OK, what's the point

[Jim151]

I’m stumped on level 466, so for the first time I looked up the walkthrough. I watched it, and was stunned that that in the walkthrough, the birds were level 8. I’m level 34/35, and get just as many extra cards by scoring 2 mil per level as the walkthrough example get for 100K.

So, everything I’ve done to upgrade my birds is worthless? The levels increase in difficulty as my bird level increases? WTF? I no longer see a point to the game.

Topic

[Yue]

@jim151
The destroy power is absolutely different after you upgrade the birds.

[Jim151]

The destroy power is absolutely different after you upgrade the birds.

Yes, of course it is. But if a level 8 bird can get to the 4th room with 5 birds by scoring 800,000 points, and I get to the same place by scoring 9,000,000 points, what’s the point of upgrading?

[jo-ha]

Is 466 a boss Level?
I realised, that I sometimes “skip” a few extra birds, because I can have only the maximum of all the seven birds in a boss Level and no extra spells. So while a Player with lower birds reaches his extra bird within the first room, you might as well, but propably even skip one or two birds due to the Maximum of 7 Cards.
I sometimes Play simultaneosly with my girlfriend’s mobile and can safely say, the Levels DO get easier with higher birds. Espacially the challenges and the boss Levels.

You can however use this Knowledge to your Advantage. If you see, that one pig is lucky and “escpaed” the first bird, shoot the next one immidiately afterwards and you may get both birds back – if you wait, the Points may already have skipped one or two birds.

[Rovio_Hank]

Hello @jim151 !

It is likely that the walkthrough video is several months old, and hence used the old way of showing card levels. Today you will see a much higher number on your card, since it takes all the multipliers into account to better show you the bird’s actual power instead of just showing the level of the bird. I hope that clear things up!

Good luck!
/Hank

[Jim151]

Thank you for the reply Hank, but you missed the point. The birds in the walkthrough are diamond with what looks like a bronze slingshot, and most have no hats. The got their first extra card at 150,000 and the second at 400,000. My birds have a power level of 35, and get correspondingly higher points for similar damage, but it takes a much higher point level to get extra cards. In the walkthrough, it takes 2 birds to clear the first room, with a score of ~450,000, and they get 2 extra cards. I just played, and it took me 4 birds to clear the first level (I wasted a bird on purpose) with a score of ~2.7 million, and I got 3 extra cards. So in this example, my score was 6X higher than the walkthrough, and I leave the room with fewer cards.

So again, what, if any, is the advantage of having more powerful birds if the level difficulty goes up as your power does? It appears the levels are equally difficult to get through if you are power level 8 and power level 35.

[Jim151]

I realised, that I sometimes “skip” a few extra birds, because I can have only the maximum of all the seven birds in a boss Level and no extra spells. So while a Player with lower birds reaches his extra bird within the first room, you might as well, but propably even skip one or two birds due to the Maximum of 7 Cards.

I understand that, but that’s not what’s happening. See my post above.

[Yue]

@jim151
you are struggling in game design. I am surely not employee of Rovio but while playing the game, guess what Rovio design for ab2 is also part of fun.

My guess is,

Bird level reflect destruction power, the higher your power is, the destruction power goes up. The very obvious you could see is Terrence. At lower level, Terrence would be bounce back by balloon but, when Terrence grow up to a certain level, it could destroy balloon and then destroy other structure.

The life refill is based on the ratio of your destruction and your bird power, not the score. So your opponent might score less than you but his ratio is better than yours. That’s why he could refill sooner than you could.

Back to the “what’s the point for upgrade bird”. My answer is, better chance to defeat difficult structure design.

Lastly, don’t underestimate those players with lower bird level. He might play ab series a long time and just switch to ab2. He may be very skillful in bird flying strategy and make strike in every room. We never knew who is behind the little screen.

[CaptSternn]

Jim, the higher level birds score more points. They are not really more powerful in destroying things. It helps in scoring points in the arena, but usually the opponents are equal. The point? Entertainment and knocking things down. That is all there is to it in the end.

[Jim151]

Bird level reflect destruction power, the higher your power is, the destruction power goes up. The very obvious you could see is Terrence. At lower level, Terrence would be bounce back by balloon but, when Terrence grow up to a certain level, it could destroy balloon and then destroy other structure.

I appreciate your response, but I don’t buy that. If there is any increase in destructive power it is extremely subtle, and not at all apparent. I recently had my power level 35 Terrence stopped dead in his tracks by a small rock on a balloon.

The only apparent changes I see are higher scores for similar destruction. And what’s the point of getting higher scores if it takes correspondingly higher scores to get extra cards?

[Yue]

@jim151
You could deny my observation. No problem at all.
The tiny piece of stone could be set up at a very high level of defense.
For example,
Balloon defense level 800
Tiny stone defense level 1500
Terrence’s offense level may start at 100 and increas by card level, say, 100*card level.
If your card level is 14, then times 100, which is 1400, it might be stopped by tiny stone.
If you keep growing to card level 20, which lead to a offense level 2000, then a tiny stone can’t stop your bird.

That’s my guess, could be wrong at all but it could be the fundamental of game design.

[Yue]

By the way, a bird could be set like below

Blues,
destruction level to wood, 100
destruction level to stone, 20
destruction level to ice,500
destruction level to Balloon, 150
……

[Jim151]

You could deny my observation. No problem at all.
The tiny piece of stone could be set up at a very high level of defense.
For example,
Balloon defense level 800
Tiny stone defense level 1500
Terrence’s offense level may start at 100 and increas by card level, say, 100*card level.
If your card level is 14, then times 100, which is 1400, it might be stopped by tiny stone.
If you keep growing to card level 20, which lead to a offense level 2000, then a tiny stone can’t stop your bird.

That’s my guess, could be wrong at all but it could be the fundamental of game design.

If that were the case, why do the walkthrough level 8 birds do the exact same destruction as my level 35 birds in the boss level 466 that I have been referencing? And the answer is not technigue.

In the video, his first move is to fling his diamond level , no hat wearing Matilda from a wooden slingshot toward the third structure where he drops the egg bomb at just the right part to totally destroy the structure and have some of the debris take out the middle structure. he scores about 175,000 points, gets his bird back, and re-fills the meter by about 25%. I then fling my master amethyst, cowboy hat wearing Matilda from an elder gold slingshot and make the exact same move, and get the exact same result. I score about 1.9 million, get my bird back, and re-fill the meter by about 25%

There is no evidence that my extra 27 levels of power are getting me any advantage in this example.

[CaptSternn]

There is no evidence that my extra 27 levels of power are getting me any advantage …

You are catching on, Jim. There is really no advantage to having stuff other than just having stuff that doesn’t matter in the end. You could see a difference in points if you go back and play earlier levels, but that is about it. Use whatever advantage you can get.

I have found that walk-throughs don’t really help with AB2 as every round is different with a different selection of birds and different structures. Makes the puzzle more interesting and challenging. And often much more frustrating.

[Jim151]

I have found that walk-throughs don’t really help with AB2 as every round is different with a different selection of birds and different structures. Makes the puzzle more interesting and challenging. And often much more frustrating.

Sure, and I don’t use them much, as evidenced by my just now discovering the worthlessness of hats and feathers 6 months or so into the game. But they can help with technique, or at least showing you what bird to save for the end in order to get the boss.

[Angry Beaver]

Jim, this video is made before hats appeared; diamond in these times was highest bird level. Ohh… Good old times.

[Jim151]

Jim, this video is made before hats appeared; diamond in these times was highest bird level.

OK, but what’s the implication? That my level 35 bird is no better than the old pre hat diamond bird? Could a diamond bird with no hat and no slingshot upgrade complete level 466 today? Would it take 1,000,000 points for a bird of any level to get the first extra card on level 466 today? If my birds were maxed out level 466 would be easier because I would be scoring more points and the point requirement for extra cards is fixed?

[Yue]

@jim151

As you mentioned the walkthrough, I decide to take a look at it. Here is my observation.
Buy-in or not, your call.

In the walkthrough
1. Matilda drop the bomb and fly away. Most of the destruction is caused by flower and self destruction. The bird’s impact is mainly on score multipler, not on the destroy power

You could check other WT to see Terrence or bomb’s. (bomb’s impact range will be larger accordingly as card level increase)

2.Your advantage is mainly on score in this case.

[Yue]

well, talking about hat and slingshot, I would say these two only help on score multipler, not on destroy power, and of course, for decoration and aiming your pocket.

[Jim151]

In the walkthrough
1. Matilda drop the bomb and fly away. Most of the destruction is caused by flower and self destruction. The bird’s impact is mainly on score multipler, not on the destroy power

You could check other WT to see Terrence or bomb’s. (bomb’s impact range will be larger accordingly as card level increase)

2.Your advantage is mainly on score in this case.

I don’t dispute any of that. I am questioning how a higher score is an advantage. The level 8 guy and my level 35 guy do the exact same thing and get the exact same tangible result: 2 structures destroyed, 1 extra bird, meter re-filld by 25%. The only difference is he gets 175,000, I get 1.9 million. But if the higher score does not give you any tangible benefit, how is it an advantage? Higher scores don’t help you through the level. Destructive power and extra cards help you get through a level, and I see no difference between the destructive power and extra cards between the two. If I got extra cards at the rate the demo does, I’d get to the boss room with 7 birds every time. THAT would be an advantage.

[Jim151]

well, talking about hat and slingshot, I would say these two only help on score multipler, not on destroy power, and of course, for decoration and aiming your pocket.

That’s what I’m now realizing. And since score is meaningless, they are meaningless.

[Yue]

@jim151

I don’t think you got my point as you keep using a single case to explain all.

If you have two devices. Install ab2 on both. One keeps current achievement, power, etc, and the other one start from ground. Then, you could play trail 1 on both devices.
You would know what the difference of destruction power is. Just use bomb for test (by dropping all the other birds)

Again, destruction power is indeed an advantage while playing game. If you don’t get it. Nothing I could say more.

[Jim151]

If you have two devices. Install ab2 on both. One keeps current achievement, power, etc, and the other one start from ground. Then, you could play trail 1 on both devices.
You would know what the difference of destruction power is. Just use bomb for test (by dropping all the other birds)

I’m not going to do that. But I went back and looked at the walkthroughs from the earliest levels. Specifically level 2 because it’s the earliest one with an identical set up to my game. My level 1 is different for some reason. Making the same move and using the same bird as the walkthrough, my level 35 bird did not achieve any more destruction than the level 1 bird in the video. To be sure, I scored 54X as many points.

Then in room 2, I flung Terrance slightly uphill and aimed him at a horizontal wooden plank. He destroyed the plank but bounced backward and did no other destruction. I then fired Chuck at an ice block. He destroyed the block but did no other damage, just like when he was at level 1.

I’m sorry, but I’m just not seeing it.

[Jim151]

Level 3. I flung blues at a stone and wood structure. It was slightly downhill so they had a little momentum. 0 damage, 0 points. Didn’t even chip the stone to weaken it. If Blues don’t get even a little better at wood and stone by rank 35 (21 by card value), when will they?

[Yue]

If you want to test the difference before-after a bird’s level up, you need to control the variable to same bird, same scenario. I have told you how to manage those varibales. You keep yourself in wrong direction. That won’t help to clarify.

[CaptSternn]

The birds don’t get more powerful, Jim. Blue will not get stronger against stone. Terrance needs much momentum. Flinging him up takes that away. Down, fans or flowers help him. Chuck, well, he is a problem for me. He cuts through wood so easily that pigs just lower a level and are left alive with most of the structure left intact.

The only thing that changes is what they score in points. That counts in the arena, some. I sense your frustration thinking that when you get more, it should equal more. It doesn’t. As Yue said, the stuff is mostly for decoration and bragging rights. Maybe more points in the map levels, but arena opponents are pretty much equal.

My advice to you, don’t spend money on the game. Play for fun. We get nothing from this. I say this from experience and having spent money.