HSC Season 5 Week 41: Fathom

[Ze_ro]

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

 

Titans have imprisoned Neptina, Neptune's daughter! They've shattered his magical Trident and scattered its pieces far and wide. Without his trident, Neptune is powerless.

 

Proteus, a member of Neptune's Court, longs to free the lovely mermaid. He sets out to find the missing pieces of the Trident. He roams land and sea, changing from a dolphin to a seagull and back again in order to deceive the mermaid's captors. Deadly trials confront Proteus -- octopuses, tangled beds of kelp, screaming flocks of black birds, even erupting volcanoes! But he fights on valiantly!

 

 

 

Game Information

• Game Name: Fathom
• Released By: Imagic, 1983
• Left Difficulty: N / A
• Right Difficulty: N / A
• Game Mode: Default
• Chosen By: Mister VCS & toymailman

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 June 25th at 1:00 AM (CST).

 

Current High Scores 17,891 (SpiceWare) [+11] 8420 (shadow460) [+10] 691 (aftermac) [+9] 421 (Kurt_Woloch) [+8] 416 (iangamer) [+7] 401 (darthkur) [+6] 188 (toymailman) [+5] 142 (LarcenTyler) [+4] 135 (theking21083) [+3] 116 (Impaler_26) [+2] Best Tips shadow460 [+2] Challenges None TwinGalaxies Top 3 1,110,500 (Todd Rogers) 116 (Greg Troutman) (Game 1, Difficulty B)

Current Standings Deteacher [400] toymailman [355] keilbaca [225] aftermac [191] Captain Beard [167] Impaler_26 [158] SpiceWare [152] Kurt_Woloch [147] theking21083 [136] homerwannabee [90] Nathan Strum [88] PressureCooker2600 [87] phaxda [83] StanJr [75] Gemini [75] rheffera [65] Mister VCS [64] LarcenTyler [52] midnight magicman [46] godzillajoe [45] Recycled [44] Bentley Bear! [44] the 5th ghost [42] DarthCalvin [36] shadow460 [36] Blackjack [35] Christophero Sly [35] darthkur [23] Rom Hunter [23] jjd [22] opeygon [21] ed1475 [19] Butterwasp [18] jimdandy75 [17] Shannon [15] cosmosiss [14] doctorclu [13] tremoloman2006 [12] RJ [12] theKLT [12] lucifershalo [12] Artlover [9] atariwarrior [9] Dauber [9] atari2600land [8] vintagegamecrazy [8] Vectorman0 [7] Krytol [7] keitaro [7] lonewolfette9847 [6] Goochman [6] Omegamatrix [6] Phantom [5] chuckwalla [5] Nognir [5] MrBeefy [5] Elerach [3] Crazy Climber [3] SeaGtGruff [3] hrecker [2] gospeedde [2] Snider-man [2] EricDeLee [1] Whickeycolumbus [1] jboypacman [1] paddleperson [1] [d2f]Iggy*SJB [1] HatNJ [1] KaeruYojimbo [1]

 

Scoring Points in Fathom

• The Level number appears at the bottom left of the screen. All games begin at Level 1.
• If you free Neptina, you automatically advance to the next level (2, 3, etc.). Your score for the new Level returns to 50.
• When you free Neptina, the points you earn on the Level are added to the point bank with the total number of points earned on all previous Levels.
• The points you earn are multiplied by the Level number you are on. Example: Earn 50 points on Level 2 and 100 points are stored in the point bank (50 x 2 = 100).

 

Hints and Tips

• Run into all the sea horses and pink clouds you can. They're worth points.
• Avoid obstacles -- black birds, grey clouds, octopuses, seaweed and volcanoes. They cost you points!
• Time freezes when the dolphin and the seagull appear on screen together. Otherwise you lose points as the seconds tick away.
• Here's how to fin and fly through Level 1. After that you're on your own!
  
  As the dolphin swims down, octopuses and two sea horses appear. Touch both sea horses. Then touch the starfish that appears. A piece of the Trident now shows at the bottom of the screen. Note: You must reach both sea horses and the starfish without leaving that section of the sea. If you don't, return to the surface and try again.
  
  Next dive through lines of seaweed. More sea horses appear. Touch one and a bird symbol shows at the bottom of your screen. Return to the surface now, or try to reach other sea horses for additional points.
  
  Jump out of the water when you reach the surface. Fly to the left or right. Land appears. Flap your wings hard and fly up. Touch two pink clouds in that section of the sky and a star appears. Touch it. You'll have another piece of the Trident. Return to the dolphin. Fly until you reach land on the other side. Repeat the game of tag with pink clouds. Touch one pink cloud and acquire a fish symbol; touch the other and a star appears. Touch the star and the third piece of the Trident is yours. Return to the dolphin, change forms and dive for the bottom. When you arrive, the mermaid's prison will dissolve.

The Manual
As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have a copy of this game's manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online for your reading pleasure. Here are the hints it provides:
shadow460
Tips: - Grab as many seahorses as you can. - Try to avoid touching ALL clouds unless you're trying for a starfish. Once you've gotten the fish from a particular section of sky, don't touch even the pink clouds on the way down. - Similarly, try to touch all the clouds or starfish on a particular screen before leaving that screen. - Once you've got all three pieces of the Trident, touch pink clouds until no more of them appear. - When swimming up or down, unless you intend to collect seahorses in that screen, stick to the right side of the screen.
Deteacher
My tip for the week, though: Make a map
SpiceWare
Yes, you can find a trident piece after the clouds turn grey - that lets you cover a few more screens on each mapping run. What I did to map out each level was to always search unmapped areas first, even if I knew a trident piece was already mapped for the level. While mapping later levels, I didn't worry about maxing my score while playing thru the lower levels. Only after I finished mapping level 7 did I play a game where I collected as many extra clouds and sea horses as I could. I did notice that if I uncovered a trident piece and accidently flew off the screen w/out collecting it that I had to fly all the way back down to the water before it would show up again.
iangamer
Trident piece 1 is in the water, and the other 2 pieces are in the air, so yes, you do alternate in a sequence like this when collecting pieces (starfish) in levels 1 & 2: - Piece 1 (Water) - Pieces 2 & 3 (Air) Levels 3 and beyond: I suggest making a map for these levels.
aftermac
Each level seems to be the same. You collect seahorses in the water (and stars if they are present) until your seagull symbol appears. Then you collect the rest of the stars in the air. Once you have 3 pieces you return to the dolphin screen and swim down to free the mermaid. The higher the level, the further down you have to swim and the higher and further to the left you have to fly. This has been my experience through level 4.

 

--Zero

[keilbaca]

I never played the game before, but just by reading the description, it doesn't sound too fun.

 

Guess I'll just wait and see.

[+SpiceWare]

111

[shadow460]

I never played the game before, but just by reading the description, it doesn't sound too fun.

 

Guess I'll just wait and see.

 

It's difficult, I'll give you that. And it is even more difficult when my cart has a dead ROM IC. Guess I'll be playing in Stella this week.

 

1066, level 4.

 

Tips:

- Grab as many seahorses as you can.

- When you're in flight, remember you can fly up a screen unless there's a volcano crater or the dolphin present. Try flying up into the next screen especially when you're flying to the left. This will help you avoid the black birds that fly toward you at sea level.

- Try to avoid touching ALL clouds unless you're trying for a starfish. Once you've gotten the fish from a particular section of sky, don't touch even the pink clouds on the way down.

- Similarly, try to touch all the clouds or starfish on a particular screen before leaving that screen.

- Once you've got all three pieces of the Trident, touch pink clouds until no more of them appear.

- When swimming up or down, unless you intend to collect seahorses in that screen, stick to the right side of the screen.

Edited June 24, 2008 by shadow460

[iangamer]

I never played the game before, but just by reading the description, it doesn't sound too fun.

 

Guess I'll just wait and see.

 

Same here. I get screwed the most on Level 2, where I can't seem to find the middle piece of the trident. Hard as heck.

 

109

Edited June 19, 2008 by iangamer

[iangamer]

Double posting because I upped my score. Although it wasn't by too much.

 

128

[keilbaca]

Well, I played it last night. I might play it again, I doubt it though. Its not fun at all.

[Lauren Tyler]

142. Yuck.

[Kurt_Woloch]

Here's the best I could do... 421.

 

 

Somehow I can't manage to beat the third level... just can't find all pieces of the trident there. Either the ROM image here on Atariage is bad, or something else is wrong... I'm playing it on Stella, and for me, in level 2, the leftmost column of screens does NOT have a part of the trident. In the third level, which I can't beat, there doesn't seem to be a trident part under water, but there still are only two in the air... one at the rightmost and one at the one immediately left from your starting position (on the top screen of each). But the third part is nowhere to be found...

[Impaler_26]

Hm... I've only played this game a few times, i'll see if it is fun to play later...

 

Somehow I can't manage to beat the third level... just can't find all pieces of the trident there. Either the ROM image here on Atariage is bad, or something else is wrong...

Try this ROM instead.

Fathom__1983___Imagic__Wilfredo___Willy___Aguilar__Michael_Becker__Rob_Fulop___03205_.bin

[Kurt_Woloch]

Try this ROM instead.

 

Sorry, but this one does the same thing. And I've compared it with the one from AtariAge, they're exactly identical (except for the file name).

[Impaler_26]

Try this ROM instead.

 

Sorry, but this one does the same thing. And I've compared it with the one from AtariAge, they're exactly identical (except for the file name).

Hmm.... have you already tried a Pal-ROM?

[Deteacher]

I'm sitting this week out because I have a map of all the levels. I got this game off Ebay and it came with a map of where all the pieces are. Sure, I could play it without the map, but since I've already played it through all 7 levels with the help of the map, I figure I'll just take this week off. Besides, I could use the week to work on beating my brother's H.E.R.O. score. Have fun!

 

My tip for the week, though: Make a map.

[shadow460]

My cart went bad, so I used the Atariage rom to get the 1066 posted above.

[+SpiceWare]

My tip for the week, though: Make a map.

Great tip! I've mapped thru level 3 and found 2 pieces on level 4 so far.

 

494

[Impaler_26]

This game sucks! It has nice graphics but it ain't no fun to play. See ya next week guys!

 

116.

[shadow460]

New high:

 

My map's nearing completion, I think. I dunno if it stops after level 7, but I've mapped out about half of level 6.

[Deteacher]

New high:

 

My map's nearing completion, I think. I dunno if it stops after level 7, but I've mapped out about half of level 6.

 

Yes, the game stops after level 7. The manual states "a surprise" after completing the 7th level.

[darthkur]

401

 

I don't have the cart so I have to play it on Stella. I never knew how to play this game so had to read the instructions posted here in AA. It's a tough game actually, I think. Gets to be a pain finding those pieces having to take damage from each gray cloud.

 

[shadow460]

Once you build the map, though, you don't have to pick up any gray clouds at all. In fact, you will have to spend extra time cleaning up all the pink clouds to max your score.

 

My map is mode of a code list, really. I just developed a code for each screen, and listed codes for the screens that have starfish on them. It's easy to understand, I think. I'll post it Thursday for anyone who's wanting to beat the game (wouldn't be fair to post it during the competition).

[theking21083]

I got 135.

[+SpiceWare]

Finished it - 17,891

 

Wasn't sure what to make of the "special surprise" - googling turns it up as a reference to their address.

[shadow460]

looks like I've got work to do in catching up...

[iangamer]

Painstakingly played this game, beat level 2 (finally), and then promptly screwed up on level 3. IMO, this game is hard.

 

416

 

[Captain Beard]

Wasn't sure what to make of the "special surprise" - googling turns it up as a reference to their address.

Did you check out that ad too?

We really should have made that contest part of this week's event and awarded bonus points for the correct answer.

Or $1000. Whichever Ze_ro prefers.

Edited June 22, 2008 by Captain Beard