Help with Asteroids (1979)

[Vanguard84]

Thanks for the terrific site. Ive been playing the original asteroids and i thought i'd seek some advice if anyone here by chance has expertise. Gravitar is no problem for me. Tempest im not great at but i can at least get thru the first 16 rounds. But what's the deal with Asteroids? Getting more than 10,000 points is like a miracle for me. 6 months of playing and i've gotten nowhere.

 

What gives? Those tiny ufos just zap me into oblivion. moving fast, moving slow but strategic, approaching at angles, approaching straight on, shooting off screen. I've tried pretty much everything to no avail. Its a shame becuase i love the game so much, but the frustration keeps me from continuing any further cause im just not getting any better.

 

Does anyone by chance have some tips specifically for the "ufo hunting" strategy for asteroids? I would love to get ahold of john mccalisters world record video, but its nowhere to be found. sometimes i just love the internet. thousands and thousands of youtube videos that are just useless to everyone, but try to find some good classic game runs? forget it. i know mccalisters record was streamed online, but no permanent video link anywhere? This would be a great start to learning the subtle secrets of the game.

 

Any thoughts would be much appreciated! BTW, the ipad has Ataris Greatest Hits as an app. Put simply, its is off the hook. Playing tempest on the ipad is at least as fun as the arcade. pretty cool!!

[Cynicaster]

I'm with ya dude, I can't get anywhere on Asteroids either. I managed to get 25k a few months ago but that is by no means typical.

 

Several months ago I found a video of some guy playing; it was not even close to a WR caliber performance but the guy got a few hundred thousand. I figured if he's that much better than me then I could still learn something from watching. Nope. I didn't

see any technique that I could mimic, the guy was just better than me at not dying. That game is a complete mystery to me.

[Cynicaster]

As with most early space shooter type games, I always fall victim to the limitation of 3 or 4 shots onscreen. Cannot count the number of lives I have lost by asteroids that smash into me while I mash the buttons but cannot fire because I have to wait for one of my bullets to run its course.

[Rybags]

Getting 10K is fairly easy.

 

Strategies are fairly simple to do well at this game.

 

Stay fairly central and try not to move much when there's lots of rocks. It's easier to break and clear 1 or 2 big asteroids at a time rather than just blowing everything away and creating a freeway in space.

 

Near the end, leave 1 or 2 rocks preferably ones moving near vertical or horizontal. To hunt saucers it can be beneficial if you're moving, just thrusting vertically is probably easiest (so, try and leave vertically moving rocks).

 

The UFOs generally aren't so great aiming at moving targets but if you're talking Asteroids Deluxe, they fixed practically every expoilt that the older Asteroids machines had.

AFAIK there's only Rev 1 and Rev 2 Asteroids, Rev 2 fixed the expoilt where you could hide in the score and be invulnerable.

 

The key to the game is probably keeping calm. If you panic and break rocks apart adhoc and thrust/hyperspace all over the joint then you'll get wasted pretty quickly.

[Vanguard84]

Thanks for the replies! The tip on keeping the last rocks vertical or horizontal before hunting for saucers is a really good point. I'll also try the vertical move tactic. A few weeks ago i got my highest score, which was about 38,000 points, but havent come close since. for that one i stayed still in the center and didnt move at all. seems like a lucky run!

 

From my understanding, mcallister almost lost his chance at a record when he took a bathroom break. he came to find only two ships left but rallied to win a bunch more back. thats pretty amazing.

 

i feel that there must what i like to call "hidden knowledge" for conquering the small saucers - secrets that asteroids masters know about beyond practice or skill. i know having practiced Vanguard (my favorite arcade game) for two years that a couple tricks will separate average players from the high scorers.

[Rybags]

Another thing - I'm fairly sure the game attempts to display every extra ship you have in reserve. If you accumulate lots it gets to the point where the whole game slows down, so in a way it might make it easier.

[+Random Terrain]

Have you seen this:

 

PROGRAMMERS' NOTES: How to Win at Asteroids

[Vanguard84]

Random thx for sending, just what i was looking for! im totally using the names mr. bill and sluggo from now on. gotta love that SNL reference. goes to show that in 2012 the best tips ive ever seen on the internet to date come from an esquire article from 1981.

 

good point about the game slowing down Rybags. the article discusses this toward the end.i would imagine the game would go beyond 35 objects on screen if someone could get a large number of lives, thus slowing the game down.

 

time to divide and conquer this puppy no matter how long it takes. ill update you guys with any strategies that work against mr. bill. it appears that timing of your ships thrust is key when tackling the small ships...

[SoundGammon]

One tip I tell everyone is to focus on the rocks that are coming toward you, don't waste time shooting ones going away. Second, take out fast moving asteroids and that will help "slow" the game. I remember watching a guy play the game, when it first came out, he would never waste a shot, made every one count!

[Cynicaster]

I love reading articles like that on old games. I remember reading one on Pac-Man which dissects the algorithms of the different ghosts. Very interesting stuff.

 

Although, it's quite surprising how little it actually helps my scores. I suppose it did help me in Pac-Man a little bit, not much though.

 

I don’t see this inside info on Asteroids helping my scores at all, to be honest. Good stuff to know, but alas, information on asteroid randomness and the targeting computer of Mr. Bill doesn’t help me aim.

 

I knew Mr. Bill just had to be equipped with the knowledge of your exact location and velocity vector; it’s the only way to explain how he is so consistently able to shoot ahead of you and hit you dead on. It’s nice to finally read the words right from Ed Logg’s mouth though. The part about how Mr. Bill is unable to take advantage of the screen-wrapping in his targeting might help me a bit, we’ll see.

[Rybags]

I'm not sure if extra ships count towards the object limit but non-moving stuff still contributes to the overall vector object list which would limit the refresh rate and probably speed as a result.

 

Asteroids Deluxe took most of the exploits away from the player. The big saucer is practically as dangerous as the little one in Asteroids. The little one is even deadlier, and IIRC they both get the ability to perform wraparound shots.

 

World record scores are something in the millions for Asteroids, for Deluxe probably in the 6 figure area.

[rotarydialz]

One tip I tell everyone is to focus on the rocks that are coming toward you, don't waste time shooting ones going away. Second, take out fast moving asteroids and that will help "slow" the game. I remember watching a guy play the game, when it first came out, he would never waste a shot, made every one count!

I like to constantly keep on and off the thrust button to maintain momentum. I never know when I will need to accelerate out of a tight spot so I always keep moving. The rocks coming towards you are the biggest threat. A small rock is no problem butt a medium rock that splits into two is a problem if they turn into instant fastballs. I prefer to shoot the rocks that are moving away from me.

[rotarydialz]

I like to constantly keep on and off the thrust button to maintain momentum. I never know when I will need to accelerate out of a tight spot so I always keep moving. The rocks coming towards you are the biggest threat. A small rock is no problem butt a medium rock that splits into two is a problem if they turn into instant fastballs. I prefer to shoot the rocks that are moving away from me.