High Score Club Week 17: Moonsweeper

Ze_ro · July 26, 2004

Important note: This weeks competition is over. If you still wish to discuss Moonsweeper, then feel free to do so, but no further scores will be accepted. Thanks to everyone for all their contributions! Please join in on the latest High Score Club competition!

Quick! You must rescue the stranded miners in Star Quadrant Jupiter2! Watch out for the deadly photon torch and space bullet showers... Aurora flare activity is high, and alien ships may be in the vicinity! You must succeed though, because this week's game is Moonsweeper!

Game Information
Game	Moonsweeper
Left Difficulty	N/A?
Right Difficulty	N/A?
Game Mode	Game 4: Hardest Difficulty
Chosen By	intvgene

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 will be approximately Sunday, August 1st at midnight (CST). In case you haven't already done so, please read the High Score Club rules. There is other useful information contained in that previous link, including a list of previous High Score Club games!

In case you don't have this game, you can find a copy of the ROM at AtariAge's Profile Page for this game. You can also find such things as a typed copy of the manual, reviews, screenshots, and other information there.

If you are not a member of the High Score Club, but would like to be, then all you have to do is post a reply saying so, and I'll add you to the list!

Next week's game will be chosen by InanimateCarbonRod! Please send me a Private Message letting me know which game (and difficulty settings) you've chosen as soon as possible InanimateCarbonRod!

High Scores	Other Info
High Score Club:

[*]543,030 (the 5th ghost)

[+10]
[*]

538,580 (keilbaca) [+8]
[*]322,880 (Jeffy Arensmeyer) [+7]
[*]131,670 (tin) [+6]
[*]36,535 (Ze_ro) [+5]
[*]27,690 (Chris++) [+4]
[*]27,670 (Malc74) [+3]
[*]23,400 (Robert M) [+2]
[*]12,445 (LarcenTyler) [+1]
[*]7510 (jedijeff)
[*]6515 (gospeedde)
[*]6370 (Goochman)
[*]4950 (Shannon)
[*]4770 (vb_master)

:
- 96,430 (Mark Feldt)
  [*]6,560 (Greg Troutman)
  [*]4,630 (Lafe Travis)

Best Tips:

Score Statistics

Average Score: 179,597
[*]Std. Deviation: 76,418
[*]Total Score: 2,693,955

Current Standings

Member List

InanimateCarbonRod, pmpddytim, Xot, Scooterb23, Dan Iacovelli, LarcenTyler, sku_u, Luigi301, Max-T, adams_ale, gamerz, Christophero Sly, Trooper, Nateo, homerwannabee, lost child, Happy_Dude, video game addict, Spirantho, bobafett07728, mikefrevino, Paul Slocum, fsuinnc, Gamemaster_ca_2003, Robert M, DeV0, Gateway, Mendon, Fretwobbler, PaulEMoz, killersquirel, shining slade, chadtower, gospeedde, stayrunner, Big Player, Swingtown, Chris++, hotpants, hobbles, taxman, Ze_ro, maibock, moycon, somePUNK, Saldo, Stingray, Kepone, xmetalhedx, chrisbid, Kialan, Jeffy Arensmeyer, Keir, ToddRogers, Numan, iguana, LU8, jeepnut24, Albert, Tsukasa, Adrian M, dykesr, EricDeLee, Thomas Jentzsch, The 8th Passenger, the 5th ghost, Bunsen, atari_wizard, jedijeff, davepesc, maximebeauvais, buzzguy, bjk7382, khryssun, HermChase, wiz21mx, karnov, Goochman, NE146, Sora, Malc74, sabeen557, 128bytes, Kurushimi, Fellow Atari Man, liquid_sky

Scoring Points in Moonsweeper
Action	Blue Moon	Green Moon	Yellow Moon	Red Moon
Rescue Miner	10	20	30	40
Shoot Tower, Surface Destroyer, or Missile	10	10	40	80
Shoot Lander Ship	200	200	300	300
Shoot Satellite	300	500	700	1000
Blast Off	980	1225	1470	1960
Shoot a Space Bullet, Aurora Flame, or Photon Torch	10 (In orbit only)
For each use of Forcefield Shield	Points decrease while shield is in use
An extra Moonsweeper is awarded every 10,000 points, up to a maximum of nine in total
Score Rolls? - Unknown, presumably after 999,995?
The scoring on the orbit screen seems to change depending on the planet you just visited. This seems to be undocumented! See the 5th ghost's hints below for more information

Hints and Tips

As always, you really should read the manual.

What's that? You don't have the manual? Well no problem, because AtariAge has a typed copy of the manual available online right over here.

What's that? You're too damn lazy to click that link? Well, there aren't any hints in there anyways, although it might help if you understood the game's rules.
(the manual)

-If you see a Satellite, fire a missile at it (pull back and press the button.) If you hit it, it's worth big points!

-Don't fire indiscriminately! For one thing, you can only have one shot on the screen at a time. More importantly, though, is the fact that miners can accidentally be shot, which gets you no points, but leaves you with a sour aftertaste in your mouth!

-The difficulty of each moon, from easiest to hardest, is as follows: Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red. Note that on the Blue moons, the accelerator rings, which are used to take off after rescuing six miners, appear in a straight line, while on other moons they appear in a random pattern.

-Your speed is increased on each moon, depending on the difficulty. When you're on the red moons, note that you can't decelerate at all, meaning you must be very careful when dodging towers and picking up miners.

(LarcenTyler)

I find that the Red and Yellow planets are the only ones worth landing on since they can yield the most points. I don't even bother with the Blue and Green planets, just avoid those. Mainly, because you can score 10K on the Red planet alone and gain an extra Moonsweeper. Just keep blasting EVERYTHING on the Red and Yellow planets (except the stranded astronauts of course )

When you have all 6 astronauts rescued, I find that the Satellite will usually appear around the time the Accelerator Rings appear so you may want to wait and blast the Satellite instead for the big points. Once you start through the Accelerator Rings, don't push up on the joystick, simply guide your ship left and right and let the Accelerator Rings do their thing. (the 5th ghost)

Learn how to hit the surface destroyer. Since the game insists on sending that thing over and over again. It's a shame you only get 10 points for that pain in the neck destroyer. The lander ship is worth more, so go for it if you can. It typically comes 3-4 times in a row, so expect it.

Try not to shoot the men, and if you get five don't worry about missing the accelerator rings. If you miss a couple more will come later.

Dont worry too much on hitting the towers. They are only worth ten points. Go for the big point items like the lander ship, satellite, and getting your five men to leave the planet.

When aiming for the towers I use a slide and shoot method. Slide to the right or left (release so your ship is straight) and fire when you cross the towers path.
(Shannon)

Don't land on the Blue and Red planets. This is why. On those planets, your only real threat is the UFO's. you can dodge the towers fine. On the Blue and Red planets, the UFO's land too quickly. On the Green and Yellow planets, they wait around before they drop the UFO. This gives you time to destroy it. Concentrate on destroying them instead of the towers, and you'll get the time to get the miners and leave the planet.

Get used to dodging on the orbit (the screen when you try to land on a planet) Once you get used to that, and follow my planet tip, you'll get a better feel for the game, and produce higher scores.
(keilbaca)

Its easier to dodge the UFO's than to actually kill them... just sweep from left to right, and back to left, of course watching out for everything else, and they'll either disappear or run into something and kill itself. (keilbaca)

Here is an easy way to rack up points: First, land on a Red Planet. Regardless of how successful you are on the Red Planet, when you return to the Orbit screen, each Space Bullet, Aurora Flame and Photon Torch will now be worth 80 points each. This is not mentioned in the manual but apparently, the point value of these objects is related to the planet you last entered. So, if you touch the Yellow planet, the objects on the following Orbit screen will be worth 40 points, after the Blue and Green planets, 10 points, the same point value for hitting the Towers on each planet.

Having said that, after hitting a Red planet, go to the Orbit screen and while pushing up on the joystick for maximum speed, just keep nailing the Aurora Flames shooting from the Sun, leaning left or right to hit the ones that shoot off to either side. Ignore the orbiting Space Rocks and Photon Torches. The planets will be out of range so just stay in the center and guide your shots to hit the Photon Flames as long as you can stand it. At 80 points each, your score will pile up pretty fast. If you have the patience, you can do this till you get all 9 extra men then slow down to touch the planets.

I usually do this trick if I am close to my next free guy and want a minimal risk way to get that free guy. I haven't tried to just do it forever though (too boring!)
(the 5th ghost)

Tips:
(Jeffy Arensmeyer)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, but after you exit a planet (successfully or not), the game pauses at the orbit screen until you do something. So, if you need a quick break to get a drink or just crack your knuckles, now is your chance! However, this pause doesn't seem to be overly reliable (as keilbaca can attest to I'm sure), so if you leave the game paused for too long, you may loose your score entirely! (Ze_ro)

When you reach 10.000 points you gain an extra life, now go into space and use your shield to drop your score just below 10,000. Shoot a flare to get back to 10,000 and get another life. Repeat. You can get all 9 of your potential extra lives doing this trick. (Robert M) (Please refrain from abusing this in order to get high scores!)

The key is to totally avoid the blue and green moons. They're nothing more than a low-scoring hazard. Even for the blast-off points, they're just too risky.

And the Orbit screen is another hazard to avoid. Keep the throttle up until you see a red or yellow planet, then dive in. And most importantly: Always listen to the sounds. The Launcher Ships have a very distinct sound, so when you first hear the sound, be ready to move to their location, pull back and fire. The Surface Destroyers are truly dangerous, so totally avoid them by taking out the Launcher Ships post haste. (Jeffy Arensmeyer)

Remember that when you hold down and hit fire, you're actually firing upwards... this shot will NOT hit the miners or the towers, so you can fire at satellites without having to worry about hitting the miners. (Ze_ro)

Good luck everyone!

--Zero

[*]the 5th ghost [140]
[*]Jeffy Arensmeyer [119]
[*]sku_u [85]
[*]jedijeff [63]
[*]Stingray [48]
[*]Ze_ro [45]
[*]Chris++ [40]
[*]Saldo [28]
[*]bobafett07728 [27]
[*]stayrunner [24]
[*]bjk7382 [24]
[*]taxman [23]
[*]Shannon [21]
[*]NintendoDieScreaming [21]
[*]Malc74 [21]
[*]Robert M [21]
[*]crsdawg [20]
[*]Numan [19]
[*]homerwannabee [17]
[*]The 8th Passenger [17]
[*]Fellow Atari Man [17]
[*]keilbaca [16]
[*]Tsukasa [15]
[*]HermChase [13]
[*]Kurushimi [12]
[*]NovaXpress [12]
[*]Christophero Sly [12]
[*]Thomas Jentzsch [9]
[*]gospeedde [8]
[*]Goochman [7]
[*]khryssun [7]
[*]Keir [7]
[*]dykesr [7]
[*]mikeftrevino [7]
[*]NE146 [7]
[*]EricDeLee [6]
[*]Paul Slocum [6]
[*]StanJr [5]
[*]DeV0 [4]
[*]tin [3]
[*]maibock [2]
[*]Nateo [2]
[*]Sora [2]
[*]LarcenTyler [1]
[*]InanimateCarbonRod [0]
[*]shining slade [0]
[*]Kepone [0]
[*]Saikyo [0]
[*]Scooterb23 [0]
[*]moycon [0]
[*]gamerz [0]
[*]Dan Iacovelli [0]
[*]128bytes [0]
[*]video game addict [0]
[*]LU8 [0]
[*]Gamemaster_ca_2003 [0]
[*]fsuinnc [0]
[*]iguana [0]
[*]davepesc [0]
[*]Albert [0]
[*]pmpddytim [0]
[*]karnov [0]
[*]pitfallaimee [0]
[*]Happy_Dude [0]
[*]Kialan [0]
[*]xmetalhedx [0]
[*]Adrian M [0]
[*]intvgene [0]
[*]ScottHuggins [0]
[*]jeepnut24 [0]
[*]figgler [0]
[*]Old_Atarian [0]
[*]hobbles [0]
[*]liquid_sky [0]
[*]sabeen557 [0]
[*]Spirantho [0]
[*]johnnywc [0]
[*]vb_master [0]
[*]PaulEMoz [0]
[*]FireTiger [0]
[*]BigFairy321 [0]
[*]atari_wizard [0]
[*]lost child [0]
[*]AcidTone [0]
[*]Bunsen [0]
[*]chadtower [0]
[*]Big Player [0]

Standings are current as of the beginning of this week,
and do NOT include points from this week's game. If
you think there has been a mistake in any of the
scoring, please contact me.

Shannon · July 26, 2004

And another week begins..

keilbaca · July 26, 2004

Wow this is hard... looks like i got my work cut out for me...

keilbaca · July 26, 2004

Here ya go... 99,270. I dunno if the score rolls, i just wanted to get this score now being i didn't have my camera handy in case the score did roll and then i couldn't prove it...

keilbaca · July 26, 2004

Game does NOT roll over at 99,999... my new score is 108,850. Also one note, starting at 90k you no longer gain any extra lives.

Lauren Tyler · July 26, 2004

Hey, I wrote an FAQ for this game awhile back, and I can give you these bits of advice:

-If you see a Satellite, fire a missile at it (pull back and press the button.) If you hit it, it's worth big points!

-Don't fire indiscriminately! For one thing, you can only have one shot on the screen at a time. More importantly, though, is the fact that miners can accidentally be shot, which gets you no points, but leaves you with a sour aftertaste in your mouth!

-The difficulty of each moon, from easiest to hardest, is as follows: Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red. Note that on the Blue moons, the accelerator rings, which are used to take off after rescuing six miners, appear in a straight line, while on other moons they appear in a random pattern.

Malc74 · July 26, 2004

Keilbaca - that's one damn fine score! I've been plugging away all morning and the best I can come up with so far is 27670.

My main problem with this one is the pretty awful collision detection. It's extremely annoying to be killed by something that's nowhere near you.

keilbaca · July 26, 2004

Thanks... i finally put my drunken joystick to good use... i took a psx arcade joystick and turned it to a dual atari 2600 stick... i'll attach a pic on how it works.

keilbaca · July 26, 2004

Here's the best pic i can get of the insides... and yes i was very drunk when i soldered this together. (hence the name drunken mod)

Goochman · July 26, 2004

4210 - Graphic limitations on the 2600 make this not so fun to play IMHO

Excellent concept - Kinda like Buck Rogers

Lauren Tyler · July 27, 2004

One more tip I got for my FAQ courtesy of Dimetric Houston:

-Your speed is increased on each moon, depending on the difficulty. When you're on the red moons, note that you can't decelerate at all, meaning you must be very careful when dodging towers and picking up miners.

Ze_ro · July 27, 2004

Well, I thoroughly suck at this game... I managed to get 7550. Hopefully I'll be able to improve that with a little work.

--Zero

Shannon · July 28, 2004

Hmmm... Not very many people playing this one..

Although I find the collision detection wonky, and the game all around annoying. Here is my score so far. Based on pure luck, and certainly not on any skill I have.

My suggesions. Learn how to hit the surface destroyer. Since the game insists on sending that thing over and over again. It's a shame you only get 10 points for that pain in the neck destroyer. The lander ship is worth more, so go for it if you can. It typically comes 3-4 times in a row, so expect it.

Try not to shoot the men, and if you get five don't worry about missing the accelerator rings. If you miss a couple more will come later.

Dont worry too much on hitting the towers. They are only worth ten points. Go for the big point items like the lander ship, satellite, and getting your five men to leave the planet.

When aiming for the towers I use a slide and shoot method. Slide to the right or left (release so your ship is straight) and fire when you cross the towers path.

4950 is my score.

Malc74 · July 28, 2004

Hmmm... Not very many people playing this one..

Yeah, it's a bit quiet this week. Is everyone off on holiday or something? Been trying a bit more with this one but can't improve on my score as of yet. The collision detection... awful, absolutely awful.

Lauren Tyler · July 28, 2004

I wrote the FAQ on this game, yet this was all I managed to get. (Then again, I didn't have much time to play so that might've affected it too.)

vb_master · July 28, 2004

First try, 4,770!

keilbaca · July 28, 2004

Here's some tips for you guys. Don't land on the Blue and Red planets. This is why. On those planets, your only real threat is the UFO's. you can dodge the towers fine. On the Blue and Red planets, the UFO's land too quickly. On the Green and Yellow planets, they wait around before they drop the UFO. This gives you time to destroy it. Concentrate on destroying them instead of the towers, and you'll get the time to get the miners and leave the planet.

keilbaca · July 28, 2004

One more tip. Get used to dodging on the orbit (the screen when you try to land on a planet) Once you get used to that, and follow my planet tip, you'll get a better feel for the game, and produce higher scores. Good luck all! Too bad I don't have a way to record the game, to send it to twin galaxies... oh well.

Chris++ · July 28, 2004

I've always liked this game because it's hard. :twisted:

A tip: During the planetary stage, the little flashing box near the border shows you where the next man to be rescued will show up (latitude-wise).

Also remember that you can pull back and fire a missile to hit the carrier ship that's dropping the bad guys onto you. With timing, you can nail it before it exits back through the top border. More will show up, unfortunately, but it's a major score-booster.

I hit 27,690 last night. (Damn parachuting spaz-ships!) Will hopefully do better before the week's over.

Malc74 · July 28, 2004

I hit 27,690 last night. (Damn parachuting spaz-ships!) Will hopefully do better before the week's over.

Damn! Beat me by 20 points!

*Rushes off to play some more*

gospeedde · July 28, 2004

I made it to 5900.

Does anyone know what song plays when you die? I swear I recognize it and its driving me crazy.

Chris++ · July 28, 2004

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," an old gospel standard.

gospeedde · July 28, 2004

Of course, of course. Thank you very much, now I can stop humming it.

Chris++ · July 28, 2004

Either that, or you're stuck with it for the rest of the day.

vb_master · July 28, 2004

It appears that there are some Twin Galaxies scores to change.

High Score Club Week 17: Moonsweeper

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