Star Trek: S.O.S

[Gunstar]

I recieved my copy of Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator(S.O.S) in the mail yesterday. I used to love this game at the arcade, and while the 5200 port is the same as the 8-bit computer version I used to have, it is not quite as good as the arcade machine. I knew this already. Just restating facts for anyone who doesn't know. I have, however, always enjoyed the 8-bit version anyway. Even though the graphics aren't the original vector, like the arcade, I do believe they are pretty sharp looking considering that it's all coming from a 16k cartridge on an old 8-bit machine. The Klingon ships and asteroids and stuff could have been single color sprites, for example, instead of the several colored (large) sprites that they are...It's a simple game, but very addictive for me, I always gotta get just one sector more finished! I love it! I just don't understand why people rag on this game for having poor visuals and gameplay. After all, even if the visuals aren't as good as the arcade counter-part, They are better that many of the 5200 favorites like Defender and Berzerk!. It has simple, addictive game play like Berserk or Defender, yet better visuals. So why do people dislike it? I know that Defender and Berserk! are much closer to the quality of their arcade counter parts, but lets face it; Those were early arcade games with very simple visuals to start! I guess I just don't understand the mind set that one game can have what is considered to be good graphics, just because they bare a closer resemblence to their arcade cousins, while another arcade translation is considered crap, because it didn't fair as well in the port, yet still has better visuals than the ports that are closer to the originals. If you didn't follow, here's another way: Startrek looks better and plays (IMHO) just as well as the Defender and Berzerk! 5200 games, even if it doesn't match up to the startrek game in the arcades. So I feel it is one of the better 5200 games for this reason. It certainly pushes the 5200 abilities further than the older titles like Defender, Pac-man or Berzerk. What do you guys feel about this? How do you rate and compare your games?

 

p.s., this is yet another game that I appreciate the 5200 controls over digital, pushing my list along...Startrek, Joust, StarRaiders, Q-bert, Space dungeon, etc. Games that I don't mind the analog controls on...Defender, Berzerk!, Breakout!. The only game, sofar, that I don't care for the controls is Pac-man. I really can't see what the HUGE issue is over these controllers, could they have been better? YES! But so could have just about every other controller I've ever used in SOME way...

[Nukey Shay]

I play it on Mame.

 

Here's the cheat for Atari 800 :

 

c a3a5 ea ea ea ea ea

c a8c1 ea ea ea

 

Here's how you find 'em...

In ST, you are given three shields and photons at the start of the game. Search memory for LDA $03 (A9 03), and look at the locations to find one that is STA'ed to two memory locations. I found the last one ($960C) is written to $06E5 and $06E6. Search again, but look for DEC $06E5 (CE E5 06). Two results for that at $A3A5 and $A81C. By looking at the instructions at $A81C, I guessed that this area is error correction...as it is DEC'ed and then checks to see if it needs to be INC'ed. The instructions at $A3A5 however just has the program branch after the decrement...so I patched these five bytes with NOP's (the instruction plus the subsequent branch).

Pretty much the same story for $06E6...found two results (one of which right next to the $A81C error-correction area) at $A829 and $A8C1. No branch after the DEC at $A8C1, so I just NOP'ed the three bytes there.

Anyway, this will give you infinite shields & photons. The addresses might be different on the 5200, so you can search the .bin using the above method. I didn't bother looking for infinite warp, because by using it might make the game crash when a saucer leeches the ship.

Incidentally...an easy way to find scoring cheats is to search for anything decimal (SED), since many programs use the easy method of decimal values to write to the screen. Something like...

SED

LDA $address

ADC #10

STA $address

LDA $address+1

ADC #00

STA $address+1

...is a pretty good one to check.

 

[ 07-29-2001: Message edited by: Nukey Shay ]

[Nukey Shay]

Nope, it just stays at 9.1 when you beat the 9.6 Nomad...which would be "farrginn impessibell" without cheating.

 

BTW the score wraps at a million.

 

Here's a page of that bizarro Android movie with Klaus Kinski (Yep, Nat's Dad)...featuring Vectrex's Star Trek: http://www.classicgamecreations.com/android.html

 

"You bastage! My own-a club!" -Johnny Dangerously

 

[ 07-29-2001: Message edited by: Nukey Shay ]

[+Cafeman]

 

There is the arcade version.

 

I don't really like the 5200 version much because it's just too watered down compared to the arcade version. Mind you, when I used to play this game, it was at a Pizza Time theater in a sit-down version. The arcade boasted classic ST sound samples, such as Spock's voice.

 

The 5200 version's main view screen is pretty much worthless to me. The ships don't really grow larger in scale or smoothly come into view; the photons just kill stuff, you don't see that neat little circular explosion; I guess it just seems to me that the 5200 version is too 'flat'. It's nothing like Star Raiders, to me.

 

Still, I do play it now & then, it isn't horrible or anything, and I don't mean to imply that. It gets tough; I've never gotten to the last stage!

[Tempest]

Does Star Trek have an ending? I remember getting to sector 7.4 once and it was freakin' impossible!

 

I've never played the arcade version, is it different than the home version (other than the vector graphics)? I ask because the Vectrex Star Trek game is done in vector graphics but is a totally different game.

 

Tempest

[Gunstar]

From what I remember of the arcade version, it was pretty much the same, except for the vector graphics. If I remember correctly, the arcade version "immersed" you more in the sense that you sat down in the "cockpit" and it had some voice synthesis I think, making it seem more interactive, it may have had more than onew style of Klingon ship and such, but the Atari 8-bit and 5200 versions get the general "jist" of the game down, and, of course, are identical to each other...the Vectrex one must not be based on the arcade game "strategic operations simulator," that's the key name in discerning this version from other Star Trek games. But for the 5200, I think it has great graphics, just short of titles like Rescue on Fractalus and ballblazer. I don't believe the home version of S.T.:S.O.S has an ending, the farthest I ever remember getting is to about the same point as you, on the 8-bit version, I'm still hovering around sector 3.5 on my 5200 copy (although I've only had it for a day!

[Gunstar]

Does it need an ending? I don't think so...this is a "shoot-em' up" that needs to be looked at along the lines of games like Berzerk! or Defender, galaxian, etc. It just has some different twists like the sector radar and the "front screen," giving it that first person perspective as if you looking at the bridge screen. Your just suppose to rack up the points and get to the next higher level, like the others...but it has some diversions like the asteriod and meteor showers and the "boss," at the end of the level-NOMAD.

[Gunstar]

I totally agree that the arcade version was much better, but I've always like the home version too. About the ship scaling, the 5200 version(and 8-bit) do have scaling ships and everything else, but they don't scale "smoothly" as you said. The one thing I don't like, that detracts from the arcade version is the fact that the 5200 "view screen" has a blue background instead of the black of space. just changing the background color to black would have improved the visuals. I never could understand why they went with the blue "space," like when you turn on sheilds in StarRaiders, only much brighter. I dig the analog controllers sith this game.

[Nukey Shay]

I can't remember exactly what sector it is, but I believe that the manual mentions how many "Nomad"'s there are. After that, you wrap back to the first level. I'll post a cheat I made for the 8-bit if I find it.

The arcade had much better controls as well (dial + 3 buttons)...slower digital turning just does not do the game credit. The sound of the photons rocks also...and I think that you had a little control over where they detonate (by hold & release). The explosion would cover a circular area instead of just a straight line (this was programmed into the Apple II version, though).

[Albert]

The sit down arcade version of Star Trek: SOS is great and I would love to get one some day. It's not just the game, but the cabinet that helps make it enjoyable. You sit down in the captain's chair and the controls are at the end of the arm rests. The sound was *great* (for a game of that day), especially the explosions as your ship was getting torn to pieces. I haven't seen one of these machines in years, they've probably all been snatched up by rabit Star Trek collectors by now.

 

..Al