’t take long either. But finding the Technodrome in Area 5, proved to be no small task.

The enemies were changed in this level to a much stronger set. I had a hard time keeping the turtles alive, long enough to reach it. Not to mention, the Technodrome itself, is a very difficult boss fight.

After a lot of trial and error, I learned the pattern for defeating it. Watching as the giant machine exploded only to have the turtles jump inside to take on Shredder.

I’d made it to the last level of the game. As hard as the previous levels had been, they paled by comparison with this.

The enemies, were ridiculously over-powered. I had no idea how to reach Shredder, and whatever path I took always killed me.

Once I learned where I was going, the stage became a lot easier. Eventually, I got good enough to make it to the hallway before Shredder.

That was as far as I could go. The following area proved to be far too difficult and I would only occasionally reach the narrow section.

In 2002, Jacob gave me a cd with the TMNT 1 rom and a jnes emulator on it. Now I had access to save states. It still took a while, but I was finally able to complete the game by using save states for the hallway section.

In some ways, this victory over the game felt cheap. After-all, I really hadn’t “beaten” it. Just resorting to save states, so I could see the ending.

I continued to play the game over the years, getting progressively better at it until, late one night during the summer of 2010, I decided to beat it for real.

I hooked up my old NES, which hadn’t been used in years, and popped in the game.

In the time since, I had learned about using the scrolls. Which can be acquired in Area 3. Getting through the ending, would require me to arm each turtle to the brim with this weapon.

Admittedly, the scrolls made the game MUCH easier and I tore through the rest of the game. Finally, reaching the “Hallway of Death.”

I was now back to the part where I had left off as a kid. Despite having scrolls equipped on all of the turtles, I still felt nervous about this section.

Even with the scrolls, it wasn’t easy. But I made it through the hallway, killed the helicopter guys, then beat the last jet pack foot soldier, and now it was onto Shredder.

Unlike the section leading up to this, Shredder was actually pretty easy. He’s always easy, if you know what you’re doing. I preceeded to knock him off the platform and then hit him with the scrolls, whenever he jumped.

I watched as he went down in flames. Feeling a sense of accomplishment and completion. Finally, I was done with this game.

Or not?

I recently decided to make an LP/walkthrough for Turtles 1. Knowing there’s still plenty of people, who haven’t beaten the game, I’d like to share my knowledge with you.

Let me know if you’re one of those people or what you think of my strategy guides. I hope you find these videos useful and entertaining, and I’ll be back with more retrospectives in the future.

JoshDragon

The journey begins with Hell’s Touch

One down, six to go! To be honest, I was happy just to get through the first round in one piece.

Because we’re competing as teams and not individuals, there are some unique challenges to the tournament that force you to weigh things differently. It’s not just about your abilities, you have to make sure that your teammates are able to score high enough to get the group through to the next round.

Getting stuck with the wrong batch of people, could mean game over instantly. And this was my primary concern before the round even got started.

Luckily for me, I had nothing to worry about. They wound up giving me a fantastic team, which is all I could ask for!!! 🙂

The round kicked off with the teams already assembled. I’m not sure why they decided to put players ranked next to each other on the same team, but whatever. I’m cool with it.

When I saw that BestMte, was on our team, I knew we were in good hands. The guy, is unbelievably strong and resilient. Having him as your teammate is like playing doubles with Roger Federer.

I don’t believe he’s peaked yet either. Which is scary to think about.

My other teammates, are very solid too. They did a great job with our first round game, Tobe’s Hookshot Escape.

I really enjoyed playing this one. It immediately brought back fond memories of Cave Chaos. One of my favorite games from the MiniClip channel.

I was hoping there might be some similarities beyond the obvious environmental ones.

Cave Chaos

Tobe’s Hookshot Escape

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Tobe, handles much differently than the gremlin (or whatever the hell it’s supposed to be) in Cave Chaos. I had some difficulty adjusting to his game.

Then unexpectedly, a member from the opposing Team Vegito, posted a video tutorial of the game. I’m not entirely sure why he decided to do this but I definitely appreciated it.

In the video, he exposed an easier way of getting a high score. The new strategy, required you to repeatedly swing Tobe, around the platform blocks in an effort to build up the combo meter. Of course the combo resets whenever Tobe, makes contact with the ground, meaning it would take a lot of trial and error to successfully pull this off.

At first, I couldn’t put a decent run together. Try as I might, I could not guide Tobe, to a 99+ combo without making some kind of mistake. Every time forcing the meter to reset itself.

Towards the end of the round, I could feel my rhythm improving. The breakthrough was coming and I knew I was on the verge of nailing it. Then the time ran out and I was stuck with only 100,000. Leaving my team in a very precarious position.

Thankfully, they stepped in and picked up the slack on my behalf. Best and Hero, had to really dig deep but their efforts were enough to secure us with first place.

It may not have been the smoothest round ever but really I’m just glad to be back on top. I only played at about a C level during this round and that was still enough for us to get the job done.

Granted, it’s still very early in the tournament and none of us are playing at our best yet.

I know I will need to improve in a lot of ways, if our team is going to have any chance at the title. However, these Kongregate tournaments tend to be very long and I’ve still got plenty of time to do so.

Until next time.

JoshDragon

Testing Round

The testing round is over. Blizzard, had us play three games. Gravity Hook, Chromatoids, and my personal least favorite, most hated game of all time, Give Up Robot.

FU, give up robot!!! XP

I am so happy to have that thing out of the way. Blizzard loves this game, so I knew it would be coming.

Anyway, I actually didn’t do that bad. I got 19,589,030. Not a good score by any means but passable. Especially for playing the game only three times. (That’s all I could take.)

The other choices were better. Chromatoids is a terrible tournament game, due to all it’s randomness. Not a problem for the assessment round.

Gravity Hook was fun. My old computer didn’t handle it so well and I didn’t have much time to practice either.

Overall not much to report.

We’re heading into the team phase next. Should be very interesting to see who I get paired with. Hopefully, I’ll get someone good or else there could be some trouble up ahead.

JoshDragon

Back in the saddle

Hey everyone,

Well I’m back on Kongregate. Playing my first tournament in ten months. It feels fantastic to be competing again!

I was a little bit apprehensive about joining. I’m fairly busy with other projects in my real life and taking on a tournament like Blizzard’s, wouldn’t necessarily lend itself to my current schedule. Luckily, I do have some downtime right now and since this may be my last run at a spreadsheet title, I didn’t want to pass up the chance.

Getting in was easy. To qualify, you just needed to have a badge in one of a few select games. I saw Dillo Hills was on the list, so I knew I wouldn’t have any trouble. 🙂

Dillo Hills, has been one of my favorite games for a long time. It reminds me way too much of Sonic the Hedgehog (one of my favorite childhood games.)

After getting the badge, I uploaded it through tinypic.com and posted it on the forum. Joining the other 58 people in the main draw. Seems like a lot this time. 😕

According to Blizzard, we’re going to go through a team stage. I’m not sure how that will go. Just hoping that it won’t be too stressful.

I need to get my form back. That’s my goal for these first few rounds. Get through them and improve each time.

It’s going to be very tough to compete against some of these guys later in the tournament. I have no chance if I’m not playing at my best level.

We’re heading into the testing round now. I’ll post an update later on how it went.

JoshDragon.