69 replies to this topic

[the 5th ghost]

SpiceWare, on Fri Jul 8, 2005 7:46 PM, said:

5405

Nice Spice!

I'm telling you, once you cross the 5,000 point plateau, you have what it takes to roll this one. Keep it going

[Omegamatrix]

I love this game. Never played it before, but will have to pick it up now. 3rd try:

[Ze_ro]

StanJr, on Fri Jul 8, 2005 4:56 PM, said:

I have hit a snag, a big one.  My paddle doesn't register the full turn.  Physically, I can turn the paddle as far to the right as possible, but it does not register the full turn in the game.  For instance, on the bonus screen, I can rotate my gun around the planet from the upper left corner to the lower right, but it will not go all the way to the lower left.  This makes the acquisition of extra lives nearly impossible.

Is there any help for this?  Will cleaning help?  Or am I screwed?        

I've done a little research on paddle quirks in the past, and I noticed this too. It seems that different systems have different "ranges" on the paddle. My Heavy Sixer seems to allow much more range than my non-heavy six switch model does (I haven't really tested any of my other Ataris). One side effect is that in some games, you wouldn't be able to move your character all the way to one side of the screen... I remember trying to play Breakout or Super Breakout on my "Light Sixer", and there was about half an inch on the right hand side that I could never cover, which really sucked. I think this may be somewhat random depending on the system, and a lot of games seem to try to account for it (ever notice in a game like Breakout, your paddle will be against the side of the screen, but you can still turn the paddle another 90 degrees or so?)... I guess Solar Storm is a little more finicky about it. Sadly, my only recommendation would be to try the game on a different Atari system if you happen to have one around.

Also, you aren't using Commodore paddles are you? One of the things I've noticed is that Commodore paddles are basically unusable on the VCS because the pot in them is only 500 kilo-ohm, so you only get half the range (the VCS paddles are 1 mega-ohm), and therefor you'd only get about halfway across the screen in most games. If this was the case though, I'm sure you would have noticed it a lot sooner than this, and you certainly wouldn't be able to get 7000 points on this game.

--Zero

[keilbaca]

Ze_ro, on Fri Jul 8, 2005 9:45 PM, said:

StanJr, on Fri Jul 8, 2005 4:56 PM, said:

I have hit a snag, a big one.  My paddle doesn't register the full turn.  Physically, I can turn the paddle as far to the right as possible, but it does not register the full turn in the game.  For instance, on the bonus screen, I can rotate my gun around the planet from the upper left corner to the lower right, but it will not go all the way to the lower left.  This makes the acquisition of extra lives nearly impossible.

Is there any help for this?  Will cleaning help?  Or am I screwed?        

I've done a little research on paddle quirks in the past, and I noticed this too. It seems that different systems have different "ranges" on the paddle. My Heavy Sixer seems to allow much more range than my non-heavy six switch model does (I haven't really tested any of my other Ataris). One side effect is that in some games, you wouldn't be able to move your character all the way to one side of the screen... I remember trying to play Breakout or Super Breakout on my "Light Sixer", and there was about half an inch on the right hand side that I could never cover, which really sucked. I think this may be somewhat random depending on the system, and a lot of games seem to try to account for it (ever notice in a game like Breakout, your paddle will be against the side of the screen, but you can still turn the paddle another 90 degrees or so?)... I guess Solar Storm is a little more finicky about it. Sadly, my only recommendation would be to try the game on a different Atari system if you happen to have one around.

Also, you aren't using Commodore paddles are you? One of the things I've noticed is that Commodore paddles are basically unusable on the VCS because the pot in them is only 500 kilo-ohm, so you only get half the range (the VCS paddles are 1 mega-ohm), and therefor you'd only get about halfway across the screen in most games. If this was the case though, I'm sure you would have noticed it a lot sooner than this, and you certainly wouldn't be able to get 7000 points on this game.

--Zero

Hmm, I noticed this too. However, a quick run to radio shack and get a 1.5 mega ohm paddle controller should fix that. Granted, your paddle will be more touchy, but it'll go all the way.

[SpiceWare]

the 5th ghost, on Fri Jul 8, 2005 7:31 PM, said:

SpiceWare, on Fri Jul 8, 2005 7:46 PM, said:

5405

Nice Spice!

I'm telling you, once you cross the 5,000 point plateau, you have what it takes to roll this one. Keep it going

thanx! I'll try to roll it, but don't know if I'll have enough time. Some friends are coming from out of town for the weekend. We're going to see The Lord of the Rings exhibit. Apparently Houston's 1 of 3 cities to get the exhibit in the US.

[vgcollector666]

2280

[StanJr]

Zero, I was starting to arrive at that very conclusion, after trying out 3 different sets of paddles (to the ultimate destruction of one) and all of them experiencing the same problem. I have a vader and a 4 switch woody, I'll give them a go.

Thanks guys!

Stan

[keilbaca]

Well, hell. My camera is now dead, so yeah... no more pics for me.

[davepesc]

1255

I keep inching up, but I don't feel a breakthrough coming.

[LarcenTyler]

Another score, I'll have more soon.

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[gospeedde]

1065, and that was lucky.

[StanJr]

I'm getting over 5K regularly, but cannot seem to break my 7005. Doubt I'll have much more time to give it a crack.

[scogey]

1240

this game has the fastest incoming laser blasts of any space shooter ive played.

[Xebec's Demise]

pretty hard

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[Xebec's Demise]

scogey, on Sun Jul 10, 2005 8:36 PM, said:

this game has the fastest incoming laser blasts of any space shooter ive played.

Yeah there is no dodging them, you just have to not be in front of them when they fire or you are dead!

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[Xebec's Demise]

You really need to keep moving back and forth to avoid the laser blasts. It seems that if you move in on a ship, fire, and then immediately move away, they don't get a chance to target you.

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Edited by Xebec's Demise, Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:50 PM.

[khryssun]

3,770

Ouch, Hard game !

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Edited by khryssun, Mon Jul 11, 2005 7:22 AM.

[SpiceWare]

Lost my touch with the time away - haven't been able to break 5000 today

Oh well, the Lord of the Rings exhibit was way cool - see it if you get the chance!

[Mad Scientist]

I've been out for a few weeks, but here's a token last-minute score: 840.
The super-sensitive Stella paddle emulation is reminiscent of a flaky paddle (except my paddles work better). Maybe I'll have more than 5 min. to spare one of these weeks...
-MS

[Ze_ro]

Sorry guys, my cable (and therefor, my cable modem) was out since saturday morning, and they finally came to fix it today...

Anyways, consider this week over. I'll tally up the points right away, and post the next game ASAP.

--Zero