Leaderboard Tracks

[SeriousComedy]

I really enjoy the added leaderboards and ability to track multipliers and scoring.
When competing however, there are times where I think the top score and my run are not using the same track. We could be at the same multiplier, and same time in the song, but they are getting double my score or more. This is with me running all the Scoring perks too.

My suspicion is that if the version of the song is slightly different, then that run might generate different enemies that give more score points. I know I noticed that on Beat Hazard 1. I don't know how the game verifies the same song for a leaderboard ranking for BH2 though.

I could be wrong on my suspicion. If different song versions gives higher score however, that ruins the competitive aspect.

[Starg]

I don't think it's down to different tracks, it's more likely down to more efficient scoring strategies.
If you look at the top scores for the built in tracks they are way higher than an 'average' score.

I think the main tactic is to take advantage of dare devil when ever possible. This can significantly boost your score over the course of a track.

[SeriousComedy]

I did try testing it more by doing repeat playthroughs on songs I've topped.
Daredevil stacking is still efficient, but the enemy ship generation seems to differ on each run.

I have had runs where I just stack DD when asteroids are around, not firing until enemy ships come. That can still result in a lower score.

On that same song, I could then choose to fire at asteroids, at the same point in the song, this is usually middle or towards the end of the song, instead of stacking DD. Sometimes that results in more enemy ships being generated, and I get a higher score than stacking more multipliers.

So yes, it might not be a problem of different tracks, but enemy ships generated each run isn't always the same. Certain actions on the run may change enemies generated, or it may indeed be random. Either way, it results with the run with the highest multiplier, still not being the top.

I'm not complaining here. But when trying to top, there's some experimentation, not only on playing better and getting more multipliers, but testing/trying to affect how the track gives you enemy ships. It's not always the same each time.

[Starg]

Thanks for the info. Enemy spawns should always be the same for each track. Shooting enemies won't effect the spawns in any way.

If enemies are changing for different runs then there's a bug in there somewhere.

Are you using open mic?

[SeriousComedy]

I'm not using open mic.
If the intention is for spawns to always be the same, I do not always find that is the case.
This is with songs I run repeatedly myself.

If it helps, on Beat Hazard 1, I noticed that enemy spawns were affected by Shadow Missions.
Ex: Kill 100 Bulldogs mission, the enemy spawn favors more Bulldogs generated.
That results in runs where I did a Shadow Mission, giving me a better score.
We do not have Shadow Missions on BH2, but I wonder if there an analogous mechanic that affects spawns.

[Rodiuh]

Originally posted by Starg:

If enemies are changing for different runs then there's a bug in there somewhere.

I stumbled on this earlier tonight while playing the Split Frequencies track with the Tom Cat. When the first boss spawns about halfway through if you basically kill it instantly before it can attack (easy way to recreate it would be to load up on sentinel drones and drop an EMP virus right before it spawns), you get asteroids/space junk spawned almost instantly after it explodes. If you kill it slower (no power ups, just strafe shooting it) there is a 5-10 second delay after it explodes before the asteroids/space junk spawn. The difference between the two scenarios translates to a decent score differential at that point in the song. This would explain what SeriousComedy is seeing with the live leaderboards.

[Starg]

This is intensional. If you kill the boss quickly I add an extra wave of asteroids to stop things getting boring.
This extra wave should have no effect on the subsequent waves.

[Rodiuh]

Does that apply to normal enemy waves too, or strictly bosses?

Just to clarify, I haven't noticed different enemies spawning, just the increase in the asteroids which I think explains the score discrepancies.

*EDIT* Thanks to the other post made similar to this one, I did discover there is spawn divergence and posted in the bug forum with a video showing it.