27 replies to this topic

[else]

From my other thread on Space War 2000, you probably know I’ve been playing it a lot these past few weeks. I never really spent that much time with it before, so I thought that I finally should. After playing it a bit, I decided what the game really needed was a manual -- so I decided to write one.

In the process, I’ve learned quite a bit about the game. Some of it contradictory to what has been previously reported. For example:

1) The difficulty does not seem to “peak” (at least as far as I’ve managed to play). In fact, a new and very deadly enemy first appears at level 15.

2) Open space does not continue on forever -- the arena you are inside is a round ball, and if you go off one side you are transported to the opposite side (I’ve verified this umpteen times, so I’m 100% certain of this).

I’ve also uncovered what I believe are a few bugs in the game:

1) The shots needed to destroy one of the enemies on certain settings seem to be wrong.

2) The scoring system for hitting an enemy with the lasers seems to be wrong.

Finally, I've put together a level guide, which I think is quite handy.

So take a look at the manual that I have written and let me know what you think (I tried to model the format of it after Atari’s Cybermorph manual). Also let me know if you see any errors or omissions....

Attached Files

•  Space_War_2000.pdf   488.32K   949 downloads

[Pocket]

Thanks for sharing your work

[doctorclu]

Nice work!

Page 7 - a tab to the column spacing in the black hole description
Page 14- Is there anyway we can find out names to replace "Anonomous nameless"? Anyone?
Page 15-16 seem to be blank.

else, on Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:53 PM, said:

From my other thread on Space War 2000, you probably know I’ve been playing it a lot these past few weeks. I never really spent that much time with it before, so I thought that I finally should. After playing it a bit, I decided what the game really needed was a manual -- so I decided to write one.

In the process, I’ve learned quite a bit about the game. Some of it contradictory to what has been previously reported. For example:

1) The difficulty does not seem to “peak” (at least as far as I’ve managed to play). In fact, a new and very deadly enemy first appears at level 15.

2) Open space does not continue on forever -- the arena you are inside is a round ball, and if you go off one side you are transported to the opposite side (I’ve verified this umpteen times, so I’m 100% certain of this).

I’ve also uncovered what I believe are a few bugs in the game:

1) The shots needed to destroy one of the enemies on certain settings seem to be wrong.

2) The scoring system for hitting an enemy with the lasers seems to be wrong.

Finally, I've put together a level guide, which I think is quite handy.

So take a look at the manual that I have written and let me know what you think (I tried to model the format of it after Atari’s Cybermorph manual). Also let me know if you see any errors or omissions....

[Michael_]

Excellent manual. Great job!
You may want to stress the fact that there´s no way whatsoever to replenish "super weapons". I realize you mention this with regard to the Weapon shop, but since it´s not possible, you really need to save these suckers for later levels.

I´m also pretty sure there´s a way for you to replenish energy within a given level, but that´s going to take some more testing to confirm (or not).

[else]

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Nice work!

Thanks!

Quote

Page 7 - a tab to the column spacing in the black hole description

Yep, looks like I missed that one. I'll fix this when I get home tonight and post an updated version.

Quote

Page 15-16 seem to be blank.

Page 15 is blank so that you can print it in booklet form (many printer drivers give you this option when printing). For a booklet, you always need to have a multiple of four pages -- so I needed to make it 16 pages long. Page 16 is the back cover and has a bit of info on it near the bottom....

Edited by else, Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:57 AM.

[Gregory DG]

That's also Lance Lewis' face as the three-eyed guy. Maybe you could put in a credit for that somehow.

[Lastblade]

Very well done. I really want to get this game now after reading your manual. How long is the game? It is infinite waves or stage based?

[ls650]

I took a read-through of your manual. Very good - you obviously put a lot of effort into it!

Here are a couple of comments:
- The overlay could be nicer. Actually, I like the nice clear box chart showing the various functions, but it would be great to have an additional 'real' overlay that fits the keypad properly....

- I thought I'd read somewhere that someone figured out what keypad #7 does, but I can't recall what that was.

- I think you might want better names for the enemy ships than "Fat Guy", etc. Maybe you could have simple line diagrams showing their approximate appearance?

[else]

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How long is the game? It is infinite waves or stage based?

How long is a tough question to answer. Heck the game may even have an ending, who knows? The problem is that later levels have more enemies, which seems to increase the likelihood of the game crashing on you. Now if somebody could figure out a level-skipping code for the game.....

It is stage based. After clearing out the enemies on a level, your score is tallied and you return to the main menu. If you select "Play Bell" you will start the next level. Between levels you were supposed to be able to replenish your special weapons at the "Weapons Shop", but unfortunately the Weapon Shop seems to be non-functional (at least nobody has ever figured out a way to make it do anything).

Edited by else, Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:07 PM.

[else]

Quote

I took a read-through of your manual. Very good - you obviously put a lot of effort into it!

Here are a couple of comments:
- The overlay could be nicer. Actually, I like the nice clear box chart showing the various functions, but it would be great to have an additional 'real' overlay that fits the keypad properly....

- I thought I'd read somewhere that someone figured out what keypad #7 does, but I can't recall what that was.

- I think you might want better names for the enemy ships than "Fat Guy", etc. Maybe you could have simple line diagrams showing their approximate appearance?

For the overlay -- I'm definitely no artist, so as you can tell I didn't even pretend to be one.

For the ship names, I was trying to be a bit humorous but at the same time I think they're pretty accurate (once you see a ship you should have no trouble telling which one I'm referring to). But I'll also try to weasel out by going back to my comment about not being an artist. :)

Edited by else, Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:02 AM.

[Isgoed]

Yes, very nice!

This is one of the few games that I would like to have for my Jaguar, but I am in no hurry.

[EmOneGarand]

Would you mind if I took your guide and photoshopped it to look like a real jag manual? of course you'd be credited for writing it.

Also, if people are interested I may make an overlay for this game (artwork that is, I have no means to make nice printed copies though ) I've posted a few I've made Here

Edited by EmOneGarand, Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:52 PM.

[else]

EmOneGarand, on Wed Feb 21, 2007 1:50 PM, said:

Would you mind if I took your guide and photoshopped it to look like a real jag manual? of course you'd be credited for writing it.

No problem. I posted it here for people to do whatever they want with it. However, you might want to wait until I post a slightly "fixed" version later tonight (see one of my previous posts)....

[else]

Here's an updated version. I tried to incorporate everyone's feedback. I also added some details about the cloaking and decoy weapons. Thanks for all the helpful ideas everyone....

Attached Files

•  Space_War_2000.pdf   489.57K   81 downloads

Edited by else, Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:31 AM.

[purenergy]

Thanks for the great manual!
Now I have to find the new enemy on level 15 (and possibly more!?)

[EmOneGarand]

Heres an overlay for Space Wars, I did it Legacy style enjoy.

Attached Thumbnails

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[else]

Very nice work!!!!

[Willard]

Quote

Thanks for the great manual!
Now I have to find the new enemy on level 15 (and possibly more!?)

There are plenty more "different" enemies after level 15. I've even drawn them all (which is tough, since the in-game models look very weird), but once you get between levels 25-30, it's nearly impossible to continue on (extremely buggy).

As a hint as to what you'll eventually find- the yellow enemy on the cover the B&C label is actually in the game

Edited by Willard, Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:29 AM.

[else]

Interesting. How many more? Since it was six levels between when the TIE Guy appeared and the High Guy appeared, I would have expected at least that many levels again. So new enemies must start appearing at a much faster rate in the later levels....

[Willard]

else, on Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:54 AM, said:

Interesting. How many more? Since it was six levels between when the TIE Guy appeared and the High Guy appeared, I would have expected at least that many levels again. So new enemies must start appearing at a much faster rate in the later levels....

1,4, 9, 15, 18, 22, 25 are the levels I've found different enemies at. For an interesting fact, new enemies appear on the same level regardless of the difficulty. The number is the only thing that changes, as well as their armor/shield strength (you can tell the difference because once the shield is breached, enemies emit fire when they are hit). Another interesting fact- enemy shields do not replenish.

I'll probably sound like a jerk in saying this, but I've already written a comprehensive manual that details EVERYTHING that could possibly be known about the game, including illustrations of all the enemies and weapons and what they do/their AI patterns (up to level 25, because after that it's not worth continuing on, if an enemy even looks at you the wrong way the game will freeze). I haven't released it due to potential copyright violations.

*If you actually like this game alot tho, you'll be especially impressed with the level 22 enemy. It doesn't even look like it came out of an Atari Jaguar game (looks N64ish).

Edited by Willard, Thu Feb 22, 2007 11:47 AM.

[else]

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For an interesting fact, new enemies appear on the same level regardless of the difficulty.

This is what my level guide shows too of course.

Quote

I'll probably sound like a jerk in saying this, but I've already written a comprehensive manual that details EVERYTHING that could possibly be known about the game

That's fine. I wrote mine for my own benefit but wanted to share it with the community as well.

If you can't release it, can you share some of the details you know about it at least:

1) Is there an ending to the game?

2) What is the bonus score based on?

3) What is the difference between standard and tournament?

4) What is the difference between competitive and cooperative?

I have other questions, but those are the top four I guess....

[Willard]

else, on Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:29 PM, said:

Quote

For an interesting fact, new enemies appear on the same level regardless of the difficulty.

This is what my level guide shows too of course.

Quote

I'll probably sound like a jerk in saying this, but I've already written a comprehensive manual that details EVERYTHING that could possibly be known about the game

That's fine. I wrote mine for my own benefit but wanted to share it with the community as well.

If you can't release it, can you share some of the details you know about it at least:

1) Is there an ending to the game?

2) What is the bonus score based on?

3) What is the difference between standard and tournament?

4) What is the difference between competitive and cooperative?

I have other questions, but those are the top four I guess....

Yea, sorry I didn't post any of this earlier. I wrote it all in a paint program so that my manual matched the size and format of other Jaguar manuals, didn't want to retype it all. You did discover the fact that the arena is a sphere that loops, which is very interesting

1) If there is an ending to the game (I haven't been there) it's not worth getting there. After level 25 the game becomes so unstable that it's no longer a matter of just trying to avoid running into other ships. Pretty much anything can crash the game (if you even move while an enemy is turning around, in some cases, the game will freeze).

2) No idea what's up with the bonus score. My best guess would be time and which weapon you use, since the levels ARE the same every time you play.

3) There is no difference between Standard and Tournament mode. You can actually alternate between the two inbetween levels and it won't reset or alter anything (unlike some other options).

4) Referring to my manual, it looks like competitve and cooperative are the same too? I wrote it about a year ago, but haven't played the game since (once you realize it's worthless to get past levels 25-30, it'll probably piss you off after all the effort you've put into writing your manual).

Hope this helps.

Edited by Willard, Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:44 PM.

[else]

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You did discover the fact that the arena is a sphere that loops, which is very interesting

Yea, after playing it for a while I began to notice that any enemies I needed to kill to complete a level were _always_ (and I do mean ALWAYS) on my radar when I zoomed out on it. So I began to grow pretty suspicious of the reports that said you could fly in any direction forever....

That's really interesting about all the new enemies you have found! Oh how I wish there were a way to either save your progress or jump to a level -- because you're right, the crashes in the later levels start to wear on you. Crashes in a game like Skyhammer I can tollerate much better because you can save often so you don't lose as much progress....

Edited by else, Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:16 PM.

[Willard]

else, on Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:10 PM, said:

Quote

You did discover the fact that the arena is a sphere that loops, which is very interesting

Yea, after playing it for a while I began to notice that any enemies I needed to kill to complete a level were _always_ (and I do mean ALWAYS) on my radar when I zoomed out on it. So I began to grow pretty suspicious of the reports that said you could fly in any direction forever....

That's really interesting about all the new enemies you have found! Oh how I wish there were a way to either save your progress or jump to a level -- because you're right, the crashes in the later levels start to wear on you. Crashes in a game like Skyhammer I can tollerate much better because you can save often so you don't lose as much progress....

Agreed, lol, checkpoints like in T2K and Defender 2K would save alot of time!

If you do decide to keep looking deeper into the game, please post whatever new you find & whats after level 25 (and the chart with enemy patterns)! I quit because drawing the enemies caused alot of crashes (had to get right up infront of the enemies at a decent angle), so I can't tolorate getting up to level 25 again. I'd hate to discourage you from looking deeper into the game, especially if you could find a boss or something really cool (weird how there's an absence of bosses in SW2K and Battlesphere)!

As has already been pointed out, I though I knew everything about the game, but you've found things I would've never known. Plus, you're letting everyone else know what you find too

*god I have alot of edits, sorry

Edited by Willard, Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:37 PM.

[jaguar_fan]

Brilliant work, really!!