Scott Stilphen

quote: Originally posted by Thomas Jentzsch: Tonight I will try to find, if there is a pointer pointing at suspiciously empty graphic space. Maybe the code is still there and they only removed the data. Hmm...that could be a very good possibility. If HSW or anyone wanted to remove it quickly for whatever reason, then the easiest way would be to just "erase" the graphics. Unless it was removed due to memory contraints, then he might have gone back and removed all the related code for it (I'd guess that wasn't the case, though). You might be onto something. If the "triggering" code is still there, then it might point to the space in the code as you suggested. In theory, you could trigger the graphics and never even know it! But I would think that it would still affect your score (unless that was disabled too).

quote: Originally posted by Nukey Shay: "Flying" Yar... Does anyone have a clue about the "3 things" that need to be in your inventory when you are inside the mesa Nope. I can say it's possible to solve the game with all 3 Temple objects (Chai, Ankh, Hourglass) in your inventory. It takes some tricky playing to do, but I've done it.

I noticed that just before the level name appears, there are 2 rows of numbers that are flashed. Ex. Right before: GOONS >->10<-< appears, you first get: 111111 000000 Tried to get a screenshot of it, but it won't save it - if I pause it when the numbers are on the screen and save it, the picture shows "GOONS" instead! These numbers appear with a real cart too. Strange... Also, I love every time you get to the next level, the voice sample plays faster! [ 11-11-2001: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ]

Not that I know of. Never looked at it that way before (to get a score of 0). From what I found, the lowest possible score is 1, since the -.5 is only counted if you solve the game. I can't claim my scoring chart is complete, or even accurate, since sometimes the pedestal may show only a 1/3" of a circle on the bottom- not every action is counted in half-points.

quote: Originally posted by Nukey Shay: I think a time frame of almost a decade deserves to be referred to as something more significant than "a bit". Haha! Yeah, you can say that... quote I'm buyin.

I was pretty close with my fake screen shot, eh? Not bad for only having a poor photocopy to go by Though the screen dimensions with Z26 appear a little "squashed", and for some reason, the colors are slightly off (the VoP appears all green, instead of orange and green). [ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ]

quote: Originally posted by Nukey Shay: In other words, you only get points for actions that absolutely need to be done, and lose points for things that should not have to be done at all. Therefore, the actions that lose points should not have a connection with the signature, I think. The ones that cause no apparent change might have some hidden use connected to them. Yes, with the exception of a few pieces (coins, whip). And locating the Ark in the maproom does require the key and headpiece, so they're not exactly "pointless" quote I assume you mean blowing the hole in the Entrance room? Yep- use the headpiece to access the secret entrance to the Temple Entrance room via the Marketplace.

*Hot off the scanner* Leonard Herman just sent me a good scan of the photo that appears in EG 11-82: and of the photo in the 3-84 issue: (I flipped it 180, since the photo appears upside-down in the magazine). [ 11-11-2001: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ]

quote: Originally posted by Nukey Shay: Interesting...the patch won't add the points even if the headpiece IS used. Might be able to figure out the scoring system after all. That would be great. The scoring system is a bit....eccentric at times. Here's the notes I have on it: Adventure Points (AP) comprise the game's scoring system. The AP chart below is calculated by the number of "circles" on the pedestal in the Well of Souls. Each circle equals 1 AP. Start with = 6 use of Ankh = 2 use of parachute = .5 use of shovel (in mesa) = 2.5 locating Ark in maproom = 3.5 landing in mesa = 1 finding YAR = 1.5 finding Ark = 3.5 NO points for/use of: 2nd grenade (on secret wall) bribing lunatic bribing sheik with Chai coins magic flute headpiece hourglass key killing snakes recovering items from thieves revolver timepiece whip Points SUBTRACTED for -3.5 using secret exit in dungeon -1 whipping/shooting either master thief in VoP or tiny thieves -.5 blowing hole in Entrance room -.5 losing 1 life (none for 2nd life lost)- counted if Ark is found When you first turn the game on, the pedestal is at the very top, denoting a max score of 23. The highest I (or anyone I know) has scored is 20.5. [ 11-11-2001: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ]

Hang in there, Stan. I've been at it a bit longer Keep in mind, *Both HSW and JD confirmed the existence of it. *The EG photo is real. *A perfect score in the game has yet to be achieved. If there's something in the code, I'm confident Thomas and Nukey will find it. Plus, Twit has offered to have his proto dumped (thanks!), and I'm currently putting a call out to any/all proto owners to help us. [ 11-11-2001: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ]

quote: Originally posted by Nukey Shay: Oh, it makes the Ark's mesa be indicated in the map room -without- the headpiece (that'll save a bit of time, as you can win by making only one pass through the rooms). Not worth much though, as doing so only nets 17 "points" for the game. That's about right - locating the Ark in the map room (with the headpiece) is worth 3.5 points

Twit, that would be great if you could get yours dumped. I was planning on putting a call out to anybody who might have a proto of this game, as it's possible the JD graphic only existed in an earlier version. I seriously want to see this mystery solved, and every piece of info we can get would certainly help.

Tried to fix the YAR graphic, by adding the missing piece to the lower-left leg. What harm could one little "X" do.... So much for my plans to redraw the cave-in graphic

Just tried it. Heheh...pretty funny to see. When I first saw that "wall" in the game, I thought it was a glitch. It didn't look like one of the lower walls, and it didn't look like a rock "cave-in". It just looked like.....crap.

Another update... Thomas Jentzsch figured out how the Sprintmaster egg is triggered: The rules: 1. your car must be on the blue tar slick 2. you must have the speed item 3. the car must bounce back from the wall (BOUNCE mode) 4. it must be a single player game 5. the seconds must be between 0.0 and 4.0 6. you must play on dirt or ice The easiest way to reach this, is on the first track. Set the rounds to 50 and start the a dirt game. Then drive near the speed item at the upper right. Now wait until the clock is at about 0:56, take the speed item and drive quickly to the blue stripes at the upper left. No bounce against the upper border, so that the car bounces back over the stripes. When you do this correct, your car will turn into BP for a second or so. Here's a picture:

This is a fake screen shot I made, using the same "block resolution" as the lunatic and Indy characters, which better illustrates the EG photo: If anyone has either Electronic Games issues November 1982 (page or March 1984 (page 24), or the Consumer’s Guide book, How to Win at Home Video Games (page 56), can you scan those pages and send them to me or post them here? Thanks. [ 11-11-2001: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ]

Apparently, it takes a little more than just making the platform "look" solid... ...as the gaps are still there. Now what?

quote: Originally posted by Tempest: Are you sure that's it? I see that message all the time! Why didn't you ever mention it?? That's been on my contest page for nearly a year. quote: It's not hard to get that far. I think there's something else... Well, maybe not for you What else is hidden in it- speak up man!

QUADRUN mystery solved! Thomas Jentzsch does it again. By making an easier version of the game, he found that if you simply play up to the 6th level (the levels before it are named GOONS, SNAGS, YO-YOS, NODS, and BRATS), the 6th is called "WOITA WAVE"! I'm guessing nobody ever got that far before (it's a damn tough game). Btw, whoever won the Video Game Masters competition that Atari had for this game (or Battlezone and Gravitar for that matter)??

That's what I told him My guess is that they first converted Taz to PAL format, and then decided to change the graphics to better suit the Euro gamers.

quote: Originally posted by StanJr: I wonder whats the reason behind him taking items in a specific order Logically, I would think that either the shovel or headpiece would be more valuable, since they're not as easy to get as the others.

quote I've thought about that, but why would HSW bother to take it out and still leave his in there? If it was only present in a prototype, then maybe Tempest or whoever owns any can get them dumped, and we can compare the code to see if it's different. Some more notes... Maybe the trick "converts" the thief into the graphic, as Stan suggested. I always thought it vaguely resembled the raving lunatic graphic. The gun always struck me as being sort of a useless item. Why would you bother using it, and having to buy bullets for it, when the whip works just as good? About the gun: it actually contains 7 bullets when you first get it (not 6). You can have up to 128 in reserve. If you try to have more than that, the gun will no longer fire. I should mention that using the 2nd grenade to clear the cave-in doesn't earn you any points (but causing the cave-in costs you 3.5) I've tried "frying" the game to unlock the graphic, w/o luck. But I did get the initials to appear that way, and I even got a screen where Indy was jammed inside of the ark (with an impossible score of 27)! I have a feeling this one won't give up its remaining secrets that easily....it may require the code to be completely disassembled. Is anyone up to it?

quote: Originally posted by Nukey Shay: How about just giving the thief the gun? If you run away from him long enough, does HE change into the graphic? He simply takes it (he'll take everything!). If he doesn't have any bullets, he'll simply hover over you indefinitely. There are only 5 objects that he can convert into bullets (oddly enough, the gun isn't one of them). Here is the order in which they are taken (highest priority to lowest), and the number of bullets that the thief will convert it to: key - 6 shovel - 5 coins - 3 magic flute - 3 parachute - 3 If any of the "tiny" thieves take them instead, the "master" thief will get the bullets for it. I don't know if the other objects have any 'priority' in regards to what order they are stolen. quote Same key. Both unlock the map room. The 2nd key in the code is smaller, and the "teeth" are pointing up. Btw, it *is* possible to solve the game w/o using the map room, but it is much more difficult (trial and error..) quote I don't know if using the Black market key makes any difference. Both apparently use the same graphic. Note that the Black market key can only be found in the basket when the timepiece reads either "12" or "1" (the first 2 positions).

If you are on, say the screen below the forest, and one of the other characters are on that screen, if you quick reset the game and go right back to that screen, you may see a glimpse of them returning to the buildings screen. Guess all the variables don't get reset with a new game

Btw, I found that site I mentioned: http://members.tripod.com/skintigh/atari/solaris.html I also know of someone else, Anthony Giorgio, who managed to "fry" the game, which corrupted the 'ships remaining' counter - giving him unlimited ships. I've never been able to fry it that way, but he described the ending exactly as it appears.