Kaboom! glitch discoverd!

[the 5th ghost]

I recently discovered a glitch in Kaboom:

 

If you have 2 buckets (or 1) at the start of level 7 (coming from level 6,) and the last three digits of your score is in the 307-313 range, you can gain a new bucket when you catch the next to last bomb (since you can score a maximum of 700 points in level 7, coming from level 6.)

 

Now intentionally DROP the last bomb in level 7, right after getting the free bucket. Voila!

 

The bomb will explode, you'll go back to level 6, but you'll still have all three buckets!

 

I figured out how to exploit this glitch so that you can theoretically play all the way to 1 million without EVER having to look at level 8! As long as you have all 3 buckets going into level 7, and intentionally let a bomb drop when the last three digits of your score is in the *079-*085 range, all you have to do afterwards is, catch all the bombs in group 6, then all but the last bomb in group 7.

 

Here's how it works...

 

1) Complete levels 1 - 6 (score will be 1,000)

2) Only catch 12 bombs in level 7 (score will be 1,084)

3) Catch every bomb in level 6 (score will be 1,312)

4) Do the trick (score will be 2,005)

5) Catch all bombs in level 6

6) Drop the LAST bomb in level 7

7) REPEAT steps 5 - 6

8)Catch all bombs in level 6 (score will be 4,075)

9) ONLY CATCH 1 BOMB in level 7 (score will be 4,082)

10) REPEAT steps 4 - 9!

 

Now, you'll notice something interesting if you can do this without flaw:

 

As you know, the last three digits of the target score on level 7, to set up the trick, is 079-085. This is the only range that will allow you to do the trick by catching all the level 6 bombs, and then all but the last bomb in level 7.

 

Doing the above strategy, you'll first hit *084. Afterwards, when you follow my plan, after step #9, you'll end up with *082. Then the next time you finish step #9, you'll have *080. As you can see, the score will count down the even numbers on the target range.

 

Now this is IMORTANT!

 

When you get back to step #9, you HAVE to catch 2 bombs in level 7, which will then put your score at *085. Then you'll notice that it will count down the odds in the taget range...*083, *081, *079. After that, again on step #9, catch 2 bombs on level 7 to get your score at *084.

 

From there, it will cycle endlessly, as long as you don't mess up!

 

It's a lot easier to do with normal buckets, but I still have trouble keeping it up with the small buckets. There is room for error correction though, depending on the situation.

 

Anyway, I am wondering what causes this bug to occur? I have a strong suspicion what when you activate the "free bucket" sound, it overides something in the line of code where it forgets to delete the bucket you just gained. I also think that when you get a free bucket, namely the 3rd, (bottom) bucket, the new bucket cannot catch a bomb till the "free bucket" sound is finished.

 

Has anyone else experienced this bug?

Edited July 9, 2006 by the 5th ghost

[D.Yancey]

Thanks for sharing. I always wondered if there was a way to not have to clear bomb group 8. I wonder if Larry Kaplan or anyone at Activision knew about this?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I have a strong suspicion what when you activate the "free bucket" sound, it overides something in the line of code where it forgets to delete the bucket you just gained.

You are right. There is some code which prevents counting down the bucket number while the bonus sound for a free bucket is playing.

 

I am not 100% sure yet, but it seems that the bonus sound is player too long. If it would be half as long, the bug should go away.

[TomBrazil]

This is great!

 

Since we're at it, I'll use this topic...

 

Does this odd behavior also occur with you? The first time I plug Kaboom! into my consoles, the buckets show without water. If I turn the console off and on again, it shows water.

 

However, if after that, I play the same cart in other console, it shows with water. It seems the cart must be a certain time without use for this to occur (no water).

 

I always played Kaboom! first time untill I stop, so I have never seen the water untill recently.

[Room 34]

However, if after that, I play the same cart in other console, it shows with water. It seems the cart must be a certain time without use for this to occur (no water).

I don't see how this is possible. There's no way for the cart to "know" how long it's been since it was last played.

[TomBrazil]

However, if after that, I play the same cart in other console, it shows with water. It seems the cart must be a certain time without use for this to occur (no water).

I don't see how this is possible. There's no way for the cart to "know" how long it's been since it was last played.

Quite surely but I tested so many times, and I'm pretty certain about it. Static electricity or something maybe? who knows...

[the 5th ghost]

Quite surely but I tested so many times, and I'm pretty certain about it. Static electricity or something maybe? who knows...

 

The colors look different across the board, so it's probably your TV

[the 5th ghost]

Hey TomBrazil,

 

I just recorded a short video of me playing Kaboom, demonstrating the above strategy, and when I played back the tape, the colors are exactly like your "waterless" buckets.

 

It may be hard to make out, but it is the same.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Hm, looks like z26 doesn't show water too.

[D.Yancey]

If you've caught a lot of bombs on your previous game, eventually all the water will splash out. Then you have to turn off the game for a while, so the bomb squad can examine all the bombs in the buckets and refill them with water. It's all on page 13 in the manual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TomBrazil]

The colors look different across the board, so it's probably your TV

Nope, they're from different consoles, I couldn't find the shot with and without water from the same console. And this leads us to another problem... in some consoles, the buckets show as dark green color, in others, they show as brown. This has nothing to to with color balance, I think. Apparently, some consoles have more "yellow" than others...

 

 

Hey TomBrazil,

 

I just recorded a short video of me playing Kaboom, demonstrating the above strategy, and when I played back the tape, the colors are exactly like your "waterless" buckets.

 

It may be hard to make out, but it is the same.

Will you place the video for us to see?

[gamme]

I forgot how tough Kaboom! is. It'll take me a few days practice before I can even get to stage 6.

[Dr. Morbis]

I actually ran into this glitch once when I was going for my personal record. I was in like the 300k's and I thought it was game over when I dropped a bomb and only had one bucket left. Then, miraculously, my last bucket didn't disappear and I got to keep going. Of course I didn't investigate how the glitch happened, I just thought it was a one in a billion occurence. Now I know how/why it happened.

 

As for the water in the bucket disappearing/reappearing, could it have something to do with the VCS not wiping the onboard RAM fully when you flick the switch off then back on right away?

[TomBrazil]

As for the water in the bucket disappearing/reappearing, could it have something to do with the VCS not wiping the onboard RAM fully when you flick the switch off then back on right away?

Hello Dr. Morbis, in fact is the opposite... the water does appear when I turn the switch on for the second time. It doesn't appear the first time!

[Atarian7]

I've had this glitch happen to me a few times on accident, but wasn't sure what happened because it happened so fast.

I've also had it happen going from level 8 to level 7.

[bowser724]

This is interesting. I might have to test it.

[ATARIPITBULL]

I recently discovered a glitch in Kaboom:

 

If you have 2 buckets (or 1) at the start of level 7 (coming from level 6,) and the last three digits of your score is in the 307-313 range, you can gain a new bucket when you catch the next to last bomb (since you can score a maximum of 700 points in level 7, coming from level 6.)

 

Now intentionally DROP the last bomb in level 7, right after getting the free bucket. Voila!

 

The bomb will explode, you'll go back to level 6, but you'll still have all three buckets!

 

I figured out how to exploit this glitch so that you can theoretically play all the way to 1 million without EVER having to look at level 8! As long as you have all 3 buckets going into level 7, and intentionally let a bomb drop when the last three digits of your score is in the *079-*085 range, all you have to do afterwards is, catch all the bombs in group 6, then all but the last bomb in group 7.

 

Here's how it works...

 

1) Complete levels 1 - 6 (score will be 1,000)

2) Only catch 12 bombs in level 7 (score will be 1,084)

3) Catch every bomb in level 6 (score will be 1,312)

4) Do the trick (score will be 2,005)

5) Catch all bombs in level 6

6) Drop the LAST bomb in level 7

7) REPEAT steps 5 - 6

8)Catch all bombs in level 6 (score will be 4,075)

9) ONLY CATCH 1 BOMB in level 7 (score will be 4,082)

10) REPEAT steps 4 - 9!

 

Now, you'll notice something interesting if you can do this without flaw:

 

As you know, the last three digits of the target score on level 7, to set up the trick, is 079-085. This is the only range that will allow you to do the trick by catching all the level 6 bombs, and then all but the last bomb in level 7.

 

Doing the above strategy, you'll first hit *084. Afterwards, when you follow my plan, after step #9, you'll end up with *082. Then the next time you finish step #9, you'll have *080. As you can see, the score will count down the even numbers on the target range.

 

Now this is IMORTANT!

 

When you get back to step #9, you HAVE to catch 2 bombs in level 7, which will then put your score at *085. Then you'll notice that it will count down the odds in the taget range...*083, *081, *079. After that, again on step #9, catch 2 bombs on level 7 to get your score at *084.

 

From there, it will cycle endlessly, as long as you don't mess up!

 

It's a lot easier to do with normal buckets, but I still have trouble keeping it up with the small buckets. There is room for error correction though, depending on the situation.

 

Anyway, I am wondering what causes this bug to occur? I have a strong suspicion what when you activate the "free bucket" sound, it overides something in the line of code where it forgets to delete the bucket you just gained. I also think that when you get a free bucket, namely the 3rd, (bottom) bucket, the new bucket cannot catch a bomb till the "free bucket" sound is finished.

 

Has anyone else experienced this bug?

 

WOW is the only word that comes to mind when I try to think up the hours you must have played Kamboom to figure this out, I had never heard of it before and my wife and kids would be dammed if they would let me play my Atari for more than a hour, I think they find it funny to keep me from having a good time. In another 19 years, when the kids are gone, then maybe I will be able to try your tactic.

 

[the 5th ghost]

I recently discovered a glitch in Kaboom:

 

If you have 2 buckets (or 1) at the start of level 7 (coming from level 6,) and the last three digits of your score is in the 307-313 range, you can gain a new bucket when you catch the next to last bomb (since you can score a maximum of 700 points in level 7, coming from level 6.)

 

Now intentionally DROP the last bomb in level 7, right after getting the free bucket. Voila!

 

The bomb will explode, you'll go back to level 6, but you'll still have all three buckets!

 

I figured out how to exploit this glitch so that you can theoretically play all the way to 1 million without EVER having to look at level 8! As long as you have all 3 buckets going into level 7, and intentionally let a bomb drop when the last three digits of your score is in the *079-*085 range, all you have to do afterwards is, catch all the bombs in group 6, then all but the last bomb in group 7.

 

Here's how it works...

 

1) Complete levels 1 - 6 (score will be 1,000)

2) Only catch 12 bombs in level 7 (score will be 1,084)

3) Catch every bomb in level 6 (score will be 1,312)

4) Do the trick (score will be 2,005)

5) Catch all bombs in level 6

6) Drop the LAST bomb in level 7

7) REPEAT steps 5 - 6

8)Catch all bombs in level 6 (score will be 4,075)

9) ONLY CATCH 1 BOMB in level 7 (score will be 4,082)

10) REPEAT steps 4 - 9!

 

Now, you'll notice something interesting if you can do this without flaw:

 

As you know, the last three digits of the target score on level 7, to set up the trick, is 079-085. This is the only range that will allow you to do the trick by catching all the level 6 bombs, and then all but the last bomb in level 7.

 

Doing the above strategy, you'll first hit *084. Afterwards, when you follow my plan, after step #9, you'll end up with *082. Then the next time you finish step #9, you'll have *080. As you can see, the score will count down the even numbers on the target range.

 

Now this is IMORTANT!

 

When you get back to step #9, you HAVE to catch 2 bombs in level 7, which will then put your score at *085. Then you'll notice that it will count down the odds in the taget range...*083, *081, *079. After that, again on step #9, catch 2 bombs on level 7 to get your score at *084.

 

From there, it will cycle endlessly, as long as you don't mess up!

 

It's a lot easier to do with normal buckets, but I still have trouble keeping it up with the small buckets. There is room for error correction though, depending on the situation.

 

Anyway, I am wondering what causes this bug to occur? I have a strong suspicion what when you activate the "free bucket" sound, it overides something in the line of code where it forgets to delete the bucket you just gained. I also think that when you get a free bucket, namely the 3rd, (bottom) bucket, the new bucket cannot catch a bomb till the "free bucket" sound is finished.

 

Has anyone else experienced this bug?

 

WOW is the only word that comes to mind when I try to think up the hours you must have played Kamboom to figure this out, I had never heard of it before and my wife and kids would be dammed if they would let me play my Atari for more than a hour, I think they find it funny to keep me from having a good time. In another 19 years, when the kids are gone, then maybe I will be able to try your tactic.

 

 

Haha!

 

It only takes a few minutes to do my strategy and see the glitch in action.

 

It didn't take too long to figure out mathematically how to set it up. The points for each board are constant. But ti was fun to finally figure it out!