HSC Season 5 Week 17: Cosmic Commuter

[Ze_ro]

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted.

 

Way back in the twentieth century, a bunch of Ivy League Professors sat around inventing space colonies. They were lauded as visionaries and went on as lecture tours. Do you think they thought about traffic jams in space?

 

Somehow, we don't think they did.

 

We're the G.T.A --- Galactic Travel Authority. The movers of the daily grind, circa 2075 A.D.

 

And we're glad you're working for us now.

 

 

Game Information

• Game Name: Cosmic Commuter
• Released By: Activision, 1984
• Left Difficulty: N/A
• Right Difficulty: N/A
• Game Mode: Game 1
• Chosen By: PressureCooker2600

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 Wednesday, Jan 9th at 1:00 AM (CST).

 

Current High Scores 508,851 (toymailman) [+11] 341,995 (homerwannabee) [+10] 262,970 (Deteacher) [+9] 48,027 (Kurt_Woloch) [+8] 45,481 (phaxda) [+7] 40,960 (Impaler_26) [+6] 38,748 (Captain Beard) [+5] 26,712 (PressureCooker2600) [+4] 13,323 (keilbaca) [+3] 11,218 (theking21083) [+2] 5979 (LarcenTyler) [+1] Best Tips toymailman [+2] Challenges None TwinGalaxies Top 3 1,000,000 (David B Yancey) Game 1, Difficulty B)

Current Standings Deteacher [157] toymailman [135] keilbaca [98] PressureCooker2600 [79] theking21083 [72] rheffera [57] Kurt_Woloch [50] Impaler_26 [48] homerwannabee [45] Recycled [44] Captain Beard [44] SpiceWare [39] DarthCalvin [36] Blackjack [35] Christophero Sly [35] Nathan Strum [29] shadow460 [25] Rom Hunter [23] phaxda [22] midnight magicman [19] LarcenTyler [18] Butterwasp [18] theKLT [11] godzillajoe [11] Artlover [9] Dauber [9] lucifershalo [9] ed1475 [8] keitaro [7] Omegamatrix [6] Nognir [5] Goochman [4] atari2600land [4] SeaGtGruff [3] Crazy Climber [2] gospeedde [2] chuchwalla [2] Phantom [2] Snider-man [2] doctorclu [1] RJ [1] KaeruYojimbo [1]

 

Scoring Points in Cosmic Commuter

• 1 point for shooting an obsticle
• 100 points for landing the Astrobus
• 200 points for picking up a commuter
• 200 bonus points for each commuter after leaving a round. This increases by 40 points per round through round 8 then cycles back to 200. The bonus also doubles for a round if all 8 commuters were picked up.

 

Hints and Tips

• The best way to stay on schedule is to fly close to the surface. You'll lose time if you fly all over the place, trying to shoot everything.
• Get all eight commuters. That's when those bonus fares realy pour in.
• Learn to use the Scanner to choose direction. Remember that it represents an orbit, not a straight line. So sometimes the quickest way to either end of the display is to fly in what appears to be the opposite direction.
• If there are no fuel pods around, one will often appear if you fly to the top of the screen and shoot three times. But even this won't work once all the commuters are gone.

The Manual
As always, you really should read the manual. If you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy and a scanned copy available online for your viewing pleasure. Here are the tips it provides:
toymailman
To "pause" the game just don't land the Astrobus and you can take a break (maybe not really a tip, but useful nonetheless). Here are all my tips to get the high scores. 1) Stay low to the ground and only bother shooting the obsticles down there. This will allow you to more easily pick up the commuters. Don't try flying all over the screen dodging and shooting. The obsticles are only worth 1 point each anyway. 2) Only go up for fuel and if none are showing up then do what the manual says and shoot three (or more) times at the top of the screen to "encourage" a fuel to appear. 3) I never flew at top speed (or even close to top speed) except tip #5 below. There seems to be an adequate amount of time to pick up the commuters flying a little faster than minimum. This is my best tip. By doing this you can easily dodge and/or shoot any of the obsticles at the bottom (where I always stayed). This will virtually ensure you advance to the next screen without losing a life. It continually gave me points and lives with what seemed to be relatively little effort. 4) Hold the fire button down unless going for fuel. Everything else you can hit to get the big 1 point score or mainly to get it out of the way. 5) I found waves 4 and 8 the easiest. I called it the yellow (and pink) pods rounds. This is because there is a spot slightly above the bottom where you can fly a top speed and hold down the fire button and just advance to where the next commuter is with no skill at all. This is because these obsticles "adjust" to your exact flying level. Perfectly aligned for you to blast them with your eyes closed. You only need to come up for fuel and then its back down for some high speed blasting.
homerwannabee
OK, this is going to sound crazy, but for the first 7 levels forget abut trying to shoot the ships your best off if you dodge them and rush through. Think of Cosmic Commuter as Grand Prix in space. Only in Cosmic Commuter the obstacles are a lot easier to dodge. Only fire when you absolutely have too. Like when all four ships are straight in a row like a wall. then you have to fire. I usually fire the top ship and go on through. Toymailman is correct about shooting at the bottom on level 8. But you can also do this at the top of the screen as well. This I feel is more advantageous because can easily refuel if you want too. If you die and you only have 1,2, or 3 men to pick up left do not go right to left. Instead go the opposite direction. You will have to travel less distance to pick up your men.
Deteacher
My tip is for the first 4 levels in the set. Since the enemies all travel the same speed, shoot the bottom ship until you've created a nice hole between the bottom 2 levels. They'll stay the same distance apart throughout the level, so it's just a matter of moving up and down through the holes. Get fuel when you need to and pick up the passengers, of course. Otherwise, you can fly through the first 4 rounds, pretty much at full speed. The hardest level for me is the 2nd round of asteroids (when they're varying speeds.) That level always seems to take a couple lives from me. I have to learn to be patient, but if I go too slow, the passengers disappear. Finally, I've noticed that if you go through all 8 rounds perfectly, you score around 50K per set. Just a little tidbit of info for those that care.

 

--Zero

[PressureCooker2600]

I'm such a lazy dipshit.

 

I had pulled out Toyshop Trouble and popped it into my VCS with the intent on playing it for the HSC. Then I got lazy and kept playing my PS2. I didn't pop a score in for Death Trap cause that game was just plain odd but TT is a really good game. So now it's just sitting in my VCS, staring at me everytime I come into my room........taunting me in my shame.

 

Damn my laziness.

[toymailman]

Looks like I'll start this week off.

 

70,327

 

 

The manual didn't explain the scoring for this game so I wrote it all down as I was playing.

 

- 1 point for shooting an obsticle

- 100 points for landing the Astrobus

- 200 points for picking up a commuter

- 200 bonus points for each commuter after leaving a round. This increases by 40 points per round through round 8 then cycles back to 200. The bonus also doubles for a round if all 8 commuters were picked up.

[homerwannabee]

My first submission 58,996

[toymailman]

Well I think I got the hang of this game. I'm actually still playing, but hope someone will chime in on my suggestion below.

 

TIP: To "pause" the game just don't land the Astrobus and you can take a break (maybe not really a tip, but useful nonetheless).

 

I'm over 250k and still have max lives.

 

258,154

 

 

I can no longer discern any increase in difficulty. I think the score finally ends/rolls at 1,000,000, but my vote would be that anyone who can get over 200k and show max lives has "beat" this game. My estimate is that it would be about a 5 hour session to get to 1,000,000. What do others think?

[homerwannabee]

Well I think I got the hang of this game. I'm actually still playing, but hope someone will chime in on my suggestion below.

 

TIP: To "pause" the game just don't land the Astrobus and you can take a break (maybe not really a tip, but useful nonetheless).

 

I'm over 250k and still have max lives.

 

258,154

 

 

I can no longer discern any increase in difficulty. I think the score finally ends/rolls at 1,000,000, but my vote would be that anyone who can get over 200k and show max lives has "beat" this game. My estimate is that it would be about a 5 hour session to get to 1,000,000. What do others think?

Does the game continue to give you lives?

[Captain Beard]

Somehow, my 38,748 seems much less post-worthy than it did a few minutes ago...

 

In my defense, until this morning, I'd never played this game before.

 

Nice job, toymailman!

[toymailman]

In my defense, until this morning, I'd never played this game before.

 

Nice job, toymailman!

Thanks Captain!

 

This is actually my first time playing too. Well, I've played it several times this week now, but had never tried it before this week's HSC. It was hard at first, but once you get the hang of it then it is not too bad. Similar to Atlantis, or Keystone Kapers. Once you get used to the highest level you can just keep going.

 

I'm almost at 400k now.

 

392,447

 

 

The game's difficulty does seem to get slightly harder as the game progresses. However, it is almost imperceptable. The astrobus's relative speed to the obsticles gradually goes up. However, I can not empasize gradually enough. Does this mean we have to play until 1,000,000? Yikes!

[Deteacher]

Go for it, Toy! Let's see those exclaimation marks!!! I know some games "time out" after leaving them paused for too long, but if you can leave the game between levels, then put the joystick down for a bit. Come back after dinner (or whatever) and play some more. Repeat until you roll the score!

 

YOU CAN DO IT!

[toymailman]

Go for it, Toy! Let's see those exclaimation marks!!! I know some games "time out" after leaving them paused for too long, but if you can leave the game between levels, then put the joystick down for a bit. Come back after dinner (or whatever) and play some more. Repeat until you roll the score!

 

YOU CAN DO IT!

Thanks for the vote of confidence 'teach!

 

However, I had to turn it off. I have some things to take care of with my time off today. Now that I know I can do it (with relative ease), I'd rather have a video recording of it anyway.

 

I stopped at 508,851 still with maximum lives left.

 

 

I hope we can decide on something so others don't have to play for hours and hours. I believe that anyone who can get to this high of a score and still have all their lives left can get to the 1,000,000 easy (just takes time; a lot of time).

 

To show that I am not without mercy to my fellow HSC players, I propose that anyone who can get to over 250k (half of what I did) and have all their lives left will be in a tie for first place. This way others won't have to play for so long.

 

I'll try to roll it at a later date when I have the time to sit and play it long enough. My older estimate may have been a little under too. I think it is more like 6 hours to get to 1,000,000 and when you add in breaks, whew. Now that I think about it, how would someone record this anyway?

[Kurt_Woloch]

OK, here's my entry... 31563. This was my first and probably my last game on this... it already took me over 20 minutes, and this is normally over my limit of what amount of time I'm willing to put into a single game.

 

[homerwannabee]

Go for it, Toy! Let's see those exclaimation marks!!! I know some games "time out" after leaving them paused for too long, but if you can leave the game between levels, then put the joystick down for a bit. Come back after dinner (or whatever) and play some more. Repeat until you roll the score!

 

YOU CAN DO IT!

Thanks for the vote of confidence 'teach!

 

However, I had to turn it off. I have some things to take care of with my time off today. Now that I know I can do it (with relative ease), I'd rather have a video recording of it anyway.

 

I stopped at 508,851 still with maximum lives left.

 

 

I hope we can decide on something so others don't have to play for hours and hours. I believe that anyone who can get to this high of a score and still have all their lives left can get to the 1,000,000 easy (just takes time; a lot of time).

 

To show that I am not without mercy to my fellow HSC players, I propose that anyone who can get to over 250k (half of what I did) and have all their lives left will be in a tie for first place. This way others won't have to play for so long.

 

I'll try to roll it at a later date when I have the time to sit and play it long enough. My older estimate may have been a little under too. I think it is more like 6 hours to get to 1,000,000 and when you add in breaks, whew. Now that I think about it, how would someone record this anyway?

I would say it is worth it to go for 999,999 just so that you can say you maxed out the score. Remember once you do that you can always say that you maxed out Cosmic Commuter.

[toymailman]

Does the game continue to give you lives?

The game does not continue to give you lives. It really does max at 9. If you die it goes to eight even if you should've had 40 in the bank.

 

Here are all my tips to get the high scores.

 

1) Stay low to the ground and only bother shooting the obsticles down there. This will allow you to more easily pick up the commuters. Don't try flying all over the screen dodging and shooting. The obsticles are only worth 1 point each anyway.

 

2) Only go up for fuel and if none are showing up then do what the manual says and shoot three (or more) times at the top of the screen to "encourage" a fuel to appear.

 

3) I never flew at top speed (or even close to top speed) except tip #5 below. There seems to be an adequate amount of time to pick up the commuters flying a little faster than minimum. This is my best tip. By doing this you can easily dodge and/or shoot any of the obsticles at the bottom (where I always stayed). This will virtually ensure you advance to the next screen without losing a life. It continually gave me points and lives with what seemed to be relatively little effort.

 

4) Hold the fire button down unless going for fuel. Everything else you can hit to get the big 1 point score or mainly to get it out of the way.

 

5) I found waves 4 and 8 the easiest. I called it the yellow (and pink) pods rounds. This is because there is a spot slightly above the bottom where you can fly a top speed and hold down the fire button and just advance to where the next commuter is with no skill at all. This is because these obsticles "adjust" to your exact flying level. Perfectly aligned for you to blast them with your eyes closed. You only need to come up for fuel and then its back down for some high speed blasting.

[homerwannabee]

Well I have gotten to 172,548 and I personally have not mastered it yet, so 200,000 maybe too low of a score to stop this at.

[toymailman]

Well I have gotten to 172,548 and I personally have not mastered it yet, so 200,000 maybe too low of a score to stop this at.

Yeah, I was suggesting over 250k AND with maximum 9 lives still in reserve. I think if someone can do this then they can go to 1,000,000. IMO

[Lauren Tyler]

5,979

 

I'm so out of practice with this one.

[Impaler_26]

Nice Game! I haven't played this one much before but after a few tries i finally got the hang of it.

I tend to lose my concentration after a while and crash into an obstacle or accidently shoot a fuel sign.

I don't think i have the patience to get much better at it but i'll keep on playing over the weekend.

 

40,960.

[Deteacher]

I'm up to 137,165. I had 1 or 2 lives left, but I had to shut it off. I took a pic before I did, though. I'll post it once I recharge the batteries in my camera.

 

I should have some time over the weekend to go for a marathon game. I'll set a goal to hit 250K with 9 lives, but I'll probably try to go higher than that.

[homerwannabee]

Ok, here is my score with 9 lives 341,995. I would of gotten a bigger score but I went somewhere for 2 hours and when I came back I had a blank screen.

[homerwannabee]

I also want to say that I am OK with making the cut off at 250,000. At first I was hesitant because I did not know about Toymailmans trick on the 8th level. Once I started to do that the level became from one of the hardest to one of the easiest.

 

 

Some tips

OK, this is going to sound crazy, but for the first 7 levels forget abut trying to shoot the ships your best off if you dodge them and rush through. Think of Cosmic Commuter as Grand Prix in space. Only in Cosmic Commuter the obstacles are a lot easier to dodge. Only fire when you absolutely have too. Like when all four ships are straight in a row like a wall. then you have to fire. I usually fire the top ship and go on through. Toymailman is correct about shooting at the bottom on level 8. But you can also do this at the top of the screen as well. This I feel is more advantageous because can easily refuel if you want too.

If you die and you only have 1,2, or 3 men to pick up left do not go right to left. Instead go the opposite direction. You will have to travel less distance to pick up your men.

Edited January 5, 2008 by homerwannabee

[keilbaca]

first try 13323. not bad game at all, easy, if i had some patience, lol.

[Deteacher]

Ok, I'm up to 202,862. I had 7 lives in the bank. I left it alone to come back after the football game. When I came back, it was on the black screen of death. I know I've left it alone for about an hour and was able to come back to it, but I guess 4 hours is too long. D'oh! I'll at least get up to the 250K mark today and go from there.

 

My tip is for the first 4 levels in the set. Since the enemies all travel the same speed, shoot the bottom ship until you've created a nice hole between the bottom 2 levels. They'll stay the same distance apart throughout the level, so it's just a matter of moving up and down through the holes. Get fuel when you need to and pick up the passengers, of course. Otherwise, you can fly through the first 4 rounds, pretty much at full speed.

 

The hardest level for me is the 2nd round of asteroids (when they're varying speeds.) That level always seems to take a couple lives from me. I have to learn to be patient, but if I go too slow, the passengers disappear.

 

Finally, I've noticed that if you go through all 8 rounds perfectly, you score around 50K per set. Just a little tidbit of info for those that care.

Edited January 6, 2008 by Deteacher

[homerwannabee]

Ok, I'm up to 202,862. I had 7 lives in the bank. I left it alone to come back after the football game. When I came back, it was on the black screen of death. I know I've left it alone for about an hour and was able to come back to it, but I guess 4 hours is too long. D'oh! I'll at least get up to the 250K mark today and go from there.

 

My tip is for the first 4 levels in the set. Since the enemies all travel the same speed, shoot the bottom ship until you've created a nice hole between the bottom 2 levels. They'll stay the same distance apart throughout the level, so it's just a matter of moving up and down through the holes. Get fuel when you need to and pick up the passengers, of course. Otherwise, you can fly through the first 4 rounds, pretty much at full speed.

 

The hardest level for me is the 2nd round of asteroids (when they're varying speeds.) That level always seems to take a couple lives from me. I have to learn to be patient, but if I go too slow, the passengers disappear.

 

Finally, I've noticed that if you go through all 8 rounds perfectly, you score around 50K per set. Just a little tidbit of info for those that care.

In a weird way I am happy to hear about the black screen of death. I had the exact same thing happen to me. I came back after 2 and a half hours and had it happen to me. For a second I thought my system or the game was giving out. Now it appears to intentionally programmed into the game.

[toymailman]

The hardest level for me is the 2nd round of asteroids (when they're varying speeds.) That level always seems to take a couple lives from me. I have to learn to be patient, but if I go too slow, the passengers disappear.

Yeah, I think that is the hardest level too. I called it the green asteroid level. I think it is the sixth in the cycle of eight. I found that the key is patience. It doesn't even really matter if the commuters start to dissappear. Sure you'll not get the double bonus, but if you're alive then you can keep earning points anyway. I found if you are patient and careful then you really can just keep advancing without losing lives and racking up the points. After a while you get to know each wave intimately and can always get the bonus too.

[Deteacher]

Well, assuming 250K with maxed lives will be counted as "rolling the score" then I "rolled the score" at 262,970!

 

I don't think I'll be trying to beat it, but who knows. I'm going to take a day sometime in the future to officially roll the score, but that won't be before the deadline.