Alien Syndrome life leeching

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Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by SprintGod »

I expect this is why Gamest had scores of >10 million.

Summary:
- It is possible to leech 128 lives at the beginning of the game.
- It can only be done when you have exactly 100,000 points, so point leeching is impossible.
- It is not possible to top up your lives afterwards unless you clock the score counter (30+ hours of play).
- It doesn't work on "aliensynj", which fixes the exploit by having 1ups also award 100 points.

Method:
1. Score low on purpose so you can reach exactly 100,000 points. Ideally on round 4.
2. Collect four guaranteed 1ups from the containers.
3. Create a safe spot and wait until time runs out, losing one life and resetting the containers.
4. Repeat until you have 128 lives (~2 hours). 129 overflows to negative.

Since lives have an upper limit (albeit an extremely high one), and it is impossible to leech points in the process, I think this needs an explicit ruling.

e.g. for the parent set, disallow restarting a stage with exactly 100,000 points.
Perhaps explicitly allow it in "aliensynjo" plus one of the western clones in case anyone is crazy enough to want to marathon this.

Clocking the score counter (100,000,000 points) means completing 150+ loops, averaging less than 1 death per loop over the course of 30+ hours. I have no idea how realistic it would be to actually accomplish and I'm not planning on trying.
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Re: Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by Weehawk »

SprintGod wrote: Sun Feb 03, 2019 6:34 pm I expect this is why Gamest had scores of >10 million.
Summary:
- It is possible to leech 128 lives at the beginning of the game.
- It can only be done when you have exactly 100,000 points, so point leeching is impossible.
- It is not possible to top up your lives afterwards unless you clock the score counter (30+ hours of play).
- It doesn't work on "aliensynj", which fixes the exploit by having 1ups also award 100 points.
Method:
1. Score low on purpose so you can reach exactly 100,000 points. Ideally on round 4.
2. Collect four guaranteed 1ups from the containers.
3. Create a safe spot and wait until time runs out, losing one life and resetting the containers.
4. Repeat until you have 128 lives (~2 hours). 129 overflows to negative.
Since lives have an upper limit (albeit an extremely high one), and it is impossible to leech points in the process, I think this needs an explicit ruling.
e.g. for the parent set, disallow restarting a stage with exactly 100,000 points.
Perhaps explicitly allow it in "aliensynjo" plus one of the western clones in case anyone is crazy enough to want to marathon this.
Clocking the score counter (100,000,000 points) means completing 150+ loops, averaging less than 1 death per loop over the course of 30+ hours. I have no idea how realistic it would be to actually accomplish and I'm not planning on trying.
You spent the last 12 years analyzing this, didn't you?
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Re: Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by SprintGod »

Not entirely inaccurate.

I did find out about this roughly 12 years ago. I just couldn't be bothered to write it up. For 12 years.
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Re: Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by Novice »

DEFCON=6

my book says...
Japanese version has some difference.(I think another versions has difference. because it is japanese game)
100 points every opening boxes(it rejects sequential 1UPs)
need to rescue all 16 hostages.
20 seconds longer.(180seconds start. 140 at loop2 100 at loop 3 or later)

and it has infinite opportunities to extend. not only 100,000.
but also any millions +000,000.

several players reach 10M within first month(1987 july. 15-17 loops.) so, high score competition finish quickly.
gamest does not have record of alien syndrome. it was recognized as "infinite pattern" or "10M+ endless"
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Re: Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by SprintGod »

That isn't accurate.
Score must be exactly 100,000 points. 1,000,000 does not work, neither does 1,100,000.
If the entire displayed score is not EXACTLY 100,000 then obtaining a 1up is impossible. This applies to every version of the game in MAME.

Code: Select all

Container code (aliensynj)
008C0E btst   #$6, ($0,A5)
008C14 bne    $8c1e        ; Branch if 2P opened container
008C18 move.l $c068.w, D0  ; Load 1P score (all 8 digits)
008C1C bra    $8c22
008C1E move.l $c06c.w, D0  ; Load 2P score (all 8 digits)
008C22 cmpi.l #$100000, D0 ; Compare score to 00100000
008C28 bne    $8c6a        ; If score is not exactly 100000, branch to points calculation
008C2A addq.b #1, ($34,A5) ; Add 1 to lives
"aliensynjo" is an old Japanese version that allows you to obtain infinite 1ups (up to the signed byte limit of 128).
"aliensynj" is a patched version that gives 100 points to 1ups. In this version you can only gain one extra life period.
The only way to obtain more lives after exceeding 100,000 points is to overflow the score counter (i.e. 100,100,000 points).

I think it's very likely that the early scores you mention were set by obtaining an obscene amount of lives on the older Japanese version.
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Re: Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by Novice »

Defcon=6
Thank you for reserch. wikipedia is wrong. :mrgreen:
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/エイリアンシンドローム
1M require loop. so I did not reserch by myself.

Anysome,the point "1 or more remain added by one life." was found, contest will be stopped.

I do not know what happened 32 years ago. but I think 10+ million was not lie.

1. at
http://forums.marpirc.net/viewtopic.php ... it=pac+man
Pac man (banned weastern player) mentioned infinite life and 12 million.
Japanese version may have such method.

2. Longer time makes patterns safer.

3. super players at that time were REALLY monsters. indeed endless when construct certain patterns. and they made them very quickly.
Limited remain, less than 1M at each loop, and 10M scored. non-fake play of another tittle. TG record is 1.7M(maybe 3-5 I think)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cEUv-No_qE
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Re: Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by Novice »

DEFCON 6
and 1 more problem.
japanese version requires saving all 16hostages.
it is 38300points each stages.
reaching stage 4 without 100100 seems impossible.

continue or 2p play are banned by common rule.
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Re: Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by SprintGod »

Pac-man is definitely referring to what I've been describing here. Spend an hour grabbing lives and 12 million is easy even if you're terrible at the game.

Life leeching works on any stage. It's just a lot faster and less stressful on stage 4.
On stage 1-2 you gain 1 life per 3 minutes.
On stage 3 you gain 3 lives per 3 minutes, but it is almost impossible to avoid extra deaths.
On stage 4 you gain 3 lives per 3 minutes, and it is very easy to avoid extra deaths as there are no random spawns.

It's difficult to reach stage 4 with 100,000 points on the Japanese version, but still possible. You need to avoid killing enemies unless necessary, finish with < 5 seconds left on each stage, and die on purpose after saving 8 hostages on two of the levels. Dying resets the score accumulator so the next hostages only give 100-800 points instead of up to 8,000 points.

Stage 1: Not necessary to kill anything except the boss. Group the homing blobs by walking in a circle around the middle one. After walking around a bit to waste time, use the Bomb weapon to hit the boss without touching its shield.
Stage 2: The random spawns can interfere with the no-kill pattern, but you can afford to shoot a few if necessary. The 9th hostage you get should be one of the heavily surrounded ones on the right so you when you die you can abuse the invincibility to walk through everything.
Stage 3: You can't waste time on the boss so walk around in circles at the bottom of the starting area until about 75 seconds are left. It's necessary to kill the enemies on the bridges, but everything else should be avoided wherever possible. Take the Laser and enter the door with about 10 seconds on the clock.
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Re: Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by Novice »

Defcon=6
share information and knowledge with good player is fun.
SprintGod wrote: Sat Feb 09, 2019 2:02 pm Pac-man is definitely referring to what I've been describing here. Spend an hour grabbing lives and 12 million is easy even if you're terrible at the game.
If it is true, is it much easier to do same thing at other versions include what he uploaded is not it?
at least never 2UP at stage 2 insterd of 4UP.
SprintGod wrote: Sat Feb 09, 2019 2:02 pm Life leeching works on any stage. It's just a lot faster and less stressful on stage 4.
On stage 1-2 you gain 1 life per 3 minutes.
On stage 3 you gain 3 lives per 3 minutes, but it is almost impossible to avoid extra deaths.
On stage 4 you gain 3 lives per 3 minutes, and it is very easy to avoid extra deaths as there are no random spawns.
It's difficult to reach stage 4 with 100,000 points on the Japanese version, but still possible. You need to avoid killing enemies unless necessary, finish with < 5 seconds left on each stage, and die on purpose after saving 8 hostages on two of the levels. Dying resets the score accumulator so the next hostages only give 100-800 points instead of up to 8,000 points.

Stage 1: Not necessary to kill anything except the boss. Group the homing blobs by walking in a circle around the middle one. After walking around a bit to waste time, use the Bomb weapon to hit the boss without touching its shield.
Stage 2: The random spawns can interfere with the no-kill pattern, but you can afford to shoot a few if necessary. The 9th hostage you get should be one of the heavily surrounded ones on the right so you when you die you can abuse the invincibility to walk through everything.
Stage 3: You can't waste time on the boss so walk around in circles at the bottom of the starting area until about 75 seconds are left. It's necessary to kill the enemies on the bridges, but everything else should be avoided wherever possible. Take the Laser and enter the door with about 10 seconds on the clock.
very difficult work. is it possible for 1 month players?

it is unnecessary for 10M.(just need triple longer time)
now I can beleave (add many lives at stage 1 using very long time) and 15+ loops with in 1 month by very early players.
it is reasonable "why japanese new version ajasts 1UP+100points. at [? ]box".
very interesting.
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Re: Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by SprintGod »

I doubt early players used the stage 4 method as it's difficult to set up and needs a lot of research.

It's SUPER easy to do on stage 1. Reach 100,000 points by shooting the blobs that the boss spawns, then walk around until time runs out.
Stage 1 pattern is to get the bottom [?], then get the one in the room on the upper-right. Stand still in the top-center of that room until time runs out. Nothing can get in to hurt you. ~20 lives per hour.

Stage 4 pattern is to take the 3x [?] in the top half of the level first. Go to the bottom right room. An enemy appears from the bottom spawner and follows you. Lure it into the room when you open the door. Collect the [?] and circle the room to create a safe path. After exiting the room, all of the enemies are trapped inside so you can wait outside the door until time runs out. ~60 lives per hour.
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Re: Alien Syndrome life leeching

Post by Novice »

SprintGod wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 6:12 am I doubt early players used the stage 4 method as it's difficult to set up and needs a lot of research.

It's SUPER easy to do on stage 1. Reach 100,000 points by shooting the blobs that the boss spawns, then walk around until time runs out.
Stage 1 pattern is to get the bottom [?], then get the one in the room on the upper-right. Stand still in the top-center of that room until time runs out. Nothing can get in to hurt you. ~20 lives per hour.

Stage 4 pattern is to take the 3x [?] in the top half of the level first. Go to the bottom right room. An enemy appears from the bottom spawner and follows you. Lure it into the room when you open the door. Collect the [?] and circle the room to create a safe path. After exiting the room, all of the enemies are trapped inside so you can wait outside the door until time runs out. ~60 lives per hour.
DEFCON6
After new version released and it patchs this feature,(add 100points) still there is no gamest record.
in other words,found another infinite leeching or someones got endless looping and 10million.

If patched version avoids infinite leeching,contest would be continued on the premise of using patched version(like gradius2,king of dragons,etc..)
but contest finished very quickly.

the most simple archeological hypothesis is
"some players 15+ loops and reach 10million without 4th miss when patched version was released."


Is this trick banned by the tournament coodinaters of "WORLD RECORD"?

Pac-man's world did not fix this bug. there are several worlds. :lol: :lol:
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