Asteroids is easy

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:30 am

15,010 on Asteroids Deluxe. I wanted to play that to have added incentive to use the shields button. I am hoping this translates into me using it when I absolutely have to in regular Asteroids. What I have been doing instead is hitting the asteroids, UFOs and bullets with the hull of my ship. As any Buffalo Sabres or Colorado Avalanche fan can attest: Hull sucks.

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:28 am

I played using the Joystick 3000. This has button keys specifically designed for Asteroids, as I have probably said before. Just guessing.

I went to play it after dinner and a button on my unit broke! I had to open it up and in doing so realized that I killed a cherry switch. Man. Less than a year out of that one. I found this out, I should add, in my *best game ever* when suddenly thrust didn't work any more.

I had a spare cherry switch, so I installed it in the box: good as new.

After this, I got to 12,450. I feel like this is the dawn of a new day. I'm getting better at shooting the little UFO. Playing on a 17" monitor, rather than the tiny GP2X screen, also makes an enormous amount of difference. Who'd have guessed? Well, besides everyone who ever took the time to think about it.

Ben got to 10,000 with 4 lives left. My goal, now, is to simply make it to 15,000. Asteroids is a marvelous game and I sold it short previously. I like Rockaroids and everything, but a true Asteroids port for the Vectrex needs to happen.

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:16 pm

So, any Asteroids machine could benefit from one of these:

http://www.brasington.org/arcade/hs/asteroids/

by **pinback** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:33 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:Also, does anyone know if the arcade version keeps high scores after power is cut?

It absolutely does not, or I wouldn't have had to keep going back to Vegas, to the upstairs bar at Gameworks across from NY, NY and getting my name back up on top every three months, back when that thing was in working order.

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:49 pm

Also, does anyone know if the arcade version keeps high scores after power is cut?

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:46 pm

Also, someone is selling an upright locally for $650.

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:45 pm

Okay, Joystick 3000 is apparently the name of the joystick I built last summer. Fine, fine. I have not been using it much for Asteroids. Nor have I been using the 17" monitor it is (eventually) speaking to.

No, I've been playing Roids (we're good friends: it calls me Jonez) on this:

I want to clarify that. I know that CO, Worm, Lex and Bond are all aware that I have that thing and, if they cared to think about it, would realize from the thread that the device depicted is where the Roids are going down. So, that's all just clarification.

That is damn well NOT the right control scheme. So. Back to the Joystick 3000, only this time I'm-a hunt UFOs? I think so. I think so very much.

by **pinback** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:21 pm

How is this possible?

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:20 pm

Update: with more or less daily plays in the GP2X version, I have been unable to break 10,000 points.

Today I learned about a strategy involving the ship being in a corner of the screen, and therefore able to pick off UFOs. I will attempt this strategy and report back within a year with my results.

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon May 22, 2006 2:09 pm

pinback wrote:Well, that's terrible.

YOU'RE TERR-- no.

I cannot allow myself to think that I "won" at this because I was short with you. I must press on.

I am going to assemble my Asteroids button layout piece to the JOYSTICK 3000 I am building and then play it as it was meant to be played -- with buttons. I want it to be so slick that you will immediately demand your own.

I will then break 10,000 and wonder how I ever played it with a gamepad.

by **pinback** » Sun May 21, 2006 10:29 pm

Well, that's terrible.

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun May 21, 2006 10:24 pm

Okay, I got 7050.

by **pinback** » Fri May 19, 2006 2:10 pm

I am saying both of those things. Part of getting better is learning how to avoid the spaceships, particularly the small one. Once you improve at that, you will have some time to improve your shooting of them. Once you improve your shooting of them, you can start avoiding them less.

But you can never completely stop avoiding them, if you want to roll that bitch over.

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Fri May 19, 2006 1:18 pm

pinback wrote:An important thing to realize about the alien ships is that, like you, their shots travel a limited distance, and unlike you, they do not realize that the screen wraps around.

That is all I will say about that for now.

You're telling me I should avoid them until I am better? Or that I should get better by not avoiding them?

I just want to say that the bullet paths are much more predictable in Mine Storm.

by **pinback** » Fri May 19, 2006 8:48 am

An important thing to realize about the alien ships is that, like you, their shots travel a limited distance, and unlike you, they do not realize that the screen wraps around.

That is all I will say about that for now.

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu May 18, 2006 11:08 pm

OK. Rotate left is on the left. Rotate right is to the right of it.

Hyperspace is in the middle.

On the right side of the panel is Thrust and then Fire.

Maybe I should break up a USB gamepad if I am only making something with five buttons.

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:59 pm

6,130.

My problem is that I cannot hit the last two asteroids, which are always tiny, reliably.

So the small alien ship makes an appearance and does not get smacked by an asteroid.

So then it kills me.

Your point about avoiding them is well taken.

My keyboard encoder should be coming tomorrow. Dare I arrange buttons, of which I have a total of 9, into an Asteroids pattern? For Asteroids?!?! (Onto a block of wood, with a joystick and spinner, I mean.)

Shit, I need a close-up of an Asteroids cab.

by **pinback** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:53 pm

Don't play with a gamepad.

Play with the keyboard. Z and X for left and right, comma (,) for thrust, period (.) for fire.

(Space for hyperspace, but if you're using hyperspace, well... you know... best of luck.)

Leave the alien ships alone until you've learned to handle the inanimate objects. (And by "leave them alone", I do not mean "ignore them". I mean, "actively move over to the other side of the screen unless you've got a clear shot and have learned how to aim.")

Do these things that I said, and you will be getting a free guy any time now.

by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:37 pm

Whoops, didn't see this.

pinback wrote:I need to see how you are playing it. Are you doing something wrong? Even small children and Canadians can get past 10,000.

Do you thrust, or just sit-n-spin?

What's going on over there?

No, no... I am thrusting. Believe me, buddy. Thrusting.

I think I am getting hung up on the alien ships. They are killing me 90% of the time. But they're just so fucking smug. I really want to blast the shit out of those aliens. Have I told you how serious I am about killing them? Because it's sort of a running theme with me.

Oh, I am also playing with a gamepad.

by **pinback** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:07 pm

I want an answer to this. These were not rhetorical questions.

I demand an answer.

I DEMAND IT!

Asteroids is easy

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