HSC16 Round 3: Satan's Hollow

[+therealbountybob]

SATAN'S HOLLOW

 

A HSC favourte, a really good shooter, slightly hard to see the bullets on some screens on PAL systems (that's my excuse!). OK from memory - ferry the blocks over the moat to complete the bridge then you can get to the shootout with santa, sorry the devil guy, you get a flag for each round completed, then a red flag for every 10 levels, probably! There might be a few guys trying to stop you of course Note: After a certain level, the devil requires multiple shots to kill.

 

Settings - Start on level 1 each go

Scoring - full HSC points. HSC Record held by orpheuswaking 508,600 (S10 R15)

Downloads - Fandal XEX, AtariOnline.PL have various versions

Info - slx:post #5, Hardcore Gaming, Moby Games,

 

BONUS GAME LITTLE DEVIL

 

from memory... There are only three or four screens, fly up whirlinurd style and grab the tokens, you need to be over the left edge of them I think (you soon get used to the positioning). You can use the edges of the first screen to avoid the nasties, they don't come in for the kill so be patient.

More Info: Press Select to use one of you three Timer Resets (TR). Hold L/R when jumping for longer jump. Tap down to end a jump. If you're struggling to get the "7" under the right hand platform on the screen below try wiggling the stick a bit as you go over it. push up to boost even mid fall - handy for getting those targets under the platforms

trbb from last time "Still having a love hate relationship with Little Devil (and my collection of 4 Girlfriends) - think I will lock myself in the dungeon Don't be put off by the initial poor colission detection, the game is quite fun to play and you get a bunch of lives to compensate... gets tricky on the later levels (see screenshots) you need to use the 'S' power-up to go through the heads/balls as well as the baddies. Try dropping off and moving under / dropping off and boosting / hold L/R / wiggling as you fall. The game is quite addictive Hint: go to the top left corners as soon as each level starts and get out pronto!"

"I'll still vouch for Little Devil if you are someone who likes a challenge - it's a pain to get the ones under the platforms but is very playable as the difficulty increases each round."

>>>After playing a lot in this round you need to always get the floating B (bonus), get as much done as you can safely, then collect the S (shield) and finish off the difficult bits. The shield makes you invulnerable so you can pass through the skulls and ball things safely. You can lure the baddies away L/R to make room. Try walking off a platform and going under it immediately to get some tokens, then boost up to get some more (before landing)<<<

Emulator users try XL/XE config using ATARI OS ROM not Altirra ROM

Scoring tba HSC record held by trbb 242,900 (S10 R15)

Download - Fandal XEX

Info - Atari 8-bit Forever

 

Round ends Sunday 10th March 10am UK Time

 

Everyone welcome to join in just post a score and scores for rounds 1 and 2 if you missed them

Edited March 6, 2019 by therealbountybob
Even more Info on Little Devil!

[+slx]

Satan's Hollow 11.600 (A competition pro left on auto fire managed about 5500....)

 

No instructions on Atarimania, any around?

[Deteacher]

I'll start things off:

 

Satan's Hollow: 52,500!

 

 

Can't get Little Devil to run. Altirra keeps crashing. Tried NTSC and PAL. Changed the system settings. Anyone else having trouble?

Edited February 25, 2019 by Deteacher

[+therealbountybob]

...

No instructions on Atarimania, any around?

 

...

Can't get Little Devil to run. Altirra keeps crashing. Tried NTSC and PAL. Changed the system settings. Anyone else having trouble?

Added links for both to the first post, will test out LD under emu, it's probably a PAL game

LITTLE DEVIL MUST BE ON XL/XE CONFIG !

[+slx]

Internet Archive has instructions for C64, Atari gameplay seems to be similar. Manual's quite nice with lots of info, tips and tricks, including detailed drawings of attackers' patterns.

 

Seems this never made it across the Atlantic in the 80's.

 

Here's a summary:

• shoot baddies above (what else) - they're Satan's henchmen
• purple baddies drop "eggs" which kill you rather quickly and efficiently, so try to shoot them first
• shooting any of them will make available a white bridge segment in the lower left corner
• you need to drag those across the screen to the chasm on the right to build a bridge
• while it might seem attractive to only shoot one baddy whenever you need a new bridge segment, after some time they'll abandon their patterns and come swooping down on you
• once you lay the last piece of bridge you'll move to another screen where you can fight Satan himself
• defeating Satan apparently increases your firepower
• it also puts you back on the first screen with a new bridge to build
• you may pull back on the stick any time to get a protective shield - remaining shield time is shown at the bottom

[carlsson]

From what I understand, the Atari 8-bit (and 5200) version never were released at all, these are dumps of finished prototypes that never went to production. Some claim the Atari version was done first, then ported to the C64. Notably CBS were supposed to release the Atari versions, while the C64 version was released by Commodore themselves.

[McKong]

96600 - As far as I can tell you can increase your firepower by two levels. If you lose a life your fire power is decreased to the previous level.

 

There are some tactics as to when you decide to cross the bridge and pick up the score bonus and fire power upgrade. Each time you do so you get less space to work with, as the next chasm is wider, and the game gets more difficult. As the game progresses, crossing the bridge is a good way to avoid some of the more difficult screens

Edited February 26, 2019 by McKong

[McKong]

I've not played the Arcade version before, I'll have to fire-up Mame and give it a try

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLaOEq1Rnwg

[+slx]

15.600

[RedThunder]

Mmmm.... its not Lode Runner ;-(

Satan Hollow

7,800

 

Little Devil

8,400

Edited February 26, 2019 by RedThunder

[carlsson]

Satan's Hollow - 13400 pts


Little Devil - 22700 pts (level 2)


Regarding the bright pastel colours that make enemy shots nearly invisible, I found that if I bring down the brightness on my LCD from ~90 to ~10, I can see them. Of course the regular Atari BASIC boot screen becomes awfully dark so I have to bring the brightness back up again for playing other games.

Edited February 26, 2019 by carlsson

[Deteacher]

 

Added links for both to the first post, will test out LD under emu, it's probably a PAL game

LITTLE DEVIL MUST BE ON XL/XE CONFIG !

 

Yeah, I tried every configuration of system along with all the different memory configurations and NTSC/PAL. No dice. I'm going to update to the latest version of Altirra and see if that helps. I'll report back my findings.

[carlsson]

Aha, I know what the problem is. Remember last year when we played games like White Circus and some were unable to get it to run properly in emulation? It appears that some games are not compatible with the supplied AltirraOS for various models, you need an authentic Atari ROM. It means in the menu System > Firmware > Operating System you should select Atari XL/XE instead of AltirraOS. While you're at it, you can select Atari BASIC instead of Altirra BASIC too, though most of the games will boot with Option key to disable BASIC anyway. If you don't have the original Atari ROM files, you need to go out on the grey market and hunt them down.

[Deteacher]

Aha, I know what the problem is. Remember last year when we played games like White Circus and some were unable to get it to run properly in emulation? It appears that some games are not compatible with the supplied AltirraOS for various models, you need an authentic Atari ROM. It means in the menu System > Firmware > Operating System you should select Atari XL/XE instead of AltirraOS. While you're at it, you can select Atari BASIC instead of Altirra BASIC too, though most of the games will boot with Option key to disable BASIC anyway. If you don't have the original Atari ROM files, you need to go out on the grey market and hunt them down.

 

That did it! Thank you, Carlsson!

[jblenkle]

Satan's Hollow - 39,500

[Sikor]

O.k. First try:

[+therealbountybob]

I've added some loads more info/hints on Little Devil to the first post, press Select to use one of the 3 Timer Resets (TR)

[McKong]

255300 - Think I got to about screen 65 and crossed the bridge successfully 4 times

[+therealbountybob]

first tables

Satan's Hollow

1st McKong 255,300 12pts
2nd Deteacher 52,500 11pts
3rd jblenkle 39,500 10pts
4th Sikor 18,500 9pts
5th slx 15,600 8pts
6th carlsson 13,400 7pts
7th RedThunder 7,800 6pts

Little Devil (1pt for each place for now)

emulator users use Atari OS and XL/XE config - see first post for hints.
1st carlsson 22,700 2pts
2nd RedThunder 8,400 1pt

 

Just added the Season 16 Current Standings thread with the points from the first two rounds. If you missed either round then we will have a catch-up for the first half of the season usually at round 10 or just post scores and I'll add them in

[graywest]

326,700

 

[carlsson]

Satan's Hollow - 20400 pts

Little Devil - 29300 pts (reached level 2), 28600 pts (reached level 4)

 

I would suggest we play for level reached on Little Devil, as the bonus item seem to add more points to your score the sooner you grab it which means at least for the low range of scores, you might perform better by grabbing the bonus, die, grab the bonus, die until you have run out of lives.

 

 

[+skr]

Satan´s Hollow: 5400

Little Devil: 19200

[Deteacher]

Finally got some time in with Little Devil: 33,100. Made it to level 3.

 

 

Fun game, but it sounds like the song could have been worked on some more. Sounds much better in Cohen's Towers.

[Deteacher]

Had a couple breakout games just now:

 

Satan's Hollow: 124,100

 

 

Little Devil: 45,100 (Made it to level 6.)

 

[Marius]

Oh this is a nice game. I did not know it. (Well I knew the name, but I have to admit I am not so soon attracted to games with the word Satan in the name)... This is a nice game though. I have to improve a lot when I look at the scores here, but then again, there is still time!

 

26800 points so far.