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HSC Season 4 Week 33: Reactor


Ze_ro

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Important Note: This weeks competition is over, and no further scores will be accepted.

 

Positrons. Neutrinos. Photons. These are just a few of the nuclear particles threatening to blow your ship apart. There's nowhere to run! No way of escaping! To survive, you must fight them. But that's only half the battle. While you try to destroy these dangerous particles, you must also try to stop the reactor's expanding core before it reaches melt-down. So board your ship and prepare to enter the awesome depths of REACTOR!

 

Game Information

  • Game Name: Reactor
  • Released By: Parker Bros, 1982
  • Left Difficulty: B / Novice
  • Right Difficulty: B / Novice
  • Game Mode: Game 1
  • Chosen By: keilbaca

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 is Thursday, December 14th at 1:30 AM (CST).

 

If you want to suggest a game for future weeks, please send me a private message and let me know! I will add your game to the list. One one game per person will be kept on the list, so you will not be able to suggest a game until your first game is played!

 

Anyone can play! Just post a score and I'll add you to the list! Please read the Rules & Information if you haven't already done so!

 

Current High Scores

  1. 114,130 (Deteacher) [+11]
  2. 105,933 (rheffera) [+10]
  3. 95,227 (Recycled) [+9]
  4. 93,729 (shadow460) [+8]
  5. 79,939 (Rom Hunter) [+7]
  6. 68,388 (Nathan Strum) [+6]
  7. 57,692 (JacobZu7zu7) [+5]
  8. 48,086 (SpiceWare) [+4]
  9. 47,106 (keilbaca) [+3]
  10. 35,526 (Zoyx) [+2]
  11. 8296 (Goochman) [+1]
  12. 2948 (LarcenTyler) [+1]

Best Tips

  • shadow460 [+2]

Bounties and Challenges

  • None yet

TwinGalaxies Top 3


    (Game 1, Difficulty B)
  1. 1,615,526 (Todd Rogers)
  2. 525,584 (Mark Feldt)
  3. 217,683 (Ron Corcoran)

Current Standings

  1. Rom Hunter [330]
  2. SpiceWare [239]
  3. keilbaca [172]
  4. Deteacher [171]
  5. vdub_bobby [127]
  6. LarcenTyler [127]
  7. the 5th ghost [79]
  8. BrianC [78]
  9. shawnb [71]
  10. scogey [69]
  11. rheffera [64]
  12. Malc74 [63]
  13. atari2600land [61]
  14. JacobZu7zu7 [50]
  15. shadow460 [47]
  16. Cybergoth [42]
  17. Christophero Sly [40]
  18. Goochman [40]
  19. theKLT [37]
  20. SeaGtGruff [36]
  21. 128bytes [34]
  • Jred [26]
  • Nathan Strum [24]
  • doctorclu [22]
  • phaxda [21]
  • Lord Helmet [19]
  • mojofltr [17]
  • Random Terrain [15]
  • Lord Thag [15]
  • rjchamp3 [11]
  • ResOGlas [11]
  • Thomas Jentzsch [11]
  • Recycled [19]
  • Gabriel [8]
  • Hiryu [7]
  • Zoyx [7]
  • supercat [5]
  • Biter [2]
  • Omegamatrix [1]
  • Dan Iacovelli [1]
  • ewing92 [1]

Scoring Points in Reactor

  • Each unused decoy - 500 points
  • Leptons - 200 points
  • Neutrinos - 200 points
  • Positrons - 50 points
  • Photons - 50 points
  • Control Rods - 50 points
  • Trapping enemy particles inside the bonus chambers - 15 points per bounce, decreasing to 10 as particle nears self-destruction.
  • For every 10,000 points you accumulate, you earn an extra ship.
  • Knocking down both sets of control rods earns you an extra decoy.

Hints and Tips

As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed version online for your reading pleasure! Here are the hints it provides:

 

* Lure enemy particles close to the wall for easier hits.

* Place your decoys by the kill wall for easier hits.

* Place your decoy in front of the bonus chamber to lure enemy particles inside for extra points.

* Place decoys near control rods to attract enemy particles for easier hits.

* Guide your ship in a CLOCKWISE direction if it should become caught in the vortex. This may help you escape it.

* Remember to watch the number of enemy particles "To Go" (number of particles not yet on the screen), at the top of the screen in order to keep track of each round.

OK, some hints. I don't wanna alienate nobody, but I'm going to assume from now on that a trak ball is in use, just like the arcade.

 

Your main goal is survival. Without the energy shield and with your ship being slow, you don't have much room to attack.

That said, in order to attack the particles, you've got a couple of options:

One, get them to follow you over to one side of the field. Run to the other side, as close to the control rods as you can get without hitting the wall, and duck at the last second. Some of the particles will not be able to stop in time.

Two, hang out near the control rods. This does two things. It gets the particles closer to the rods so that they are more likely to knock the rods out. It also lets you know exactly where that invisible kill wall is.

Three, roll the ball gently away from the wall when the paticles are hammering down. This keeps them between you and the wall.

 

Decoys are kinda simple...just drop them and the particles chase them. Particles go right through your decoys, so they tend to slide into the wall more often than they would if you were using your ship as bait.

Throughout the first few rounds, drop a single decoy at the entrance to a bonus chamber. You can amass 4,000 bonus points before they spill over into your score. Don't worry about blocking the particles in the chamber--they'll stay in there.

You need about eight decoys when the walls turn red. During most stages, you need to be hanging out right at a set of control rods so that you can build up your number of decoys.

 

Now for survival. With the solid core, you can roll the ball against the core to stay off the kill walls. This works to an extent with the vortex as well. Actually, it's easier to hide in the vortex than it is to ride the solid core wall.

As the core grows, even the particles become trapped, and they will hit the wall on their own. All you have to do is stand still. If they chase you on a vortex stage, duck into the vortex for a while. If they pinch you in on a solid core stage, start praying.

In the vortex stages, plant your decoys at the control rods. Knocking out an entire set of rods shrinks the core. Knocking out both sets gives you another decoy.

Once the decoys wear out, circle the playfield outside the vortex in a clockwise direction, sliding close to the walls and bumping particles when you can. Most of the particles will destroy themselves in time. If you get hung in the vortex, move in a clockwise direction around it. You do have to roll the ball a little toward the wall if you're in the vortex to counteract its tendency to drag you further in. To escape, roll the ball hard toward the outside of the vortex. Make sure you don't hit the wall in the process. If you don't have room to escape, stay in the vortex. Remember that particles cannot enter the core at all.

Stay out of the bonus chambers.

When you lay your decoys, sometimes it helps to hang out next to them and send a few extra particles into the wall as they're going crazy over the decoys.

 

On the solid core stages, you need to build up your supply of decoys. On the vortex stages, you need to kill particles as rapidly as possible.

 

After the 16th wave, the walls disappear. after the 24th wave, the vortex core is here to stay. That means after the 32nd wave, you're still in the reactor with invisible walls and the vortex. What fun!

 

One final note about the vortex: The vortex itself is not lethal. It draws you toward that flashing block in the center of the screen, which is what kills you. As long as you can stay away from that and you can aviod being thrown across the screen by the vortex, you can hang out within the core as long as you want to.

I skim the rim of the vortex clockwise so I'm in it but I wont get destroyed as long as I move in a clockwise fashion. I did that when I ran out of decoys, and eventually it hit the particles on the way around and it smashed 'em into the wall, as the vortex was so big and as they can't enter the vortex, they bounce off and kill themselves on the wall.

 

As for the kill walls, the control rods are the marker and I just stay just out of range of the vortex and only move up to smack the particles or when it gets bigger (while I still have decoys that is).

 

--Ze_ro

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In first!

93729, and about 36 rounds completed.

 

There were several times when I hung out inside the vortex core. I wish I'd had a video tape going, as one time I hung out so long inside the vortex that the particles smashed in all the control rods and set me free!

 

 

what's that....about a 20 minute/half hour game? I haven't broken 100000 yet. I'll try to play a few rounds this weekend.

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OK, some hints. I don't wanna alienate nobody, but I'm going to assume from now on that a trak ball is in use, just like the arcade.

 

Your main goal is survival. Without the energy shield and with your ship being slow, you don't have much room to attack.

That said, in order to attack the particles, you've got a couple of options:

One, get them to follow you over to one side of the field. Run to the other side, as close to the control rods as you can get without hitting the wall, and duck at the last second. Some of the particles will not be able to stop in time.

Two, hang out near the control rods. This does two things. It gets the particles closer to the rods so that they are more likely to knock the rods out. It also lets you know exactly where that invisible kill wall is.

Three, roll the ball gently away from the wall when the paticles are hammering down. This keeps them between you and the wall.

 

Decoys are kinda simple...just drop them and the particles chase them. Particles go right through your decoys, so they tend to slide into the wall more often than they would if you were using your ship as bait.

Throughout the first few rounds, drop a single decoy at the entrance to a bonus chamber. You can amass 4,000 bonus points before they spill over into your score. Don't worry about blocking the particles in the chamber--they'll stay in there.

You need about eight decoys when the walls turn red. During most stages, you need to be hanging out right at a set of control rods so that you can build up your number of decoys.

 

Now for survival. With the solid core, you can roll the ball against the core to stay off the kill walls. This works to an extent with the vortex as well. Actually, it's easier to hide in the vortex than it is to ride the solid core wall.

As the core grows, even the particles become trapped, and they will hit the wall on their own. All you have to do is stand still. If they chase you on a vortex stage, duck into the vortex for a while. If they pinch you in on a solid core stage, start praying.

In the vortex stages, plant your decoys at the control rods. Knocking out an entire set of rods shrinks the core. Knocking out both sets gives you another decoy.

Once the decoys wear out, circle the playfield outside the vortex in a clockwise direction, sliding close to the walls and bumping particles when you can. Most of the particles will destroy themselves in time. If you get hung in the vortex, move in a clockwise direction around it. You do have to roll the ball a little toward the wall if you're in the vortex to counteract its tendency to drag you further in. To escape, roll the ball hard toward the outside of the vortex. Make sure you don't hit the wall in the process. If you don't have room to escape, stay in the vortex. Remember that particles cannot enter the core at all.

Stay out of the bonus chambers.

When you lay your decoys, sometimes it helps to hang out next to them and send a few extra particles into the wall as they're going crazy over the decoys.

 

On the solid core stages, you need to build up your supply of decoys. On the vortex stages, you need to kill particles as rapidly as possible.

 

After the 16th wave, the walls disappear. after the 24th wave, the vortex core is here to stay. That means after the 32nd wave, you're still in the reactor with invisible walls and the vortex. What fun!

 

One final note about the vortex: The vortex itself is not lethal. It draws you toward that flashing block in the center of the screen, which is what kills you. As long as you can stay away from that and you can aviod being thrown across the screen by the vortex, you can hang out within the core as long as you want to.

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96,381 :P

post-9059-1165658786_thumb.jpg

:cool:

 

Yes, hanging out in the vortex helped when i ran out of decoys

also, i did it without trak ball E-Z. in my opinion it dosn't need a trak ball.

 

 

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I just scored 95,277 using a joystick.

 

It seems I have a different strategy than you.

 

What do you mean "hanging out in the vortex?"

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It seems I have a different strategy than you.

What do you mean "hanging out in the vortex?"

 

i skim the rim of the vortex clockwise so im in it but i wont get destryed as long as i move in a clockwise fashion i did that when i ran out of decoys and eventually ti hit the partickles on the way around and it smashed em into the wall as the vortex was so big and as they cant enter the vortex they bounce off and kill themselves on the wall

 

as for the kill walls the control rods are the marker and i just stay just out of range of the vortex and only move up to smack the particles or when it gets bigger(while i still have decoys that is)

Edited by rheffera
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