zylon Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) Our game this round is Zone Ranger. This is a new game to the HSC and we'll learn about any bugs or tricks as we go. Emulation is fine, as is whatever controls you desire. Pics encouraged, but not required. Round ends on Sunday November 11th 2012 @ 10pm EST. New record- 18,501 sdamon Final scores: 18,501 sdamon +11 14,506 JacobZu7zu7 +10 10,974 atariron82 +9 9,540 peedenmark7 +8 8,444 roadrunner +7 8,203 Liduario +6 7,922 NIKON +5 7,567 zylon +4 7,510 jblenkle +3 Edited November 12, 2012 by zylon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 I'll give our newest game the kickoff. 7,567 Having a bit of trouble "firing" on cue since I'm using my finger instead of my thumb, but I'll do what i can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIKON Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 (edited) My meager first attempt...sure wish there was a sattelite left indicator 7922 Edited November 1, 2012 by NIKON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 8,444 Beat it! A bad, bad, bad night indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacobZu7zu7 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 320 i dunno what i'm doing here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) 320 i dunno what i'm doing here... The main thing is destroying the 16 satellites that are set up in a grid each level. Follow the lasers that connect them in order to find them... the lasers stop when the last one in a row or column is destroyed. Be careful to avoid the lasers when they turn red in later levels. There's a circular Warp Zone you can use like the Stargate in Defender II/Stargate. It will take you to where a satellite is being repaired when an Alert sounds. You can then destroy the repair ship. There is also a gate to a tunnel area. The gate looks like a bunch of yellow criss-crossed lines. Inside the tunnels you can pick up glowing dots that will cause one satellite each to explode when you leave the tunnels. Beware the pink obstacles that will destroy your ship. Also, there are little sparkly things floating around that grant you temporary invincibility. Use those before tackling the large crystal ships that break up into small, deadly homing ships. Almost forgot... in the first level only, there is a warp available to level 7 that awards you 7,500 points for using it! Edited November 1, 2012 by sdamon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Sounds like it pays to use the 7,500 warp, at least for HSC gaming. I wonder how many points you'd have if you played levels 1 through 7? I haven't played ZR ever, other than just trying it out years ago. The scoring issue seems simliar to 5200 (and coin-op) Tempest ... You get such a high bonus for starting at later levels, and I don't think it is possible to start at level 1 and get such a high score reaching those levels the long way. So when trying for a high score, you simply start at the highest level allowable , and survive it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIKON Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 320 i dunno what i'm doing here... http://www.atariage.com/manual_thumbs.html?SoftwareLabelID=2032 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 (edited) Really happy to be exploring a 5200 game new to the HSC! This one is tricky to learn, but fun once you do! 13,854 Here's a helpful tip... the 7,500 point warp to Level 7 is located down and to the right of your starting point in level 1. Don't bother trying to score any points before using it... your score is ignored and replaced by the score of 7,500 when you use it. Edited November 3, 2012 by sdamon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 ^^Good tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 I'm getting addicted to this game! 18,501 Here's another tip... the biggest point bonus you can get (aside from the starting warp) is the time bonus at the end of the wave. But with normal play, this bonus will be pretty small, as it takes a while to destroy all 16 satellites. So here's how to pump up your score... destroy all but one satellite, then let the time run out (which destroys your ship - so you need to have at least one reserve ship for this to work!) But then the clock starts over again, and you can quickly destroy the last satellite and reap a large ending bonus. I actually haven't mastered this strategy yet... often, I'll destroy the last satellite by accident. But it's clearly the key to racking up points in this game! The loss of a ship isn't even a big deal, as you'll usually get enough points to get a bonus ship to replace it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Zone Ranger - 7,510 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 I'm getting addicted to this game! 18,501 Here's another tip... the biggest point bonus you can get (aside from the starting warp) is the time bonus at the end of the wave. But with normal play, this bonus will be pretty small, as it takes a while to destroy all 16 satellites. So here's how to pump up your score... destroy all but one satellite, then let the time run out (which destroys your ship - so you need to have at least one reserve ship for this to work!) But then the clock starts over again, and you can quickly destroy the last satellite and reap a large ending bonus. I actually haven't mastered this strategy yet... often, I'll destroy the last satellite by accident. But it's clearly the key to racking up points in this game! The loss of a ship isn't even a big deal, as you'll usually get enough points to get a bonus ship to replace it. Is that level 13?? Damn, great score! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Is that level 13?? Damn, great score! :thumbsup: Thanks! Yes, that's level 13 (sorry the passing asteroid makes it hard to read!) I've long been intrigued by this game, but it took the HSC contest to inspire me to really dig into it. Hope some other folks start to enjoy it as much as I do! A quick note about the tunnel zone and the glowing dots you find there... as it turns out, these won't do you any good unless the dots are sucessfully "delivered" to the floating space station after you exit the zone. While it generally comes and finds you shortly after you exit, all too often, something will kill you before that happens, and your whole tunnel journey will have be a waste of time. Try to make sure the screen is clear of deadly enemies before entering the tunnels, as you seem to come back to exactly the same screen you left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atariron82 Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 This game is a nice change of pace for the HSC. There is a bit of a learning curve, as I've discovered with repeated plays (getting killed fast!). The biggest trick seems to be mastering the control of your ship, for the sake of aiming shots when attacked or taking out a satellite, whilst not hitting the ubiquitous asteroids! Scoring aside from bonuses is also very meager, further adding to the challenge. Any score approaching 15K will indeed be hard-earned My tally after about 30+ attempts: 10,974 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacobZu7zu7 Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 11,570 4th try?... nice tips sdamon! the manual was helpful too... i didn't use the warp on lvl one... i went level by level... i had 3 lives at 11ks, but lost them when the ship regenerated right on a pink laser twice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 11,570 4th try?... nice tips sdamon! the manual was helpful too... i didn't use the warp on lvl one... i went level by level... i had 3 lives at 11ks, but lost them when the ship regenerated right on a pink laser twice... A 5 digit score on your 4th try? Impressive! Also impressive that you didn't use the level warp... I haven't even tried to play without it... mostly because I don't have that kind of patience! Regenerating on a pink/red laser is fairly common, but it doesn't have to be fatal... your ship is invulnerable for a few seconds until you move the joystick. If you're using the standard 5200 stick, be sure to center it manually after your ship is destroyed, then only start moving once the lasers have passed over your ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peedenmark7 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 (edited) 7770 First chance I have had to play this one....I have no clue what I am doing. Edited November 8, 2012 by peedenmark7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacobZu7zu7 Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 A 5 digit score on your 4th try? Impressive! Also impressive that you didn't use the level warp... I haven't even tried to play without it... mostly because I don't have that kind of patience! Regenerating on a pink/red laser is fairly common, but it doesn't have to be fatal... your ship is invulnerable for a few seconds until you move the joystick. If you're using the standard 5200 stick, be sure to center it manually after your ship is destroyed, then only start moving once the lasers have passed over your ship. 14,506 Thanks! I dunno if I'll ever see lvl 13! though... I got a feel for what to do quickly after reading your tips, but I do use the... Inner Sanctum... "dot collecting". I also don't use the warp zone. Level 8 always kills me cuz of Bommerang and that flying saucer on my tail... I collect many dots... and for them to be of use, you have to bump/shoot? into the Skyway Patrol it makes destroying satalites easier... SKYWAY PATROL. When you return from the Super Portal, come in contact with the Skyway Patrol. He'll knock off one satellite for every dot you got. It gets you more score if you start at level 1... and build from there... I hate level 5 and 8 because of the -spinning boomerang thing!!!!- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peedenmark7 Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 (edited) finally getting the hang of this one, but have figured out to stay away form the 7th stage warp as it seems better to build your points clearing a wave and moving on slowly.. good tip on the tunnel dots. I cleared them but did not know what for.. I have seen the mothership of whatever it is called as soon as I leave the tunnels. will it take the dots from me or do I have to push a button to offload them ? Edited November 9, 2012 by peedenmark7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 will it take the dots from me or do I have to push a button to offload them ? It takes the dots from you without you having to do anything other than stay alive until it touches you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peedenmark7 Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 9540 This game can become quite addicting once you begin to get the hang of it. Another fun/new that the game the HSC has put in front of me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 (edited) I'll try and get some more time in on this one. No luck. Best I did was Level 4 and just over half my first score. I'm done, but we'll play this again sometime. Edited November 11, 2012 by zylon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidLikesIntellivision Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 7,689 I'm having too much gaming through the HSCs, so this is my only attempt for this game. Sorry guys. Next season I'll give more atention to the 5200. Ok. I'm playing just a bit more and submitting 8,203 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 This mission is now terminated. Congrats to the champ, sdamon, for taking the win and setting a record in a new challenge. Thanks to all who played and join us in our next round starting soon... New record- 18,501 sdamon Final scores: 18,501 sdamon +11 14,506 JacobZu7zu7 +10 10,974 atariron82 +9 9,540 peedenmark7 +8 8,444 roadrunner +7 8,203 Liduario +6 7,922 NIKON +5 7,567 zylon +4 7,510 jblenkle +3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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