HSC Season 4 Week 40: Freeway

[Ze_ro]

Important Note: This week's competition is over and no further scores will be accepted.

 

If you think driving on a busy freeway is intense...wait 'till you try to cross it on foot! In Freeway by ACTIVISION, your challenge is to guide a chicken across ten lanes of the most perilous freeway traffic imaginable. Be careful, because those speeding cars and trucks don't brake for animals! So, before you start the chicken across the road, take a minute to read these instructions. You'll find out how to score points by leading your fearless fowl to safety without getting his feathers ruffled by a semi.

 

Game Information

• Game Name: Freeway
  
• Released By: Activision, 1981
  
• Left Difficulty: B / Novice
  
• Right Difficulty: B / Novice
  
• Game Mode: Game 6 - The Beltway, Washington D.C., 6 P.M.
  
• Chosen By: bretthorror
  

Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Thursday, February 8th at 1:30 AM (CST).

 

If you want to suggest a game for future weeks, please send me a private message and let me know! I will add your game to the list. One one game per person will be kept on the list, so you will not be able to suggest a game until your first game is played!

 

Anyone can play! Just post a score and I'll add you to the list! Please read the Rules & Information if you haven't already done so!

 

Current High Scores

1. 25 (Rom Hunter) [+11]
   
2. 24 (johnnywc) [+10]
   
3. 22 (Christophero Sly) [+9]
   22 (Deteacher) [+9]
   
4. 21 (shadow460) [+8]
   
5. 20 (SpiceWare) [+7]
   20 (rheffera) [+7]
   
6. 19 (LS_Dracon) [+6]
   19 (Zoyx) [+6]
   19 (Nathan Strum) [+6]
   
7. 18 (LarcenTyler) [+5]
   18 (Goochman) [+5]
   18 (atari2600land) [+5]
   
8. 17 (Captain Beard) [+4]
   
9. 15 (scogey) [+3]
   
10. 11 (vdub_bobby) [+2]
    

Best Tips

• Nathan Strum [+2]
  

Bounties and Challenges

• Patch Challenge - Save the Chickens Foundation - Score 20 points or higher for 1 bonus point!
  • Rom Hunter, johnnywc, Christophero Sly, Deteacher, shadow460, SpiceWare, rheffera [+1]
    

TwinGalaxies Top 3

(Game 6, Difficulty B)

1. 24 (David B Yancey)
   
2. 23 (Todd Rogers)
   
3. 22 (Dustin Barksdale)
   

Current Standings

1. Rom Hunter [409]
2. SpiceWare [297]
3. Deteacher [237]
4. keilbaca [175]
5. vdub_bobby [146]
6. LarcenTyler [141]
7. rheffera [111]
8. the 5th ghost [87]
9. BrianC [78]
10. scogey [74]
11. shawnb [71]
12. JacobZu7zu7 [69]
13. Cybergoth [68]
14. Goochman [68]
15. atari2600land [65]
16. Malc74 [63]
17. Nathan Strum [63]
18. shadow460 [63]
19. Christophero Sly [60]
20. Recycled [39]
21. theKLT [37]
22. SeaGtGruff [36]
23. 128bytes [34]
24. Jred [26]

• Zoyx [26]
• doctorclu [22]
• phaxda [21]
• Lord Helmet [19]
• RJ [19]
• mojofltr [17]
• Captain Beard [16]
• Random Terrain [15]
• Lord Thag [15]
• johnnywc [13]
• rjchamp3 [11]
• ResOGlas [11]
• Thomas Jentzsch [11]
• Gabriel [8]
• Hiryu [7]
• Shroo-man [6]
• supercat [5]
• Biter [2]
• Omegamatrix [1]
• fire!fire! [1]
• Dan Iacovelli [1]
• ewing92 [1]
• mightymage [1]

Scoring Points in Freeway

• Each time you guide your chicken successfully across the freeway, you are awarded one point. The score for each player is indicated at the top of the screen, directly above each player's chicken. There are two minutes and sixteen seconds in each game. When the score begins to flash, eight seconds of playing time remain. At the end of each game, the traffic comes to a stop and the final score is shown.
  

Hints and Tips

As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy and a scanned copy online for your viewing pleasure. Here are the hints it provides:

 

- As unusual as Freeway is, you still will have to employ some tried and true gaming skills to do well at it. For instance, you must become familiar with the different traffic patterns in order to anticipate and make the right moves. This is especially difficult in Games Five through Eight, where traffic speeds can change instantly.

 

- You'll notice that clusters of vehicles in each lane travel at generally the same distance apart, at the same speed. If a cluster happens to be in a fast lane, you'll have to plan in advance how you're going to get through without being hit.

 

- Succeeding at Freeway will depend on your ability to develop quick reflexes to avoid the traffic and "hit the hole" at just the right time. Have fun and watch the traffic!

The cars start off in different patterns. If you reset the game enough times, you'll find one or two that will let you run all the way across the road, right at the start, giving you a slight head-start.

 

This sounds obvious - but LET GO OF THE JOYSTICK! The temptation is to always keep the 'stick pointed forwards. This will inevitably just slam you repeatedly into fast moving cars - especially the yellow one along the bottom row. Don't get impatient - let go of the joystick and allow cars to pass. If you have to, it's better to move backwards a lane or two, rather than getting repeatedly pummeled by traffic.

Tip: don't let go of the joystick (unless you have to). Saves a lot of what-if time.

 

--Ze_ro

[+johnnywc]

Let me start the bidding off at 18... A lot harder than it looks!

 

 

[Deteacher]

First one to win a patch! I'm sure I won't be the last.

 

21!

[Lauren Tyler]

I still can't believe the idea they had for the commercial for this game: A goofy looking guy in a bowtie and glasses turns on the light in a hen house and calls them ladies as he tells them it's game time, before demonstrating Freeway to us. When he gets hit, he sees the hens with their backs turned to him and he's like, "Ladies, I'm only human!" Yeah, and their chickens!

 

Maybe once I get the hang of Dark BASIC, I'll write a remake of Freeway, and replace the chickens with Foghorn Leghorn and Miss Prissy, and have them spout random quips when they get hit.

[+johnnywc]

22! 23!! 24!!!

 

 

Edited February 3, 2007 by johnnywc

[Christophero Sly]

Great pick! Freeway is one of my favs. and I haven't spent much time playing game 6 before. I'll try to make some time to play this week.

[+SpiceWare]

15

[+Nathan Strum]

Would it have killed David Crane to give you a little lateral movement?

 

18

 

I'm also a little disappointed that he didn't do anything with the different times of day, by making things darker or lighter, or adding headlights or pools of light from street lamps.

 

I think that the sprites in this game would be great for a racing game. Sort of like Grand Prix, but one where you had more lanes and could see more than a car-and-a-half's length ahead of you.

Edited February 2, 2007 by Nathan Strum

[Christophero Sly]

22

 

[Christophero Sly]

Does it matter which chicken we use?

[shadow460]

21 points. What an annoying game.

[Deteacher]

Good question, Sly. Although I guess it shouldn't matter which chicken you use, but the starting strategy would be a little different. I doubt you really gain any kind of overall advantage. Using the right chicken, it looks like you would get a quicker start up the screen, since the first 4 or 5 lanes of traffic come from the left side.

 

Also, tie scores could be decided by how far up the screen you got your chicken. If 2 people got 20 points, then the player who advanced further would win that tie. Just a thought.

[Rom Hunter]

...

 

Edited February 2, 2007 by Rom Hunter

[LS_Dracon]

Now

19 for me

Edited February 2, 2007 by LS_Dracon

[Rom Hunter]

 

Tip: don't be chicken.

 

[+SpiceWare]

booo

[+atari2600land]

I'm not being chicken and yet I've only managed 17 points so far.

[Rom Hunter]

 

Collisionless.

 

Edited February 2, 2007 by Rom Hunter

[Goochman]

18 -

[vdub_bobby]

11

[+johnnywc]

 

Collisionless.

 

 

What does that mean?

[+Nathan Strum]

Stupid, finger-lickin', Kentucky-Fried %@$#!!

 

I think I'm done for this week.

 

19

 

 

Here are a couple of tips anyway:

 

The cars start off in different patterns. If you reset the game enough times, you'll find one or two that will let you run all the way across the road, right at the start, giving you a slight head-start.

 

This sounds obvious - but LET GO OF THE JOYSTICK! The temptation is to always keep the 'stick pointed forwards. This will inevitably just slam you repeatedly into fast moving cars - especially the yellow one along the bottom row. Don't get impatient - let go of the joystick and allow cars to pass. If you have to, it's better to move backwards a lane or two, rather than getting repeatedly pummeled by traffic.

[+SpiceWare]

20

[Rom Hunter]

 

Collisionless.

 

 

What does that mean?

It means that I didn't hit any car or truck during the game (although I'm about to get splattered by a green car, due to my kamikaze chicken run at the end of the game).

 

Tip: don't let go of the joystick (unless you have to). Saves a lot of what-if time.

 

Edited February 3, 2007 by Rom Hunter

[+atari2600land]

Nathan tells me to let go of the joystick, and Rom Hunter tells me to not let go. Some conflicting ideas of joystick handling on Freeway. of course if it wasn't capiltalized, you should be driving and not handling your joystick!