HSC Season 15 Round 10: Time Pilot, Star Raiders + Catch-up Rounds 1-9

[McKong]

Star Raiders Novice Ace Class 5 energy 3686

[Deteacher]

Time Pilot: 77,700! Made it through 2077. Starts over at 1910.

 

 

As for Star Raiders, I'll try to offer a few tips:

 

1. Save your energy. Turn off your shields when you're not in danger. Shields burn up a lot of energy...just remember to bring them back up when you're fighting.

2. Don't make large hyperwarp jumps, unless you have to. It saves energy to make smaller jumps to get to your target.

3. If your starbase is surrounded and you know you can't save it, blow it up yourself. Your rating will take a smaller hit if you destroy it yourself.

4. Once you learn how to avoid enemy shots, you can play through the Novice and Pilot missions without turning your shields on at all. That will save you a ton of energy and boost your rating. However, on Warrior and Commander missions, I'm convinced that your ship is a lot larger and easier to be hit, so I would advise against fighting without your shields.

5. If you see an enemy barreling down on you, no need to use your engines to close the gap faster. Let them come to you. Again, save your energy. Turn off your shields while waiting for them to come into range.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Deteacher

[+therealbountybob]

Star Raiders Novice Pilot Class 3 down to 233 Energy! Think I was shooting and warping too much. Will try next skill level next play.

 

Time Pilot 66,800

Still a little serene but glad they've addressed the difficulty - liking the new bombs (my review of the Party Version was in the last Pro© Mag #13)

don't know who that guy is in 2nd place but I've got my eye on him

[Sikor]

My poor result in TP:

[Deteacher]

So, I went back to the Novice Mission, seeing if I could improve on my ranking. Here's what I did:

 

1. Kept starting over until I found a map with most/all the enemies close together.

2. Attacking the larger groups first because the smaller groups would work their way over to me (allowing for smaller hyperwarp jumps. I was able to keep my jumps to no more than 200 energy per jump.

3. I played with no shields, no computer and no engine use. Only life-support for me.

4. Did my best to take each enemy out with 1-3 shots (a few took more than that.)

 

Final ranking: Warrior, Class 5, with 7,550 energy remaining.

 

 

I was able to improve my gas mileage, but same rank as before. I'm guessing that Warrior Class 4 might be possible, but not seeing how anything better would be possible on the Novice mission.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Deteacher

[Deteacher]

Please disregard my 77k score for Time Pilot. I must have downloaded the WIP version. Once I downloaded the final version from the top post, I realize that the difficulty is much higher than the one I scored 77k on. Please accept my apology for this oversight. Here is my score for the correct version: 66,800!

 

 

Almost finished 2077.

[McKong]

Time Pilot 69800 beat 2077!

 

And again 98700 so close to another bonus life

Edited May 31, 2018 by McKong

[+therealbountybob]

Player Star Raiders on Pilot, having to keep the recticle centred makes it tricky to get to the right box! Struggled to dock with the Star Bases think I moved and then you can't re-dock (will check instructions). Galactic Cook Class 5

[carlsson]

Time Pilot - 45800 pts, reached year 1982.

Actually I did better on this version that last year's preview that supposedly was easier.

 

Star Raiders - Novice mission. After briefly reading the instructions, I spent 4 minutes on this game and got to Garbage Scow Captain Class 3 which of course is laughable but this doesn't really seem to be my type of game so perhaps I'll stick with playing a few times for just showing up, not really trying to set any scores.

 

Now excuse me while I enjoy a game of M.U.L.E. which will be posted in the separate thread.

[Deteacher]

Player Star Raiders on Pilot, having to keep the recticle centred makes it tricky to get to the right box! Struggled to dock with the Star Bases think I moved and then you can't re-dock (will check instructions). Galactic Cook Class 5

 

If you move after "orbit established" and it says "Docking Aborted", just move the starbase back into the middle and re-establish orbit and the docking will start over.

[Deteacher]

Here's another Star Raiders tip:

 

If the enemy destroys your shields, hit "H" immediately. That will fire up your hyperwarp engines, allowing you to get away from the enemy. Once you've put some distance on the enemy, press 0 (or any number key) to abort the hyperwarp. Then go to your map and get to the nearest starbase for repairs.

 

I'll post a video of how to dock with the starbase if anyone needs help with that.

 

Edit: Here's a quick video, as promised.

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Deteacher

[Deteacher]

Time Pilot: 83,200!

 

 

I had one extra life in the bank while finishing 2077, so I flew my jet right into the boss UFO, killing both of us, but allowing me to go back to 1910 with my last life.

[+therealbountybob]

Time Pilot 74,700 still not beaten the saucers

[+therealbountybob]

Today's scores

TP 82,000 at the end of the saucers before the boss

 

Star Raiders - Novice. Getting things together now with less accidental detours from hyperwarping on the galactic chart Ace Class 4 (I'm playing using the default galaxy each time)

[+slx]

(I'm playing using the default galaxy each time)

 

Is there a way to play NOT using the default galaxy? I thought it was kinda random and never noticed there was any kind of choice or option except for the four difficulty levels (quite a change after playing on the VCS with its multitude of options for all games).

[+therealbountybob]

 

Is there a way to play NOT using the default galaxy? I thought it was kinda random and never noticed there was any kind of choice or option except for the four difficulty levels (quite a change after playing on the VCS with its multitude of options for all games).

I was referring to deteachers "tip" of restarting until you get a favourable one I'm really liking the game. I played The Last Starfghter a lot, it's the same idea in both really. Hopefully we will see someone update the SRII (old new one) at some point

[Deteacher]

 

Is there a way to play NOT using the default galaxy? I thought it was kinda random and never noticed there was any kind of choice or option except for the four difficulty levels (quite a change after playing on the VCS with its multitude of options for all games).

 

Each time you start a new game, the placement of the enemies and starbases is randomly generated.

[Deteacher]

I was referring to deteachers "tip" of restarting until you get a favourable one I'm really liking the game. I played The Last Starfghter a lot, it's the same idea in both really. Hopefully we will see someone update the SRII (old new one) at some point

 

Yeah, I did the restart thing to see if it was possible to get better than Warrior class 5 on the novice mission. All the other games, I just started with what was given to me. Having said that, there's a great tip in the manual. I'm paraphrasing here but:

 

Take out the small groups of enemies first, if possible. They move the fastest from sector to sector. Taking them out reduces the chances of a starbase being surrounded/destroyed.

[+therealbountybob]

Star Raiders - I was pondering on whether it's better to go hyperspacing after them (like I did) or to wait near a starbase - esp on Novice where there is not so much movement. Perhaps you can see look at where they are heading and wait at that starbase to pick them off and get them while making your way to it.

 

I think it was a mistake to go the edge of the galactic chart I thought it would wrap around but it is a long jump.

 

Was it right that you can hyperspace quickly again to save energy or something when hopping around a few squares at a time?

 

[+slx]

Time Pilot 72500 (says SKK but still me , just a typo with the gamepad), reached 1982:

 

improved to 82000, last fighter lost in sight of the 1982 "mothership":

 

Now back to those Zylons, Commander SLX. Really need to dig out my 1980s high score notebook to see how I did 35 years ago.

 

Edited June 2, 2018 by slx

[Deteacher]

Star Raiders - I was pondering on whether it's better to go hyperspacing after them (like I did) or to wait near a starbase - esp on Novice where there is not so much movement. Perhaps you can see look at where they are heading and wait at that starbase to pick them off and get them while making your way to it.

 

I think it was a mistake to go the edge of the galactic chart I thought it would wrap around but it is a long jump.

 

Was it right that you can hyperspace quickly again to save energy or something when hopping around a few squares at a time?

 

 

The Zylons can only go after one base at a time. So, on the harder missions, a good tip is to figure out which starbase they are trying to surround, then stick close to that starbase. They will not "change their minds" and go after a different starbase, until they successfully destroy that base. So, your strategy is good.

 

Your overall rating is partially calculated by amount of energy used and how long it takes to complete the mission. So, to be honest, I think you're trading one for the other...either using more energy to finish the mission quicker, versus taking longer but using less energy. For me, I'd rather save the energy and take a little longer.

 

And yes, smaller quick hyper jumps cost less energy than one long jump.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Deteacher

[+therealbountybob]

 

And yes, smaller quick hyper jumps cost less energy than one long jump.

but is it better to jumping again immediately as one has completed before you've lost inertia or does this not matter?

[Deteacher]

but is it better to jumping again immediately as one has completed before you've lost inertia or does this not matter?

 

I don't think that makes much difference. You might save a tiny amount of energy and a second or two.

[+slx]

Catch-up:

 

Jumpman Jr. 6150 (speed 3 - Hellstones)

Edited June 2, 2018 by slx

[McKong]

Time Pilot 128100