Battlezone help needed

[RangerG]

I found Battlezone last weekend. I know it's not rare, but it's one I didn't have and it always seems to be liked by gamers so I was really happy about my find. I've played it now and I love the tank view and shot firing and the battle sequence. However, I stink in that I have no defensive talent. It is so annoying to be hit by bullets that are coming from behind me or to the side of me. What is the best way to dodge the other tank bullets? I play the Atari with volume on low (when my wife is home in the apartment) so I now realize you need to listen for the shots (reading the instructins has helped some ). However, I'm still pretty bad. Anybody have any advice to turn me into a Battlezone master!

[inextremis staple]

im no master by any means but this is what i do

i always keep moving

i just hold the joystick forward and push left or right

if im shot at from the front i immediately turn left or right depending on the placement of the tank and move back fast until its passed

if i hear the shot from behind then i look to see where it possibly came from on the radar and turn the opposite direction and pull back again

and you can usually hit the flying yellow things by just moving backwards and firing at it

my trick is to just keep moving

it works for me so you can try and see if it works for you

good luck

[StanJr]

Yeah, keep moving. Usually if shot at move straight ahead or straight back as fast as you can. If shot from close range, you are screwed. If shot directly from behind stop, turn, and then head forward in your new direction. Of course, ALL of this will become MUCH tougher as the difficulty ramps.

 

Another tip: You can "lead" the pink UFO into your shot by strafing left to right after you shoot. With a little practice you can hit almost every one as soon as they pop up!

 

--Battle Stan

[RangerG]

Thanks for the tips. Off to battle . . . . .

[Big Player]

Always keep the tanks/planes in front of you--number one priority. Then back up and let the tanks and planes come to you.

 

I keep moving backwards all the time and rotate left or right to avoid fire. Only stop if the tanks are moving out of firing range-and if you are safe of course.

 

The planes come at you very slowly with your tank in constantly in reverse. Just line them up and they are quite easy to kill this way.

 

I also spend most of my time looking at the radar screen. I only look up at the main screen to avoid fire, avoid a plane attack or for final targeting.

[Rob Mitchell]

All good advice .. I use the two lever tank tread control circuit for precise control. Now Thomas has made the tread control hack .. for those who want to play 2600 Battlezone like the arcade version. Isn't it funny that Atari did not include great little features like this in many of its carts?

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Tempest]

There is a two joystick option on the 5200 version of Battlezone, perhaps they just thought the 2600 couldn't handle it?

 

Tempest

[Thomas Jentzsch]

There is a two joystick option on the 5200 version of Battlezone, perhaps they just thought the 2600 couldn't handle it?

I don't think so. It was quite easy for me to add this feature.

[Tempest]

Well my other theories are:

 

1. It was done by GCC who may have been told by Atari what to put in the game and what not to. Maybe Atari wanted the game as quickly as possible and nixed the two joystick feature?

 

2. Atari thought it would be too confusing for the average player.

 

3. Atari didn't want to make a special dual controller holder for the 2600. They already had one for the 5200 so that wasn't an issue when that game was made.

 

 

Tempest

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

There's some pretty good Battlezone tips in this old thread, thanks for these!

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

I just bought a new German games mag called "Games TM". They had a small feature about 2600 games (that's why I bought it...), where they mentioned an interesting sounding detail about 2600 Battlezone:

 

They're claiming that you can use your enemies as shield and even make them shooting and killing each other. Whoa! Is that true?

 

Anyone ever seen one enemy tank destroying another?

 

Well, they also write some rather nonsense stuff like Combat having a 1-Player mode, so I'm in serious doubt...

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Nukey Shay]

Yes...if two tanks are tracking you, you can manuver between them (while they continue to slide toward you). If they occupy the same location on the screen, they will destroy one another. A more risky move is to turn while driving backward as a tank is on either side of the screen (firing at you). Wait until one shoots, then turn while continuing to drive backward to put both tanks on one side of the screen to collide.

 

And Combat can be played alone. The objective is to see how many hits you can get before the time expires. Since your missile trajectory alters where the enemy tank will be, a bit of strategy is involved (to keep the tank from getting too far away from yours).

 

Dancing tanks:

In game#1, hold down reset a moment while shooting the left player tank. The right tank will be hit and appear on the left side. Drive the left tank straight up until the turret is -almost- touching the other tank...then turn counter-clockwise.

[NovaXpress]

I've seen the enemy kill each other many times, when they are right on top of each other its a guarantee, I stop moving unless I hear a shot fire and soon the two tanks will collide. I see them shoot one another but I've never made it happen on purpose.

 

I never thought about my actual maneuvers before, I just play like everyone else. After trying a few 500000+ rounds while paying attention, I discovered my actual technique is nothing more than constantly moving backwards and diagonally unless I'm hunting a saucer.

 

One problem i have with Battlezone is that when a supertank apperas right behind you, its pretty much unescapable death. That's how I lose most of my lives.

[Rob Mitchell]

Anyone ever seen one enemy tank destroying another?

 

Yes .. Occasionally you can have one tank behind you shoot and miss you and hit a tank in front of you! In the 1980s it would have been a bug, now it's called friendly fire.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[ZylonBane]

Excuse me? It actually takes more effort to allow enemies to shoot each other. Instead of collision-checking against just the player, it's checking against all enemies too. Hardly a bug, no matter what your perspective. Back in the 80's I remember being impressed with games that allowed enemies to damage each other. It added a nice bit of realism.

[joeybastard]

I agree, I alwys liked the extra realism of enemies being able to hit each other or your fire damaging things that help you. A little touch like that adds a lot to a game like Battlezone, Beamrider and Defender.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Yes...if two tanks are tracking you, you can manuver between them (while they continue to slide toward you).  If they occupy the same location on the screen, they will destroy one another.  A more risky move is to turn while driving backward as a tank is on either side of the screen (firing at you).  Wait until one shoots, then turn while continuing to drive backward to put both tanks on one side of the screen to collide.

 

Thanks for confirming. Cool. Now I definetely have a reason to play even more rounds of Battlezone

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[StanJr]

They can also run into each other. Those big yellow planes can be "steered" into a saucer or tank with the right manuevering. Unfortunately, you are usually limited to when and where the enemy spawns.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Well my other theories are:

 

1. It was done by GCC who may have been told by Atari what to put in the game and what not to.

 

BTW: Is there anything known about the people behind GCC? Neubauer & Crane aside, they're by far the most superior ancient VCS programmers. Not only are their games as such very good and impressive, they use ultimate programming techniques in Battlezone

(and Galaxian and others) which haven't been dicovered in any other games yet. There must be some well known people behind these games, such knowledge and experience doesn't come from nowhere...

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Nukey Shay]

3. Atari didn't want to make a special dual controller holder for the 2600.  They already had one for the 5200 so that wasn't an issue when that game was made.

This one isn't exactly correct, a dual holder was made and shipped with 8-bit Robotron. They could have just as well also packed it with 2600 BattleZone.

The reason is probably that the fire button on standard controllers would be hard to get to in the heat of battle. This is not an issue in the arcade game, since the button is on the controller stem.

[ZylonBane]

Those big yellow planes can be "steered" into a saucer or tank with the right manuevering.

In the arcade game these are missiles, not planes.

 

Dunno if they changed this in the 2600 version.

[Nukey Shay]

They are just referred to as Fighters...tho I dunno if that was the same on the arcade (It's Atari...the reason PacMan has "ghosts" instead of "monsters").

[ZylonBane]

Nope, no fighters in the arcade version. That's weird... I don't see what they gained by this name change.

[Nukey Shay]

It's in the game. Are you gonna let it go thru existance without a name??

 

 

If it were Nintendo, they would have even named the tanks' shells

 

How about Graboids?

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

How about Graboids?

 

I've never seen the english language version, but: Tremors?

 

Greetings,

Manuel