Galaxian(Apple) FAQ/Walkthrough

Galaxian(Apple) FAQ/Walkthrough
version 1.0.0 by [email protected](anti spam spoonerism)

Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting
much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and
I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I
could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if
you'd like to post it on your site.

================================

OUTLINE

1. INTRODUCTION

2. CONTROLS

3. POINTS AND STRATEGIES

4. GETTING THROUGH A LEVEL

5. CHEATS

6. VERSIONS/CREDITS

================================

1. INTRODUCTION

Gobbler is a funny game which isn't a great Pac-Man clone but is good enough
to waste time with. Basically it's Pac-Man with ghosts moving randomly. As a
result the strategy is different and requires patience, which bogs the game
down long-term. It is also rotated 90 degrees from the usual Pac-Man, and if
you catch a ghost, it returns to the den and comes out green. You can build
up a lot of points this way. And actually as the game gets faster you can
hang out in front and get more. However, there's no real variety to it--no
new patterns, trickier monsters, or whatever. Just a big smiley face flashing
and "Winner!" But it was Pac-Man brought to the home computer! You didn't
need a bag of quarters! And I got a pirated copy, so hooray!

2. CONTROLS

AZ and the arrows are controls. The only way to stand still is to hit a wall.
[Space] starts the game. There's no way to see your score during play. You
have to wait til the end of level or game over. You can hold the next
direction you want to go.

3. POINTS AND STRATEGIES

There are 2960 points, minimum, in a level of Gobbler, with 5 points per dot
or power pill. You have a total of 588 dots and 4 pills to gobble.
Theoretically, there is no maximum for a level, as you can just keep picking
up treasures. But practically, it is 5900 + 3*200(about 3 treasures appear
per level) + 4*(200+400+600+800).

..or is that the maximum? You can, if you are VERY lucky, get a couple of
monsters and sit in front of the den as they regenerate--green. This won't
happen all the time, but once or twice per level can get you beyond the usual
theoretical maximum. Don't count on it, but there are ways to help it happen.

The peach, lime and cherry give no difference in points. They are rather
dangerous to get, because they are in a tunnel, so you are probably better
off just clearing dots nearby.

Don't reach in quickly for dots unless you can go to an intersection and go
back.

If a ghost is playing "zone" a lot, you can wait until it turns away from an
intersection above nearby. In the diagram below, note that ghosts only turn
at intersections, so you could run right if the ghost does, just after the
intersection.

>
+---.---+
|u......|

You need to be aware that monsters will kill you just before they touch you,
and if they are right behind you and you turn a corner, they will get you if
you overlap.

The big point getter is if you stand in front of the den while the monsters
are getting out. If you can bag two of them quickly, then you will get a
pretty nice bonus. So if you see monsters near the pen, that is a great time
to eat the power pill. Move in and play defense. When you hear the tone, move
away immediately. Too many lives are lost to greed.

Note impatience is a very bad thing. The ghosts generally play zone, I mean
move randomly, and often they get hung up by that last patch of dots you need
to clear. So use a power pill to clear one from there and then stay by the
den if it's nearby or clear out that corner if it isn't.

Watch the gutters in the corners where you have a long stretch without turn-
offs. If you take a power pill there and have had trouble clearing them, make
them a top priority.

Heed the one second warning. Don't try for just one more monster. Timing is
especially difficult since the game stops to bring the ghost's googly eyes
back to the pen.

In order to play tough defense at the pen when powered up, you just need a
part of your Gobbler guarding the exit. Ghosts generally leave the pen pretty
quickly, and if you grab one, the closer you are to the pen, the better.

Similarly, if you are going to chase ghosts after eating a power pill, it's
better to chase the ones in the center than the one right by you, unless it
is a gimme. And also, if you are playing for points, wait for ghosts to lump
in the center. Don't worry about missing one at the edges, and if you have to
come in from them, just pick an approach(above or below) and move in from
there. Actually chasing more than two ghosts is fruitless compared to
grabbing one and camping out by the pen.

4. GETTING THROUGH A LEVEL

While levels speed up, the time monsters are vulnerable(7 seconds, with a 1
second warning) is constant. So you actually have more ways to chase monsters
down when they are green. There is no really tricky strategy here other than
to take care of stuff when the enemies are gone. And if they won't leave, eat
a power pill in another corner and make them. That is slash-and-burn. You can
probably hide out in a corner for a long time, well away from them, then move
in to the next place they desert. Because of how the random walk works, you
will see them coming to the corner long before they have a chance to get
there--and that includes getting trapped.

The map is below. Note the board is not completely symmetrical--I've
exaggerated the size of the boundaries, but on each edge, just-above is 1
shorter than just-below. And the loops by the dots are similar. The gutters
in the corners are especially tricky to get to, and I recommend you start by
going to the lower left first, then the upper right. If you are just trying
to survive, you can use one power pill to clear out the center bits, where
monsters are most likely to congregate. Then you can use one pill for each of
the corners, possibly crossing over if you are able to finish one corner
before eating the pill. Basically if you can clear off a loop near the edge,
do so, and keep a body-width away from the enemies at all times. As long as
you have one power pill per corner area to clear, you should be able to sail
through.

The map below(note you get 5 points for staying in place and getting killed:)

+--------++---------------+ + + +-------------------------+
| || | | | | |
| ...... || ............. | | . | | ....................... |
| . . || . . | | . | | . . . |
| . || . || . ++------- . +--+ . +--+ . ------++ . ------- . |
| . || . || . ++------- . . . ------++ . ------- . |
| . || . || . || . . . || . . |
| . || *..... || ............................. || . . |
| . || . || . . . . . || .....*..... |
| . || . ----|| . | . ----- . ----- . | . || . . |
| . . . | . . . | . . +-----+ . |
| . . . | . . . | . . | | . |
| ................ | ..................... | ...... | | . |
| . . . | . . | . . | | . |
| . || . . | . || +-----+ || . | . . | | . |
| . ----|| . || . | . || | | || . | . || . | | . |
| . ----|| . || . | . || | | || . | . || . | | . |
| . || . || . | . || | | || . | . || . +-----+ . |
| . . || . . || | | || . . || . . |
| ........... || ..... || | | || ..... || ........... |
| . || . || | | || . || . |
+---- . ----|| . ----|| ! | ||---- . ||---- . ----+
+---- . ----|| . ----|| ! | ||---- . ||---- . ----+
| . || . || | | || . || . |
| ........... || ..... || | | || ..... || ........... |
| . . || . . || | | || . . || . . |
| . || . || . | . || | | || . | . || . +-----+ . |
| . ----|| . || . | . || | | || . | . || . | | . |
| . ----|| . || . | . || | | || . | . || . | | . |
| . ----|| . || . | . || | | || . | . || . | | . |
| . || . . | . || +-----+ || . | . . | | . |
| . . . | . . | . . | | . |
| ................ | ..................... | ...... | | . |
| . . . | . . . | . . | | . |
| . . . | . . . | . . +-----+ . |
| . || . ----|| . | . ----- . ----- . | . || . . |
| . || . || . . . . . || .....*..... |
| . || *..... || ............................. || . . |
| . || . || . || . . . || . . |
| . || . || . ++------- . . . -------++ . ------- . |
| . || . || . ++------- . +--+ . +--+ . -------++ . ------- . |
| . . || . . | | . | | . . . |
| ...... || ............. | | . | | ....................... |
| || | | | | |
+--------++---------------+ + + +---------------++--------+

5. CHEATS

A page on Al Amaloo's wonderful site,

http://www.gamewinners.com/apple_ii/Gobbler.htm

has a way to get infinite lives in Gobbler.

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6. VERSIONS/CREDITS

1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs/Honestgamers 4/10/2009, complete.

Thanks to the usual GameFAQs/honestgamers gang, current and emeritus. They
know who they are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS
writing done. Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro,
Snow Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog
and others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned
message board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be
part of mine.
Thanks to the NES Completion Project for keeping it going and especially for
Da Hui for pointing out this game to me.
All you people at honestgamers, YELL AT ME if I forgot you and you deserve to
be in there. I mean, it's partially because of HGWars I wrote this FAQ, and I
want to add to this in the future.