Season 8 ~ Week 2 ~ Cosmic Ark

[+McCallister]

Today I learned that the score in Cosmic Ark can go up to 6 digits. I also learned that I have far too much free time on my hands.

 

Cosmic Ark (Game 1, Difficulty B/B): 100,150

 

 

 

(Note: I did take video evidence as well and can PM it to Vocelli if he feels further evidence is needed to verify the score.)

Wow! Impressive score, Jin. About how long do you think it took to achieve that?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Wow! Impressive score, Jin. About how long do you think it took to achieve that?

It was a couple hours, though I kinda lost track of time since my brain had pretty much turned to Jello by the 50,000 mark. The last time I did a brain melting endurance run like that was when I rolled the score in Robotron 2084 on the Atari 7800. Not something I like to do often since it's a bit rough on the noggin and the wrists, but it feels good to have accomplished it.

Edited October 19, 2018 by Jin

[Redmiller]

Whew, They sure get fast the higher you go.

Had a few hours last night to kill, so gave it another go.

 

Having a lot of fun!!

[CapitanClassic]

It was a couple hours, though I kinda lost track of time since my brain had pretty much turned to Jello by the 50,000 mark. The last time I did a brain melting endurance run like that was when I rolled the score in Robotron 2084 on the Atari 7800. Not something I like to do often since it's a bit rough on the noggin and the wrists, but it feels good to have accomplished it.

It is possible to get enough fuel by continually picking up the same alien. (I.e. pick up one alien. Leave planet. Shoot asteroids. Get shot by planet defenses. Repickuo 1 alien. Rinse and repeat)

 

Did you perform this trick on the easier levels to build up your score? How many sets of aliens did you rescue (I think you get 1000 per planet)?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

It is possible to get enough fuel by continually picking up the same alien. (I.e. pick up one alien. Leave planet. Shoot asteroids. Get shot by planet defenses. Repickuo 1 alien. Rinse and repeat)

Did you perform this trick on the easier levels to build up your score? How many sets of aliens did you rescue (I think you get 1000 per planet)?

Yep, that's exactly how I did it. I figured it out after looking at the HSC all time records for Cosmic Ark (found here: http://hsc.statotronic.com/searchgame.php?game=49 ) and noticing that the top scores for the game were 90,950 from Sku_u and 83,700 from Keilbaca, with the next highest scores after those two being in the 20,000s. Knowing that the asteroids start moving too fast for human reflexes to react to after 20 or so planets, that got me wondering how the heck the top two players got such high scores.

 

I figured there must have been some kind of special strategy to top tier scoring in this game, like how in Centipede you can get several hundred thousand points by staying on the first wave, always leaving one centipede segment alive, and just hunting the spiders while destroying any new centipede segments that spawn from the sides of the screen. I played around with Cosmic Ark for half an hour or so and eventually figured out that sure enough there was a special technique to getting a really high score in this game, which worked exactly as you described.

 

I played as normal until the second planet of yellow Pac-Man looking creatures, which I think was the 12th or 13th planet, then set about asteroid hunting while refilling my energy meter as needed by capturing one alien then letting the mini ship get hit by the defense laser. A few hours, and several close calls nearly running out of energy, later and I had my high score. It sounds like a simple strategy but it was actually quite difficult staying focused and shooting asteroids without getting hit for hours on end, especially after the first hour or so when my wrist started feeling none too happy about the constant strain.

 

But anyway, you are correct, that was my technique.

Edited October 19, 2018 by Jin

[CapitanClassic]

What a slog. I dont think I could sit bored shooting 10,000 asteroids. In future HSCs we might want to consider highest planet reached/Completed like we have done with Time Pilot and other games with poorly implemented point systems.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

What a slog. I dont think I could sit bored shooting 10,000 asteroids. In future HSCs we might want to consider highest planet reached/Completed like we have done with Time Pilot and other games with poorly implemented point systems.

It sure was a slog, I never want to do that again. My wrist especially doesn't want to have to do that again. The High Score Club is supposed to be a "just for fun" sort of thing though, so in the spirit of friendly and fair competition I won't mind if Vocelli wants to redact my score; since I did use a unconventional playing technique to achive it. I feel like I worked really hard to get that score, but I did do it in a way that most people probably wouldn't think to try.

Edited October 19, 2018 by Jin

[DarQ Massacres]

A couple new scores to finish me off for this game
Game 1 - 12,820
Game 5 - 804

 

I wanted to get to at least 1000 points in game 5, but that is just a bit too hard for me, I'll stick to the normal asteroids myself

[Vocelli]

It sure was a slog, I never want to do that again. My wrist especially doesn't want to have to do that again. The High Score Club is supposed to be a "just for fun" sort of thing though, so in the spirit of friendly and fair competition I won't mind if Vocelli wants to redact my score; since I did use a unconventional playing technique to achive it. I feel like I worked really hard to get that score, but I did do it in a way that most people probably wouldn't think to try.

Your score will count.

I surely would never sit and destroy asteroids for hours... More power to you!

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Your score will count.

I surely would never sit and destroy asteroids for hours... More power to you!

Thanks Vocelli, that's a real relief! I went back and did the math to figure out roughly how many asteroids I shot down as well as how much time I spent doing it and determined that I was getting 240 points per asteroid wave, each containing 3 pink asteroids worth 30 points each and 15 regular ones worth 10 points each, so in total I ended up shooting down about 6,860 asteroids over the course of 2 hours and 43 minutes. It's a wonder my joystick is still working properly after all that.

Edited October 19, 2018 by Jin

[Jonesyy]

Slight improvement on my original scores.

 

I really struggle with this game!

 

[Northcoastgamer]

Game (1) 24,260 Game (5) 3,574

[AtariWarlord]

I actually did destroy both of my joysticks playing this game. Unless I can fix them, I guess I'm out.

[S.BAZ]

Game 1B: 13,430

Game 5B: 1,294

 

Made some improvements, but I guess I don't understand Jin's technique yet. I keep leaving 1 critter and letting my pod get destroyed, but no life-refill.

 

I tried:

-- taking both critters and then getting destroyed, then leaving the 1 critter behind.

-- taking the only critter and then getting destroyed, leaving 1 behind.

-- taking both critters, getting destroyed, then coming back and taking no critter and getting destroyed.

-- (same as the last one but keeping the ship alive when I come back and take no critter)

 

none of these seem to be working, although I think I did get a refill one time.

[agb]

10,550

[keilbaca]

Congrats Jin, you figured out the secret!

 

I have been playing the regular way, because I didnt feel like doing that kind of grind again. When the laser fires so fast that it is impossible to make it through without luck, its escentially the kill screen. I dont think the Atari can keep up with the left or right asteroids because Ive seen lasers go through even the blue straight asteroids and hit the ship. The only way to really score that high is to do the grind.

[troff]

13,200

 

Bonus 924

[CapitanClassic]

Made some improvements, but I guess I don't understand Jin's technique yet. I keep leaving 1 critter and letting my pod get destroyed, but no life-refill.

 

I tried:

-- taking both critters and then getting destroyed, then leaving the 1 critter behind.

-- taking the only critter and then getting destroyed, leaving 1 behind.

-- taking both critters, getting destroyed, then coming back and taking no critter and getting destroyed.

-- (same as the last one but keeping the ship alive when I come back and take no critter)

 

none of these seem to be working, although I think I did get a refill one time.

You wont advance to the next planet until you rescue both critters.

 

Whenever you rescue a critter, you get a life bonus for the ARK.

 

Collect one critter and enter the ark, you cannnot leave until the asteroid alert sounds.

After the asteroid point scumming, you will return to the planet to rescue the remaining critter. instead of rescuing it, get your pod killed by planetary defenses. The critter you were carrying will be dropped to the surface (2 now on the planet). Rescue only one critter, and enter the ARK, waiting for the asteroid alert to leave. Gain some health for rescuing the critter that you previously saved once again. Rinse and repeat.

[+jeremiahjt]

11,510 for game 1 and 1,044 for game 5.

 

Just played again and improved upon my scores.

 

Game 1 is now 13,370 and game 5 is 1,264.

Edited October 20, 2018 by jeremiahjt

[nads]

A little more

 

Cosmic Ark 1BB : 24,740

 

[Leto27]

Cosmic Ark Game 1 B/B 29320 points. Using the wash, rinse repeat method (change my mind about not posting another score )

 

[agb]

15,460

[Gorfy]

Game 1: 10,990

 

 

[Scrabbler15]

Game 5 B/B - 204

 

.

[darthkur]

11,250

 

 

 

Bonus: 1,054