Intellivision HSC Season 13 - Game 2 - Night Stalker

[INTELLIVISION SPARTAN]

3 hours ago, IntyFanMatt said:

Sweet score!  I don't have the patience to stick it out that long, lol

Agree 100%.

[Rickster8]

6th Entry - Finally got to my 100k goal. Okay okay, yes it was easier than getting 200k in Space Armada... ???

 

Edited July 24, 2020 by Rickster8
Changed a word

[IntyFanMatt]

24 minutes ago, INTELLIVISION SPARTAN said:

Agree 100%.

You agree that I don’t have patience?  ?

[INTELLIVISION SPARTAN]

1 hour ago, IntyFanMatt said:

You agree that I don’t have patience?  ?

 my very first game that I played a couple days ago  ... my thoughts were “I don’t have the patience for this game”. 

[IntyFanMatt]

6 minutes ago, INTELLIVISION SPARTAN said:

 my very first game that I played a couple days ago  ... my thoughts were “I don’t have the patience for this game”. 

Lol. Sounded like you thought I had no patience with it. Haha 

[JacobZu7zu7]

79,200

 

[BiffMan]

4 hours ago, gar0u said:

Season 13 has an invisible theme. 

 

I can't see myself doing very well either... ?

Good observation... Auto Racing track 2 has quite a few invisible ditches in the grass... hmmmm.... ?

[Intelligentleman]

I sort of wish the developers had left the spiders ability to drop webs behind as he goes instead of adding the invisible robot.

[Rickster8]

1 hour ago, Intelligentleman said:

I sort of wish the developers had left the spiders ability to drop webs behind as he goes instead of adding the invisible robot.

Agreed. Much higher scores would have been possible. ?

[Rickster8]

Guys just so you all know, the High Score Club Record here for Night Stalker is 707,500 pts by Felson42 in Season 4 of the HSC. HOLY SCHMOLY!!! ?????

 

Happy Hunting, HAHAHAHHAHAA!!! ???

 

 

[mr_me]

3 hours ago, Intelligentleman said:

I sort of wish the developers had left the spiders ability to drop webs behind as he goes instead of adding the invisible robot.

 

1 hour ago, Rickster8 said:

Agreed. Much higher scores would have been possible. ?

That web feature that was removed would have slowed you down.  You'd waste bullets clearing them.  I prefer lower scores and shorter playtime.  My favorite intellivision games are the ones that don't have scores.

[IntyFanMatt]

1 hour ago, Rickster8 said:

Guys just so you all know, the High Score Club Record here for Night Stalker is 707,500 pts by Felson42 in Season 4 of the HSC. HOLY SCHMOLY!!! ?????

 

Happy Hunting, HAHAHAHHAHAA!!! ???

 

 

I wonder what his strategy is?  Must be some kind of secret place to stand or hide that he uses, that we may not be aware of.  

[Intelligentleman]

12 minutes ago, IntyFanMatt said:

I wonder what his strategy is?  Must be some kind of secret place to stand or hide that he uses, that we may not be aware of.  

That’s exactly what I was thinking too

[Rickster8]

21 minutes ago, IntyFanMatt said:

I wonder what his strategy is?  Must be some kind of secret place to stand or hide that he uses, that we may not be aware of.  

Felson42 posted this about Night Stalker in Season 4:

 

"Some info/tips about my favorite inty game.

 

The highest/disc setting is really the only playable version, as the lower difficulties slow down not only the enemies, but the entire game (as others have noted). (Also it's the version we are playing for the club, so there's that)

 

You are pursued by robots that get tougher on a graduated scale. We start with the lowly white robot, which moves semi-randomly and takes one shot to kill. At 5000 we get the blue robot, which follows a more direct course to you and takes one shot. At 15k the yellow robot, which is a bit smarter, and takes 3 shots to kill. At 30k the black robot with white bullets. The black robot takes 3 shots to kill, and shoots bullets that can absorb yours (unless you shoot at the very edge of the wall and pass around them). Then at 50k the black robot shoots yellow bullets. These bullets absorb yours, and also can destroy your bunker. Finally, at 80k the game really begins. At 80k the robot is invisible and can only be spotted by its gunshots or if it passes over the spider or other robots.

 

It is true that both controllers can be used at once, but I've never done this. I have to think it would be way too awkward and I really don't run into situations where I try to run and shoot at the same time.

 

I have an original inty and an inty 2. I prefer the original controller, but either are quite functional. You do need a controller without any dead spots though. There are some vids on youtube about how to clean controllers. Luckily I've never had a problem with my original inty controllers. Also, the controller inlays for this game are absolutely useless as you just need the four shooting directions. I never use them as i like to be able to feel the buttons.

 

The key to the entire game, and if you ask me, what makes it also a strategy game and not just action, is the fact that only one enemy bullet (and only one of your bullets) can be on the screen at a time. So, if an enemy from across the screen shoots at you, you are safe from other shots until that bullet exits the screen. You must use this fact if you want to score well. I've read that this aspect of the game was a bit of an accident. The programmers realized that the way they coded the game they would not have enough memory to keep track of more bullets at once. I am glad it turned out this way, as it really makes the game more strategic, especially after the invisible robot appears.

 

Once you are up to the invisible robot, you need to find where the relative 'safe zones' are in the maze. These are the spots where the our invisible pal will almost always shoot at you far enough away that you have time to react. Use these in combination with the twists and turns. When the robot approaches, shoot it before it gets to the corner and it can absorb your bullet. Lead it after you to the next corner, rinse and repeat.

 

I tend to stay on the right side of the maze most times. Your ammo reload gun has 5 possible places to appear. One on the left, two in the middle, and two on the right. So, if you hang out on the right, there is a better chance of the gun appearing close to you. Also, the robots come in from the bottom left. The only drawback of hanging out on the right and blowing away anything that comes near, is when your reload appears on the bottom left. Sometimes that can be a bitch.

 

One more tip. Since the robots always appear at the bottom left, if you are near the bottom of the screen when you finish off a robot, loose a shot towards the bottom left corner and then move up so no robots shoot back at you, and you'll destroy the robot as soon as it appears (if it is a one shot kill bot) or tick off one of the three required shots.

 

Anyways, give this game a chance. It is addictive and a whole lot of fun."

 

It's interesting that he says the game starts for him at the invisible robot stage, because I feel the exact same way in Space Armada. For me that game starts when the red saucer descends. ?

[gar0u]

So you need to run a square around the robots, shooting them from behind while their bullet is traveling forward towards your last known position.

 

That is an interesting tactic.  Should be able to practice on the 15K robot in the SW and SE corners of the screen.

 

Another option is to "protect" the bats.  I forget exactly when they turn into robots, but if you don't kill them it's less things shooting at you.  Of course, the robots will take them out on accident from time to time.  I haven't had much luck with this strategy, but it might be useful.

[Rickster8]

5 minutes ago, gar0u said:

So you need to run a square around the robots, shooting them from behind while their bullet is traveling forward towards your last known position.

 

That is an interesting tactic.  Should be able to practice on the 15K robot in the SW and SE corners of the screen.

 

Another option is to "protect" the bats.  I forget exactly when they turn into robots, but if you don't kill them it's less things shooting at you.  Of course, the robots will take them out on accident from time to time.  I haven't had much luck with this strategy, but it might be useful.

I like the 'protect the bats' idea, problem is like you say the darn robot will take them out eventually, but I'm still gonna try that. I wonder if the black robots flame fire would take out a bat? Hmmmm ?

[IntyFanMatt]

Great info and tips, thanks for pasting that here!  Interesting fact that only one bullet can be on the screen at a time!  Plus he mentions safe zones, but doesn't say where, so I wonder where those are?  I am sure he doesn't want to share all his tricks though, lol.  Will give this another go with those tips in mind.

[JacobZu7zu7]

Nice tips! I forgot about em... thanks again felson. Thanks Rick for posting these. I already been doing almost everything as the tips say!, ... Just my location I stay in middle, so next time I will venture farther right, and re-lose the overlay maybe.

 

I also been playing one controller, (If I'm in a corner I can't leave) I wait for a bullet to fly passed me, to jump in front of robots to shoot 'em.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mr_me]

102200

Mame, gravis gamepad (xmapped)

 

I think a safe zone might be in the lower right, where you're protected by walls.  The invisible robot will try to shoot you through the wall so you'll see where it is.

 

Edited July 24, 2020 by mr_me

[Intelligentleman]

I really like setting up shop near the bottom. Then I hide in one of the three central hallways and bait the robots to fire at me as soon as they spawn. Then I just hop in front and blast ‘em.

 

Now from there, I try to keep the bots pinned to their spawn corner until I’m out of ammo. At that point I dash for the new gun and try to corral everyone back into position.
 

By the time the black bot shows up, this approach seems to fall apart, but I’ve only gotten to him once, so...

[Rickster8]

1 hour ago, gar0u said:

So you need to run a square around the robots, shooting them from behind while their bullet is traveling forward towards your last known position.

 

That is an interesting tactic.  Should be able to practice on the 15K robot in the SW and SE corners of the screen.

 

Another option is to "protect" the bats.  I forget exactly when they turn into robots, but if you don't kill them it's less things shooting at you.  Of course, the robots will take them out on accident from time to time.  I haven't had much luck with this strategy, but it might be useful.

I just tried the 'protect the bats' tactic. It worked til' about 20k then the fat white robot killed both of them via friendly fire, lol... ?

[IntyFanMatt]

7 minutes ago, Rickster8 said:

I just tried the 'protect the bats' tactic. It worked til' about 20k then the fat white robot killed both of them via friendly fire, lol... ?

Yeah, I don't think the protect the bats strategy will work well to be honest.  They'll be gone long before the game gets interesting.

[Intelligentleman]

1 minute ago, IntyFanMatt said:

Yeah, I don't think the protect the bats strategy will work well to be honest.  They'll be gone long before the game gets interesting.

I’ve been doing this since I started my attempts because I read it on here somewhere.

 

Here’s my take... if you want a low risk, steady way to jump start your points, killing bats is the ticket. They’re worth the same as the starting robots, and they literally can’t kill you. In fact, if you can get to them fast enough, you can blast them before they leave their perch.

 

Once you get to 5,000 points, though, lay off the bats. Go for the new robot instead. Heck, at that point, I actually prefer to have more robots on the map because I can often take out multiple bots with a single shot. So the score starts to rack up a little faster. And, since the bats are eventually going to get killed anyway, why not get the points for yourself?

[Intelligentleman]

3 hours ago, mr_me said:

 

That web feature that was removed would have slowed you down.  You'd waste bullets clearing them.  I prefer lower scores and shorter playtime.  My favorite intellivision games are the ones that don't have scores.

I agree with that, but for me the game is over when the invisible bot shows up. Granted, I’ve never made it that far, but to be honest, it doesn’t sound fun at all.

 

 Seems cheap, imho

[IntyFanMatt]

28 minutes ago, Intelligentleman said:

I’ve been doing this since I started my attempts because I read it on here somewhere.

 

Here’s my take... if you want a low risk, steady way to jump start your points, killing bats is the ticket. They’re worth the same as the starting robots, and they literally can’t kill you. In fact, if you can get to them fast enough, you can blast them before they leave their perch.

 

Once you get to 5,000 points, though, lay off the bats. Go for the new robot instead. Heck, at that point, I actually prefer to have more robots on the map because I can often take out multiple bots with a single shot. So the score starts to rack up a little faster. And, since the bats are eventually going to get killed anyway, why not get the points for yourself?

I see what you're saying, but I can get to 5,000 points very fast by shooting the robots as they spawn.  I just don't think it's worth spending any time on the bats, they just seem so insignificant to me. But to each his own!