Short Circuit(Apple II) FAQ/Walkthrough
version 1.0.0 by
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OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTROLS
3. STRATEGIES
4. WALKTHROUGH
5. VERSIONS/CREDITS
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1. INTRODUCTION
Short Circuit is a great little game about a guy who shrinks down to
molecular size, runs around wires, jumping from side to side, avoiding
neutrons, and pumping up a power grid to explode a microchip that may kill
the earth off. There are 12 whole levels of this! The game is really fun, as
despite a rather linear nature, you don't even have to go through the levels
in perfect order, and there's even a bit of arithmetic to do. It's obscure(I
had to add the game data at GameFAQs) but very interesting, and I am glad
bloomer mentioned it in his wonderful Apple II hardware review. Go read it
now. You'll remember a game you used to like!
2. CONTROLS AND SCORING
Joystick moves the character. Moving diagonally allows the character to turn
a bend. Holding the joystick and pushing the button allows you to jump to a
nearby wire. To activate a power outlet, step on it. Note that if you are 45
degrees off a straight line you are on, you will be able to turn--if there's
a passage there, you'll be forced to.
[escape] pauses the game if you need to calculate, but real tech people can
do the important calculations in their head.
One other trick to know is jumping over an enemy. This is important for
neutrons that seem to be guarding an area with no way to get over them. If
you jump over them just as, or before, they leave a wire, you'll get past
them. The elevators later are trickier as often you have to jump when they
are coming at you and then when they bounce off the wall and come back.
3. STRATEGIES
3-1. BASIC ARITHMETIC
First, if you are near two equally accessible nodes at the start, go for the
one with more power. That gives the one far away more power.
Patience is of the utmost importance. You can afford to lose time, even on
speed level #8. But if you are hit by a neutron early on, it takes a lot out
of you for a while. Let's say you start with 150's on all nodes. And you go
back and forth between 1 and 2.
1: 150 2: 150 3: 150
[take 20 time to get there...] [get hit but take 10 time]
1: 0 2: 260 3: 260 1: 0 2: 140 3: 280
1: 260 2: 0 3: 520 1: 140 2: 0 3: 420
1: 0 2: 260 3: 780 1: 0 2: 140 3: 560
1: 260 2: 0 3: 1040 1: 140 2: 0 3: 700
Obviously we did not take timing fully into account, but it's clear that the
change even of 150, half of a neutron, sets you back at least one run
through, all for trying to save 5 time. It's like walking in front of a bus
to pick up a penny
The general procedure is: if it's hazardous to get to 3, go back and forth
between nodes 1 and 2, then run to node 3.
If it's not, then you can always try for the node with the greatest power.
That will overload the circuit more quickly. It's worth using time to go out
of the way, because the maximum can close to double with each time you step
on something. Oh, and if there's a spark off to the side, it's very worth it.
It touches all nodes, and that has an effect down the line. An example:
1: +50 2: +50 3: +50
Step on 1
1: +0 2: +100 3: +100
Step on 2
1: +200 2: +0 3: +200
This is a net difference vs not grabbing the spark. So you can see how
worthwhile it is. If you are on a level where you have nodes at, say,
300-300-250
And you can just continually grab sparks, this allows an opportunity for a
HUGE bonus. Just keep grabbing the sparks til the nodes are at 950 or so,
reversing the microchip polarity when need be. You can pick up 30 gold with
each trip, at least. Again, it's a matter of patience.
3-2. WHEN TO WAIT/SACRIFICE
If your node and one of the others adds up to under 1050, then you are better
off waiting. If you don't get to the final node in time, it drops to zero,
and it puts you at risk of losing your life when you were so close.
Generally, waiting is not good, but sometimes it's necessary. You don't need
to do much math--you can even pause the game if you want. Basically, if
> hundreds add to 9 and tens to 10, wait or get a spark
> hundreds add to 10 and tens to <10, wait or get a spark
A spark will mean you don't have to wait, but if you get it after
overloading, the spark will not add to the overloaded node. Prepare
beforehand!
You can also sacrifice to get past a neutron if you are very close. The
damage goes against the overloaded node, and if it is above 300, you are set.
3-3. AVOIDING NEUTRONS AND PHOTONS
If you are on a wire behind a neutron, obviously you can step to the side,
wait for it to bounce back, and continue if you need to. This works if the
neutron is fast or slow. If you are on a pair of wires with a fast/slow
neutron, try to tail the slow at a reasonable distance and shift back and
forth quickly to the fast to loop around the slow as it comes back.
You may also have to move several times up and down a lattice of ropes. This
is not bad as you can judge where the neutron should go easily enough.
If neutrons are bouncing in a box, follow them until they bounce back the
other way, then work around them. You may have to back up a bit to ultimately
go forward. The same goes for photons.
In an arena, remember moving as close to perpendicular to an object as
possible is the best way to get out of its way. I like to go with an arc to
get from one corner of an arena to another. It's relatively quick, you don't
wind up in the center, and you have enough space to alter your path if you
need to.
3-4. AVOIDING THE VACUUM
You have to see ahead for this one. It bounces at a 30 degree angle to the
horizontal, and those who really want to pump up their bonus can push escape
to see where it is going. You have to avoid it while grabbing sparks, and
while time runs out quickly, you can still work around it pretty easily most
of the time. But don't sweat it if it traps you, especially if you didn't
have much time anyway.
4. WALKTHROUGH
Because you may start anywhere in a level, the walkthrough cannot be exact.
Generally, though, you will have to loop through a level once. So even if I
assume you start one place and forget to tell you how to get there, you
should be able to find where to start and go from there. Basically, any place
you see a spark, you may wind up to start. There are usually three such
places.
LEVEL 1 bouncing neutrons
A fairly easy introductory level. If you start in the upper right, you get a
free few points by going down. The 2-d neutron is not hard to avoid. You may
in fact wish to follow it and then pass over it on the rebound when it makes
sense to--back up if you need to, as well.
For the upper right, you may wish to move UL and then grab the wire to the
right, then follow the slow UL neutron. You may have to retreat to avoid the
U/D fast neutron in the center. Then flip down, hit the power switch, and
wait for the neutron to come back before flipping up when it is to the left.
You will have plenty of time to flip back to the right.
You may wish to retreat back to the right and back to the left a few times,
which will begin to overload the lower left. Exchanging between the top two
is a relatively worry proof way to go about building up a power surge. You
should have the time to be able to go back and forth, or if you really need,
you can pick off a stray power surge. It should only take 10 time-units or
so, and you gain 50 or 100.
For moving from the top to the bottom, wait for the U/D neutron to go down,
then flip down onto the c-shaped wire. Then circle around(DL DR) and flip
down. If there is a spark in the DR, flip down when the slow neutron below is
to your left. The detour is worth it. Then follow it back up.
Go past the neutron in the box and to the lower left. There may be a surge
above the lower right power node. You should be able to knock out the surge
and win this.
LEVEL 2 quicker neutrons
Now this one requires you to make use of a tricky move you may or may not
have read about in the "controls" section. Basically you need to flip over a
wire when a block is coming at you. There are potentially two, in the UL and
UR, which look like you have to run into them to disarm them. Good news: you
don't. And there's a large window of time where you can hop over a wire and a
neutron: from when it's split by the wire to when it's still just touching
the wire. You can outrun it with wire jumps from there.
Also there is what appears to be a dead end for each wire, but it's really a
one-way deal. Push in the direction of the open space at the dead end, and
you are on a new wire. You can loop through this for quite a few sparks if
you want.
The only real annoyance in this loop is the potential four neutrons that can
touch you. You have to be at the right spot here, and it may be worth your
while to adjust up/down just to make extra sure. You want to make sure your
head and feet are not in either of the two wide boxes, although you can tap
up/down quickly when the neutrons pass. Also the left/right fast neutron on
the top is worth waiting for so it goes past. Won't take too long--it's fast.
This is a good level to get a potential huge bonus on because you can keep
grabbing the sparks in the DR and on the main center loop, stopping to
readjust the microchip when necessary. Though if you start in an upper corner
that is unguarded, that will be good to pick off first. You should be able to
learn the leap over the wire and the neutron block pretty easily.
It's worth noting the game can shut you out with double-neutrons if it wants,
and if you haven't mastered the jump over the wire. You can get both top
power nodes to 999, but if they are guarded and you step into one, that is
500 down. Then you can activate the node and the other node gets something
less than 499+999=498. So stepping to the other node brings it below 1000 and
puts the microchip out of danger. Even if you eek up your stats with the
sparks, you can't be assured of a win without the flip.
Of course, if you do eek up and get the flip, you can have a nice long bonus
round, if you want.
LEVEL 3 neutron chambers
If you form on the right, then go for the greater of the two power nodes in
the upper left. It's pretty easy to avoid the neutrons as before. Follow them
til they bounce off the wall, and if they don't bounce in an upper corner,
walk through. If they do, retreat and then run back under them.
You can switch between these two--that is the easiest way to pump things up
to get the batteries to overload. Leave at least 100 energy for the next bit,
which is to go to the lower left and clean out the level. You need to enter
the lower left arena and avoid the neutrons bouncing around. For that, it's
imperative you move straight left after jumping over the 1-way gap, or you
will get stuck. You need to wait for an opening, then go UL and scramble
along the walls as you need to. Let a neutron by if you can. Cutting
underneath it gets you there quickly. You really want to leave the lower left
for last.
If somehow you get stuck in the lower left, run straight right out the wire
and work along the wall as before, but in reverse. You don't have to be exact
to reenter the wire. Follow the fast neutron up/down to the right, then hold
DR so you can flip right easily. Flip the microchip if you need, then enter
the right chamber going straight right and go along the walls again. If you
go along the walls, you are less of a target to hit, and you can always pull
back or move diagonally if you need to. Then once back at the 4-way
intersection, work the top nodes again.
LEVEL 4 photon chamber
This is not a bad one except you have to accept that photons may just zap you
for no good reason in the upper left. Cannons fire them randomly, the top one
slowly and the bottom one quickly. You should be able to zigzag, but it may
even be worth sacrificing into one of the guns that isn't firing much in
order to get a clean getaway.
Having said that, I'll assume you are starting in the lower right, and I will
show you how to get through.
LEVEL 5 chamber maze
Moving diagonally helps a bit here. I usually started in the top little
wedge, and from there you can go to the UL. The wedges allow you to touch the
sparks which seem encased in the green boxes in the maze. Be aware you can
also be half up against the walls, and there is no penalty for running into
them--this is handy if you seem trapped by something running diagonally. You
will probably do a lot of backtracking here due to the winding nature of the
maze and the neutrons bouncing every which way.
There's no clear favorite of a pair of nodes to hit, but counting squares
from the t-intersection facing left in the center,
upper and lower left = 25 squares away
lower right = 21 away
microchip = 23 away
You can cut around corners by serial diagonal moves to avoid the more painful
zigzagging, but I think it's safe to say that mining the bottom of the maze
is most useful. The wedges on the left are easily worth detouring for, but
the right one should only be used if you are low on time to take out the
microchip. You have to watch that, as it is easy to get caught up and forget
about it. You will probably have to get there once to be safe.
LEVEL 6 dbl cross chamber
A nasty convoluted level where it is tough to see what you are doing. I'll
start from the upper right, though you may wind up starting in the lower
left. You'll have to loop around eventually, anyway.
Touch the upper right node. It's a bit risky to jump vertically over the
quick neutron in the very upper right, so you can just trail it, go left on
the long rope, then go back right and up when it goes below you.
For the next part, be patient and follow a slow photon when nothing's coming
from the left. Go to the bottom right rope, wait and then floor it UL to get
to the next rope. Look both ways, then gp DL when the left cannon can't fire
at you.
Now coming down the left you have another unfortunate and annoying scenario.
Reverse polarity if need be, and try and jump over the block. Or you can
trail it, less risky but more time consuming. Take the curvy wire to the
right, and you can jump over the wires going to the DR to get to the lower
right area. Retreat back to the left and this time hook around right so that
you come out on the UR of the arena. There are two ways to do this: touching
the UR node or not. You must determine whether that is necessary. Then
shuffle back DR and so forth. Watch to make sure the microchip isn't about to
fry.
Once you've got the power nodes pumped up(either to almost at 1000, or at
1000,) work your way to the DL exit and step on the lower left. You need to
execise some care here, since it is tricky to get to. It's pretty easy to get
from the DL to the DR with the one-way circuit, so I recommend that if you
can swing it. It's worth waiting around if need be so that the numbers work
out. You want to make sure you have at least 100 units of time to get to the
final node.
The lightning run is a wash--just clean up in the arena and with the photons
above. The doubler may appear in the lower right, but wherever it does, it'll
be hard to get again.
LEVEL 7 magnetic chamber
This level is not too bad, although the photons look vicious. The solution?
Don't go to the left side til you have to. I don't know if the game ever
sticks you in the bottom, but if it does, you're pretty much dead. It's hard
to make your way up through the photons.
If you start in the center, fake out the neutron below and get to the orange
room on the right after touching the node. If in the left, also go there.
I'll show you how to get through the orange room from the bottom, and then
you it the top node and return, pretty much reversing the instructions.
1. move right when the 2 neutrons near you are going up. With the left edge
and right edge neutrons going quickly, it's the middle one that can crush you
slowly. You need to get from 2 to 7 at first, go up, then hit 4--preferably
when the middle neutron is coming back down. Then you can even go from 4 to 1
and back to 4 if you need an escape valve, but the object is to go from 4 to
1 to 3. Should not be hard if the middle neutron is going down. Then 1-3-6 is
easy. The reverse is just this, rotated 180 degrees. Not getting hit is very
important. You should have plenty of time to do what you need.
1 3 6
1 3 6
1 3 6
1
1 4 7
1 4 7
1 4 7
7
2 5 7
2 5 7
2 5 7
LEVEL 8 high speed
This is not a bad level, and actually it's a good place to sacrifice one of
your hits to go through quickly. The nodes count down ten times as quickly,
but you will find a lot of ways to compensate for that.
First, the spark. It will be in one of three places, so if you get it as soon
as possible, it will reappear in one of the other two places where you need
to go. It acts as insurance against getting caught, too.
Second, you just need to move quickly from one area to the next. Don't go for
the spark if it's on the opposite side--for instance, if you are at the top,
stop in at the left, then at the bottom.
If you see a way to get to the next node and it's blocked by only one photon,
you may wish to run into the photon to clear the path. It shouldn't take more
than five times to get a node to critical.
Oh and finally give yourself, or try to, 150-200 units of time to get
through. Wait if need be. The microchip does not progress as quickly as the
clocks do, so it is the least of your worries.
For the lightning run, it's pretty easy to play catch, which makes sense,
since the photons were hard to avoid. Just remember the bounce off the inner
wire at the same angle they come on, so just be where you think they'd be. If
you're into that math stuff, picture where they'd go without the wall and
flip it with respect to the line they bounce off.
You can collect all or most of the photons quickly, then duck in for the
bonus recharger as long as the vacuum is moving away from you. The bonus
timing does not decrease any faster than in other levels, so this is a good
level to pump your score up.
LEVEL 9 short circuit
This is the first level with that obnoxious looking elevator. If it hits you,
it kicks you to the bottom of that right bit. You want to concentrate on the
top and center nodes here. Though the elevator is fast, it's actually easy to
avoid, because you can even jump away from it and still probably make it onto
the next wire without it touching you.
The pattern is--walk right when it moves down, then jump up/down towards the
other node. Stay on the upper C, then walk in and jump to the next bit when
the elevator passes. If you want, you can wait a half-second to jump into the
elevator for extra security.
As long as your timing isn't terrible, you should be okay. Use the c-wires to
stay out of the elevator's way. A few moves back and forth should do it. The
left is completely useless for this level, so don't bother until the
lightning round.
Also, as long as the sparks are around the corner, you might as well get them
too. You probably need about 100-150 units of time to get to the bottom,
especially if you overload the top node. So those are things to keep in mind
when going in for the kill.
To get through with the level, you just need to move down the lower C from
the center. This is a bit tricky as you are best served waiting for the
elevator to come up slowly. Then jump down two so you can walk left to the
node.
For the lightning run, just hit whatever photons you can. You won't get any
big bonuses here.
LEVEL 10 wire maze
Okay, since I don't know where you'll start, I'll just show you which node
should go to which and mention that it's worth going a bit out of your way to
track down a spark, since you can eat up a lot of time walking sideways in
this maze. It's also not really a gamble to take the spark if it is in the DL
by node #1(from left to right.)
You just should probably revers the polarity, since it is a trek, and you
have to observe how the photons bounce back and forth. Usually, go under them
after they go to the middle, and you should be safe, though you are as fast
as they, so you can outrun them if you have the path planned out. Also, if
you are very careful, you can wedge between two photons on adjacent rows.
Just have the head parallel to the top of the background.
3 should go to 2. Go up avoiding the photons til below the intersection, then
go down the 1-way and DR and keep going back down.
2 should go to 3. Take the 1-way up for a shortcut back.
It's not bad to get to the top to reverse polarity. From there it's easy to
get down to #2--the first two one-ways on the side, then back DR and DL.
Go to #1 for the final overload to complete the level. See above, or from 2,
zigzag UR then UL then down the 1-wa. The bouncy photon is tricky but not
deadly. From 3, use the 1-way down as before.
It's helpful to have 150 or so before you destroy the microchip, especially
if the microchip is about to blow. This is a good place to sacrifice a hit
for time.
LEVEL 11 photon walls
If you can get to either of the bottom two nodes, you can win this level
pretty easily. But if you are not speedy you may need to make a detour--if
you notice the microchip getting unstable after hitting the DR, move your way
up carefully to reset it(detour to the UL before or after, to make things
easier) before coming back down.
If you start in the upper right, just go left, then swing down 2 wires, left
and down when you can. You can use the same trick to avoid the fast photons
as you did for the neutrons, but if you get hit once, don't be too upset.
It's most efficient just to plow through.
To go between the DR and R nodes, which is not as risky as the DR/UL though,
interestingly, a bit slower, you can go up/down two wires at the bottom(avoid
the neutron) and then back to the center, then loop up/down again as needed.
Then in the chambers, you can run after the photon once it bounces, and you
can duck under or above to get around it. Back up if you need to, so it is at
one edge or another. Go quickly forward when the fast vertical photon is
above you, then repeat the way back.
LEVEL 12 photon diamonds
The annoying part here is the end, and in fact you do need to plan to give
yourself several chances at it. You need to be able to move down quickly
twice from the upper left. Then you must run back right to get to the UL
node. You may have to ride your luck and hope the elevator comes back up
slowly, so this is annoying, but the other bit is easy.
If you start by the left elevator, just let it knock you to the bottom, then
when it's at the bottom, jump up quickly twice and run right til you get it
to work. That gets you to the main area.
The photons move as follows:
U/D are clockwise
L/R are counterclockwise
Center is clockwise
You will need to enter the diamond from the lower left. Go DR, then when the
photon behind you turns UR, double back UL and go DR. You can head into the
side room if you need to--the spark is useful here. If you are lucky, it
won't appear in the left til later, which cuts down on your work. Getting a
large overload is important, since you may need several tries at entering the
UL node, so try and calculate that out.
End of FAQ Proper
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5. VERSIONS/CREDITS
1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 4/9/2009, functionally complete but I know I can
touch up details.
Thanks to the usual GameFAQs 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,
Lagoona, Da Hui, StarFighters76 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.
