HSC14 Round 6: Mountain King

[+therealbountybob]

Mountain King

Interesting scrolling platformer with great music

Downloads:

atarimania

Fandal XEX

atarionline.pl XEX BIN ATR CAR etc

Some great info here on atariage's 5200 forum "review & retrospective" - looks like comments from the author and some easter eggs? 2nd link to "infinite lives" web site has nice review

See post #6 below for deteacher's guide and a video

 

Mountain Madness Bonus

Crisis Mountain

this looks pretty reasonable. If your ATR/disk copy has graphical corruption [atarimania] on title screen and game then try the one from Fandal below. There is a working XEX somewhere too [homesoft]! Looks like you can jump and crawl.

Fandal ATR

Homesoft XEX

Atarimania Info

See CaptainClassic's guide on post #19

 

Mountains

Journey into the unknown - it's time for some BASIC goodness [grimaces]. If you need any help configuring emulation just post Heh! German Text!
Fandal ATR

Youtube Video

 

Scoring standard points for Mountain King, set new HSC record for 1pt bonus. [sloopy 135,550 from S6 R24]

Bonus games probably 1pt per place per player.

 

Round ends Sunday 16th April 10am UK time

Fandal ATR [bASIC]

Edited April 4, 2017 by therealbountybob
More Links

[Dope]

First attempt.

Mountain King: 105950

[+slx]

23180, three crowns but never made it out of the mountain thanks to those pesky bats.

[RedThunder]

22,540 44,690 48,610

6 Crowns

2 Crowns Level 2

 

As above....pesky bats.

Edited April 2, 2017 by RedThunder

[+therealbountybob]

I've added a couple of bonus games to the first post

 

Can someone who knows Mountain King well please explain what you have to do to new players (and to me!) I'm sure I never could fully figure this one out!

 

Dope - glad to see you back if you want to post scores for the last round this week that is ok

[Deteacher]

I've added a couple of bonus games to the first post

 

Can someone who knows Mountain King well please explain what you have to do to new players (and to me!) I'm sure I never could fully figure this one out!

 

Dope - glad to see you back if you want to post scores for the last round this week that is ok

 

I can help here.

 

1. Collect 1,000 points worth of diamonds. Once you do, the score will change from orange to white (and a bonus timer will start counting down.)

2. Roam around the mountain and listen for the music. You are looking for the flame spirit (which looks like a crescent roll that bounces from left to right.) As you get closer to it, the music will get louder.

3. You need to use your flashlight to find the flame spirit (although sometimes it will appear for a fraction of a second.) When you find it, stand on top of it and pull down on the joystick. If you catch it, your head will glow. I should also mention that you only have limited time to find the flame spirit. If the score goes from white to orange, return to step 1.

4. After catching the flame spirit, head to the temple, where the crown is. You can only get in the temple from below. Position yourself under the opening of the temple and pull down. A skull will appear that acts like a ladder. Climb up the skull and into the temple.

5. Position yourself under the crown (must be perfectly lined up with it) and pull down on the joystick. You are now wearing the crown.

6. Now that you have the crown, make your way to the top of the mountain where the flame is. You only have a short time to make it, so speed is crucial. Do not let the bats steal the crown from you, or else you have to start all over again.

 

Here's a video tutorial that explains it much better.

[carlsson]

Thank you, Deteacher. Previously when I've played this game on the C64 and VIC-20, I found it odd and didn't know what to do. Now that I got the gameplay explained, I just find it annoying with the difficult jumps across platforms, that it is so easy to lose the crown and you have to start over collecting those points and the gruesome spider at the bottom of the cave.

 

I don't know how much play time I'll invest in this one (perhaps try for the bonus games) but here is an early score of 20610 pts.

 

Edit: I had a brief go at the two bonus games.

 

Crisis Mountain - 3300 pts. This one I'll probably do better at.

Mountains - 0 pts? I got to climb to 4075 meters on Matterhorn, but despite I kind of understand the controls, I don't get the guy to move upwards.

Edited April 2, 2017 by carlsson

[McKong]

24860 2 crowns but couldnt make it to the top

[Deteacher]

Thank you, Deteacher. Previously when I've played this game on the C64 and VIC-20, I found it odd and didn't know what to do. Now that I got the gameplay explained, I just find it annoying with the difficult jumps across platforms, that it is so easy to lose the crown and you have to start over collecting those points and the gruesome spider at the bottom of the cave.

 

I don't know how much play time I'll invest in this one (perhaps try for the bonus games) but here is an early score of 20610 pts.

mountainking-20610.jpg

 

Edit: I had a brief go at the two bonus games.

 

Crisis Mountain - 3300 pts. This one I'll probably do better at.

Mountains - 0 pts? I got to climb to 4075 meters on Matterhorn, but despite I kind of understand the controls, I don't get the guy to move upwards.

 

Don't get discouraged, Carlsson. Once you get the hang of the controls, it's really quite fun! Yes, the jumps can get frustrating, but keep at it.

 

Some other tips and tricks:

 

1. Don't touch any flames...you'll die instantly.

2. Don't go to the very bottom level. The spider lives down there. One touch from him and you get stuck in his webbing. You can wiggle yourself free by rapidly moving your joystick up and down (IIRC), but you only have a few seconds to do that before the spider returns and eats you.

3. Use the flashlight to find chests. If you spot one with your flashlight, stand over it and pull down. You'll be rewarded with points (or more bats.)

 

There are other little hidden gems in this game (including a whole new world to explore, for those who like easter egg hunts.)

Edited April 2, 2017 by Deteacher

[Deteacher]

And here's my first submission: 76,920! Level 3.

 

[jblenkle]

Mountain King - 24,730

[Deteacher]

Improved on my score, but couldn't get past the 3rd mountain: 111,660!

 

 

[McKong]

Level 2 29400

 

Not feeling this one, the jumps, and the long pause after he drops from a height makes the game feeling very 'clunky'

[+therealbountybob]

exploratory go 5500 and ran out of time !

OK now I've read the great posts above; thanks deteacher time for a proper go

 

Looks like the time penalty for jumps varies by the height so you can minimise this. Jump from about 2 squares away folks

 

p.s. added link for file ver of Crisis Mountain to first post.

[+therealbountybob]

Ahh now I know what to do managed to beat the first level 41,680 though the bats were well fed

[McKong]

The scoring seems a bit flawed on this game, at least for our purposes anyway. I achieved a better score retrieving the crown 4 or 5 times and not making it out of level 1 than I did when i made it to the level 3!

 

Level 3 - 86800

[+therealbountybob]

The scoring seems a bit flawed on this game, at least for our purposes anyway. I achieved a better score retrieving the crown 4 or 5 times and not making it out of level 1 than I did when i made it to the level 3!

 

Level 3 - 86800

we can play for level reached then score

 

I'm going to checkout the secret level tonight (moderate excitement)

 

Crisis Mountain 6700 collected everything, got the dot thingies, two timers? not sure what to do and why does my chicken leg keep running away Time to read those instructions!

 

MK 36,340 got the flame several times on level 2 but need to be more careful not to fall so much as the bats keep stealing them :frown:

[McKong]

Level 2 100980

Level 4 86870

[CapitanClassic]

we can play for level reached then score

 

I'm going to checkout the secret level tonight (moderate excitement)

 

Crisis Mountain 6700 collected everything, got the dot thingies, two timers? not sure what to do and why does my chicken leg keep running away Time to read those instructions!

 

Mountain King's scoring is a little flawed. You can play dangerously on the each level by continually getting the dancing flame (+30 seconds each time I think?) and the crown and purposely losing the crown. Every time you collect the crown you also collect a big reward (5,000 pts. I think).

 

As you get close to running out of time, then actually try to complete the level. I say dangerously, because as you collect more and more diamonds, it gets harder to collect enough points to make the flame appear. You have to rely on chests, which I do believe respawn after collected.

 

So, going by level and then points makes sense.

 

As for Crisis Mountain, the rules are simple.

1. Remove all the dynamite from the bombs before their counter reaches 0, or GAME OVER.

2. Don't get hit an additional time by non-lava rocks when at crawling speed, or lose a life.

3. Don't get hit by the bat, lava rocks (red), or fall in the lava, or lose a life.

 

Tips:

When you collect all the dynamite from a bomb it says safe, and the remaining time is added to your bonus clock.

You can collect the shovel to remove the dynamite a whole row at a time (4 rows) instead of all 16 sticks.

If you get hit when carrying the shovel, you lose it to a random location.

There are only 2 maps.

Crawl to get through tight places.

During the bonus round, you can earn 10 points per clock just for surviving.

If you collect all the treasures, a bonus dotted square shows up during the bonus round. The first is worth 1,000 pts. Then 2 bonus dotted squares show up worth 2,000 each, then 3 worth 3,000 each, and so on.

You get an extra life at 50,000 (I think)

 

I don't understand Mountain at all. It's all in German, and I cannot figure out the footholds during the rock climbing segment.

[CapitanClassic]

Mountain King - Level 5 - 127,590
Crisis Mountain - 74,793
Mountain - fail

 

Edited April 4, 2017 by CapitanClassic

[CapitanClassic]

Weird thing on Level 5 is that the Dancing Ghost Flame turns into a real flame before the 4,000ish count down timer expires. I guess you cannot leave it on the screen too long or it actually bursts into real flames.

[Deteacher]

With regard to the scoring in Mountain King, I don't find it as flawed because there is a limit to the number of points you can score on a mountain. Time also comes into play. Eventually, you will run out of diamonds and/or time. I'd think of it as a "risk/reward" situation. Not to mention if you grab the crown and lose it intentionally, there's no guarantee you're going to be able to get it again. That being said, I'm cool with the "level first, then score." On that note, here's my latest submission: Level 5, 180,870!

 

 

Here's a chart of the timings for each level. This is taken from the manual over at Atarimania. This may help. And yes, the spirit flame turns into a real flame if you don't get it in time.

 

Edited April 4, 2017 by Deteacher

[jblenkle]

Mountain King - 25,450

[+therealbountybob]

Lots of good info thanks again guys. The Mountain King manual is pretty extensive too.

 

I forgot to say start from level 1 each go.

 

Here's something I noticed - On the level select screen if you press Option instead of Start it plays in night mode - perhaps this is known or the game continues this way after level 8 is beaten... maybe the game just ends? Perhaps we will find out and someone will get a bonus point or two

 

CC - Didn't realise Mountains was German Text! Perhaps Bunsen or someone can advise on what to do - I've added a link to a video of the game on the first post - the quest for the bonus point begins

 

p.s. now you've said flame turns into a real flame I am getting worried - fire extinguishers ready

[carlsson]

Unfortunately that YouTube video never gets to the climbing stage. It only goes through the packing of the bag and discovers the cracks in the surface, which I did quite early on as well. I found that you select which arm or leg to move with the fire button, then use up and down to reposition each limb, but the question is which positions you should take to actually get moving one step at a time. The German language in this case isn't really a problem.