Double Achievement Unlocked

[mikey.shake]

[Let me preface this by saying I'm the very definition of a casual gamer. I love retro gaming, but that doesn't mean I'm particularly accomplished (read: "any dang good"). I just like playing 'em.]

 

I work from home, but I took the day off anyway. Feeling a little under the weather. I end up playing some Cosmic Ark and Keystone Kapers in bed. Enjoying myself. But repeatedly plateauing after a few minutes on Keystone Kapers. Getting to a certain point where it was just a little too fast for me.

 

So I pop in River Raid for a change of pace. Play for a few rounds and notice I'm doing a little better than usual and topping 10K. So I check the internet and find that the "patch-earning" threshold for River Raid is 15K. I give it a little more time and a little more focus, and wham! -- I pass 15,000. "Earning" only my second of the patches Activision offered. (After Pitfall!, but that's another story...) I'm now a River Raider.

 

Feeling rather chuffed by the whole thing, I toss Keystone Kapers back into the short-rainbow'd slot for another go. I keep at it. My hand cramps up since it's been about an hour since I started playing Cosmic Ark. I keep getting closer, but failing. Then I actually start getting worse. But one more push gets me back on the upswing, and I finally cross the 35K necessary to earn a spot in the "Billy Club".

 

I'm fully aware that these scores aren't anything to crow about in a place where a number of people have clocked the friggin' game. But I still consider myself "novice" most of the time, so crossing two titles off my "conquer" list (in one day!) was a pleasant surprise on an overcast day. All real hardware, on a hand-cramping CX-40, no d-pads or emulators.

 

And since my wife can only feign so much enthusiasm, and since Activision clearly no longer cares, here's me stating for the dang record that I did it in about the only place left on Earth in which it still means anything.

 

Kaboom!, Megamania, and Spider Fighter? You're next.

 

 

 

 

 

(I was so happy, I had to jump face-first into a plane.)

 

 

[Jinks]

Great job!!

 

15k patch? I can get in the 40,000+ or more. I thought the patch would be like 100k. Hmm I coulda been a atari gamer nerd extrodinare BITD.

[thorr]

Kaboom is one of my all time favorites if not my all time favorite. It's quite simple and addicting. If you stick with it, you should be able to get the 3000 no problem. Game hint / spoiler... Don't read further unless you want some help getting to 3000... If you have 3 buckets, be sure to lose one just before each 1000 mark so it slows down to the previous level and you get the third bucket back at the slower speed.

[+cvga]

Great job! Even though Activision won't send you a patch, you can find most of them on eBay.

[high voltage]

1985, I got into the Billy club, took a polaroid, wrote to Activision Germany, which was handled via Ariola and half a year later I received a Beamriders patch (not the half moon design). I was like what?? butI was just happy to receive anything, really.

Obviously getting rid of old stock. Wish I still had the patch.

Edited June 2, 2015 by high voltage

[Army Of 2600]

So nice to see that you're using actual cartridges and not an emulator. Old school rules.

[+cvga]

The half moon Beamriders patch is the only one I still need (I know they didn't send you that one).

[mikey.shake]

CHK-CHK-CHK-CHK-CHK!

 

Does Chopper Command not have the coolest machine-gun sound effect for the VCS?

 

I'll stop after this one, I guess. It's not like these aren't piddly scores anyway, despite their significance to me. As a novice-level gamer, crossing the "patch threshold" is, in essence -- "beating the game". It's not like I can't go back to it or set a new point target. Which is sorta what I love about 2600 games -- replayability. But you know... gotta have goals, so you can mark when you achieve 'em. You all were so nice about the other ones and all.

 

I kind of expected this one to be trickier. Kaboom!'s been eluding me all week, seriously. Even with the 1000/drop trick, that 1700-2000 range always wipes me out. So I was surprised when I found myself sick in bed (again!) messing about with Chopper Command and noticed I was past 10,000. I had to double-check a scan of the actual manual to make sure I hadn't misread "100,000" or something. I guess all that time with Defender II paid off. I've still got Kaboom!, Megamania, Spider Fighter, and Seaquest (with maybe Barnstorming and Sky Jinks) to cross off my accomplishments list.

 

Really? This is just a sneaky excuse to post a shot of my new Harmony Cart. It's... the best.

 

Hope you're all having a lovely day. Please continue Atariing.

 

Edited June 5, 2015 by mikey.shake

[thorr]

Great! Do keep us posted! :-) When I play Kaboom! I let the tips of my fingers touch the bottom half of the paddle lightly while I rotate the top half. It gives me a better sense of positioning and control.

[mikey.shake]

Great! Do keep us posted! :-) When I play Kaboom! I let the tips of my fingers touch the bottom half of the paddle lightly while I rotate the top half. It gives me a better sense of positioning and control.

 

 

Thanks, I'll need all the help I can get!

 

Today was Spider Fighter. I plugged away at it for about an hour and eventually got that sweet, sweet taste of patch-y victory for the first time.

 

 

I know I said I was gonna stop (and I will), but this one got me thinking. (I was gonna start another thread, but don't wanna be "that guy".)

 

I'm pretty used to the CX-40 joystick by now. The first week back on the horse was a little tough, but after a little practice, it felt natural again. But playing Spider Fighter, my firing hand is all cramped up. And it's rare that a game will prove PHYSICALLY difficult now that I'm used to the controls once more. But this one was a doozy.

 

Does anyone else have any special games that, for whatever reason, are particular wrist-wreckers to you? Hand-crampers? Digit destroyers?

[thorr]

Congrats! For other games that hurt your hand: Decathlon and Boxing

[mikey.shake]

Congrats! For other games that hurt your hand: Decathlon and Boxing

 

 

Thanks for the tip! I'll have my wrist brace ready!

 

Inspired/motivated by the other thread that popped up today, I decided to keep my Activision patch-points pursuit going. After about an hour of practice last night and another hour this morning, I finally (l)earned the skills I needed to cross the threshold on Megamania. I'm probably most proud of this one, as silly as it may seem. I've wanted this for 30 years, give or take. I LOVED Megamania when I was little. It just completely encapsulated what I loved about the VCS at the time. But I was terrible at it.

 

A few years later on the playground (in the thick of the NES age), some kid I knew was talking about Space Invaders.

 

"That's the one with the hamburgers and Cookie Crisp that swoop down and attack all crazy, right?", I asked. The kid gave me a real funny look. In fact, he always gave me the side-eye after that.

 

 

But that one was one I was WORKING at to some degree. Once I was done, I popped in Seaquest for some "training". Lo and behold after about a half hour and a few lazy resets, somehow I'd crossed 50,000. I was so stupefied, I died almost immediately. Patience and precision, but it was sort of a "skin of my teeth" thing. I think I'd only topped out at 25K previously. I was only planning on getting a little practice -- you can even see that I'm playing from a HC, not the real cartridge. If I'd known I was gonna do it, I would have thrown the actual cart in there, just for photographic posterity!

 

 

I know it's all silly, but since I'm nowhere near a HSC-level player, I'm just delighted to get the chance to go back and "accomplish" these. And maybe I can finally consider myself "not-quite-novice" anymore, even if I'm still a long, long way from "expert".

 

Now, all that remains is... Kaboom!

 

(*cue ominous boss music*)

Edited June 8, 2015 by mikey.shake

[thorr]

I am enjoying your journey and you are making me want to do the same thing! I am super busy at the moment and in the middle of trying to move, so I think it will probably have to wait a few months. We'll see.

As far as Kaboom! goes, after you get the 3,000, try to get to 10,000. The bomber does something special. I don't think I ever got to 10,000 yet, so that will be my new goal. I know I got over 5,000 before, but I don't remember my high score.

 

Also, instead of making my wrist hurt, Kaboom! makes my eyes water from staring at the screen and not blinking, lol! It wreaks havoc on my contacts too. They feel like they will pop off my eyes while I am frantically trying to catch all of the bombs. :-)

Edited June 10, 2015 by thorr

[thorr]

Ok, you inspired me to hook up my Atari and get out Kaboom! I haven't played it in a long time so I am rusty. After about an hour or so, I finally broke the 3000 barrier (at 4:40 AM)! Twice I reached around 2979 and died after only about 15 minutes of playing. At one point I even got to the 8'th level and it seemed like the bombs were compressed vertically because they were going so fast. After that, I figured out a new trick that helped me get over 3000: Never let it get past level 6. Level 6 is playable with two buckets with practice and even somewhat playable with 1 bucket but it is very hard. You get a maximum of 450 points on level 6 (minus 6 points for not passing the level). So, crash at 994, get your third bucket back, crash again at 1563 just before level 7 so you have two buckets again on level 5. You will get your third bucket back on level 6 again and be above 2000. Before you finish level 6, lose a bucket again and go back to level 5. Play Level 5 and 6 again with two buckets and do the best you can until you reach 3000. Don't let it get down to one bucket if you can avoid it. Even more important is to not let it get to level 7 because it gets too fast (unless you only have one bucket and have to go to level 7).

 

 

[mikey.shake]

Thanks for the support, thorr! And congrats yourself!

 

More Kaboom! time today (up to about 2700), but that 3K mark is still eluding me... though I have to say, I'm pretty sure that your technique, one way or another, is going to have a positive influence on my playing! I think I'm almost there.

 

But after pulling the cart from the console in a fit of pique, I thunked in the Harmony Cart and fired up Sky Jinks -- just to RELAX... and I can cross another patch off! I'm a Sky Star now!

 

[mikey.shake]

I followed thorr's trick... basically just "never let it get to 7". Dropping just the last bucket during each round of Speed 6, and later trying to keep up with just two paddles on Speed 6. I played for ages yesterday, but was just burnt out. About 20 minutes today, and I was in the groove. I know it's not MUCH, but it's officially my first-ever "patch-worthy" score for Kaboom!

 

I might be more proud of this than any other video game achievement, as meager and "just barely" as it actually is.

 

 

I also think that this might close out this thread for me. My personal quest to achieve all of the patches I wanted is all here (except for my Pitfall! badge quest, which is better documented elsewhere: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/237061-dear-activision/ ). I've wanted to finally sit down and do some of these for decades, and it's real gratifying to not only be able to do it, but among a community of people who still give a flying fruitcake about games like these.

 

I've still got Barnstorming to casually attack (just because I bought it recently and kinda like it, but it's not one of my longtime goals), and who knows what else I might score on, but I'll probably just post any further adventures over in the awesome "Activision Patches 2015 Summer quest" thread that's kicked up recently.

 

I'm also going to take a few days off from Kaboom!.

 

Thanks for all the support! I feel a little less like a beginner now.

 

Hope you're all enjoying yourselves!

[thorr]

Congratulations!!! I knew you could do it! Now work on getting to 10,000