Just read viva's blog post about this, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed that this exists. High score board is tainted. And to get a high score now, it seems you have to play the game quite differently. I always wondered about the top scores, but thought there was just some level of 868 skill I would never be able to attain. Turns out to be just some cheap slight of hand. Pretty much everything viva said in his post was spot on. I'll probably catch some grief over this post. And don't get me wrong, this is still a masterpiece of a game, and MB is easily one of the top game creators out there. I realize I don't have to use the "cheat". But things like this are a turn off for me. At the very least, have something that denotes secret level use in the leader board. Now back to Imbroglio.
^ now I really am curious. Won't check the blog but cannot wait to try what I think what it might be. What a game!
yep - i love it - but plan b made me come back to this. The one thing about Imbroglio is that I can get a decent score but it takes a long to get say 150 or so and then I die and then I don't have time for anything else and then I change a card or two and it takes a while to get to 150 or so again and then I don't have any more time. My fault - just life etc. but with 868-Hack the games and streaks never last too long. Perfect mobile game for me. Going to try and find this secret mode if I can later - or tomorrow.
Interesting, I might have to read that post. I found the secret mode a couple of years ago but I think my single game high score is still from a game before I ever found the secret. My streak score probably includes some games with secret mode. I never thought of the secret mode as a cheat as it's still expensive to get to it, it seemed to me more like just another decision on whether to go for it or not - similar to other decisions in the game like which .progs to choose and whether to siphon for funds or points or .progs. Maybe there is a way to exploit it a bit that I haven't really discovered or taken advantage yet, I didn't see an increase in my own single game scores but I think maybe I was more consistent at getting decent scores and getting out alive so continuing the streak.
if you get 8 progs then activate them in the order 868-56527 assigning each prog down the left hand side a number 1 to 8 ascending kinda thing.
If you have .UNDO in your 7th slot, I believe the only cost for getting into the secret level is the cost of .UNDO itself ($).
I just got on the iOS scoreboard yesterday with good old .SCOR and .EXCH so there's scope for achieving this. But a single run is limited to 110 points on board plus whatever you can get from .SCOR so there isn't as much scope for scoring without the secret.
I tried testing this and it looks like it doesn't refund the cost of the progs... at least on iOS. Can someone verify this? I'm not sure I did it correctly. But if this is the case, it may not be as bad as my original rant was. Also, looking through old iOS changelogs and found this from version 1.04: "- secret level no longer accessible from secret level."
Just based off the previously mentioned blog post on the secret level. The blog states "The key to Undo is that if you input the entire code in one turn, it counts as an input for entering the Secret Level and refunds all other previous prog costs." It concludes with: "In short, you save a lot of resources. It’s borderline mandatory to consider visiting the secret level." I have not yet tested it, so there is a chance it is not the case. However, since the blog was written just over a week ago, I thought it would be accurate.
Yea I too would like seperate leader boards, but I guess I'll just start playing for streaks since single game would be secret level grinding/ I'll pass on that one, but excited to get into streaking ps: thanks for expansion
Man, the secret level stuff is making my head spin. The game is pretty complex to begin with. Don't know when/if I'll explore the secret content; I will keep playing this gem, though.
Oops sorry about that. I was playing plan.b a little and after all the recent dialog I decided to go back to classic and managed to up my score. I am sure you will overtake me again this weekend My high score is still without the secret level. I did go and find/read that blog. I am not really understanding all the negativity around the secret level. Sure I agree that one negative is that it can't be figured out from just playing the game itself and some outside info is required (the original game name). But other than that, once you know how to get the level it is certainly not a 'cheat' or even any guarantee of a high score or the leaderboard. It's simply another option in the game and a player has to use skill and wits to determine how to get the best score with what is available. I myself am proof of that, I have known about the level for a couple of years at least yet I never pieced together the .undo and nor did I ever get higher scores with the level than without. I find it all still very fun and interesting and I like taking into consideration the level every game - just like learning which progs can be used together for benefits, deciding when to siphon progs vs funds vs points, the secret level is just another item to learn how to use and what the best approach is. It has only expanded and improved the game from my perspective. I am also not too concerned with being on the top of the leaderboards, I find myself more interested in simply improving my own score and learning new ways to do so as I go. For those that really want to be on the top of the boards then perhaps their perspective of the level may be different. For me it's all good. Just my 2 cents. Edit: speaking of secret levels...how about the one in Zaga-33? Awesome.
I've spent quite a bit more time playing this and getting to the secret level and such. And I have to say that it's doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as I first feared it might be. It still takes quite a bit of skill and luck to be able to abuse it obscenely, IMO. I still agree in principle with much of what viva posted, but like the previous post states, it actually adds more to the complexity and strategy of the game. Even getting the optimal .UNDO as the 7th prog still makes for a tough time really abusing the secret. I'm sure there are optimal builds for secret abuse. But I don't think it's as gamebreaking as I first feared. I do have a question regarding some of the top scores. Moabbe's 354 single run has .CALM as the 8th prog. Did something change that should have resulted in a leaderboard reset? I didn't think you could execute .CALM twice. Or am I missing something? Oh no. Time do some googling. #
Glad to hear you still have a positive outlook for 868-hack! Not sure about .calm and whether it changed but I don't think so. I think you are right that you can only execute it once per sector. My guess is that he actually siphoned more than ten progs, as you continue siphoning progs it pushes the top prog out and all the other progs moves up a position. The list of progs we see is what he ended the game with, but notice that undo is in position one. He probably had undo in position two and calm in position nine while he was hitting the secret level, then at the very end may have siphoned an eleventh prog that caused everything to shift...the prog that was in position one disappeared, undo moved from position two to position one, and so on, so that calm moved from position nine to eight. As for Zaga, I still enjoy that game too! You will be pleased to hear the secret in that one is quite possible to discover simply by playing and no external info is needed to find it. I stumbled on it simply by playing and observing. Nice scores on imbroglio btw, I have started playing that again lately. Someday I hope to escape alive!
It's worth it to find the secret level, it's a fun twist. After you get to it once and understand how to get there it is actually not too confusing. Such a great game
Eh, I know I ranted a bit, but still held 868 in very high regard. Just felt a little cheated being a late adopter to MB games. And the high scores were waaaaay more than I thought even possible. Turns out they were with my ignorance of the secret. But 868 is largely responsible for my ever growing love of roguelikes/lites. That and Cataclysm DDA. Your assessment of Moabbe's score makes sense. And Zaga is pretty fun as well. I'll have to poke around and find its secret. Hopefully MB will update it to play nice with iOS 11. Imbroglio is fantastic. I've only managed to escape once. I had one run today that made me rage for a bit. Was up to 124 stars and still hadn't seen the first Minotaur, only to get locked into a string of serpents with a bad board gen. Almost threw my phone across the room. #
