I thought I would conduct a little experiment. Play £100 on Spot the Difference Ultimate (over the course of a couple of weeks on different machines and in different locations). The point?, simply to prove to myself the complete and utter waste of time that this game is in regards to its payout.
On each game I would play until level 10 which pretty much becomes impossible. The differences are indeed present on level 10 but are incredibly small and the contrast smoothing makes these near impossible to see. This is irrelevant of course, as the game will simply refuse to offer any cash values at all when it wishes to!
Here are the results (from 200 games):
Games where no cash was offered : 104
Games where £1 offered : 90
Games where £2 offered : 5
Games where £5 offered : 1
The conclusion? Just as I expected, absolutely awful! Compared to STD deluxe, this 'Ultimate' edition IS a complete and utter waste of space!! How in a million years a normal player is supposed to win even £1 is beyond me as level 6/7 often becomes insanely difficult. I would suspect that most players wont even complete level 7.
I honestly believe that this game must be working to a lower payout percentage than the previous STD and many other games.
What’s the point of this post? I don’t know to be honest, I just had to get this one off my chest! The result of the experiment has opened my eyes to the evils of this game and a result of this I have completely boycotted the ‘Ultimate’ edition. This game won't be getting a single penny out of me again and I believe others should do the same. Lets bring ‘Deluxe’ back, at least the average player has a chance of winning anything up to a fiver on a machine that’s in a relatively good mood.
Never mind, I have made £1000's out of Spot the Difference Deluxe so bollocks to the creators of Ultimate (whoever they are Sabec again maybe?), I’m the winner here, but the ‘spot the difference party’ is now well and truly over!.
I had a nasty experience on Spot The Difference Deluxe earlier. You say this is better than Spot The Difference Ultimate?
I don't see how the game could be any worse.
I know the script. Crazy maniacs with cross eyes can eek out the differences immediately and beat the timer, up until the last few levels where it gets silly.
Level 1 to Level 5 are doable with no helps and no freezes, but level 6 onwards gets a bit silly.
Anyway, I pop into the pub to try an old favourite fruit machine.
The fruit I wanted to play was off and the other fruit which is ok, but nothing great is being played. So hence I find myself on STD (I hope we can be mature about my choice to convert to acronymn here - smiley face thing) Deluxe or let's say STDD to keep things less silly.
I whack £1 in and it looks lively on my second 50p, with a £7 prize at level 9 and lower hanging £1,£2,£3.
After one continue I'm at £3 on level 6 and the £7 drops to level 8. With a picture that I'm good at and use of the freeze and helps (all 4 of 'em) I eventually end up paying £11 for the £7 prize. So now I'm involved. Great.
I should have walked with my £1 in for £3.
Anyhow, I'm committed for the £20, which I have never gone for before, but decided I'd have to go for it today.
Round 9 and Round 10. Not my usual fortes, but from my understanding, it's the same pictures. So if I get good on round 9, the £20 is as good as mine.
Anyhow, the timer was ticking down immensely fast. We're talking about 4 seconds, no, 3 seconds to get five differences. For someone who can't cross their eyes to extremes this was a tough call, but I was learning the differences. My understanding was that there were ten potential differences of which five were picked to test a player. However they just weren't sinking in and they are tough differences.
£25 in and I'm wondering if I should bail, but the thought of taking my £7 win with no afterplay is leaving me baulking and I know I have to graft on for the £20.
£35 in and a few repeats are coming up. For those who don't know, there are only about five pictures. Two cityscapes, a desert scene, a tumbling river and Big Ben. Maybe another one, I'm not sure. Anyway Big Ben has a difference that it keeps circling when I use my help after continue, on the hands on the right side of the picture, I can't see WHAT it is, I soon detect that Big Ben will not be my passport to the final jackpot level.
One of the cityscapes seems reasonable, in fact one of the differences is a tall flagpole on a building. Seems generous for level 9/10.
However the gambler in me is reared and geared and I have the bit between my teeth and I'm determined to get that £20 jackpot.
£50 in and now the machine has been dropping for some time, the cashbox starting to sound full. A sound that the professional quiz player will not usually hear on a repetitive, rather too fast for my liking, basis.
£70 in and I'm thinking, holey moley, why oh why? If I take £7 there should be some afterplay now, but I sure as hell won't hit £20, not on 30% payout. So I know I have to force it out.
It'll only let me have one help and I bung another £20 through, not using helps but it won't let me have any more. I know it'll not give me back my freeze either. I just need to break into level 10 and then I can get a safe picture and hopefully nail it for the jackpot.
Soon my float of £130 goes into the machine and I'm having to feed in notes.
£150 in and I finally make the breakthrough on the tumbling river. I bash my help, and hit some light on the rock, a bit of shading on the river, the dodgy cloud formation and a raised bit of greenery obscuring a few pixels of sky in JUST the time alloted. Final hurdle.
Level 10, £150 in and I'm looking at my stab at pot plus afterplay. I notice the machine I hadn't come in for, but which is a secondary playable is free. I reckon I've lost more than they did, but it's a Snakez and Ladderz by Red Gaming.
£200 in and I'm scared to make the jump with the sacred freeze to be honest. I'm wondering if I should just break into the machine and try and steal the money, my mind is screwed with all the visual purple from seeing the same Gawd damn pictures time and time again. However it's a good machine in the pub and it's local, so I just have to grin and bear the loss. Very annoying.
£250 in and I've still not made the leap of faith. One help and that all important freeze. Trouble is, I'm not fully confident on any of them, not even the waterfall. Some differences you can't really see and remembering stuff is only easy if the stuff you are remembering is enjoyable.
Three hours and £300 in and I'm sweating big time. Then the worst happens. Cityscape one comes up and straight away I spot the flagpole and missing window, I bang freeze timer, I bang the two differences and I bang help which is stupid as I know I should have saved it. I can see one other additional piece of architecture, but the final difference is elusive. Shit oh shit I've blown it. I hear the ticking of a clock like an approaching crocodile and that's it. My dreams of bagging my first ever £20 quiz jackpot are blown.
Rational thought has vamooshed. I'm unlikely to win this back on roulette. I consider driving to a casino and bet a huge sum on red. I ponder this as I feed in another note from my dwindling collection.
Whirrrrr......whirrr......whirrr......whirrr....whirrr. The Ind:e takes my note and the NV8 whirs back and forth. DRAT! It swallows the notes and I punch the changer hard. Thankfully the music is up in the bar and no one tells me off for hitting the machine. I swear loudly and queue in the most impatient manner ever known to man, even though a gigantic man just shy of what seems like seven foot is having angry words with the barman in front of me.
I go through the routine with a barmaid. That's the 'machine has just swallowed my £20 note routine'. They sort of know me, although this is a new barmaid and I can see she thinks I'm up to something. I daren't say I'm £300 in with £7 to come. The only saving grace is that the program has frozen as well, so I don't have to worry about the continue. That doesn't stop me staring back every two seconds like an obsessive compulsive. I'm about to get the 'we'll have to switch it off until and engineer arrives' spiel, 'can I take your phone number?' spiel. I'm wondering if I'm the only chap who'll give my phone number to this rather average looking barmaid when bam, the machine springs back into life.
One thing goes right, I have my £20 credit and I'm back in the game. I dash back to get £320 involved.
Alas I fail to notice the notechanger is now off and it's coins only. Bad to worse to worser to worsest to worse than worsest. Pro grammar sell my soul to the devil now.
I basically have 13 seconds to feed in silver, dash to the Snakez, put in a note, play £2 of credit and collect some coins to carry on playing.
So it's credit.........GO FOR RUN............SWIM...............COMB YOUR HAIR......................SUPERMAN. No, No it isn't that at all, it's run......run for your life......run to Snakez, note in.....doesn't take. Run back, £20 note hanging out of Snakez, more shrapnel, continue.
Back to Snakez, mega spins......mega spin....50p. Lose, Lose, Lose.....MS..........rolls in GMs!!!!!!! BASTARD.
Redding up as well, so valuable time wasted listening to dooo....dooo.o...doooo....dooooo.......doooooooooetc
Quickly bash collect...................Gms give £15...so it's so there, as I see continue 3 on the Ind:e screen, I realised I've missed my boat and I've had less exhausting PE lessons, so I play my Snakez, get my top (which goes for £105 - of course) and I make the sage realisation that
"The last thing you want when you are £300 involved on a quiz is a mega spins on a Snakez."
I take my £105, I take my £7 and I play down STDD. I get about £35 back before it all gets rather soul destroying, £2 in for £2 territory.
I've left it rather happy, but I take the £200 loss for the sake of my small quantity of remaining sanity.
All the bookies are closed, but I chance my arm in the casino and luckily, £200 on red.....red for money back. Do a sly £10 red. Red again.
Drinks paid for. Sanity, don't think even the Barclaycard will pay for that.
Q1) Anyone jackpotted STTD? (Serious kudos if you have)
Q2) How the hell is STDU worse?
When I'm at work, I have my IE window open in the bottom left-hand corner - thus hiding any 'graphic' from avatars etc, so as colleagues don't immediately notice that I'm actually not doing any work at all - but discussing fruit machines.
I could tell the minute I started reading the post above that it was JG at his finest - and I almost predicted the reverse-MattB punchline!
Anyway...
...I apologise for my 'noobidity' but is the 'new' STD the one with the '?s' down the side and occasionally cash icons. The '?s' are randomly pulled into 5 slots at the bottom of the screen? If so, I've had a few £3 'wins' from it - but nothing spectacular.
Been playing the deluxe edition to death on the emulator - having a decent laptop screen certainly makes it easier - but I find my contact lenses 'dry out' too quickly if I try the cross-eye method - I used to be able to see those 'magic eye' pictures with ease using the same method...
"And do you ever contradict yourself, Minister?" "Well, yes and no..."
Matt Vinyl wrote:When I'm at work, I have my IE window open in the bottom left-hand corner - thus hiding any 'graphic' from avatars etc, so as colleagues don't immediately notice that I'm actually not doing any work at all - but discussing fruit machines.
I could tell the minute I started reading the post above that it was JG at his finest - and I almost predicted the reverse-MattB punchline!
Anyway...
...I apologise for my 'noobidity' but is the 'new' STD the one with the '?s' down the side and occasionally cash icons. The '?s' are randomly pulled into 5 slots at the bottom of the screen? If so, I've had a few £3 'wins' from it - but nothing spectacular.
Been playing the deluxe edition to death on the emulator - having a decent laptop screen certainly makes it easier - but I find my contact lenses 'dry out' too quickly if I try the cross-eye method - I used to be able to see those 'magic eye' pictures with ease using the same method...
Yeah, I've been playing the emu losing on purpose - best I've had is the £10 down to level 4...is the £20 ever programmed to drop after a million squids in ?? I doubt it.
Confucius say "man who know wombat know more than stupid looking monkey"
I have neh problem with the Magic Eye pictures. I first saw these on display outside the big arcade in Looe, Cornwall. Wowser, going back what 15+ years now? There was an Adders and Ladders in a pub near by.
Anyway, Magic Eye, 3D, on big canvas, easy to see. Great effect, not quite so good on A4, but neh problem with those. None at all.
HOW the BLOOPIN' LOOPIN' 'ECK can someone cross their eyes to the degree that the pictures overlap on STDD?
I can't do it.
Do I need to masturbate more? My logic is that both activites, going cross eyed and masturbation are supposed to lead to blindness. So errr.....scratch that. Final logic, poke my eyes out and make going cross eyed much easier. Hmmmm. Forget all that.
I can go cross eyed. Neh problem, but going cross eyed enough to get perfect overlap; no, not yet.
Same as KG, £10 available, £20 not there and I've wonged in £200 for £17 back so far. £43 drift and that £20 is still rock solid locked out.
I had a stint on the emulator again yesterday and couldn't beat level 7 however much I tried / froze timer / used helps. Poxy pixtures of bees and bubblegum / dogs / cats etc. LOL
"And do you ever contradict yourself, Minister?" "Well, yes and no..."
[quote="JG"]I have neh problem with the Magic Eye pictures. I first saw these on display outside the big arcade in Looe, Cornwall. Wowser, going back what 15+ years now? There was an Adders and Ladders in a pub near by.
Anyway, Magic Eye, 3D, on big canvas, easy to see. Great effect, not quite so good on A4, but neh problem with those. None at all.
HOW the BLOOPIN' LOOPIN' 'ECK can someone cross their eyes to the degree that the pictures overlap on STDD?
I can't do it.
Do I need to masturbate more? My logic is that both activites, going cross eyed and masturbation are supposed to lead to blindness. So errr.....scratch that. Final logic, poke my eyes out and make going cross eyed much easier. Hmmmm. Forget all that.
I can go cross eyed. Neh problem, but going cross eyed enough to get perfect overlap]
Spot the difference requires going only slightly cross-eyed, the magic eye technique is the opposite of cross-eyed and pretty much impossible for spot the difference.
By the way there are some old threads on this site that explain exactly what is going on with round 9 of STDD, all of which was discovered way back in 2005. Bottom line is don't bother with anything beyond round 8, bank the money then start a new game, quit when it stops offering prizes on round 8 or below. A good cross-eyer who can complete round 8 every game (without using continues) will be £7 to £15 up by the time it stops offering prizes, Ultimate is worse as you will be lucky to have more than a couple of quid before the prizes stop.
