Killscreens

Post Reply
User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18055
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Killscreens

Post by Pigeon » Fri Dec 07, 2012 3:40 pm

A kill screen is a stage or level in a video game (often an arcade game) that stops the player's progress due to a programming error or design oversight. Rather than "ending" in a traditional sense, the game will crash, freeze, or behave so erratically that further play is extremely hard or even impossible.

Video games, like any other computer software, can suffer from a software bug. A bug in a video game is not automatically a kill screen; to be one, the bug must occur consistently in the same point in the game and must preclude any further play. While almost any type of bug could cause this sort of behavior, the most common cause is simple oversights on the part of the game's programmers such as an integer overflow of the level counter.

Donkey Kong also featured a kill screen in the 22nd stage, and the 117th screen (85th in the Japanese version). This is an example of a kill screen that is not due to an integer overflow in a level counter (since programmers prevented this), but a different oversight on the part of the designers.

The amount of time allowed for any given screen is determined algorithmically during play by the level the player is on. The timer is calculated 100×(10×(level + 4)), and has a maximum value of 8000. When the level reaches 22, the game reads 100×(10×(22+4)) or 100×260. However, the 8-bit counter rolls over at 256, meaning the game calculates 100×4. This causes the timer to be set so low that there is barely seven seconds for the player to complete the level, simply not enough time for the screen to possibly be completed.

Steve Wiebe, a competitor from Redmond, Washington, attained this screen when he attempted to beat Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong high score (which was the world record) on G4TV at E3 2009. It was the first kill screen to be broadcast on live television.

Don Hodge investigates and creates a fix

Pokémon, in very early games, if the player flies out of the Safari Zone and keeps surfing until their time is out, they will exit the Safari Zone even though they never entered it again. If they then go through the door, they will enter a very strange kill screen known as Glitch City.

Glitch City, gotta love that one.

Killscreens are actually the proper reward for spending so much time playing these games.

User avatar
Royal
Posts: 10562
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:55 pm

Re: Killscreens

Post by Royal » Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:35 pm

Excellent concept.

User avatar
Royal
Posts: 10562
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:55 pm

Re: Killscreens

Post by Royal » Fri Dec 07, 2012 11:00 pm

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

Antonio Machado

User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18055
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: Killscreens

Post by Pigeon » Sun Dec 16, 2012 2:02 am


User avatar
Royal
Posts: 10562
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:55 pm

Re: Killscreens

Post by Royal » Sun Dec 16, 2012 3:30 am

There's that Pigeon going around the bar prophesizn again

User avatar
Pigeon
Posts: 18055
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Re: Killscreens

Post by Pigeon » Sun Dec 16, 2012 4:11 am

It's the internet's kill screen, really.

Post Reply