HSC Season 6 Week 48: Chopper Command

[Ze_ro]

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted.

 

You're piloting a helicopter gunship, flying cover for a truck convoy of medical supplies through enemy territory. Suddenly, your long-range scanner shows squadrons of enemy aircraft closing in on your position.

 

You throw the control stick forward and your chopper shoots skyward, barely avoiding a cluster of multi-warhead missiles. Your response is swift, as you pivor your gunship 180°, unleashing a lightning barrage of laser rockets.

 

The action: furious. The concentration: intense. You are engaged in one of the most demanding video battles eve conceived. You must rely on your long-range scanner, your wits, and your reflexes. Because it's your responsibility to see that those supplies get through.

 

 

Game Information

• Game Name: Chopper Command
• Released By: Activision, 1982
• Left Difficulty: B / Novice - Rapid Fire
• Right Difficulty: B / Novice - Rapid Fire
• Game Mode: Game 1 (Cadet Level)
• Chosen By: vjames

Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday August 5th at 1:00 AM (CST).

 

Current High Scores 999,999 (shadow460) [+11][+1] 999,999 (vjames) [+11][+1] 448,800 (Atardi) [+10][+1] 51,100 (toymailman) [+9][+1] 31,500 (Kurt_Woloch) [+8][+1] 28,100 (darthkur) [+7][+1] 23,700 (doctorclu) [+6][+1] 22,300 (Mister VCS) [+5][+1] 21,000 (roadrunner) [+4][+1] 14,000 (4Ks) [+3][+1] 11,900 (aftermac) [+2][+1] 10,100 (pacmanplayer) [+1][+1] 7800 (Wickeycolumbus) [+1] 3000 (LarcenTyler) [+1] Best Tips shadow460 [+2] Challenges Patch Challenge - Chopper Commandos - Score 10,000 points or higher and you get 1 bonus point! TwinGalaxies Top 3 999,999 (Todd Rogers, Robert T Mruczek, David B Yancey, Douglas C Korekach, Troy Whelan, Galen Komatsu, Pete Fifield, Tom Duncan, Frankie Cardulla, Steve Germershausen, Tee Jester) (Game 1, Difficulty B)

Current Standings toymailman [462] darthkur [346] Deteacher [343] aftermac [294] Kurt_Woloch [207] Impaler_26 [174] Mister VCS [127] DarthCalvin [117] SpiceWare [112] shadow460 [99] jjd [98] vjames [91] LarcenTyler [89] Atardi [86] sloth713 [69] Hornpipe2 [55] the 5th ghost [47] Nathan Strum [46] mcge0053 [44] doctorclu [38] ChrisKoopa [36] Zoyx [35] roadrunner [31] SeaGtGruff [31] IHATETHEBEARS [27] Jess Ragan [26] theKLT [26] homerwannabee [22] Jred [20] LaserHawk [20] Spector [20] Shannon [19] chuckwalla [19] Omegamatrix [19] ClassicGMR [18] iangamer [15] MrBeefy [14] Wickeycolumbus [13] LoneWolfSeth [12] Thomas Jentzsch [12] midnight magicman [11] vdub_bobby [11] Phantom [11] ed1475 [10] Animan [10] Random Terrain [10] maf [9] TimsterAA [9] DtY [8] ballistik [8] godzillajoe [8] missioncontrol [8] LS_Dracon [7] BSA Starfire's girlfriend [7] RJ [6] mightymage [5] Dryerlint [5] lucifershalo [5] Blackjack [5] phaxda [5] Vectorman0 [4] vintagegamecrazy [4] mika [3] rasty [3] Cream147 [3] Trinity [2] joeypsp [2] rheffera [2] ratfink [2] flammingcowz [2] 4Ks [1] Lendorien [1] Crazy Climber [1] Cafeman [1] Yar76 [1] Artlover [1] brandonwright [1] holgibo [1]

 

Scoring Points in Chopper Command

• Shoot Down an Enemy Helicopter - 100 points
• Shoot Down an Enemy Jet - 200 points
• Bonus at End of Level - 100 x Trucks Remaining x Wave Number
• For every 10,000 points you score, you get an extra helicopter (maximum of six)

 

Hints and Tips

• Your truck convoys will always travel from the right to the left. And so will the enemy formations. Knowing this, you can position yourself at the left side of the screen and start firing as soon as the enemy aircraft appear. This is important because your helicopter's chances of being hit by a multi-warhead missile increase the closer the enemy aircraft get. The enemy pilots are real kamikazes, too, and they'll collide with you if they can't shoot you down.

It's also worth pointing out that we played this game a few years back. You might want to check it out for further hints.

The Manual
As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy and a scanned copy available online. Here is the hint it provides:
shadow460
As Lord Helmet points out in the game's description, if you can clear all three enemies from above a particular group of trucks, those trucks are safe until either the next level or until you get shot down or crash. When you are destroyed, if you have wiped out less than six enemies, you will appear between two groups of three. This is the most dangerous place to be. More on this later. All truck travel right to left, and so do your enemies. Standing still will cause enemies to appear from the right, whereas chasing them to the left will result in them leaving you behind over and over. You can catch up to them, however. For the first wave, wipe the enemies out from bottom to top, then move on. It's pretty simple. Somewhere between waves 2 and 8, you will start wiping out one or two enemies from each group, then moving on. Hit the ones closest to the ground first. Once you hit about wave 8 or so, you will begin to use a different pattern. If you look closely, you will see that the leading truck indicates about how far the enemies will advance on you. They will fly about half a screen past it. Fly up so you can see the lead truck, then fly to the lower 1/3rd of the screen. Start shooting and hope for a hit. If you miss, let the enemy appear once or twice, then move left. If you get a hit, fly left immediately, but stay in the lower third of the screen. Fly far enough that the lead truck (or the spot where it was) is no longer visible, then turn round. Move to the middle third if you got a hit, or stay in the bottom third if you didn't. Repeat this procedure until your arm falls off, going from bottom to top each time. When you begin each stage, the space you have to fly left is very limited. Keep shooting while you're flying left--you may get a hit in that direction as well. Try to kill at least six enemies before you get destroyed. If you are destroyed, the enemies are re arranged in groups of three. They may switch types, i.e., planes may become choppers and choppers may become planes. Hopefully you won't get stuck in the middle of six planes.

 

--Zero

[Ze_ro]

By the way, the season is coming to an end soon. Like Season 5, I'm going to end things after the 50th game, and we'll start over again with Season 7. So there are only three games left! (including this one) Good luck!

 

--Zero

[Kurt_Woloch]

OK, this seems to be the best I made so far... 31500. .

Edited July 29, 2009 by Kurt_Woloch

[roadrunner]

21,000

 

 

[pacmanplayer]

10100

Edited July 30, 2009 by pacmanplayer

[aftermac]

11,900

 

[4Ks]

12,400

[shadow460]

25800

 

EDIT: I scored 999,999. The screenshot is below.

Edited August 3, 2009 by shadow460

[Mister VCS]

17,700 22,300

 

Edited August 2, 2009 by Mister VCS

[4Ks]

Update: 14,000

[shadow460]

Up: 55,700

 

EDIT: I suck at this game. No matter how hard I try, I cannot score over 999,999.

I also cannot get over seven gunships, either.

 

I achieved the game's highest score just a little while ago...after I repaired the box. hmmm... since I beat 10,000 points on the cadet level, where should I email the picture to?

Edited August 3, 2009 by shadow460

[vjames]

999,999

 

One hour and ten minutes...

[darthkur]

28,100

 

 

[shadow460]

Tip time:

 

As Lord Helmet points out in the game's description, if you can clear all three enemies from above a particular group of trucks, those trucks are safe until either the next level or until you get shot down or crash.

 

When you are destroyed, if you have wiped out less than six enemies, you will appear between two groups of three. This is the most dangerous place to be. More on this later.

 

All truck travel right to left, and so do your enemies. Standing still will cause enemies to appear from the right, whereas chasing them to the left will result in them leaving you behind over and over. You can catch up to them, however.

 

For the first wave, wipe the enemies out from bottom to top, then move on. It's pretty simple. Somewhere between waves 2 and 8, you will start wiping out one or two enemies from each group, then moving on. Hit the ones closest to the ground first. Once you hit about wave 8 or so, you will begin to use a different pattern. If you look closely, you will see that the leading truck indicates about how far the enemies will advance on you. They will fly about half a screen past it. Fly up so you can see the lead truck, then fly to the lower 1/3rd of the screen. Start shooting and hope for a hit. If you miss, let the enemy appear once or twice, then move left. If you get a hit, fly left immediately, but stay in the lower third of the screen. Fly far enough that the lead truck (or the spot where it was) is no longer visible, then turn round. Move to the middle third if you got a hit, or stay in the bottom third if you didn't. Repeat this procedure until your arm falls off, going from bottom to top each time.

 

When you begin each stage, the space you have to fly left is very limited. Keep shooting while you're flying left--you may get a hit in that direction as well. Try to kill at least six enemies before you get destroyed.

 

If you are destroyed, the enemies are re arranged in groups of three. They may switch types, i.e., planes may become choppers and choppers may become planes. Hopefully you won't get stuck in the middle of six planes.

[toymailman]

Those are some great scores guys! I'm a looooong way from rolling this one.

 

51,100

[Atardi]

score : 448 800

 

Edited August 4, 2009 by Atardi

[Lauren Tyler]

3,000

 

Not one of my favorite games. Just thought I'd toss one in for participation.

[shadow460]

Those are some great scores guys! I'm a looooong way from rolling this one.

 

51,100

 

Once you master the tenth wave, it's just a matter of endurance. You're almost there.

[doctorclu]

I have missed this game!!

 

23,700

[Wickeycolumbus]

7,800.

[ChrisKoopa]

51900

[toymailman]

Those are some great scores guys! I'm a looooong way from rolling this one.

 

51,100

 

Once you master the tenth wave, it's just a matter of endurance. You're almost there.

Thanks 'teach! However, I never got enough play time in this week to get good enough at the 10th wave. *sigh*

[toymailman]

Are teh "Current Standings" working for anyone else? Mine has shown a blank for the last few weeks.

[+wongojack]

I was randomly inspired to go for 999 on this game this week. I used my family's original light 6'er and my original Chopper Command cart.

 

 

Good ole SlikStik got the job done.

[Zoyx]

You inspired me to fire this game up. I was up to 80k with all seven choppers. Then I collapsed, just barely made it over 100k. The game gets tedious fast... boredom and the resulting lack of concentration was the reason for the collapse.

 

This game was one of my biggest disappointments back in the day. I paid the full $30 for what looked like a pretty game with Defender type action. But I had the game mastered within a couple hours. Atari's Defender was a better challenge, but unfortunately it was uglier.