The Spelunky Shortcut Cash Challenges

[danieltalsky]

Back in June I started The Spelunky First Level Cash Challenge, where I challenged people to see how much money they could get on the first level and get to the end of the level in one piece.  I had been able to get 10-20k easily, and wondered how high people could get if that was their whole point of playing the first level.  Turns out people were able to crack 60k and now the people competing are hungry for another challenge.

So, the new challenge is to use the shortcut rooms, go to the first Jungle, Ice, or Temple level, and do the same thing.

We came up with some rules based on the first challenge, and here's how they play out:

• This is an honor competition.  Yes there are ways to cheat.  Cheating for honor is like bombing for peace.  Please follow the spirit of the competition which is everyone starting with exactly the same starting position.
  
• No mods of any kind should be in effect for the challenge.  Please be using vanilla Spelunky 1.1
• You should be playing as Indie, and not as one of the other two characters.
• You need to make it to the end of the level, and post a screenshot (hosted by an image hosting service and inline in your post please!) as proof of your accomplishment.
• It should go without saying, but no playing all the way through to the level.  You need to go to the shortcut room and go directly to the level for which you're playing the challenge.
  

Here is the leaderboard.  Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.

LEADERBOARDS

First Jungle Level Cash Challenge

1. DialFforFunky - $55,250
2. orange08 - $51,500
3. DialFforFunky - $51,250

First Ice Level Cash Challenge

1. orange08 - $42,300
2. DialFforFunky - $41,400
3. Damsel- $22,650

First Temple Level Cash Challenge

1. DialFforFunky - $48,525
2. orange08 - $42,175
3. Damsel - $17,850

[danieltalsky]

Oh heck, I'll at least toss SOMETHING up there:

[danieltalsky]

[danieltalsky]

[danieltalsky]

Some notes on my first tries... in many ways this is VERY different from the first level cash challenges for one simple reason: time limit.  The first level is unique because there's no time limit and thus you could exercise as much care as you like in finding a mattock and looking carefully for the best places to smash.

In these challenges you have no such luxury, and you get a ghost after two minutes. 

Also, there's a much wider range of stuff that can pop up, like gambling and other weird vendors that never appear in the first level.  Game on!

[orange08]

I got a bit lukcy on this one.
I don't know how the ghost is set to start coming toward you, and I don't know how the game decides where the ghost will appear... it seems as if when I'm in the middle of the map he doesn't come to me.

[orange08]

I got 2 more records for the other levels.

[danieltalsky]

Damn, orange... you're like the olympic level athlete on this one.

[Arucard]

Would it not make more sense to have a total at the end of the area, rather than a single level? I envision a shortcut challenge being how much can you make in the whole ice world or lush, etc.  *just a thought*

[DialFforFunky]

First I got lucky in a dice house.

For a second I thought I had beaten Orange. It was not to be, however...

But then I got even luckier  

Though this score should probably be easy to beat if you know what you're looking for.
I got this far once without any skull though. +12 bombs and a mattock that wouldn't break, both stolen from a bombed shoppy, certainly did help. Sadly, I jumped straight into the ghost instead of over it...

Now lets see if I can beat those other tremendous scores.  


F

[orange08]

It may be a bit hard to beat me with the ice level record. I got VERY lucky. And a shopkeeper had a jetpack for me to steal.  

@DialFforFunky
It appears as if you are using a modded version of spelunky  D=  (if not, then why is the grass mowed in your screenshot?)
I don't think that is allowed.

Edit: YAYAYAYYAYAY!
I managed to beat your score on the jungle!!!
I just barely missed touching the ghost 

[DialFforFunky]

Nice, well done!

Don't worry about my spelunky being modded: I turned off the details in the options screen. Being somewhat colourblind makes it very hard to distinguish bloodied spikes from grass, so I turned on the unversal lawn mower.


F

[hyperme]

Hyperme's Hint:  Don't touch the gems until after 2:30, and they've been 'checked' by the Ghost.

[halibabica]

Hyperme's Hint:  Don't touch the gems until after 2:30, and they've been 'checked' by the Ghost.

That's what I was gonna do!

[danieltalsky]

Ok, I updated the leaderboard... looks like there's a totally different dynamic to this competition than the First Level Challenge.  The addition of the ghost really changes things up.

There's still some totally open spots so... no reason not to submit an ice or temple score.