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| A S T R O I N V A D E R |
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GAME: ASTRO INVADER
PLATFORM: ARCADE
GENRE: ARCADE SHOOTER
CREATOR: STERN ELECTRONICS Copyright 1980
AUTHOR OF THIS FAQ: Kevin Butler AKA War Doc
E-MAIL: kevinb(at)technologist(dot)com
FAQ VERSION: 1.03
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNIT I: INTRODUCTION
1. Legal Stuff
2. Version Information
3. Acknowledgements
4. Welcome
5. Overview
UNIT II: GAME INFORMATION
6. The Game
6.1 The Controls
6.2 The Playing Field
6.3 Scoring
UNIT III: STRATEGIES
7. Playing the Game
8. Quirks in the Game
UNIT IV: CONCLUSION
9. Conclusion
_______________________________________________________________________________
To find a particular chapter or subchapter do the following:
1. Highlight the chapter or subchapter name you wish to find.
2. Press CTRL-C
3. Press CTRL-F
4. Press CTRL-V
5. Press CTRL-F
5. You will arrive at the desired chapter or subchapter.
_______________________________________________________________________________
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********************************* U N I T I **********************************
**************
+=================+
| 1. LEGAL STUFF |============================================================
+=================+
This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advanced permission from the author. Use of this guide on
any other web sit or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and
a violation of copyright. All content in this guide is Copyright 2003 by
Kevin Butler. Only the sites listed below have permission to publish this
work or to display it:
www.gamefaqs.com
www.cheats.de
faqs.ign.com
If you wish to put this guide on your site, e-mail me and ask. Save yourself
the headache of putting up with lawsuits and whatnot because you failed to ask
a simple "Can I post your guide on <insert site>?". If you wish to use info
in this guide, please acknowledge that you have done so.
If you see this guide on any other site then the one listed above, please
e-mail me. If you wish to ask questions or give input to this guide, please
e-mail me. Just have Astro Invader as the subject so I know it isn't another
kooky vendor trying to sell me hair gel or another XXX site telling me I have
new friends.
+=========================+
| 2. VERSION INFORMATION |====================================================
+=========================+
Version 1.0 7/23/03: A guide is born.
Version 1.02 7/24/03: Updated author and IGN information.
Version 1.03 8/28/03: Fixed a couple of errors.
+======================+
| 3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |=======================================================
+======================+
The following are a list of people or organizations that have made this FAQ
possible:
My wonderful family (who has had to put up with the tapping on the keyboard)
Stern Electronics for making a great arcade game
GameFAQ's for putting up this FAQ
+=============+
| 4. WELCOME |================================================================
+=============+
Welcome to my FAQ for Astro Invader. Since the game is just a shooter that
goes until all your men are killed, there is no walkthrough per se. Instead it
will be broken up into the game itself, strategies for survival, and some in-
teresting quirks in the game. Input is appreciated along with constructive
criticism. If you wish to e-mail me thoughts on this FAQ, better ways of doing
things, other strategies, etc., feel free. Make sure you put Astro Invader as
the subject. If you don't, I'm liable to discard the e-mail as spam.
+==============+
| 5. OVERVIEW |===============================================================
+==============+
Astro Invader is one of the follow-up games that rode on the wave of the Space
Invaders craze. The game itself is simple in concept but the action gets fast
paced, real quickly. Especially since several things can be going on at the
same time during the game. Good luck.
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******************************** U N I T II **********************************
***************
+==============+
| 6. THE GAME |===============================================================
+==============+
Astro Invader is a simple two-dimensional shooter. You control your laser base
against an endless stream of alien invaders. The invaders don't come in set
waves, instead, they come in a constant stream. Once you have gotten through
one barrage of aliens, more are just behind to continue the action. Your job
is to keep them from overwhelming you with their superiority in numbers. Kill
or be killed, that is the objective.
____________________
/ 6.1 The Controls /__________________________________________________________
--------------------
In order to become a master of this game, you must be familiar with the
controls. The controls are simple. They consist of:
- Two buttons for moving left and right
- A fire button
Pretty simple eh?
_________________________
/ 6.2 The Playing Field /_____________________________________________________
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The playing field consists of an open area to the left, right and center.
There are five "stalls" on either side of the open area in the center. Here is
what the playing field looks like:
+------------------------------- --------------------------------+
| |
| ____________ |
| | | |
|________ | PLATFORM | _________|
| | | | | | |__________| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| OPEN | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | OPEN | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | OPEN |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| |
| <-------------------> STALLS <-------------------> |
| |
| |
| +-+ |
| +-+ +-+ |
| +-----+ |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
You control the laser base at the bottom of the screen.
_______________
/ 6.3 Scoring /_______________________________________________________________
---------------
Scoring in this game is pretty simple. Here are the enemies:
- Alien spacecraft, not moving, in their stalls: 10 points.
- Alien spacecraft moving into stalls or dropping toward you: 20 points.
- UFO: 100, 200, 300, or 400 points.
You start with 3 laser bases and you get a bonus base at 10,000 points.
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******************************** U N I T III *********************************
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+======================+
| 7. PLAYING THE GAME |=======================================================
+======================+
When you start the game, your base will be in the middle, at the bottom of the
screen in the area in between the stalls. When the game starts, a large UFO
will enter the top of the screen. It will have the number 200 in it. That is
how many alien spacecraft that "mother" ship is going to attack you with. The
"mother" ship will land on the platform and the game will commence or continue.
When the "mother" ship expends all 200 of its ships, all gameplay freezes and a
new "mother" ship will enter with 200 more alien spacecraft. This cycle will
keep going until you lose all of your bases.
- A stall will hold 4 invaders. If you haven't reduced that number down, the
5th invader on will drop to the ground. When an invader hits the ground, it
just doesn't hit, it produces a blast radius a little wider then the stall
it fell from. Your laser base can be destroyed by this "indirect" fire.
- Just as deadly are the UFO's that show up. They can appear out of any of
the open areas (as denoted in the playing field). They don't shoot or look
threatening. The problem is, when they land on the ground, your base will
be destroyed.
- The "mother" ship starts to distribute invaders starting with stall number 1
and works from left to right. Then it works from right to left and so on.
The pattern is like this: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,1,2... As
you can see, the right side will fill up quicker if you don't act quickly.
This only works on odd numbered boards. On the even numbered boards, the
"mother" ship will stack the invaders on the same side as your laser base.
- The best strategy for this game is to keep the middle as open as possible.
What I mean by this is to keep stalls 4, 5, 6, and 7 as cleared of invaders
as possible. Prevent these stalls from building up there maximum of 4
invaders. This will give you some breathing room plus it will help when
dealing with the UFO's that come down on the left or right sides.
- As I mentioned, there is a pattern on how the invaders are distributed. Use
this knowledge when you are moving along the bottom of the screen. If you
have stalls topped off and invaders are dropping, watch which way the
"mother" ship is distributing the aliens. If it is from right to left, then
the aliens will fall from the farthest stall away from you and come inward.
If it is from left to right, then the invaders will fall away from you.
This is good if you are trying to make it to one side or the other to know
how the invaders are falling.
- You can shoot the aliens that are falling but keep in mind, there probably
is another that is on the left or right side that will hit the ground.
Given that the blast radius is wider then the stall, it's better to let it
go. Just keep the stalls (especially 4, 5, 6, and 7) cleared as best as
possible.
- When the "mother" ship is down to its last few invaders, make sure you are
not in a position to get blasted the moment the new "mother" ship arrives to
continue the action. Nothing like having an falling invader inches from
your laser base and the action pauses only to unpause and you get your base
destroyed.
+=======================+
| 8. QUIRKS IN THE GAME |======================================================
+=======================+
Like all video games, this game has strange things that can occur. Although
they aren't detrimental to gameplay, they are interesting nonetheless. Also
included are some tricks of the game.
- Although the UFO seems to come out at random times and places, there does
appear to be a pattern. It seems to come down the center mostly but it also
has a pattern as to when it comes down the right and left sides.
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******************************** U N I T IV *********************************
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+================+
| 9. CONCLUSION |=============================================================
+================+
I remember playing this game hours on end. It was the next best thing to Space
Invaders and the scoring was higher. The action was also faster paced with
invaders dropping on you, UFO's landing, etc. The game itself was simple in
the controls but you would still find yourself breaking a sweat just trying to
avoid all the objects coming down at you. This also led to those cliffhangers
when ships were exchanged and the action froze. If you were in a compromising
position, you knew you had to act fast once the action started again.
Unfortunately, it is very rare to find this machine anywhere. However, through
the miracle of emulation, a whole new generation is realizing what we "old"
folks enjoyed those many years ago. I hope this guide helps you in being able
to get the most amount of gameplay for this game. If you do have other ideas
or thoughts, please e-mail me and share them. Who knows, maybe I'll start a
Q&A Chapter in this guide if enough people ask the same questions. Anyway,
thank you again for reading this guide.
To see other FAQ's I have written please go to:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/32691.html
~~~ No trees were harmed in the making of this FAQ ~~~
