Vectrex HSC - May 2024 - Cosmic Chasm

[cheeko]

I really enjoy the game but still struggle with the amount of patient concentration required  Improved a bit.

 

39 150

 

 

 

[playvectrex]

On 5/13/2024 at 12:33 PM, jgkspsx said:

Sadly this is unplayable on Analogue Pocket because you can't tell where you are.

 

 

7115 to start.

I was playing it on the Pocket, and while it does kind of stink not seeing the blinking dot... if you play it enough on a Vectrex you kind of know where you are based on the room exit points.

 

On 5/13/2024 at 4:44 PM, Lord Innit said:

Really improved on my previous score, but a strange thing has occured. 372;0  yep  372;0  

what's with the semi-colon?  

This happens when the cavern multiplier is up near the max.  As far as I can tell it's not adding too much to the score when that happens, just can't display the score properly for some reason.  You can see it during the game as well, but sometimes you end up with a final score with the weird character.  For all intents and purposes, it's at least a 9  

[playvectrex]

I did a little more research about the funny looking scores.

 

Starting here (3:31):

- 16170
- hit one enemy at 250 points
- 16420
- drilled a door for 25 points
- 16445
- hit one enemy at 260 points
- 166:5 (should be 16705, so it's displaying less)
- left the room and drilled a door for 25 points
- 16730 (it correctly added 25 to 16705, and is displaying correctly now)

 

So when you have a final score error... your score is probably slightly higher.  

Assume it's at least a 9, if not the next hundred points up if there's a really tricky tiebreaker.  

We can also figure out what : and ; represent as well and just add them.  I think : is probably 10 instead of 9, and ; will likely be 11, for 100 and 110 points respectively.

This happens when the room multiplier is 250 and 260.  There's also < for 270, = for 280 and > for 290 but that's the highest.

So a quick lookup table when you might see certain symbols displayed,
: - 250 - when 10's column adds up to 10 or add 100 points
; - 260 - when 10's column adds up to 11 or add 110 points

< - 270 - when 10's column adds up to 12 or add 120 points

= - 280 - when 10's column adds up to 13 or add 130 points

> - 290 - when 10's column adds up to 14 or add 140 points

This falls perfectly in line with trying to display hex values A-E

Normally the score string is composed of 30-39 for 0-9, but if they increment to 3A ~ AE, they will display : ~ >

All that said, I think 372;0 would be 37,310  @Lord Innit

[Lord Innit]

47105  

 

[Lord Innit]

One more score from me today.  54500. 

[VF2048]

53960

 

Also improving a bit. 😄

[hcmffm]

Thank you for your analysis and explanation, Brett. Makes complete sense and cryptic scores will be considered as valid and calculated as you described above.

 

On 5/20/2024 at 11:13 AM, VF2048 said:

Also improving a bit

That bit is quite a bit! Good scores, Marc, Lord Innit, and Brett for sure.

 

. o O (Brett is #1 with 90k, atm. Looks as if I have to struggle to reach half of Brett's highscore and thus reach my personal goal. 😉)

Edited May 21 by hcmffm

[jbrodack]

26935 using original joystick 

[playvectrex]

Breakthrough game again tonight!
94,250

[playvectrex]

Yo!! This was the one!! And I got it on video  

110,970

[playvectrex]

Here's the video!  Again, don't mind the world record part... that's youtube clickbait

 

[hcmffm]

On 5/25/2024 at 12:38 AM, playvectrex said:

Yo!! This was the one!! And I got it on video  

110,970

Congrats for crossing the 100k limit, Brett!

 

. o O (110,970 pts divided by 2 equals 55.485 pts. Currently I have 7,590 pts. Phew, still some way to go for me to reach 50% of the top score.)

 

It's 6 more days to go.

 

@Madwindoman, @Carey85, @Mikey50, @Darrin9999: With all the practicing don't forgot to submit your scores.

Edited May 28 by hcmffm

[Lord Innit]

21 hours ago, playvectrex said:

Here's the video!  Again, don't mind the world record part... that's youtube clickbait

 

OK.  How the heck are you able to thrust, use shields and drill through the barriers all at the same time?  I've just spent the last 2 hours trying and I think I've accelerated the onset of arthritis in my right hand 😂

[playvectrex]

7 hours ago, Lord Innit said:

OK.  How the heck are you able to thrust, use shields and drill through the barriers all at the same time?  I've just spent the last 2 hours trying and I think I've accelerated the onset of arthritis in my right hand 😂

Hold buttons 1,2,3... and let go of 2 and press 2 again just before you hit the barrier.  You can also do it quite a distance away, just don't let go of 2 when you are too near an enemy.  Also sometimes you'll bounce off the barrier 2 or 3 times, but after then you are good for a while and will get it first try... and it will happen again sometime later on some reoccurring cycle not due to anything you are doing wrong.  Have fun!!

Edited May 27 by playvectrex

[VF2048]

Still fighting: 

 

56830

[VF2048]

OMG, I did it with my last score.

 

Now you can call me "half a loaf of Brett". 🤣

 

To the native speakers: Is that a good play of words? 😁

[playvectrex]

Hi All! I started playing with the original controller just to prove it's not the controller.  Last night I played for over 6 hours until I was so tired, but managed a 103k score with the original controller.
Plenty of 90k scores before that.. This morning I did 104k and 105k and started doing some various test runs to see what really causes the rooms to expand faster. 
Something interesting I found out is the speed at which the game progresses is in fact based on how many caverns you visit or re-visit... it just the totals up over time.
So best to get every last enemy if you can before you leave a cavern, especially if you don't need to come back that way.  But don't wait to go either, or else you might get trapped forever and enter a death loop.

This was a really good game no silly deaths that I'm very proud of and will be uploading it to Twin Galaxies as well.  After it's approved on there I'll release the youtube video.

119,955

[Mikey50]

19270

[VF2048]

62240

 

Hah, a bit more than half a loaf of Brett, again. 😁🤣

[playvectrex]

Just now, VF2048 said:

62240

 

Hah, a bit more than half a loaf of Brett, again. 😁🤣

Nice job!  I'm curious why you are not killing off your last life before capturing your score?  I know if you press some button right when you die (not sure which one) you will start a new game which is annoying... but if you drop the bomb in the core, and leave the room you will get another 100 points You get 100 for every cavern you go through on the way out, so even if you know it's blocked, trying to get as far as you can on your last life is worth a bit extra.

The solid blue overlay looks good with this... you can really see everything clearly.  I might need to calibrate my screen again because parts of my lives/timer are kind of hard to see with the official overlay (or maybe that's just how it is).

[VF2048]

1 hour ago, playvectrex said:

... but if you drop the bomb in the core, and leave the room you will get another 100 points  

You are right, I've missed that 100 points. I gave up, because the next cavern on the way out was already blocked with no more chance of getting through.

[playvectrex]

Video is up on YouTube now... and officially accepted at Twin Galaxies.  I've watched this video probably 4 or 5 times now and saw so many missed points.  130k - 150k definitely seems possible.  If anyone wants to talk strategy, let me know and I'll try to help you improve your score  

 

[playvectrex]

I couldn't leave well enough alone... had to chase that 120k score. 
3 more games tonight, 112k, 97k and this one!

This was a crazy game as well... I started by shooting like crazy and hitting absolutely nothing!

I called it that it would be "the best game ever" sarcastically.
Then I took the long way for more points and exited Mission 1 with 00:01 on the clock!  What?!
Got to 70k with all 5 lives remaining (then forced death), and 90k with 4 lives (3 after a forced death).

Ran the board as much as possible with remaining lives.
1 accidental death due to the shield bug where it prevents you from drilling out.
Original controller as well.

122,345
 

[Chainsaw]

Hello All.

 

Better late than never, after seeing my old improved Scramble video, getting information about this HSC etc.   Very great scores here and in the last month. And great idea to do this HSC.

I opened my Atariage account already 10 years ago, when I ordered a Vecflash card (maybe one of the earliest versions?) and I think later a Harmony Card for the Atari 2600. Then I never posted anything in Atariage forums, but often I read somethings in different topics. So I know, Atariage and its forums is great, even if I'm very seldom here.

 

My Cosmic Chasm score: 131'080... (new record?)   Important about this: Continue reading next line...

 

No no, don't worry, I'm just kidding... The real score is 71025 (see second picture, not the mission 8 picture). I didn't try Brett's great method to fly through the caverns and kill as most enemies as possible to increase the score. I just played for fun (ok sure Brett did it also for fun), but my personal big challenge in Cosmic Chasm is to reach higher missions, or the highest possible mission. But I think 8 is one of the highest to reach, with really a lot of luck, reaching mission 9 is possible, and I'm not sure, if I ever reached mission 10, I think not. Edit: Anyway, Brett, your world record score is really awesome !!! And sure the other scores are also great 🙂 Also nice to see some people from Vector Wars 🙂

 

My score today: 71025 and I reached mission 8. 

 

Edited May 30 by Chainsaw
Added images (did it wrong before) and corrected some typos and I like editing 10 times

[playvectrex]

Welcome, Chainsaw!  So glad you decided to join us

I totally believed your 131k score for a second there!

 

Nice work reaching Mission 8!  I think I've only reached Mission 6, so I'll have to give that a try as well before the month is up.

 

I've found two very strange bugs while playing Cosmic Chasm as well that you will probably be interested in.

 

1. I found a way and have on video to re-lock an already open cavern.  After exiting one open door, and drilling another, the previous door re-locked just before I left the cavern.  I even doubled back to take a second look and sure enough it was locked again!
2. I found a bug where if you drill right in the spot where the dashed line for the door meets the cavern walls, you will restart the mission instead of going through the door.  This is like drilling an outer cavern wall, but can happen on the inner walls.  I have this on video as well.