Thomas Jentzsch Posted March 30, 2002 Share Posted March 30, 2002 While searching for the picture of my perfect Pitfall! game (no luck yet), I found the old negatives of my Starmaster records. Here they are: code: Mine TwinGalaxy --------------------- E 3973 3985 (wow!) L 5944 5944 W 7932 - S 0005 - I saved all four stations in all games. (On the last game, this caused the score to roll over. The stardate for this score is 0095 and you can see all starbases alive.) Anybody can beat this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveinabin Posted March 30, 2002 Share Posted March 30, 2002 That sounds like a challenge! I know what I'm playing when I get back from Prague Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 1, 2002 Author Share Posted April 1, 2002 quote: Originally posted by liveinabin: That sounds like a challenge! Accepted! quoteI know what I'm playing when I get back from Prague If you want to know exactly, how to rescue all stations in the Starmaster level, send me a mail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted April 1, 2002 Share Posted April 1, 2002 If you've got documented proff submit it to Ron Corcoran(The TG Atari Referee) to get your records in the book! http://www.snipercade.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 1, 2002 Author Share Posted April 1, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Goochman: If you've got documented proff submit it to Ron Corcoran(The TG Atari Referee) to get your records in the book! As I said, I have the negatives of a film where you can see the records on screen (BTW: B/W TV) and, on the same film, me about 20 years younger than today. And I have some paper I got from the German Activision club as a reply to the send in records. But I don't want to give them out of my hands. I could show them to some know Atari fans who could prove authentency. Any other (better) ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 1, 2002 Author Share Posted April 1, 2002 quote: Originally posted by ubersaurus: develop them and send the photos ;p Yes, but only the negatives can not be manipulated. Everybody can make a fake screenshot with todays tools and hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubersaurus Posted April 2, 2002 Share Posted April 2, 2002 develop them and send the photos ;p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 7, 2002 Author Share Posted April 7, 2002 quote: Originally posted by liveinabin: That sounds like a challenge! I know what I'm playing when I get back from Prague ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 Just do it again, only videotape it this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 7, 2002 Author Share Posted April 7, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Scott Stilphen: Just do it again, only videotape it this time No way, I'm to old now. The regulations of TG accept photos, so I'll make some copies from my negatives and send the photos to TG. [ 04-08-2002: Message edited by: Thomas Jentzsch ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 Thomas that depends... I took several Photos of my high score on 5200 Starwars:TAG since I busted over 15mil on that game one night. And while TG was said they would take my photos...they got snippy in the end and wanted video tape proof next time. So since I plan to easily one day beat that high score...I will have to stick the camcorder on a tripod looking over my shoulder and then pause to switch out tapes. It take me well over 2 hours just to get that score I currently have done. It would take me about 4 hours to roll the waves over 100 if they roll over at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 8, 2002 Author Share Posted April 8, 2002 quote: Originally posted by -^Cro§Bow^-: Thomas that depends... I took several Photos of my high score on 5200 Starwars:TAG since I busted over 15mil on that game one night. And while TG was said they would take my photos...they got snippy in the end and wanted video tape proof next time. Hmm, at least I'll try. If they can't accept the highscores, that's ok for me. I know what I did. But I don't think, that I will ever be able to reach those scores again. The best I could do, is to explain the strategie involved to save all four stations in Starmaster level and let somebody else try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 Well..the easiest stategy is to go after the squads of 3 enemies around the starbases first. Also I found out that a starbase can't be totally destroyed unless there are at least 3 squads surrounding it. As I recall some of the enemy squads never actually move in the game and remain static on the map so they can be left alone at first. I just remebered how shocked I was when I fired the game up from not having played it in 15 years and was able to attain the StarMaster award level score on the Starmaster level. I think my Score was like 9990 or something. I did save all 4 starbases...but I know that I docked to repair at least twice while playing. And you did get gigged at the end for each stardock. Still a great game and the best of it's kinds for the 2600 save for Phasor Patrol which I hear rocks...but I haven't ever played it since I haven't a supercharger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Thomas Jentzsch: No way, I'm to old now. Bah! Nonsense. You can do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 8, 2002 Author Share Posted April 8, 2002 quote: Originally posted by -^Cro§Bow^-: Well..the easiest stategy is to go after the squads of 3 enemies around the starbases first. Also I found out that a starbase can't be totally destroyed unless there are at least 3 squads surrounding it. Hm, I didn't know this trick, must have a look at the source code. My trick was to stop the enemies from moving on the map. This can be done by positioning the cursor on the right sector at the right time. quoteAs I recall some of the enemy squads never actually move in the game and remain static on the map so they can be left alone at first. Yup, a squad in the left lower corner is trapped. quoteI just remebered how shocked I was when I fired the game up from not having played it in 15 years and was able to attain the StarMaster award level score on the Starmaster level. I think my Score was like 9990 or something. I did save all 4 starbases...but I know that I docked to repair at least twice while playing. And you did get gigged at the end for each stardock. IIRC I managed to do it with one docking, mainly because I was running out of energy. Nevertheless a great score! quoteStill a great game and the best of it's kinds for the 2600 save for Phasor Patrol which I hear rocks...but I haven't ever played it since I haven't a supercharger. I've played it on emus, but I don't think it's very good. Starmaster rocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 As for the three squads bit on the starbases...let me just say that I am sure that if left in place long enough they could eventually take it out. But I know that as long as there are only two next to it...I have never lost one. So the basic strategy I use is to go after the squads of three ships first and even then only to the ones going after the starbases. Any others I leave alone. I do know that a squad of 2 or 1 ship cannot take a starbase. So if you have two sets of three surrounding it and and another squad of like 1 or 2 ships...then you can definitely go after the tri squads first and leave that other alone until you have the others taken care of. I would like to know more about this cursor trick and preventing their movements? Are you saying that the squads move in a set timeframe? And if you have the cursor positioned over them...or somewhere on screen they don't move at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 9, 2002 Author Share Posted April 9, 2002 quote: Originally posted by -^Cro§Bow^-: But I know that as long as there are only two next to it...I have never lost one. From the code I can see, that the damage is linear to the number of enemies in the sector. So you just have to wait long enough and even a starbase with one single enemy will be destroyed. It should take about 44 minutes (at stardate 624). A starbase that is surround by 8*3 = 24 enemies, will be destroyed in less than two minutes. quote: I would like to know more about this cursor trick and preventing their movements? Are you saying that the squads move in a set timeframe? Yes, they are moving every 96th frame (=1.6 sec) one by one. The movements starts in the top row, right corner going to the left and then down to the next row. On whole round takes 36*1.6 = ~58 seconds. quoteAnd if you have the cursor positioned over them...or somewhere on screen they don't move at all? You must have the cursor either in the sector they are currently in or they want to move to. That blocks the movement. When you are doing this right, you can stop a lot of them on the third row, preventing those from threatening the lower right starbase. Then you have about 48 seconds for fighting, until you would have to block again. Blocking once or twice should give you enough time, to safe the starbase. I still have the old piece of paper with the timings, but now that you know the trick, you will be able to do the timings yourself. Perhaps Starmaster was the first videogame that involved so much (I'd bet unintentional) strategie? BTW: Do you remember the stardate of your record? From the score, it should be 110. Mine was 95. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 Oh yeah...one more very handy tip for any future StarMasters...and I can't stress this enough. Know how many enemy ships are in a sector before you warp there...and make sure you have the power to take em out. Once they are defeated...do not wait to let the game bring up the Galactic Map...get hot on that Color switch and flip it. I am fairly certain that if you wait for the map to come up automatically that the enemy ships are making their movements during that wait time. I know for a fact they are still moving even during battles. Which to me...makes this game amazing. Who could have thought that the VCS could handle such complex stuff. I mean..one screen where your kicking Alien butt...all the while they are still moving in on your starbases. I know star raiders has all of this...but star raiders on the VCS can't even hold a candle to what StarMaster is... I know we have had this discussion before...but from a pure adrenaline game rush...StarMaster always did it for me more. This reminds me...have the Als added info regarding the fact that the difficulty switches can be used on the 7800 in place of the color/bw switch to switch to your Galactic map? Thomas...can you figure out why Activision didn't want us using the difficutly switches in the game? The manual states to leave them alone and seem pretty Hell bent on that. Can you tell in the code if they (Diff Switches) were gonna have some real purpose eventually? Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 9, 2002 Author Share Posted April 9, 2002 quote: Originally posted by -^Cro§Bow^-: I am fairly certain that if you wait for the map to come up automatically that the enemy ships are making their movements during that wait time. Yup, whatever you do, the enemy moves on. quoteI know star raiders has all of this...but star raiders on the VCS can't even hold a candle to what StarMaster is... 100% agreed. Starmaster rules! quoteThomas...can you figure out why Activision didn't want us using the difficutly switches in the game? The manual states to leave them alone and seem pretty Hell bent on that. Can you tell in the code if they (Diff Switches) were gonna have some real purpose eventually? Both difficulty switches work exactly as the B/W switch and there are no traces in the code, that they should do something else. Perhaps it was the other way around, and Activision had planed to support a B/W mode, but there is no evidence in the code for that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCorcoran Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 Thomas: If you send me copies or prints, I will make sure your scores get posted to the database and published in the book. You'll need to hurry though as there is only 1.5 months remaining until the book goes to the printers. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCorcoran Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 Jesse: Your score is posted... as for getting snippy... not really... Walter and Robert simply stated they would like VHS proof of your next effort to help serve as INDISPUTABLE proof of your accomplishment. With a photo, which can easily be altered, there is too much room for dispute. If we had a VHS recording, there is no room for dispute. This serves two purposes; 1, it ensures the integrity of the scoreboard and 2, it preserves your score as the qualified, verified, world record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 9, 2002 Author Share Posted April 9, 2002 quote: Originally posted by RCorcoran: If you send me copies or prints, I will make sure your scores get posted to the database and published in the book. You'll need to hurry though as there is only 1.5 months remaining until the book goes to the printers. In a book? Nice, thank you! The copies are currently being made. (I hope the negatives don't get lost.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 10, 2002 Share Posted April 10, 2002 This is pretty much what I figured as well regarding the use of the difficulty switches. But then why does the manual for the game go on the way it does about making sure you don't touch the difficulty switches and leave them in the B position? Who knows that the ultimate plan was to have been. Perhaps they originally planned to add more difficulty using the switches or found possible bugs in the game if they were used. whatever the reason...they say not to use them or touch them during game play in the manual...but I ignore them as it is the only way to play the game on the 7800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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