John's CC1 and CCLP2 Scores

That's what I meant - because they were introduced in 2002, the opportunity for joint records has been less frequent for CC1 than it has been for CCLP2. Although there have been plenty of chances for it to happen in recent memory...

#023 - 435 (+1)

Total: 5,977,520

You know, could you report that score when your rank is not Blobnet? It doesn't help that there aren't many possible gains you could have scored, but that takes away all the suspense....

I think that marks the end of my chance for anything more...I don't know how you could get this while you have as much work to do as I do.

I hope there was an AVI or TWS; there might be some extra strategies that could be learned from this run...other than "Don't think too quickly when a record is on the line!"

This post has been edited by Octavarium64 on Nov 2 2009, 09:51 PM

Thanks, Andrew!

It actually took only two or three days to get (and I didn't spend a whole lot of time on each day). There wasn't anything particularly new about the route - just used some of your strategies. Speaking of blob levels...

#133 - 948 (+12?)

Amazing.

It took me only 20 minutes each time for each of 431, 433 and 434. But given that the 434 was a 435, I should have had several shots at it by now, as I've spent at least an hour on some days (particularly the days afterwards). Since the work is easing up a bit, I've put more time into this, but without results. I've had some nice runs, and did score a 433 again, but I've been killed by 1/4 shots and double-whammies (the only path towards Chip - twice; often 1/8 or 1/12).

I think that by now, with the stuff written on the Strategywiki and our experiences, the Wiki could write an entire article on Blobnet strategies: Where are the best gambling spots, how often should you wait, and outline the patterns from chip to chip. Frequently, no waits in one spot will lead to no waits later: if Chip can succeed with 3D 2L 5D off [29, 14], he will often be able to sneak 3R without being blocked at all. If he has to go R 3D 3L 5D, he'll usually run into problems. Therefore, this gamble is often helpful.

Also, some of the more common moves could be analyzed and perhaps traded out for more-likely successes, such as [24, 2] to [27, 2]. I notice when I get to [29, 4] that half the time I can move D safely (the spring step can detect that), and half of those times Chip can continue 2D further without being hit. So instead of moving [24, 2] to [27, 2], go around and try to use the 3D from [29, 4]. This would keep the [28, 2] blob away from Chip (sometimes he kills Chip on either chip it touches) and instead be faced with a 5/12 chance of getting through the 3D safely (1/2 of the time the [28, 5] blob underneath it is southwest, and 1/2 of the time he moves U; 1/2 of the time it's in the northeast, and 1/3 of the time it moves L.)

So this will decrease Chip's chance for a successful 3-space run from 1/2 from [24, 2] to [27, 2] to 5/12 from [29, 4] to [29, 7], but in return remove both of the 1/6 chances that Chip is killed by the blob from [28, 2]. In return to that, Chip cannot now use both 3-space runs, probably equalizing the chances in total, but this occurrence is only 1/4 of the time and because of the positioning of blob [30, 9] will often lose at least one move back anyways.

This is quite detailed, and I might have made some kind of error, but this is the sort of logic you might find in advanced guides to Blobnet. Whoever made such a random level was insane, but fortunately, our thinking has gone to the inane level.

(P.S: John, I sent you something on Youtube...it should still be in your personal message box.)

#133 - 949 (+1)

(If you're referring to the Circus Maximus album - yes, I did get it! Great music and great message!)

I've been wondering about what step-savers and gambles are more worth it. I forgot to mention it, but the "trading" of the cutting across (24, 2) to (27, 2) in favor of going down from (29, 4) was something I had discovered a while back and used in the 435 route. Right now, in the interest of taking only shortcuts whose safety can be detected through the use of the spring step and such, I'm wondering if skipping the cutting across the space between the first two chips at the beginning of the route is a wise move or not. Because in that case, you would be taking a 1/2 chance no matter what happens. Theoretically, half of the 65536 random seeds in the game would eliminated because of this, and some of those could allow for routes involving more successful "shortcuts," especially those that come later on in the level. Of course, you could use this logic to avoid other early gambles as well, but on the other side of the coin, it'd be frustrating to be unsuccessful in attempting a gamble at a point later in the level.

Simply amazing how much strategy is involved for a level this random. Seriously, Blobdance has been so relieving after analyzing Blobnet over the past week.

#023 - 436 (+1)

Total: 5,977,530

Just so everyone has an idea of just how frustrating this was, I got three 434s and an additional two 435s after my last score report on this level. For anyone who's eager to give this a shot, I can recommend the following strategies:

[a] Don't cut across the two chips at (24, 2) and (27, 2); instead go down from (29, 4) if it's safe. On a related note: on the four "corner areas" in the level, it seems very likely that if any cutting takes place in the two 2x2 blob areas, it can only happen in one of the two - at least most of the time. Unless you're on a move where a spring step is usable, and the blobs cooperate.

[b] There seem to be multiple places across the map where dying is more common. Besides the beginning area, the chip at (27, 12) is one of them - or so it would seem.

[c] One very useful strategy for those who are aiming for a 433/434 time is to count how many shortcuts are used throughout the journey. There are 30 (I believe) places where you can cut across a blob area and save time. Each of them is worth two moves. If you use the basic "skeleton" route, you'll get a time of 430.8. Thus, the amount of shortcuts (two moves each) needed for higher times can be expressed as follows:

431 - 0.5 shortcuts
432 - 3 shortcuts
433 - 5.5 shortcuts
434 - 8 shortcuts
435 - 10.5 shortcuts
436 - 13 shortcuts

And so on. Remember, you don't have to use all the shortcuts available to you at the beginning areas of the level - there are 30 spots where it can theoretically be done! However, it is useful to use as many as possible, especially considering that you may want to pause more toward the end to avoid dying. One-move pauses subtract 0.5 shortcut from your "score" if you keep count. My time was 436.2, which translates to 13.5 shortcuts.

This post has been edited by jblewis on Nov 14 2009, 04:26 PM

Wow, nice job. First place to yourself as well!

This post has been edited by James on Nov 15 2009, 01:58 AM