HSC Season 2 Week 22: Centipede

[Ze_ro]

Important note: This weeks competition is over. If you still wish to discuss this game, then feel free to do so, but no further scores will be accepted. Thanks to everyone for all their contributions! Please join in on the latest High Score Club competition!

 

Once upon a time in a misty, enchanted forest, there lived a colony of good elves. These elves had a major problem, though: Their prized mushroom garden was infested with pests! The good elves tried everything they could to rid their garden of these bugs, but nothing worked. One day, an elf named Oliver stumbled across a magical wand. Once he realized the power he held in his hands, he decided to take on the pests once and for all, because this week's game is Centipede!

 

Game Information

• Game Name: Centipede
  
• Released By: Atari, 1982
  
• Left Difficulty: Not Applicable
  
• Right Difficulty: Not Applicable
  
• Game Mode: Standard Play (No teddy bear)
  
• Chosen By: Ze_ro
  

Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores will be approximately Tuesday, June 21st at 1:30 AM (CST). In case you haven't already done so, please read the High Score Club rules. There is other useful information contained in that previous link, including a list of previous High Score Club games!

 

As before, next week's game will be chosen by the next person in the member list, which happens to be the 5th ghost! Please send me a private message with your choice of game for next week!

 

If you are not a member of the High Score Club, but would like to be, then all you have to do is post a score for this week's game, and I'll add you to the list!

 

Current High Scores

1. 278,447 (the 5th ghost) [+11]
   
2. 277,335 (StanJr) [+10]
   
3. 179,328 (gospeedde) [+9]
   
4. 176,537 (SpiceWare) [+8]
   
5. 147,331 (xeex) [+7]
   
6. 89,125 (panda_racer) [+6]
   
7. 87,923 (khryssun) [+5]
   
8. 65,770 (video game addict) [+4]
   
9. 55,621 (Malc74) [+3]
   
10. 48,056 (scogey) [+2]
    
11. 47,858 (vdub_bobby) [+1]
    
12. 47,591 (keilbaca) [+1]
    
13. 45,493 (davepesc) [+1]
    
14. 35,051 (cyberneticimplant) [+1]
    
15. 32,981 (LarcenTyler) [+1]
    
16. 26,056 (Goochman) [+1]
    
17. 25,375 (Osbo) [+1]
    

Best Tips

• StanJr [+2]
  

Bounties and Challenges

• Bug Buster! - Score 250,000 points or higher, and get 2 bonus points!
  • the 5th ghost
    
  • StanJr
    

Current Standings

1. StanJr [184]
2. keilbaca [175]
3. the 5th ghost [134]
4. Osbo [98]
5. SpiceWare [75]
6. Malc74 [73]
7. sku_u [71]
8. vdub_bobby [62]
9. Fellow Atari Man [52]
10. KaeruYojimbo [47]
11. video game addict [45]
12. gospeedde [45]
13. Christophero Sly [41]
14. LarcenTyler [41]
15. Numan [39]
16. Mad Scientist [38]
17. Robert M [33]
18. Keir [32]
19. khryssun [31]
20. Lord Thag [30]
21. racer raul [29]
22. Cybergoth [29]
23. Blackjack [28]
24. Goochman [28]
25. chrisbid [28]
26. Philflound [27]
27. pitfallaimee [24]
28. Dones [24]
29. Lord Helmet [21]
30. Dan Iacovelli [20]
31. panda_racer [19]
32. mikeftrevino [18]

• chubsta [17]
• xeex [15]
• yuppicide [15]
• cyberneticimplant [14]
• candiru [14]
• cvga [13]
• scogey [12]
• davepesc [12]
• Thomas Jentzsch [9]
• Omegamatrix [8]
• adams_ale [6]
• Luigi301 [5]
• Gamemaster_ca_2003 [5]
• Bubbledragon [4]
• BydoEmpire [3]
• kemsted [3]
• Stingray [3]
• 128bytes [2]
• Voch [2]
• bjk7382 [2]
• iguana [2]
• Damon Plus [2]
• Kepone [2]
• neotokeo2001 [1]
• Chris++ [1]
• bmlbytes [1]
• awsomo3000 [1]
• madbutscher [1]
• Scooterb23 [1]
• internetotaku [1]
• Gateway [1]

Member List

the 5th ghost, khryssun, Malc74, chubsta, Keir, Philflound, candiru, kemsted, keilbaca, Cybergoth, sku_u, Chris++, cvga, LarcenTyler, 128bytes, Goochman, mikeftrevino, StanJr, Osbo, Numan, vdub_bobby, Dones, Gamemaster_ca_2003, awsomo3000, Voch, Stingray, scogey, Bubbledragon, video game addict, pitfallaimee, Blackjack, racer raul, SpiceWare, Robert M, Lord Helmet, Lord Thag, Mad Scientist, Dan Iacovelli, iguana, Luigi301, Gateway, Damon Plus, gospeedde, Kepone, internetotaku, panda_racer, KaeruYojimbo, cyberneticimplant, bjk7382, davepesc, neotokeo2001, xeex, bmlbytes, Omegamatrix

Scoring Points in Centipede

• Centipede Body Segment - 10 points
  
• Centipede Head - 100 points
  
• Spider - 300, 600, or 900 points depending on range (closer = higher points)
  
• Flea - 200 points
  
• Scorpion - 1000 points
  
• Mushroom (totally eliminated) - 1 point
  
• Mushroom (wounded or intact at end of turn) - 5 points for every 2
  
• A Bonus Wand is awarded every 10,000 points
  

Hints and Tips

As always, you really should read the manual.

 

What's that? You don't have the manual? Well, luckily for you, AtariAge has both a scanned and typed copy of it online for your reading pleasure.

 

What's that? You're too lazy to click that link? Well, luckily for you, I copied the tips it has right here:

 

• Shoot away mushrooms in a straight line up the screen to create a "corridor."  When the Centipede reaches this "gap," it will fall straight down the battlefield and can be easilty picked off.
   
  
• Since the flea doesn't appear until you have eliminated most of the mushrooms near you, you can set up a shield to prevent this lightening-fast pest from striking.  Simply leave at least 5 mushrooms on the lower third of the screen.  After you score 120,000 points, you'll need to leave 10 mushrooms.
   
  
• Shoot Centipede heads to create new heads out of the body segments left behind.  Since heads are worth 10 times the point value of body segments, you'll score lots of points.
   
  
• Each creature makes a distinct sound.  By becoming familiar with these sounds, you will know without looking, what is attacking and where it is on the screen.
   
  

Usefull Tips :

 

- When you kill the spider, move immediatly to the center (and the bottom) of the screen to have the time to react quickly and avoid a collision when the spider reappears at one of the borders and has a very fast horizontal move which is generally fatal.

 

Using this technique I saved a lot of precious lives.

 

- To avoid critical situations, destroy all contaminated mushrooms (by the scorpion) as fast as possible.

Tip: Keep the bottom area of the screen clean. The more mushrooms you allow to accumulate here, the more trouble you will have when the Centipede gets down there. Shoot them away every chance you get.

 

Tip: Build an aisle down the center of the screen. This can be accomplished by keeping your square near the center when the first few Centipedes appear. As you shoot the Centipede segments, they will leave behind mushrooms in a zigzag pattern forming a channel. Once this is done, the Centipedes will start following this path right into your line of fire. You can clear whole Centipedes in seconds this way.

 

Tip: Never let a segment get to the bottom of the screen. If it does, it will start to make its way back up and new segments will appear. This will be real bad news in higher levels.

 

Tip: Stay low! Even though you can move up one-third of the screen, it is often safer to stay low, that way you don’t get any nasty surprises from below!

 

Tip: Keep the sides clear of mushrooms. Segments can sneak down the side before you know it if there are too many mushrooms there. The more you can keep the mushrooms in the center of the screen the safer you will be.

 

Tip: Extra lives come pretty easily, but do not take them for granted. They can be lost just as easily and then you will find yourself in trouble.

 

Spider Tips:

 

Tip: The Spider is your friend. Do not shoot him until you have to and only then when he is close to the bottom of the screen (900 pts beats 300 any day). Sure, keeping him alive is dangerous because he will try to squish you, but having him around can be advantageous. As the Spider hops across the garden, he will gobble up the mushrooms that accumulate close to the bottom of the screen. Keeping this area free of mushrooms is good (see above).

 

Tip: Stay away from the sides of the screen. The Spider can pop out and any time and then squish, it’s over.

 

Tip: The Spider must progress from one side of the screen to the other. He cannot back track. Keep this in mind and you can manage the screen and lower the chances of running into him.

 

Tip: The Spider’s movement is fairly unpredictable. He will not do what you expect him to, be on your guard.

 

Flea Tips:

 

Tip: Leave this guy alone. He always drops straight down the screen and usually moves fast! Sure he’ll leave behind a few mushrooms as he goes, but they are not worth the risk of getting hit. It may seem like a clear shot, but occasionally your shot will miss him, even if it’s point blank.

 

Tip: On the higher levels the Flea moves way to fast to bother with. If you hear the sound of him flying down, get out of his way fast!

 

Scorpion Tips:

 

Tip: Drop everything and SHOOT him! Do not allow him to poison any of the mushrooms. Keeping the garden free of poisoned fungus is a must.

 

Tip: You will hear him coming. The second you hear him, get ready to fire.

 

Tip: If he does manage to poison a great deal of the screen (and the garden starts to look more like Las Vegas), start shooting those poison mushrooms fast. It may even be worth it to lose a life just to clear the screen of the poison.

 

NOTE: You might be interested in reading StanJr's whole strategy guide, he's attached it to this post!

1. The mushroom layout is always the same at the beginning of the game. I zoom over to the left and shoot those low ones right away.

 

2. The elf can move through mushrooms. I actually found myself moving around them sometimes as if they were obstacles; they're not.

 

3. If you've successfully created one of those glorious "tunnels" that the centipede falls through, it helps to move as high as you can to shoot the 'pede on a new wave. Your shots have less distance to travel that way, and you can kill the whole thing quite quickly (or most of it).

 

4. When everything flies down to the bottom of the screen because of poisoned mushrooms, fret not! Just stay on the bottom and avoid the segments as they fall. You'll be able to pick them off soon enough because they're all moving UP while you get to stay on the bottom.

 

Good luck everyone!

 

--Ze_ro

[panda_racer]

65,834

 

by the way, reading the comic book won't entertain you or give you an advantage.

 

my strategy is to lure out the flea by shooting the lower mushrooms and then hit the flea as many times as posible. it seems to get higher scores than anything else i've done.

Edited June 14, 2005 by panda_racer

[Lauren Tyler]

I know for a fact I can do a lot better, I'm just not fully awake yet.

[Malc74]

First score 34385.

[xeex]

Oh no! I'm absolutely terrible at Centipede. Always have been. Can't complain about the choice, though. I mean... it's Centipede! (Also - with Frogger - one of those few games that my girlfriends will play.)

 

Time to practice on the teddy bear level.

Edited June 14, 2005 by xeex

[vdub_bobby]

18993.

 

First try.

[Malc74]

New score - 47836.

[davepesc]

Well, at least I have this one, although I never was any good at it.

 

As a general rule, are scores taken from games played on Atari Anthology acceptable?

[keilbaca]

Well, at least I have this one, although I never was any good at it.

 

As a general rule, are scores taken from games played on Atari Anthology acceptable?

874161[/snapback]

 

No, same with Activision Anthology, or any other compilation.

[keilbaca]

first try:

 

28348

 

Well I should say 2nd try, the 1st try I realized that my trackball needed cleaning

[StanJr]

Oh man, my thumb is going to hurt. I always seem to play Centipede for extended periods of time and my games usually end because my thumb hurts too damn much. We'll see how well I can do!

 

Stan

[khryssun]

49,918

[Lauren Tyler]

Getting a little better.

[keilbaca]

a nice update

 

47591

[awsomo3000]

FINALLY!!!!! another game I have!!!! Im gonna get playing as soon as i get a chance.

[+SpiceWare]

49,882

[the 5th ghost]

I remember playing this game back in the day, but it's been awhile...

 

First score:

 

54,683

[the 5th ghost]

Second Score:

 

89,458

[xeex]

Oy! Tough crowd here. I like it.

 

41,899 for the moment.

[gospeedde]

56,095

[video game addict]

39,922 I know I can do better, but I wanted to throw something up. Been kind of inactive of late.

Edited June 15, 2005 by video game addict

[khryssun]

Usefull Tips :

 

- When you kill the spider, move immediatly to the center (and the bottom) of the screen to have the time to react quickly and avoid a collision when the spider reappears at one of the borders and has a very fast horizontal move which is generally fatal.

 

Using this technique I saved a lot of precious lives.

 

 

- To avoid critical situations, destroy all contaminated mushrooms (by the scorpion) as fast as possible.

Edited June 15, 2005 by khryssun

[khryssun]

64,997

[panda_racer]

89,125

 

[cyberneticimplant]

First decent score

 

35,051