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HSC19 R11: DROPZONE


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Ok Dextral Dodgers' iiiiiit's

DROPZONE

Can't believe it is 10 seasons ago we played this!  Copied most of this from last time... links may stink!

DropZone.gif.fde57201a530ac69010465742d81a193.gifdropzone.png.afa4bbfa2dcc816eb03ce149780f4470.pngDropZone_4.gif.1199b20dfa9939b43aa319a009ea3d11.gif

NOTE: A proper NTSC/USA version is available.

 

You're going to need a good joystick for this one and the keyboard needs to be just in front of it - press space for smart bombs and any other key for the invincibility cloak. Escape is pause.

NO AUTOFIRE! If you really struggle with the game you can play with autofire on, but you are capped to a maximum score of 25,000 pts.

 

Links to the game:

  • atarimania has instructions and a nice interview with the author
  • fandal XEX
  • atariage NTSC patched XEXs
  • atarionline.pl XEX & ATRs
  • I've put together an ATR MYDOS453-DropZone.atr (1050 density) with all the versions (PAL / NTSC / NTSC brighter colours)

 

Standard HSC scoring

 

This game will close on Friday 19th August @ 6pm GMT (a bit longer to play than normal)

 

Good Luck & Get Blasting!

 

p.s. a little tip: the secret of the game is to keep a rescued guy with you until the end of the wave - if all the guys are killed then the planet turns hostile and you'll need to hide under your blanket... a real blanket not the cloak ;)

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9 hours ago, Tickled_Pink said:

Haven't got involved in the HSC for some time but I'd have gotten involved in this if I had time. I was a wizard on it back in the day. Got it at the same time as the XL and played it to death that first week, after which I was able to hit a million points almost every game.

Hello there Tickled_Pink :thumbsup:

I expect a couple of us to get to the miliion mark. I think it then doesn't dish out the extra smart bombs so may get harder, probably should read up!

If players want to stop at 1 million we can call it a joint win and have bonus point for the top score.

 

Had my first session, great fun best goes with some duff ones inbetween:

44,620 Moon Cadet

88,710 Plantesman

253,030 Planet Marshal (not helped by breaking off for dinner!)

 

Photo3984.jpg.0df925f4e7840dd759748219379477db.jpgPhoto3983.jpg.1d31813841bf81a5f7c0b1e5e8de553d.jpgPhoto3985.jpg.659a5db7d18752d2cf99941232944313.jpg

 

*** KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR ATARIAGE'S URL CHANGING NEXT WEEK TO https://forums.atariage.com

NOT ACTIVE YET I JUST TRIED IT!

Details here: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/338830-atariage-forum-upgrade-migration-on-tuesday-august-9th/

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2 hours ago, therealbountybob said:

Improved to [] but still a planet marshal!

Just out of curiosity, how long does it take to get to a 300k score? 15/30/60 min?

 

I felt like I was playing for quite awhile but only hit 60k or so. But now I'm wondering if there are some strategies that will run up my score a little faster. Guess it's time to read the instructions!

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My best score after 3-4 games in my first go around:  33960  Moon Cadet

 

Are those Trailers supposed to be so hard to hit?  I see why the game is popular but wow is it hard (I'm pretty sure I've never played it before, and I am also pretty sure I downloaded the 'fixed' NTSC version.  Can't imagine it being faster!)

Dropzone.jpg

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Dropzone: 158,330

20220805_232200.thumb.jpg.0404490b9d761e3ec16f3dd49aefbb63.jpg

Whew! Improvement!

I think I answered my own question on scores - seems that the best way to run up the score quickly is to keep the colonists alive. After a few levels you get 500 points for each one saved.

 

It also turns out (and I didn't realize this for a long time) that the aliens can even attack the colonists AFTER they've been rescued at the drop zone. The red "androids" can enter the base and if they do, they'll kill a rescued colonist!

Edited by graywest
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Yes keep one of the rescued guys on you this might stop the ones in the base being destoyed or at least stops them all being wiped out and the planet becoming hostile. It doesn't take long to play and get a good score. The trailer' spores can be destroyed by going past them and luring them up to the top of the screen. The manual is a good read for anyone new to the game.

 

Great game, lots of ways to tackle it, will play a lot more this week!

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11 hours ago, therealbountybob said:

The manual is a good read for anyone new to the game.

This is weird but the link you have above to the us gold version didn't have the manual, which I found confusing

 

It's in a different entry, Americana, http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-dropzone_6569.html

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3 hours ago, RedThunder said:

Impressive 🙂

Yes, I was expecting a couple of 1m+ scores here, once you get on a roll there's a lot of points / extra men / smart bombs to keep it going but I think the lives stop at 1m is that right?

(no improvement from me)

 

Will start the next poll soon !

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Does the invincibility cloak only work for as long as you hold down a key, i.e. once you let go it stops working? I've yet got to learn how to use the smart bombs, and using a Starplex doesn't help either since it practically uses up both hands. Perhaps I can improve my foot dexterity to push the keyboard with my toes. I mean some disabled people can hold pencils with their toes, surely I can learn to push a random button?

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17 minutes ago, carlsson said:

Does the invincibility cloak only work for as long as you hold down a key, i.e. once you let go it stops working? I've yet got to learn how to use the smart bombs, and using a Starplex doesn't help either since it practically uses up both hands. Perhaps I can improve my foot dexterity to push the keyboard with my toes. I mean some disabled people can hold pencils with their toes, surely I can learn to push a random button?

just press a key to toggle it. You get about 50% recharge after each wave. Quickshot and hand resting across base and bottom of keyboard is how I play!

 

New poll is alive - i've picked some goodies mostly not from the games list - think we should look at new games after the next round too, there are lots of them they look interesting :idea:

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On 8/14/2022 at 6:07 PM, oracle_jedi said:

A little Sunday morning blasting, and a slight improvement to 1,366,130.

 

I think the extra lives and extra smart bombs all stop at 1M points, so it gets much harder.   I know last time we played this someone scored over 1.9M and that is incredible.

 

 

22 hours ago, McKong said:

188550

He's getting close !

 

Did have a table to post the other day but forum wasn't mended enuf!  Please vote everyone for the next round:

 

New forum doesn't show how many people have voted 😦

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