Ze_ro Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Important note: This weeks competition is over. If you still wish to discuss this game, 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! It's a battle for survival in an underground cavern! Rumors of a hidden treasure led you into this deep catacombs, but instead, all you find are blobs, spiders and robots! Run down the corridors and pick up ammunition as you go. Keep clear of the creatures... avoid robot fire. Shoot to destroy! Because this week's game is Dark Cavern! Game Information Game Name: Dark Cavern Released By: M-Network, 1982 Left Difficulty: B / Novice - Normal skill level Right Difficulty: Not Applicable? Game Mode: Default Chosen By: Christophero Sly 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 Tuesday, June 7th at 1:30 AM (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! As before, next week's game will be chosen by the next person in the member list, which happens to be yuppicide! Please send me a private message with your choice of game for next week! 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 score for this week's game, and I'll add you to the list! Current High Scores 689,000 (Osbo) [+11] 626,000 (keilbaca) [+10] 328,000 (the 5th ghost) [+9] 316,000 (Cybergoth) [+8] 298,000 (SpiceWare) [+7] 296,000 (StanJr) [+6] 292,000 (cyberneticimplant) [+5] 264,000 (xeex) [+4] 262,000 (Goochman) [+3] 250,000 (Fellow Atari Man) [+2] 209,000 (vdub_bobby) [+1] 176,000 (neotokeo2001) [+1] 145,000 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 95,000 (Mad Scientist) [+1] 74,000 (Malc74) [+1] 70,000 (gospeedde) [+1] 54,000 (khryssun) [+1] 37,000 (scogey) [+1] 29,000 (davepesc) [+1] 14,000 (bmlbytes) [+1] Best Tips StanJr [+2]Bounties and Challenges None yet!Current Standings StanJr [167] keilbaca [163] the 5th ghost [112] Osbo [77] sku_u [71] Malc74 [65] SpiceWare [57] vdub_bobby [50] Fellow Atari Man [50] KaeruYojimbo [47] video game addict [42] Christophero Sly [41] gospeedde [40] LarcenTyler [39] Numan [39] Mad Scientist [37] Robert M [33] Keir [32] Lord Thag [30] racer raul [29] Blackjack [28] chrisbid [28] Philflound [27] pitfallaimee [24] Goochman [24] Dones [24] Lord Helmet [21] Cybergoth [20] Dan Iacovelli [20] khryssun [19] mikeftrevino [18] chubsta [17] yuppicide [15] candiru [14] panda_racer [13] cvga [13] davepesc [11] scogey [10] Thomas Jentzsch [9] adams_ale [6] Luigi301 [5] Gamemaster_ca_2003 [5] cyberneticimplant [5] Bubbledragon [4] BydoEmpire [3] kemsted [3] Stingray [3] 128bytes [2] Voch [2] bjk7382 [2] iguana [2] Damon Plus [2] Kepone [2] Chris++ [1] awsomo3000 [1] madbutscher [1] Scooterb23 [1] internetotaku [1] Gateway [1] Member List yuppicide, madbutscher, the 5th ghost, Scooterb23, khryssun, Malc74, chubsta, Keir, Philflound, candiru, kemsted, keilbaca, Cybergoth, sku_u, Chris++, cvga, LarcenTyler, 128bytes, Goochman, mikeftrevino, StanJr, Osbo, Numan, vdub_bobby, Dones, Gamemaster_ca_2003, awsomo3000, Voch, Stingray, scogey, Bubbledragon, video game addict, pitfallaimee, Blackjack, racer raul, SpiceWare, Robert M, Lord Helmet, Lord Thag, Mad Scientist, Dan Iacovelli, iguana, Luigi301, Gateway, Damon Plus, gospeedde, Kepone, internetotaku, panda_racer, KaeruYojimbo, cyberneticimplant, bjk7382, davepescScoring Points in Dark Cavern Spider - Zero points Blob - Zero points Purple Robot - 1000 points Red Robot - 2000 points Green Robot - 3000 points Yellow Robot - 5000 points plus another man! Hints and Tips As always, you really should read the manual. What's that? You don't have the manual? Well, luckily for you, AtariAge has a typed copy of it online for your reading pleasure (Although at the moment, it seems to have some major formatting problems) What's that? You're too lazy to click that link? Well, luckily for you, I copied the tips it has right here: Wait at a corner when a robot is in target range, fire! Quickly move around the corner to dodge his bullet! When a new man enters the trap door, wait until it's safe to enter the cavern. As soon as a gun appears in the cavern, go after it! It disappears quickly! -Try to ambush the robots as they come around a corner or past an opening. If you shoot them before they are fully aligned with you, you are at less risk of getting shot. -Even after a robot is hit, it can still get off a shot before its sprite disappears from the screen, so get out of the way after firing. Tip:When you play Wizard of War like Doom, try Splinter Cell here Tips: *Stay away from the portals where new creatures will come out as much as possible, as new robots can emerge and shoot you before you have a chance to react. *DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. Touching things can result in being frozen for a few seconds, having several bullets taken away from you, or death. Below is a map of the places I have found are best to pick off the monsters safely (X marks the spot) as well as some trouble areas that you should stay out of (the areas in red), all these areas do is get me killed! Hope it helps! *The robots change colors, indicating their point value; the order is purple, orange, green, and then yellow. Early on in the game, as long as you don't put yourself in too much danger, chase after the robots and gun them down as soon as possible for maximum points; hitting anything over the color purple is going to score more than the purple base amount (1000). Early on, when the game is slow, the enemies are dumb and there is plenty of time, collect about 50 bullets. By doing this, ammo won't be a problem later in the game if you miss a reload or two, and you'll be able to be a bit more liberal with your justice. Friendly Fire is just as good as doing it yourself. Enemies will shoot other enemies, and spiders and blobs if you are in their line of sight. You can use this to get rid of troublesome spiders and blobs and even other baddies by lining them up. This is especially effective if you are behind a wall, because you will run no risk of getting shot. Why not save some bullets and let the bad guys do the work for you? Since your shots keep moving after hitting a target, you can kill several enemies with one shot if you take the time to line them up. This is easier later when the enemies hunt you more actively. Blobs are worse than spiders since they steal your bullets. If you have enough ammo, get rid of them whenever you can. Shoot and move. Generally to kill and enemy, you'll have to line up with them, meaning they can take a shot at you. Keep a passage handy, shoot at the enemy and then duck into the adjacent passage. Don't waste bullets on Spiders or blobs unless they pose a direct threat. You get nothing for it save for peace of mind, and you'll waste bullets. Seems like the extra lives max at 9 despite the double digit. When you get to the point where 4 guys come out at once, you get an extra life when you kill all 4. The guy you kill for the extra life is light green/yellowish, brighter than the normal green guy. The difficulty resets at 400k. Don't run out of bullets!! is a pain in the ass in the upper levels to go from the top of the screen to the bottom chasing the bullets... Another tip: watch the robots' colors; when they're green, they're about to turn yellow, and your chance to get an extra guy. But BE CAREFUL! If you're too greedy, you could end up losing a life or two if you go too fast. You can stop mid-hallway if you move the joystick towards a wall. Go slowly at the begining of the game to max out your bullets. Chasing for bullets later on will get you killed. Good luck everyone! --Ze_ro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Oh boy. This game gets cutthroat! How long can we outlast the hoards of monsters! GAHHHHH! Another great pick of a game I don't play as much as I should. Looking forward to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdub_bobby Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Fun one. 46000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc74 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Not one I've ever played before, but quite a lot of fun. First score 74000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davepesc Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 (edited) Ze_ro, link to manual still goes to No Escape! EDIT: It hardly matters. The manual is about as descriptive as the Pong instructions. It pretty much says, "Shoot; don't get shot." Edited May 31, 2005 by davepesc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osbo Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 121.000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Tyler Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 (edited) First score, an old favorite of mine, here are a couple of tips: -Try to ambush the robots as they come around a corner or past an opening. If you shoot them before they are fully aligned with you, you are at less risk of getting shot. -Even after a robot is hit, it can still get off a shot before its sprite disappears from the screen, so get out of the way after firing. Edited May 31, 2005 by LarcenTyler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 This is pretty much Wizard of Wor but limited shots (I think its been a while since I played). I'll play this after I'm done playing with my newly acquired intellivision and games. Shouldn't be too hard... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 ;;;;;;;;;;; LDA SWCHB ;4 LSR ;2 BCC START ;2 branch if no reset ROL ;2 get back SWCHB value ORA $C6 ;3 combine with ram STA $C6 ;3 LF4A1: ;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;; LDY #$06 ;2 index = 6 BIT $C6 ;3 check switches BVS LFC1F ;2 branch if expert? LDA $D3 ;3 $D3 is < $31 LSR ;2 LSR ;2 LSR ;2 TAY ;2 index = 0 to 6 LFC1F: LDA LFC43,Y ;4 ;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;; LFC43: .byte $01; | X| $FC43 .byte $02; | X | $FC44 .byte $06; | XX | $FC45 .byte $07; | XXX| $FC46 .byte $0B; | X XX| $FC47 .byte $0F; | XXXX| $FC48 .byte $13; | X XX| $FC49 <-always selected when right=A ;;;;;;;;;;; It looks like the right difficulty switch is being used somehow Anyone confirm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophero Sly Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 This week's game was my pick. I've been away from AA for about 2 months and all my gaming stuff is packed into storage. I wasn't able to playtest any games for my selection, but I didn't want to cop-out on Ze_ro and the HSC when he contacted me, so I suggested 'Dark Cavern'. However, I didn't have any idea as to the appropriate settings for the difficulty switches. I just read the manual and the LEFT difficulty switch controls the difficulty level. I assume everyone has been playing on the "B" (novice) setting, so that's probably what it should continue to be for this week. Sorry for any confusion. I doesn't appear that the instruction manual mentions anything about the RIGHT difficulty switch, hmmm... interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Oops...you are correct The switch will bump you up to the highest level right away (where the enemies are allowed to shoot any direction regardless of where they are moving). BTW the switch is only read when you begin a new game...changing it during gameplay has no effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Hi there! Cool, one of my favourites! First games went surprisingly well: 113.000 for today! Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 103.000 for now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Malc copied my score. 74000 for now, I can do MUCH better and soon will!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Hi there! Oops...you are correct The switch will bump you up to the highest level right away (where the enemies are allowed to shoot any direction regardless of where they are moving). BTW the switch is only read when you begin a new game...changing it during gameplay has no effect. 864901[/snapback] Seems like this behaviour changes very early anyway. I think around 20-30K they already start shooting backwards. Tip: When you play Wizard of War like Doom, try Splinter Cell here Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the 5th ghost Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 102,000 New game for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the 5th ghost Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 Edit that to: 128,000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 133,000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted June 1, 2005 Author Share Posted June 1, 2005 I just read the manual and the LEFT difficulty switch controls the difficulty level. I assume everyone has been playing on the "B" (novice) setting, so that's probably what it should continue to be for this week. Sorry for any confusion. Yep. I screwed up again with the difficulty settings again. Sorry guys. The HTML manual that AtariAge has for the game (I'll fix the link right away) has some messed up formatting and about half the text ends up on the same horizontal line. Didn't catch that, so I assumed the game just didn't use the switches. Anyways, just to avoid any confusion with the scores, just play with the left difficulty set to B / Novice, and I'll accept whatever scores are already posted. As for the right difficulty, perhaps it applies to player 2? I have to admit I haven't had a chance to really playtest this one to figure it out. --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neotokeo2001 Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 First try: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 Small update. 136.000 I got greedy at the end and lost 4 lives... *sighs* this game is easy once you know how to play it. Think of it as Camper-strike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberneticimplant Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 40'000 This is a giant endurance contest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 ok a much more suitable update. 221.000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fellow Atari Man Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 Davepesc, who's the babe in your avatar? Dang, I was bummed once I found out only the damn robots were worth the points Oh well, live and learn, didn't waste too many games trying to shoot anything that moves. Tips: *Stay away from the portals where new creatures will come out as much as possible, as new robots can emerge and shoot you before you have a chance to react. *DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. Touching things can result in being frozen for a few seconds, having several bullets taken away from you, or death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Scientist Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 70,000. Time to develop my sniping strategies (too bad a mountain of mulching, chores, cage/ tank cleaning, D&D night, work deadlines, weekend company, softball, and pregnant wife requests are conspiring to keep me out of the Dark Caverns. Bad week for a contest. ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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