StanJr

Wahoo! I love it when new Atari games are announced! I'm looking forward to both, although I don't know how to play Euchre (my Uncle played it a lot with my Dad and friends) so an instruction manual is in order!

Come on Thomas! I know you can do it! What could you possibly do to change the thief into the JD? Shooting him only makes him shake a bunch and run away for a second. I wonder whats the reason behind him taking items in a specific order. Is it to create frustration for those falling in the valley or something else? The search continues.............

More thoughts, after I spent an insane amount of time with this STUPID (its just the frustration coming out) game last night. I've given the gun to the thief, it does nothing. But I had the exact same thought you did Nukey. I've also ran from the ******* until I could run no more. He doesn't change into anything, but if you run out of stuff to give him, he will just hump you until you leave the valley. Pervert. I've dropped just about every item off of the mesa, I've dropped/and/given just about every item to the master thief. (most of the time he just takes it and shoots you!) Yet no luck. New theories. The position of INDY in the screen shot we do have suggests that he is at the top of the valley between two mesas. This must mean that he is alive. I'm working on a way that you can parachute down that mesa in the middle of the screen and do SOMETHING, either drop something as you fall, or do something inside the mesa and then parachute down to the valley. Other theory (and the one I am more likely to believe) Nukey is on to something, the same thing I am currently working with. The screen shot shows a bag of gold in the same position in the menu as when you start the game. This indicates to me that the secret must be able to be unlocked VERY early in the game. In a game so full of items, it would only be logical for a couple of errant items to be in the inventory when the egg pops up, yet none are there. The "egg" does look suspiciously similar to the Master Thief..... This is my progress (or lack thereof) thus far. Basically, I'm beating my head into the wall. Stan

Everything is rare here! I've only seen one all black 4 switcher (and I bought it), and the shells for what looks like a 4swtich woodgrain. I'm looking for a Jr and heavy sixer right now. One day, they shall appear, I just know it. System-poor Stan

Couple things about the candies not appearing right away. I'm not sure what causes this, but I have noticed that finding a piece of the phone makes them appear sooner. And whether or not the pieces are there from the start or appear later seems to be random.

As for your closing questions: Further investigation reveals that the initials disappear if you leave the screen with Elliot, or if you pick up more than one piece of candy afterwards.

By the way, I e-mailed you. Heard you were looking for me. Another thought about the game: That second grenade can be used anywhere right? Primarily it is to blast through the trap doors, but it can be used like the first one right? Is it possible to recover the first grenade after it has been used? Basically, can you have BOTH grenades at once?

the only 2600 games that have actual voice FX are Quadrun and Open Sesame.

Thanks Scott, its currently giving me fits. If I could just beat the game, I'd feel some accomplishment. Do you have to unlock other secret first? It wouldn't make much sense. None of the others require this do they? I've dropped grenades in the valley, I've dropped just about every other item in the valley. I wonder how they got there with only the bag of gold? Here's something I'm playing with. Parachute down with the bag of gold and the gun. Shoot the thief then drop the gun as he runs away. I have no idea why this would work, but that screen shot clearly shows the condition of having only the gold and being in the valley alone. There are only so many ways to arrive at that point. Is there anyway to get into the valley other than parachuting/falling in?

I'm working on the Mesa theory but I'm more interested in the options in the valley of poison. I would imagine that the secret involves doing something in the valley. Notice how there is no swarm or Master Theif on the screen with INDY? Almost every time I drop into the valley, BOTH are waiting for me. What about dropping grenades in the Valley or as you fall into the valley? This is one theory I'm going to test. Is there any trick to parachuting into the caves under the tree branches or is it just practice makes perfect? I've got several other theories to test out as well. I'll be up all night with this and will post anything significant.

Golly gee. I had no idea it was this big a deal. If I had known that, I would have come forth with the info months ago. Quite frankly, I'm speechless (which is impressive for me). I had a LOT of fun tracking it down. I'm just glad I was able to help Scott find the thing. Blushing Stan

That would make sense, rasty! Good eye. Hey Scott, I'm on it. By looking at the screenshot you have provided, we can tell a number of things: 1. it occurs in the valley of poison (which I now know how to get out of, thanks) 2. Indy must be alive (he's walking, it appears) 3. Indy must be carrying one bag of gold. 4. Indy must be near the top. 5. There are no enemies present (this may not make a diff) Could this be as simple as buying a parachute and taking a ride to the valley (ET's egg was super-easy to get, why not this)? But how does one get the second bag of gold? Could it be a system of dropping the right items in the valley? I'm on it. Bloodhound Stan

I'm working on Scott's other "holy grail" easter egg, the JD initials in Raiders. While I am confident that he has completely raided this entire game (see his site, sheesh!), I've been wanting to try to beat it again (I haven't beat it since I was a kid) and this gives a good reason. But everytime I fall into the Valley of Poison, I get trapped. How do you get back to the marketplace? I feel like I've tried every wall to no avail. What am I missing? And Scott, do you have any leads on the JD initials in the game?

HEY SCOTT! Screenshot did not load for me!

Yeah it has to be done on that screen with 8 holes. I just tried it on the screen with 2 long 2 short holes and NADA.

Ok. I just did it AGAIN. I cleared round 12 (and got the other GSW easter egg). THEN. I started round 13 and did EXACTLY what i did in round 12. Landed Went 1 screen south (4 holes) picked up the Reese Piece Called Elliot Walked one screen right (eight holes) Elliot appeared took my piece BAM! JD Initials. I'll try it again on 14 and let you know.

I JUST FREAKIN' DID IT! Ok here's what I did: I played 11 rounds (on the 10th round I got the YAR egg, on the 11th I got INDY, but these may be inconsequential????). As soon as the ship landed and I started the 12th round, I went south 1 screen (the 4 holes, 2 alligator-style), picked up 1 Reeses piece, called Elliot. I moved one screen right (the 8 hole screen). Elliot showed up, took my one piece and the initials popped up exactly where the clock appears and in the same color (I guess I was color blind when I said "dark blue????) If you then fall in a pit, the initials are gone until you lift back out, then they are there again. I'm currently sitting on the screen with Elliot "stuck" at the bottom and the initials are still there. Now, if only I can figure out what made it happen. 12 rounds? 1 piece? a certain screen? Any combo of those factors?

Running from the Scientist? Hm. As I recall, they appeared for me at least once on the screen with 4 holes, two look like alligator mouths (the top ones). The Scientist MAY have been present, I really can't remember. I do recall that it only happened after several rounds (like 10). I played 11 rounds last night and will start again today. If I do it, I will record everything that was happening at the point they appeared and try to do it successively.

By the way. Any body know why the game always starts you with 3 points? Could this be significant?

Gotcha. I'll do what I can. I'm working on it right now. I'm currently counting pieces and score and round #'s. If I do it once, I'll let you know, but we probably won't know anything until I can successfully duplicate it.

Cool. Do it.

check that. It was just plain old Stella emu. not X. And yeah, the "JD" appeared off set from the center about where the clock appears when you call the ship.

StellaX was the emu I was using when I did it. It was during a 6 hour session of ET (don't ask). I know I did it at least twice if not 3 or 4 times during that session. Everytime I did it, it was in the middle of a game. This makes me think it has to do with Reeses given to elliot or something like that (I rarely ate the things).

Looks like I know what I'm doing on my day off tomorrow. Anything specific I should be looking for? A particular score? A certain # of Reeses given to Elliot? A certain # of pieces collected? A certain # of pieces eaten? A certain health level? All of the above?

Just funnin' ya, pal! Yeah, I get pretty excited over anything that's not Asteroids. Especially the silver and red label stuff. I rarely see any of that stuff around here. And what I see I buy! 3rd party stuff is even harder to find. This is my third time 'round building an atari collection from scratch, and it only gets harder. but this time I will NOT get rid of the whole collection on a whim. Learned my lesson Stan. Gee, I sure hope King Atari got the info he needs to make his custom avatar.....