Fixing E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

[KevinMos3]

Very nice. Thanks again for all your work on this. I'd like to see Ninja E.T. added back in if possible. I love easter eggs and those tricks that weren't always intended. I'll miss killing Elliot, but that's a good trade-off. I actually didn't even know about that one until recently when reading an issue of The 2600 Connection.

[Schizophretard]

I don't know what more I can say. Keep looking. I promise that it's a cube.

 

I see how it is suppose to be a cube. I even see how it connects like a cube. It's just the reorientation of the screens makes it so you don't navigate like it's cube. I can read the manual, tip sheet, and guide book to learn how the cube works and memories the different directions I have to go just to move in a straight line but a cube is a very basic 3D object. It is only a six sided object. It shouldn't take a manual to learn it. It should be intuitive and simple to navigate. Without being told it is a cube most people can't figure it out on their own.

 

Here is a review a guy did:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igD0C2f_2oQ

 

Notice what he says around 3:00-3:30:

 

"Unfortunately the rest of the navigation in these environments isn't much better. I can't really find any discernable order that they're placed in or any way to navigate them effectively. In fact if you stand on a screen and just press up you don't scroll through different environments. You quite often just bounce between the same two. It really doesn't make sense to me."

 

Granted he didn't read the manual but he sounds intelligent and if it were a simple cube then he should be able to figure it out on his own. It is more complex than it should be. Without the manual it feels more like solving a Rubik's Cube than navigating a cube world.

 

Even H.S.W. when talking about the cube said,"It's on a 3D world. It was on this cube that you played on and , you know, all that kind of made sense and worked around, Except some of the travel wasn't a good idea." He explained this in the context of what things he could have fixed if he had more time.

 

That's easy to change, but not a very good idea. You need that extra distance to prevent you from quickly flipping between screens, for example, when you move down from the city screen.

 

I checked out moving down from the city screen. I see what you are saying but I don't see why he needs to go that far in. He doesn't scroll back to the city screen when his feet crosses the edge of the screen. His body can go about half way through the edge before he scrolls. It's like his feet touching the energy bar triggers the scroll(but for some reason E.T. scrolls before he even touches the top of a screen). So, he is about a body length and a half from the edge when he appears on the screen. Every time I did it he either plopped in the body length and a half spot or went down about half a body length. It seems like he could at least plop half a body length away without quickly flipping between screens easily. When you go up from the forest you plop a foot length away from a pit. Granted, you are pushing up when you scroll onto the screen so you won't accidental hold the button up and land in the pit but you have to be prepared to go left or right and not down at all or you will fall in the pit. It just seems like he plops in a screen a bit more than needed to prevent you from quickly flipping between screens and plops him too close to pits. It also gives too much of a jumping to a screen instead of a scroll.

[+Random Terrain]

I just edited my map page in the hopes that it will make more sense:

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et-map.html

 

[if you've been there recently, you might want to refresh the page since there is updated text and a new table of contents.]

 

Once you move to or from the forest or Washington, D.C., you basically warp to a specific cube orientation. For example, you can't expect to walk up through the forest, through a well screen, then reach Washington, D.C. as if you were walking on an actual cube. It is a cube world, but there is an orientation warp.

 

If you are on one of the well screens, up is always the forest and down is always Washington, D.C.

 

 

 

Once you are in the forest, this is the configuration because of the orientation warp.

 

 

 

Once you are in Washington, D.C., this is the configuration because of the orientation warp.

 

 

 

Summary:

 

If you are on a well screen, there isn't much to remember. Up is the forest and down is Washington, D.C.

 

If you are in the forest or Washington, D.C., the Tall Twins Screen is always up and the Arrow Screen is always down. When you are in Washington, D.C., the side connections are switched because of the orientation warp and your position on the cube.

[Schizophretard]

I just edited my map page in the hopes that it will make more sense:

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et-map.html

 

That page is worded well. I have few suggestions though. These two sentences below sound like bugs to be avoided. They do kind of feel like that but maybe they aren't. If they are bugs then they seem like very obvious ones that H.S.W. could have easily noticed and fixed like recompile did. Maybe there is a logical reason for them?:

 

"Do not use the right side of the forest to exit if you can help it. Leaving from the right side always lands E.T. in a well on the Log Screen."

 

"Do not exit from the left side of Washington, D.C. or E.T. will land in a well on the Log Screen."

 

Since you use your site to defend E.T. as a great game and to give helpful tips then how about a positive spin that makes them sound useful with the wells specified? For all I know maybe this is the real reason for them. How about something like this?:

 

"The forest doesn't have wells to pause or to use as escape zones. Think of the right side as it's well. Leaving from the right side always lands E.T. in the top center well on the Log Screen. If you wish to return to the forest from the well, levitate out of the well and then levitate up to the top of the screen."

 

"Washington, D.C. doesn't have wells to pause or to use as escape zones. Think of the left side as it's well. Leaving from the left side always lands E.T. in the bottom center well on the Log Screen. If you wish to return to Washington, D.C. from the well, levitate out of the well and then levitate down to the bottom of the screen."

 

Then in the image, instead of "DANGER" have "PAUSE OR ESCAPE". Instead of a picture of a well have a picture of the Log Screen with the correct well highlighted. That would turn bugs into features, not make it sound like you're going to fall in a random well, and give good reasons to not always avoid them.

[recompile]

I'd like to see Ninja E.T. added back in if possible. I love easter eggs and those tricks that weren't always intended. I'll miss killing Elliot, but that's a good trade-off. I actually didn't even know about that one until recently when reading an issue of The 2600 Connection.

Thanks for the kind words, they're very encouraging. You'll be happy to know that Ninja E.T. is back, though the method of his return remains unsettled. Let me know what you think about the current trigger or if you have another idea.

 

 

I just edited my map page in the hopes that it will make more sense

Looks great!

 

 

I checked out moving down from the city screen. I see what you are saying but I don't see why he needs to go that far in.

I had the same thought. You can reduce it a bit and it works fine when you're walking, but flips like crazy when you're running -- often sending you crashing directly in to human you were running from!

 

 

Okay, I did some stuff. I still haven't updated the write-up, but I'll get there. I'm iffy on the method I picked to enable the Ninja E.T. Easter Egg, and would like that settled before I do.

 

Something you might not have known: The amount of candy in a round is partially determined by the order in which you collect candy. (Crazy, isn't it?) The value at $DC (which looks like a counter but only sort-of is) is a bit fuzzy. There are still some details I need to work out, but it seems as though you can find about +/- 3 candies from that value if you collect them just so. In the original, it was set to 16 and if you collected that much or more in a round, $DC would update to be about 1 1/2 times the amount of candy you collected. You shouldn't have been able to collect more than 31 candies until the third round, which is probably why it seemed so rare.

 

In the last version, I just set DC to 31 for every round after the first. This seemed okay to me, but in keeping with the spirit of the original, it should flux with the amount of candy you collect per round. With the scoring and penalty fixed to match the manual, it seemed a weak penalty as you probably weren't going to find more than 34 candies. (You'd be down 2100 units of energy, not exactly a major threat!) Right now, I have it to set DC to 16 plus the amount of candy you collected in the previous round. There's an upper bound of 42 for DC so that (if I've guessed at the details correctly) you can't cheat by wrapping-around your energy to 9899 by grabbing 31 +15 candies. I could do the half of collected candy thing, but this way you can actually get enough candy to get penalized in the second round, (iirc) like the original.

 

Ninja E.T. is back with a fancy new Easter Egg. While normally I wouldn't reveal the secret, I could use a second opinion on the method I picked to make Ninja E.T. appear. I wanted something a little difficult, but not terribly so that wasn't likely to happen by accident. With the scoring fixed, keeping the "collect more than 31 candies" bit was out. I settled on completing a round with both Elliott and E.T. in possession of exactly three candies as it seemed to rhyme with the commonly cited "collect 33 candies" rule.

 

I've got some testing to do with the new changes, though everything seems to work correctly. Let me know if you find a problem (new or old). With luck, this project should be coming to a close.

 

If anyone wants to try some stuff out easily in Stella: You can force the ship to rescue you and end the round by setting PC to $B583. $DD holds Elliott's candy and the upper nibble of $D2 holds E.T.'s.

ET_Patched.bin

[recompile]

It doesn't seem fair that players taking advantage of the difficulty fix essentially get tons of free points for their remaining energy when they finish a round. I took advantage of six conveniently placed bytes left-over from the scoring fix to change that. Now, if you're playing with the difficulty fix enabled, you'll score no extra points for your remaining energy.

 

With a spare two bytes I was able to tease out in the part that starts a new round, I was also able to give Ninja E.T. secret candy. As always, if you eat a bit of candy, Ninja E.T. turns back in to regular E.T. (I guess because it shows that E.T. lacks the dicipline of a true ninja?) Anyhow, regular E.T. will then have 9 candies. Alternately, Ninja E.T. can call Elliott and earn a phone piece right-off. A nice bonus for suffering through the previous candy-poor round.

 

As always, I'd love to know what everyone thinks about these and the previous new changes (good or bad or suggestions to modify them).

 

Sorry I'm slow on updating the write-up. I'll get to it soon.

 

Yet another new ROM:

ET_Patched.bin

[+Random Terrain]

That page is worded well. I have few suggestions though. These two sentences below sound like bugs to be avoided. They do kind of feel like that but maybe they aren't. If they are bugs then they seem like very obvious ones that H.S.W. could have easily noticed and fixed like recompile did. Maybe there is a logical reason for them?:

 

"Do not use the right side of the forest to exit if you can help it. Leaving from the right side always lands E.T. in a well on the Log Screen."

 

"Do not exit from the left side of Washington, D.C. or E.T. will land in a well on the Log Screen."

 

Since you use your site to defend E.T. as a great game and to give helpful tips then how about a positive spin that makes them sound useful with the wells specified? For all I know maybe this is the real reason for them. How about something like this?:

 

"The forest doesn't have wells to pause or to use as escape zones. Think of the right side as it's well. Leaving from the right side always lands E.T. in the top center well on the Log Screen. If you wish to return to the forest from the well, levitate out of the well and then levitate up to the top of the screen."

 

"Washington, D.C. doesn't have wells to pause or to use as escape zones. Think of the left side as it's well. Leaving from the left side always lands E.T. in the bottom center well on the Log Screen. If you wish to return to Washington, D.C. from the well, levitate out of the well and then levitate down to the bottom of the screen."

 

Then in the image, instead of "DANGER" have "PAUSE OR ESCAPE". Instead of a picture of a well have a picture of the Log Screen with the correct well highlighted. That would turn bugs into features, not make it sound like you're going to fall in a random well, and give good reasons to not always avoid them.

 

I didn't see your post until just now. I skipped past it somehow. How about this until I have time to figure out how to adapt what you posted:

 

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et-map.html#forest

 

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et-map.html#washington_dc

[Schizophretard]

I didn't see your post until just now. I skipped past it somehow. How about this until I have time to figure out how to adapt what you posted:

 

http://www.randomter...map.html#forest

 

http://www.randomter...l#washington_dc

 

Saying which pit you land in is an improvement because for someone learning the game they may think where you land going either left or right on the poles works like going left or right on the equator. Left or right on the poles lands you in the top or bottom center but on the equator it is based on where you exited. So, the original way you posted it made it seem like maybe depending on where you exited determines which well you will land in or it may be random. Saying where you land, how to return to the poles, and giving good reasons to use them adds a strategy other than just avoid. The manual gives pause and escape zones as purposes for the pits. Therefore if exiting a screen without a pit lands you in a pit then it seems reasonable to treat that exit as a pause or escape zone for the screen without a pit instead of a bug to avoid. The pits aren't just dangerous obstacles. They are where you get the phone pieces, where you get the wilted flower, where you pause, and what you use as escape zones from humans. They are treated that way on the equator and should be treated that way on the poles.

[Schizophretard]

Recompile and/or R.T.,

 

Can you explain more about how the candies work in the hack and in the original? Between the errors in the manual and guide book and how the scoring works, I'm completely confused. For me it is the most complicated thing in the game. It is more confusing than the navigation. I'm confused with how many appear. I'm confused with the penalty after 21 pieces collected. Is it 21 grabbed or gave to Elliot? Does eating them subtract from the total? How exactly does the scoring work? What about the pieces you take on the ship?

 

Everything about the game it fairly clear to me to successfully go for a high score doing the Stopwatch Strategy of just getting E.T. home as quickly as possible. I wanting to be able to play more along the lines of the Sunday Afternoon Strategy as best as possible in both the original and the hack. What I'm trying to do is to have a more candy and score centered game instead of Phone Piece Zone centered game. Ideally I would like to buy all phone pieces, get the flower every round(extra lives do accumulate right?) and get the maximum candy score with no penalty. I want to be able to do that as close as possible in both versions but I'm confused about the details of what I need to do it.

 

What's making it so frustrating is I'm using R.T.'s site, the tip sheet, the manual, and the guide book as my guide book while trying to keep track of the bugs and errors. It's not all put together in one comprehensive error free guide book. And that is just trying to memorize the original version.

[recompile]

Can you explain more about how the candies work in the hack and in the original?

 

In both:

• The amount of candy collected is determined at the end of the round as the sum of the amount of candy Elliott is holding and the amount E.T. is holding.
  
• In the first round, you can find 16 +/- 3 candies.
  
• Every subsequent round, the amount of candy you can find is determined by the amount of candy collected in the previous round.
  

In the original:

• If you collect 16 or more candies in a round, the total amount of candy you can find in the next round is ~1 1/2 times the amount you collected +/- 3 candies. Unless, of course, the amount of candy collected is greater 21 (determined if ~1 1/2 times the amount collected is greater than 31), in which case you'll be penalized and the amount of candy available in the next round will be 31 +/- 3 candies. If you collect less than 16 candies, the amount of candy you can find will be the same as the first round, 16 +/- 3 candies. (This isn't in the manual, it's just how it works.)
  
• That means you'll essentially need to collect all the candy in round 1 and round 2 before you'll be able to gather enough candy to get all the phone parts from Elliott.
  
• If ~1 1/2 times the total candy collected is greater than 31 you'll be penalized the difference according to a crumby table. dividing that difference by two and for every remaining unit. (I can't really say for every candy!) your starting energy will be 9292, 8484, 7676, 6868, 5959, 5151, or 4242 depending on the amount. More than 7 units over and you're in to unplanned territory.
  
• Candy held by E.T. at the end of a round will net you 490 points for each candy. (These are scored first)
  
• Candy held by Elliott will net you 770 points for each candy (this is what you see when your score goes up during the munching animation at the end).
  
• The 1000 bonus points for every candy over 31 collected is broken. Any amount over 31 that ~1 1/2 times the candy collected is (up to 7, after which the value spills over in to a different data table) you'll get 1000, 2200, 3400, 4500, 6300, 7800, 9900 points (errors beyond that give you 9900, and decrease from there.)
  
• Yes, it's broken.
  

In the hack:

• The amount of candy available is 16 + the amount of candy collected in the previous round +/- 3 candies up to a maximum of 42 +/- 3 candies (to prevent the penalty overflowing your energy.)
  
• With a bit of luck, this means you can get all the phone parts from Elliott in the second round.
  
• The penalty works exactly like the manual, deducting 700 units of energy for each candy over 31 pieces. (This is done in the munching routine. As a happy bonus, this means you can watch E.T. change color in response the penalty!)
  
• Scoring works exactly like it says in the manual. You get 1000 points for every candy collected after the 31st piece. You get 490 points for each candy held by E.T. and 770 points for each candy held by Elliott.
  
• There is some ambiguity in the manual, but I didn't think the manual meant you'd get 1000 points plus 490 or 770 for every candy after the 31st collected so you get 1000 points for each candy over 31, deducting the first candy held by E.T., then candy held by Elliott. So if you have 32 pieces of candy with E.T. holding 2 and Elliott holding 30 then you'll score 1000 points for E.T.'s first candy, 490 for his second piece, and 770 for each remaining candy. (If I've misinterpreted the manual and I'm completely wrong on that, please let me know!)
  

I think that covers it. Clear as mud, I know.

 

(extra lives do accumulate right?)

Yes. (I've lost faith in the accuracy of the digitalpress E.T. Easter Egg page.)

 

 

I hope that helps.

 

Edit: Minor correction / oversight on my part to the candy penalty part in original version. Also to add, I think I've misread the manual based on what the original code does.

Edited January 31, 2013 by recompile

[+Random Terrain]

I have this on my manual page:

 

http://www.randomter...-et-manual.html

 

 

Warning

It says on page 7 that if E.T. collects more than 31 candy pieces, he'll get 1,000 points for every additional piece and lose 700 energy units in the next round for each candy piece collected after the 31st piece. That number was a misprint. The correct number is 21. It's rare to ever get more than 31 candy pieces and if that happens, you'll get black E.T. in the next round and strange symbols in the energy count as you first start to walk around (they eventually go away).

[roadrunner]

Cool hack

 

Can anything be done about the FBI agent and the scientist being able to walk over a pit without falling in?

[recompile]

Can anything be done about the FBI agent and the scientist being able to walk over a pit without falling in?

 

Not with the ROM space I have. It would also require giving our rather stupid humans some much more sophisticated AI. As it stands now, if I sent them home when they fell in a pit, which they'd do constantly, they'd be no threat at all!

[Schizophretard]

That is very helpful. Thanks! It appears that I had good reasons to be confused. I have some questions.

 

"If you collect 16 or more candies in a round, the total amount of candy you can find in the next round is ~1 1/2 times the amount you collected +/- 3 candies. Unless, of course, the amount of candy collected is greater 21 (determined if ~1 1/2 times the amount collected is greater than 31), in which case you'll be penalized and the amount of candy available in the next round will be 31 +/- 3 candies. If you collect less than 16 candies, the amount of candy you can find will be the same as the first round, 16 +/- 3 candies. (This isn't in the manual, it's just how it works.)

That means you'll essentially need to collect all the candy in round 1 and round 2 before you'll be able to gather enough candy to get all the phone parts from Elliott."

 

What causes the +/- 3 number and is it predetermined at the beginning of a round or determined by your actions?

 

On the first round I could collect 13-19 but I must collect at least 16 for the next round to be 1 1/2 times the amount +/- 3. If I collect 16 then the second round would be 21-27. So, if I collected 16 on the first round then I could potentially have enough to buy all 3 phone pieces on the second round if it lands on 27. If I collect 21 on the second round then the third round would be 28.5-34.5(Does it round up or down?). So, if I collected 21 on the second round then I'm guaranteed to have enough to buy all 3 phone pieces on the third round. Is that correct?

 

If I get less than 16 on any round then the next round is reset to round one conditions?

 

I don't understand what this means: "Unless, of course, the amount of candy collected is greater 21 (determined if ~1 1/2 times the amount collected is greater than 31), in which case you'll be penalized and the amount of candy available in the next round will be 31 +/- 3 candies." Please explain.

 

"If ~1 1/2 times the total candy collected is greater than 31 you'll be penalized the difference according to a crumby table."

 

Are you saying the most I could collect without a penalty is 20 because 1.5x20=30 and one more would make it over(31.5)? Or does 31.5 round down and collecting 21 makes it 31 making 21 the most without a penalty?

 

I'm also confused by this: "dividing that difference by two and for every remaining unit. (I can't really say for every candy!) your starting energy will be 9292, 8484, 7676, 6868, 5959, 5151, or 4242 depending on the amount. More than 7 units over and you're in to unplanned territory." and this: The 1000 bonus points for every candy over 31 collected is broken. Any amount over 31 that ~1 1/2 times the candy collected is (up to 7, after which the value spills over in to a different data table) you'll get 1000, 2200, 3400, 4500, 6300, 7800, 9900 points (errors beyond that give you 9900, and decrease from there.) Please explain.

 

"There is some ambiguity in the manual, but I didn't think the manual meant you'd get 1000 points plus 490 or 770 for every candy after the 31st collected so you get 1000 points for each candy over 31, deducting the first candy held by E.T., then candy held by Elliott. So if you have 32 pieces of candy with E.T. holding 2 and Elliott holding 30 then you'll score 1000 points for E.T.'s first candy, 490 for his second piece, and 770 for each remaining candy. (If I've misinterpreted the manual and I'm completely wrong on that, please let me know!)"

 

How I interpreted it from both the manual and guide book is that it calculates both their pieces in whatever order it does for them up to 31 and then 32 and above is converted to 1000. So, if E.T.s are calculated first then Elliott's 32nd would chance to 1,000.

 

Do extra lives accumulate indefinitely or is there a maximum? According to the guide book the screen R.T. refers to as the Arrow Screen they call the Flower Pit Screen because the flower usually appears in one of those pits(As a side note the pits kind of look like a flower). Do you know if this is correct? If it is correct then do you know how often it's in one and where it appears when it isn't?

 

Do you understand where, when, and how the candy shows up? For an example, sometimes I'll fall in a pit and when I get out there is a new candy.

 

Are you just using the tip sheet and manual as your guide for fixes or are you also using How to Win at E.T. the Video Game? It is has a lot of details. I don't know it's history but it reads like someone who really knows the game as it was suppose to be. If your hack matched perfectly then it would be really awesome. Thanks again.

[roadrunner]

Another idea. Is it possible on game 2 to replace the FBI agent with the scientist?

Or maybe add a game 4 that has just the scientist?

[recompile]

What causes the +/- 3 number and is it predetermined at the beginning of a round or determined by your actions?

It's a bit tricky. The +3 (which might actually be +4, I need to double-check) happens when you leave any candy on the ground in a previous game or previous round because D1 (which keeps track of which screen has candy) isn't initialized at the start of a new game or round. (I could fix that, I've got a spare couple bytes for it, but I think it's nice that you get a little variation seemingly at random.)

 

The -3 comes from how candy appears. $DC holds the amount of candy that you can find, the lower nibble of $D1 is like a set of flags, one for each screen with candy. Every so often candy will appear. When it does, candy appears on every screen, and $DC is reduced by the amount of candy added (if two pieces are added, $DC is reduced by 2) However, if the amount of candy necessary to add a candy to every screen is greater than the amount of candy in reserve, no candy will be added! $DC can be effectively empty at or below 3, depending on how you play. To maximize the amount of candy, when you get close to the maximum you can collect, only grab one piece at a time, allowing the candy to be replenished in-between, so that $DC reaches 0. When it stops replenishing, grab the remaining three candies.

 

(Does it round up or down?).

Down. It's all integer math. Imagine taking the amount of candy collected, rounding down to the nearest even number (leave it alone if it's already even), divide that by two and add it to the original amount of candy collected.

 

So, if I collected 21 on the second round then I'm guaranteed to have enough to buy all 3 phone pieces on the third round. Is that correct?

Yep. From above 21 will get you 21 + 10 (i.e 21 + (21-1)/2) or 31 potential candies, possibly -3 or 28 candies. That's enough to buy all the phone parts with one to spare.

 

If I get less than 16 on any round then the next round is reset to round one conditions?

Yep. 16 +/- 3 candies.

 

I don't understand what this means: "Unless, of course, the amount of candy collected is greater 21 (determined if ~1 1/2 times the amount collected is greater than 31), in which case you'll be penalized and the amount of candy available in the next round will be 31 +/- 3 candies." Please explain.

If you collect too much candy (more than 21 pieces) you'll receive a penalty. How much? If you collect 22 candies your penalty would be (22 + 11) - 31 = 2 units over, integer divide by 2, giving 1 unit over. leaving you with 9292 units of energy (from the table earlier). The amount of candy that appears each round is capped at 31 (+/- 3, of course) If you get enough candy for a penalty, you get the maximum amount of potential candy in the next round.

 

Are you saying the most I could collect without a penalty is 20 because 1.5x20=30 and one more would make it over(31.5)? Or does 31.5 round down and collecting 21 makes it 31 making 21 the most without a penalty?

21 is the most you can collect without the energy penalty. Of course, you'll miss the bonus points as well!

 

Do extra lives accumulate indefinitely or is there a maximum?

They accumulate, but if you have more than 127 extra lives Elliott will assume that you're dead and will not revive you (you'll get the sad-ending screen with the mortally wounded E.T.)

 

According to the guide book the screen R.T. refers to as the Arrow Screen they call the Flower Pit Screen because the flower usually appears in one of those pits(As a side note the pits kind of look like a flower). Do you know if this is correct? If it is correct then do you know how often it's in one and where it appears w\hen it isn't?

I don't know that the flower is more or less likely to appear in a particular well. There's nothing in the code to suggest that. The well that the flower appears in is set according to the lower nibble of $81, which is incremented every frame. The initial wells in which the phone parts appear is set immediately afterward, based partially on that value.

 

Do you understand where, when, and how the candy shows up? For an example, sometimes I'll fall in a pit and when I get out there is a new candy.

Yes. See above and ... Candy replenishes when $81 and $82 sync up a certain way. I haven't taken the time to puzzle out how that translates in to time. The digitalpress page says 17 seconds, but I don't trust it. Candy won't appear while you're on the screen, even if $D1 indicates that candy should be visible. You'll need to leave the screen and return for candy to appear.

 

Are you just using the tip sheet and manual as your guide for fixes or are you also using How to Win at E.T. the Video Game?

I've been following the code and the manual to try to puzzle out how things work or were intended to work. I didn't know about the "How To Win at E.T." book, so I'm pretty excited to track down a copy. Thanks for that!

[recompile]

Another idea. Is it possible on game 2 to replace the FBI agent with the scientist?

I suppose so, but wouldn't it be better if ...

 

Or maybe add a game 4 that has just the scientist?

Now that's a good idea! Thanks! It turned out to be really easy provided that game 3 has the lone scientist, and game 4 is like the original game 3.

 

0472: 05
02ED: 29 01 F0

 

I've attached an updated ROM.

 

I found a stupid what-was-I-thinking bug in the last version which let Ninja E.T. persist when starting a new game, and which started you with more candy that you should have had if you started a new game after playing a round. It's fixed now.

 

After looking at the original game for a while, I'm starting to think that the 1000 points for candies collected over 31 in the manual means that those points are in addition to the 490 or 770 given for collected candy. I've updated the new ROM to reflect that. I'm still iffy about this.

 

Anyhow, here's the latest. I'll do some more testing later and (hopefully) update the write-up. That's long over-due!

 

Edit to attach the ROM:

ET_Patched.bin

Edited February 1, 2013 by recompile

[+Random Terrain]

That guide book is incorrect. The wilted flower can be in any well on any screen, even in a well that contains a phone piece (and you won't know it's there until you have removed the phone piece and have dropped back in).

 

Speaking of guide books, this page is similar to a guide book, but most people either don't know it exists or they ignore it:

 

www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et-tips.html

 

 

I'm thinking about moving the contents of that page to the main page about E.T., then people might actually look at it.

[roadrunner]

I suppose so, but wouldn't it be better if ...

 

 

Now that's a good idea! Thanks! It turned out to be really easy provided that game 3 has the lone scientist, and game 4 is like the original game 3.

 

0472: 05
02ED: 29 01 F0

 

I've attached an updated ROM.

 

I found a stupid what-was-I-thinking bug in the last version which let Ninja E.T. persist when starting a new game, and which started you with more candy that you should have had if you started a new game after playing a round. It's fixed now.

 

After looking at the original game for a while, I'm starting to think that the 1000 points for candies collected over 31 in the manual means that those points are in addition to the 490 or 770 given for collected candy. I've updated the new ROM to reflect that. I'm still iffy about this.

 

Anyhow, here's the latest. I'll do some more testing later and (hopefully) update the write-up. That's long over-due!

 

Edit to attach the ROM:

 

 

Great hack, Thanks!! :thumbsup:

[Schizophretard]

Okay, I think I understand. To get the most points per round and play for a high score I can't buy every phone piece because that will give me the penalty. What I must do on round one is buy 1 phone piece, collect the other two, and then give Elliot any extra pieces with the total being at least 16. If not I must try again on the next round. What I must do on round two and up is buy 2 phone pieces, collect the other one, and then give Elliot 3 extra pieces. After I give Elliot the 21 pieces I must eat any pieces I grab after that before getting on the ship. Once I get to this point I don't have to worry about the +/- 3 because no round would be less than the maximum of 21 I need unless I grab less than 16. Is that all correct so far?

 

So, I only have to worry about the -3 before I get my first 16? Also, on the first round of the game there is no +3? So, round one would be between 13-16 depending on how I pick them up? Assuming I already collected the first 9 and bought my phone piece, how do I collect each piece after that to make sure all 16 spawn?

 

A scan of "How To Win at E.T." is at the bottom Atarimania's E.T. page. The Sunday Afternoon strategy is on the page with a church. It describes it with the penalty being after 31 which allows all pieces to be collected without using the pits. It's an interesting read. It even comes with a cut out to make your own cube. Here is the link:

 

http://www.atarimani...trial_7300.html

[Schizophretard]

That guide book is incorrect. The wilted flower can be in any well on any screen, even in a well that contains a phone piece (and you won't know it's there until you have removed the phone piece and have dropped back in).

 

Speaking of guide books, this page is similar to a guide book, but most people either don't know it exists or they ignore it:

 

www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et-tips.html

 

 

I'm thinking about moving the contents of that page to the main page about E.T., then people might actually look at it.

 

I thought I read somewhere that there are only 16 different set ups to the game. If that is so then how can the flower be in any if there are 20 pits? Does that just apply to the power zones?

 

I see that page on the bottom of "To What Degree Do You Love E.T.?" and on the side of it. I've read it and had no trouble finding it. I love your site. How did you want to move it?

[Nukey Shay]

16 power zone setups. The phone parts and flower are not part of that.

[+Random Terrain]

I thought I read somewhere that there are only 16 different set ups to the game. If that is so then how can the flower be in any if there are 20 pits? Does that just apply to the power zones?

 

Looks like Nukey Shay was just talking about the power zones:

 

http://www.atariage....c/#entry2651074

 

I've seen so many places where the phone pieces and wilted flower have been, that has to be more random than just 16 configurations. [i also see that he posted above.]

 

 

 

 

I see that page on the bottom of "To What Degree Do You Love E.T.?" and on the side of it. I've read it and had no trouble finding it. I love your site. How did you want to move it?

 

According to my log files, hardly anyone looks at the map page or the tips page. They mostly look at the "To What Degree Do You Love E.T.?" page and the manual page. I'm thinking about moving the map info and the stuff from the tips page to the "To What Degree Do You Love E.T.?" page starting after the "An Advanced Adventure" section. Then I'd delete the map page and the tips page.

[almightytodd]

I'm really enjoying this thread and also playing the new version. One of the things that has always bothered me about this game is that HSW ordered the three game variations from hardest to easiest. In what universe does that happen? Since another game variation has been added to the three originals, how about re-ordering the variations so they start with the easiest and then get progressively more difficult? This would also leave open the possibility of adding some of the original game features back in for more difficult variations so that at the most difficult level, you're playing the game as it was originally designed? ...Sort of like an "E.T. Collection" cart in the style of the 7800 "Pac Man Collection".

 

Suggested variations would be:

 

1. E.T. and Elliot and no enemies

2. Scientist only

3. FBI Agent only

4. Scientist and FBI Agent

5. Scientist and FBI Agent; fall into wells from any part of E.T. touching

6. Scientist and FBI Agent; fall into wells from any part of E.T. touching; E.T. loses energy from running and using powers

 

Adding all of that might require additional memory and some bank-switching schemes, so it's probably not worth the effort. But it would make for the ultimate E.T. game experience and a pathway for improving playing skills up to the level being able to complete the original game.

[Nukey Shay]

One of the things that has always bothered me about this game is that HSW ordered the three game variations from hardest to easiest. In what universe does that happen?

The same one where people complain about Otto "missing" from Berzerk

For this game, it works. Because no enemies is NO challenge at all.

 

Adding all of that might require additional memory and some bank-switching schemes, so it's probably not worth the effort.

Not at all. Having more game variations is simple as changing 1 byte and adding branches to deal with each case. If you look at the area he patched, the game is really only perpetually sending the scientist "home" after looking at the variation number. There's plenty of romspace that can be reclaimed in pretty much any game from BITD. Hacking has the advantage of working from a finished product, so it's simple to find where optimizations can be done following disassembly. Esp. since Dennis already commented the game so well.