Ultimate Bilging

Sweetman2 · Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:17 am Post subject: Ultimate Bilging

I don't know if I should be the person to be saying how to
get to Ultimate bilging, but I'll give it a go.

The main and most-bestest way to get to Ultimate,
is to get 3x3's, 3x4's 4x4's etc.
What's even better than that, is getting Bingo's, and
even Sea Donkey's.
I'll explain the basic of getting Bingo's.

A bingo is like a 3x3x3, or 3x3x4, etc.

Example:
This is a simple 3x3
The letters in bold represent the two that
you swap to get a 3x3

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This may explain it a bit better.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2/Sweetmantwo/Bilging14.jpg
xxxxBxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxBxxxxxxxxxx
xxB A B B Bxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Example2:
This is a simple Bingo (3x3x3)
This may explain it a bit better.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2/Sweetmantwo/Bilging15.jpg
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxBxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxBxxxxxxxxxx
xxB A B B Bxxxxx
xxAxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxAxxxxxxxxxxxx[/url][/code]

Example3:
This is a Sea Donkey (3x3x3x3)
This may explain it a bit better.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2/Sweetmantwo/Bilging12.jpg
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxBxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxBxxxxxxxxxx
xxA A B A B B Bxxxxx
xxxxxxAxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxAxxxxxxxxxxxx[/url][/code]

Well, I hope all of that helped. It's probably a bit
confusing, and if you find it too confusing, post something
here, and I'll try and help, or see me in-game. And
please feel free to add anything that I have missed. Smile

-Sweetmantwo
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'I'm mediocre squared'

Korr · Sublime Forum Tart Joined: 20 Aug 2005 Posts: 586

Thanks for posting this up Sweetman. I'm sure this will help a lot of people.

and btw, I love that you have the "intelligence test" open in the background while you're bilging =P
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Carrol · Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 2:50 pm Post subject:

I have a question. Once upon a time I had Ult bilging, and then I lost it and have had trouble getting it back. If I were to attempt to setup a Bingo or Sea Donkey, how many moves is it appropriate to use to set one up? Can I spend like 6 or 7 moves setting it up? Or will that end up defeating the purpose in the end?

Birchle · Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 7:59 pm Post subject:

It seems to me that the number of moves changes as experience goes up. Once you hit the very high end of weighty, 3x3 or bingo in 1-2 moves is worth far more than sea donkey in 3-4 moves, while any experience below that it seems to be more geared to getting the higher combos, regardless of moves used (though obviously, the fewer the better). I've had people both agree with me and tell me I'm crazy, so if anyone has a better explanation I'd love to hear what others think is behind the point-scoring switch with higher experience.

Sweetman2 · Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:52 pm Post subject:

Sweetman2 · Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 3:54 am Post subject:

Hoorah!
I thought of another way that helps with Bilging

Crabs may at first seem annoying, and get in the
way of all of your combo's, but they are definately
one of the best things to get the sparkly bilge pump
happening. For example, you may not have any 3x3's
set up, but if you get '2 Crabs Cleared' it will get the
pump going a lot faster

Another point, take a while to scan the board for
a 3x3, or better. If you wait a few seconds after
getting a 3x3 in one move before you make any other
moves, the pump will go sparkly.
But, don't spend any longer than 10 seconds looking
for a good move.

The main point, is to just take your time and find
good moves. But try not to go longer than 10 seconds.

-Sweetmantwo
_________________
'I'm mediocre squared'

Carrol · Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 6:04 pm Post subject:

So far, all the advice has been good...but the best has been to be patient and look first. I often times find myself making moves quickly, and then realizing mid-move that I could have made 1 more move for a 3x3 or 4x3. When I take my time a little more, I find I can spot those better, and it keeps the pump gold most of the time (although not sparkly often yet...).

At the same time, this seems to easily be my most inconsistent game. Earlier I was going solid Excellents, and dropped to Fair in 1 league. I seem to get in situations where I can't find anything reasonable at all on a board, and I kind of go into "panic mode" and just start making dumb moves.

Sweetman2 · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:44 am Post subject:

I know what you mean Carrol, about going
into a mental blank, and the thing that I
have found, is that if you do some dumb moves,
you'll get Fine for, no longer than 3 League
Points, but after that you usually get a
jellyfish or two, which definately gets the
pump going faster, and you'll get a lot of good
moves.

-Sweetmantwo
_________________
'I'm mediocre squared'

deeg · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:19 am Post subject:

My biggest problem on bilge is that I get bored and just start clicking. Then I have to stop myself and actually look for good moves.
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Carrol · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 7:56 am Post subject:

Another question for you Ult bilgers...what's the best way to use Puffers, and do they count for anything?

Sante · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 3:23 pm Post subject:

I find puffers a pain in the neck. As far as I'm concerned the only thing they're good for is clearing a few crabs at once, and hopefully freshening things up when there's a shortage of good moves, though they never seem to be around when I want them, only when I don't.

Jellyfish are somewhat more useful because they do actually freshen things up, and can contribute to better combos (more pieces of the same kind closer to each other after they're used.)

Neither of them count for anything as far as I can tell - i.e. they don't make the stars move any higher.
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~~Ultimate~~ Variable sailor, crew poet,
As lost as ever.

Birchle · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:39 pm Post subject:

I think they count as the same as a single 3-piece clear -- won't speed up the pump, but won't drop it either, like a comboless move would.

As for usefulness, it's minimal. I tend to just collect them, gradually shifting to the top of the board, then if I get really stuck, blow up a couple and it'll shift the majority of the board around and usually give something else to work with until you get a better board again.

Sweetman2 · Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:31 am Post subject:

I agree with Sante about Puffer's being annoying, and
the only thing that I have noticed is good for, is clearing
lots of crabs if they're all together, and another thing is if
there is lots of bilge, then it can be useful for clearing
some peices out of the way, so that you can find better moves,
because there seems to be more crabs, and less moves when
there is more bilge.

-Sweetmantwo
_________________
'I'm mediocre squared'

andi_kan · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:34 am Post subject:

As a rough guideline (for those bilgers with Broad/Solid experience and above):
- a single 3-piece clear is worth less than 1 point;
- a 3x3 clear is worth approx. 2½ points;
- a Bingo (3x3x3) is worth approx. 4-5 points;
- a Sea Donkey (3x3x3x3) is worth approx. 8-10 points;
- a Vegas (3x3x3x5) is worth approximately 15 points or more;

I'm using 1 click as -1 points, so the general idea is that you should make clears that are worth at least as much as the cost of moving the pieces. Most of the time, consistent 2-click clears of 3x3 is enough to keep the pump glowing at your eyes.

I'll normally reserve puffers for times when I cannot find a decent move, and Jellyfish is about the same. If I'm not mistaken, the Puffer/Jellyfish clears don't directly score you points, but any clears occurring as a result of these will count as combo.
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............

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Merely believing without seeing, is in itself a miracle.

Carrol · Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:52 pm Post subject:

Alright, the tips are certainly helping. I was solid Excel/Incred for a good hour and a half tonight, and had Incred for the first 5 or 6 duty reports. But...only got half the Ult (Arch only). Sad

Still working on the rest...