28 replies to this topic

[Ze_ro]

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted.

A beam matrix of iridescent blue engulfs the distant blackness of Earth-Space. You stand watching. First mesmerized, you now realise the beams carry weapons. Frightening creations in endless configurations. Intriguing to watch, but will you -- yes you, dear reader -- take action? You will??!! Then roll up your sleeves, mount these beams and.....ride!!

Game Information

Game Name: Beamrider Released By: Activision, 1984 Left Difficulty: B / Novice Right Difficulty: N / A Game Mode: Game 1 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 is Wednesday June 9th at 1:00 AM (CST).

Current High Scores 273,798 (oyamafamily) [+11] [+1] 67,356 (keilbaca) [+10] [+1] 53,100 (toymailman) [+9] [+1] 52,614 (darthkur) [+8] [+1] 40,370 (SpiceWare) [+7] [+1] 30,886 (Mister VCS) [+6] 29,384 (roadrunner) [+5] 22,830 (LarcenTyler) [+4] 20,970 (zylon) [+3] 14,690 (Zoyx) [+2] Best Tips oyamafamily [+2] Challenges Patch Challenge - Beamriders - Score 40,000 points or more and you will receive 1 bonus point! TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B) 999,999 (Todd Rogers, Douglas C Korekach) 131,828 (David B Yancey) 106,060 (Troy Whelan)

Current Standings toymailman [417] Zoyx [300] roadrunner [216] darthkur [209] oyamafamily [191] shadow460 [162] LarcenTyler [112] Cebus Capucinis [107] JacobZu7zu7 [99] Deteacher [92] Atardi [84] zylon [80] vjames [71] aftermac [70] Captain Beard [61] godzillajoe [56] katana [51] Mister VCS [48] keilbaca [42] 4Ks [40] SpiceWare [34] brandondwright [30] Vectorman0 [29] Carey85 [29] NML32 [27] homerwannabee [26] Tr3vor [26] Impaler_26 [26] Hornpipe2 [25] Wickeycolumbus [22] devwebcl [21] pis [19] chuckwalla [17] HatNJ [14] Pioneer4x4 [13] Nathan Strum [11] LoneWolfSeth [10] LaserHawk [10] vintagegamecrazy [9] joeypsp [9] Lendorian [9] littleman jack [8] kote [8] Animan [6] Player 3 [6] Chris Leach [5] MIKE5200 [4] Skaarg [4] JayWI [3] Shannon [2] jeremysart [2] sloth713 [2] jjd [2] SpaceInvaders [2] ChrisKoopa [1] SeaGtGruff [1] Nati [1] disjuakifa [1]

Scoring Points in Beamrider

Points are scored each time an enemy saucer, chirper ship or Sector Sentinel is destroyed. Point values increase as you progress to higher sectors. Also, if you manage to destroy the Sector Sentinel, you'll receive an additional bonus for each ship in your fleet. See this post by oyamafamily for more details.

Hints and Tips

The Manual

As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Here is the hint it provides:

• Maintain precise control by learning to TAP the Control Stick to move your ship a single beam at a time. And stay near the centre beams so you won't get boxed into a corner with nowhere to run.
  
• Zap the white enemy saucers as early in their approach as possible. And check this out: You can hit them when they're slightly off the beam, before they can drop their missiles.
  
• When you see a yellow rejuvenator, don't abandon all caution as you move to catch it or you'll likely wreck your ship. If an enemy object is blocking the rejuvenator, you can use a torpedo to blast it out of the way. Then, catch the rejuvenator. But remember, you only have three torpedoes and they're your only weapon against the Sector Sentinel.
  
• And while we're on the subject, when the Sentinel is about to approach, don't sit on the beam you plan to shoot from. Green Blockers will swarm on to it immediately! Instead, wait on a beam you're not going to shoot from (like the one nearest the Sentinel's first sighting). As soon as the Blockers are `locked' onto that beam, zip over to an unblocked beam and torpedo the ship.
  
• Last, but not least, take time to notice the enemy attack movements. They generally follow a pattern of motion that allows you to anticipate many of their moves.

We have played this game twice before in the HSC, in Season 2 and again in Season 4.

oyamafamily

• DON'T SHOOT the yellow rejuvenator (extra ship).
  
• Position your ship at the center (or near the center) of the screen. This action decreases your risk of collision with White Enemy Saucers, Brown Space Debris, Green Blocker Ships, Green Bounce Craft, Green Chargers and Orange Trackers.
  
• The maximum number of ships in reserve displayed at the bottom of the screen is 13, BUT YOU CAN continue catching more and more yellow rejuvenators (extra ships) in order to get more bonus points via destroying the Sector Sentinel.
  
• For each sector, reserve ONE or TWO TORPEDOES to try to destroy the Sector Sentinel in order to score bonus points.

--Zero

[oyamafamily]

Beamrider is one of my favorite games. Thanks for this choice.

OYAMAFAMILY TIPS:
1) DON'T SHOOT the yellow rejuvenator (extra ship).

2) Position your ship at the center (or near the center) of the screen. This action decreases your risk of collision with White Enemy Saucers, Brown Space Debris, Green Blocker Ships, Green Bounce Craft, Green Chargers and Orange Trackers.

3) The maximum number of ships in reserve displayed at the bottom of the screen is 13, BUT YOU CAN continue catching more and more yellow rejuvenators (extra ships) in order to get more bonus points via destroying the Sector Sentinel.

4) For each sector, reserve ONE or TWO TORPEDOES to try to destroy the Sector Sentinel in order to score bonus points.

GOOD LUCK FOR EVERYONE, GUYS!!!

Edited by oyamafamily, Thu Jun 3, 2010 4:31 AM.

[oyamafamily]

SPECIAL RULES FOR BEAMRIDER:

1) The score MAXES OUT at 999,999 points. Please, note that this game DOESN'T STOP at this point.

2) The SECTOR maxes out at number 99, but after completing 99 sectors, this game CONTINUES until you lose all your remaining ships on the current gameplay.

3) The Beamrider Manual (described as "Orientation Guide") is valid for TWO platforms: COLECOVISION VIDEO GAME CONSOLE & ATARI 2600 VCS.

CHALLENGE FOR THIS HSC COMPETITION - Join the Activision "Beamriders" (suggestion)
If you make it to Sector 14 with a score of 40,000 points or more, you will receive 1 bonus point.

Edited by oyamafamily, Wed Jun 2, 2010 6:32 PM.

[oyamafamily]

SCORING POINTS IN BEAMRIDER (Atari 2600 version):

Sector 1:
WHITE ENEMY SAUCERS - 44 points
SECTOR SENTINEL & YELLOW CHIRPER* - 330 points
BONUS PER SHIP REMAINING - 110 points
* The Yellow Chirper appears at Sector 4

Sector 2:
WHITE ENEMY SAUCERS - 48 points
SECTOR SENTINEL & YELLOW CHIRPER* - 360 points
BONUS PER SHIP REMAINING - 120 points

Sector 3:
WHITE ENEMY SAUCERS - 52 points
SECTOR SENTINEL & YELLOW CHIRPER* - 390 points
BONUS PER SHIP REMAINING - 130 points...

...and so fourth.

The scoring points maxes out at Sector 89, and is the same at Sectors from 90 to 99:
WHITE ENEMY SAUCERS - 396 points
SECTOR SENTINEL & YELLOW CHIRPER* - 2970 points
BONUS PER SHIP REMAINING - 990 points

[Mister VCS]

opening score: 22,154 30,886
...this is on of the best shooters in general - not only for the 2600!

Edited by Mister VCS, Thu Jun 3, 2010 7:55 AM.

[oyamafamily]

ATTENTION - BEAMRIDER CARTRIDGE OWNERS

There are some differences between Atari 2600 and Colecovision (CV) versions for BEAMRIDER:

1) In CV version, the scoring points for destroying Yellow Chirper is worth 220 points at Sector 1, and increases by 20 points per sector completed (for example, it's worth 280 points at Sector 4). In 2600 version, you score 330 points (Sector 1) for destroying each Chirper (this value increases by 30 for each sector completed).

2) The chargers are BLUE (CV version) and GREEN (2600 version).

3) In 2600, the Red Zig Bombs and Magnetic Mines DON'T appear (according to Beamrider Manual).

4) In 2600, the Starting Sector can be chosen with Left Difficulty Switch: A starts at Sector 08, and B begins at Sector 01. In CV version, players can choose Sectors 1, 5 or 10 to start the game.

Edited by oyamafamily, Thu Jun 3, 2010 9:36 AM.

[keilbaca]

One of my favorites of all time on the 2600. I think its time to break my absence and play. ^_^

[oyamafamily]

FIRST ATTEMPT - 139,180

1st screenshot - Start of Sector 14
2nd screenshot - End of Sector 14
3rd screenshot - End of game

[Zoyx]

8114 - first time playing this.

[zylon]

Someone's only going to roll this one anyway , but here's first attempt. 13,616

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[oyamafamily]

NEW ATTEMPT - 149,666 / SECTOR 32



EXTRA TIP 1 - Study the movements of all the enemies for each sector.
EXTRA TIP 2 - There's no time limit to complete each sector. Don't try to destroy the 15 enemy saucers quickly.

Edited by oyamafamily, Thu Jun 3, 2010 5:18 PM.

[SpiceWare]

20,576

[Zoyx]

13082 - better

[roadrunner]

29,384

[toymailman]

My best so far and just missed the 40k mark.

39,316

[oyamafamily]

Ze_ro, on the post #1, you mentioned that AtariAge has a typed copy of Beamrider Manual avalaible online. Also, AtariAge has a scanned version of Beamrider Manual avalaible, titled "BEAMRIDER ORIENTATION GUIDE" (for Atari 2600 and Colecovision systems). In this manual, there's a PATCH CHALLENGE - ACTIVISION BEAMRIDERS - described on Post #3 (Special Rules for Beamrider).

Edited by oyamafamily, Fri Jun 4, 2010 9:58 AM.

[LarcenTyler]

22,830

This was my dad's favorite game to watch me play. So, let this week's competition be in honor of him if we may?

[oyamafamily]

165,340 - Sector 35

[Zoyx]

14690 - sector 10

I shall be the outlier - I don't like this game.

[toymailman]

Improvement for me. I need to get the timing down better for shooting the mothership. I missed over half them it seems, but its personal best for me anyway.

53,100

[oyamafamily]

NEW IMPROVEMENT FOR ME - 199,200 - SECTOR 35

[SpiceWare]

I got the patch

40,370

[oyamafamily]

New high score for me - 208,066 / Sector 39

Edited by oyamafamily, Sun Jun 6, 2010 6:05 PM.

[zylon]

20,970

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[keilbaca]

67,356

I took a long break, came back and lost all momentum I had... lol.

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