Make Trax FAQ(arcade)
version 1.0.0 copyright 2004
by Andrew Schultz
[email protected]
Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent. However,
if you write a polite e-mail to me referring to me(and this FAQ) by name, then I
will probably say OK. But if I ignore you that means no--and I am bad about
answering e-mail. Sorry.
**** AD SPACE: ****
My home page:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762
================================
OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTROLS
3. POINTS
4. ENEMIES
4-1. THE FISH
4-2. MESSY FOLKS
5. COURSE MAPS
5-1. BASIC MAP
5-2. CHANGES EACH LEVEL
5-3. STARTING STRATEGY
5-4. GENERAL STRATEGY
6. VERSIONS
7. CREDITS
================================
1. INTRODUCTION
After Pac-Man, there were many spinoff games where you had to eat a bunch of
dots in a maze to win. There were many flip side games where you had to fill
everything in, and that's where Make Trax comes in. You're a paintbrush, and
even though you only have to avoid two fish as you go around the maze, they're
coordinated and ever so slightly faster than you are. Also a fourth party will
come out, wander around and pollute what you've painted, so you need to repaint
that.
Your weapon to fight back is a paint roller. Well, there are two, on bridges
in the maze. They never wear out, either. If the fish are chasing you, you can
use the paint roller to attack them. On later levels the fish are extra smart to
this, and you can only use the roller to push them away. But it's still useful.
The trick is not to do too much at once, tune out the messy characters and the
noise they make, and take out certain segments, then come back for more. The
pace gets fast quickly, and Make Trax is not for the faint of heart. However
there's not much variety in it either, so it probably shouldn't be your first
choice when you go to play a classic game. It looks cute and simple at first,
but that is a high tech bait and switch. You need to plan and often repeat a
basic set of moves several times to execute that plan. I liked this game as a
kid when I wasn't really good at any of them, but it's too exhausting to
implement a strategy which took me several sit-down sessions to crystallize.
Oh. Pithy nontechnical observation. This game has two four letter words in its
title but will have you thinking of many others.
2. CONTROLS
Control is pretty straightforward with a standard joystick. If you reach the
end of a T intersection, your brush stops. It cannot stop otherwise, but you can
reverse direction before you hit an intersection.
It's really important to push the direction you want to go in advance, i.e. if
you want to turn left or right, pre-empt it and hold the control, or you may
miss your exit. This is disastrous in such a demanding game. You can also push
in the opposite direction you're rolling the brush. This means you won't bring
it back across and, more importantly, you'll get started the other way as
quickly as possible. Fortunately there aren't many reasons to make a hairpin
turn, but if you have to, you should have enough time to be able to do it.
Turning around to pick up a roller is tough but generally you need the
paintbrush's full body past it before turning around.
3. POINTS
You get 10 points for each portion the size of your brush that you dig out.
You also get 10 points for the similar amount of tracks re-painted over, but you
don't get anything cumulative for covering tracks on previously unpainted
territory.
You get 1000 points for finishing the first level, up 1000 until the maximum
of 9000 at level 9.
Here's the formula for points you get for nailing a fish:
Let x = current level you're on + # of fish bagged so far before this one.
x points
1 50
2 100
3 200
4 400
5 800
6 1600
7 3200
8 6400
9+ 9000
You get an extra life at 10000 but no noise to announce it.
Dip switches allow 1 quarter for 2 credits, 2 quarters for 1 credit, or free
play.
You can have 3-6 lives. The first level can also be designated easy or (like
all subsequent levels) hard.
Teleport holes can be turned on as well. If they are then they send you back
to the start. It's a bit of a cheat in your favor. They affect you but not the
fish, and you'll find them just above the lower bridge and sometimes to the side
of the upper bridge. With these activated, you can lead the fish around and warp
well away from them to get some space for the next piece of the maze to clear
out.
You can also paint over all of a level and lose a life before getting to the
next level, if a fish touches you at the right time. I think you also don't get
the bonus at the end.
4. OTHER FOLKS
4-1. THE FISH
Fish are as fast as you in the first level, except when you smack into a dead
end. They're a bit faster than you on subsequent levels, and no, running through
tunnels doesn't slow them down.
The yellow and green fish work together well to trap you. They aren't always
perfect, but if one is following the other and it senses where you are, it will
often branch off.
They spend a few seconds in the fish tanks before going out to get you. They
also spend a few seconds after you've rolled them over.
Fish on the first level can get suckered for a while. Just go over the bridge
with the roller, running at them, and they won't run away. Later if you want a
bonus you'll need to push the roller on them when they're very close, or they'll
just run unharmed. You can fool the fish by coming in from the side and using
the roller, assuming they're coming at you on the bridge, but this is tricky.
The best way to ward off fish is to use the roller. If you need to use it
several times going back and forth, that is OK, although eventually the fish
will get fixed in place. If you push the roller back and forth, the fish tend to
get closer together. If the fish are together, you'll have a chance to treat
them as one for a bit before they split up. You can also switch between rollers
or wait a bit while the fish come at you, in case you want them to flee.
Generally, if you clear out two stretches between intersections and go back,
that's pretty good. Any more than that and you're in trouble. You'll want at
least a half-intersection space between you and the fish for breathing room at
first although once you can feel out how long it takes them to overtake you, you
can adjust how close you play it. You do want to look for a way to push the
roller from behind, though, and not have to double back. The roller makes you
faster and causes bad guys to disperse, but on the other hand they may be
waiting for you on the other side.
4-2. MESSY FOLKS
The six messy guys rotate in sequence. Of these, the cat is the only one you
can really predict. It's the slowest of the six even when you make it to level
seven. If you lose a life while a messy guy is out, it goes back to its cage,
unless you got killed right after it appeared. Unfortunately chasing the messy
folk doesn't work; the fish will nail you if they touch you, but you can be
touching the end of a messy guy and lose out. They are especially tough because
they're only slightly slower than you, and they can veer off at any time. I
guess you can empathize with the fish now...if you can be bothered.
Messy folks cannot go over or under the bridges. They also cannot reverse
before an intersection. If you should happen to catch them south of the N/S
bridge or, better yet, under it, you may have them trapped. The next best places
to catch them are in the lower left or the other corners.
The best procedure to get the cat seems to be to tuck it into a corner. If you
are one up/right from it(assuming it's in the lower left) you can assume it
won't backtrack. You can head it off pretty consistently. Later messy folk,
however, tend to use the tunnels ad absurdum. It's the smart thing to do and
incredibly annoying. The worst part about them is that if you don't catch them,
their sound remains. In emulation anyway.
On the whole, don't worry about cleaning up after the messy guys too much. If
you can catch them, it's a super bonus. But your best bet is to do so with one
fish killed. Directly hunting the messy folks doesn't work. A long range strike
can. Maybe you'll even get lucky and pick one off as it comes out. You could do
worse than hang in the item's general area after completing a third of the board.
Messy folks and fish can run past each other with impunity. Even when the tire
would obviously run over the fish, or the cat or bird would eat it in real life.
No fair! Well, I suppose your brush would dry out with all the painting this
game makes you do.
5. COURSE INFO
5-1. BASIC MAP
Each basic course layout is the same. The brushes are reset to the bottom and
left of the bridge at each level start, and you and the fish can go through the
underpasses.
tunnel
..
..........................
..XXXX..XXXX..XXXX..XXXX..
..XXXX..XXXX..XXXX..XXXX..
..XXBI....................
..XXRD....................
..XXXX..XXXX##XXXX..XXXX..
............||............. tun
............||............. nel
..XX..TTTT||TTTT..INVX..
..XX..TyyT||TbbT..ISIX..
..XX..TTTT||TTTT..BLEX..
............||....1.......
............||............
..XXXX..XXXX||XX..XX..XXXX
..XXXX..XXXX||XX..XX..TIRE
......................XXXX
......................XXXX
..XXXX..XXXX..XXXXXX..XXXX
........----------......... tun
........----------......... nel
..XX..XXXXXX..XXXX..MOUX..
..XX..XCAT1X..XXXX..SEXX..
..XX..XXXXXX..XXXX..XXXX..
..........................
..........................
XXXX..XXXXXX..XXXX..XXXX..
XCAT..XXXXXX..XXXX..XXXX..
X# 2......................
XXXX......................
..
The board is pretty symmetrical, although the power right is easier to get
trapped in than the lower left. One big problem I had was getting caught by the
bridge--it blocked me from considering a bad guy would be on the other side.
The most annoying part about filling the board out is that you may have a
small sliver of the board to paint--and I mean very small. Note the point
labeled 1 on the map. If you go left into it and up, then approach it from the
right and go down before you reach it, a very small triangle in the bottom left
of the square will be unfilled. You'll need to fill it to win the level. These
can be tough to spot at first until you learn the spots where this can happen.
What's more, either these will happen or you'll be doing a lot of overlapping at
the beginning. Fortunately they can only happen in the middle part.
5-2. CHANGES EACH LEVEL
The colors you paint rotate: green, red, orange. The messy characters that pop
out from the side also rotate:
6x+1 cat
6x+2 mouse
6x+3 bird
6x+4 tire
6x+5 cat # 2(in SW corner)
6x+6 invisible feet
The fish at the bottom of the screen change with each level. Up to level 5, a
new one is added. Then on level 6, the color changes. On level 7, level 1's icon
is kicked off and so on. This doesn't mean anything, but it's fun to look at.
outline body eyes
1-5 : blue yellow white
6-7 : green white red
8-9 : lt blue white green
10-11: blue pink white
12-13: yellow white red
14-??: blue lt blue white
5-3. STARTING STRATEGY
At the very start of a level, as long as you don't back up, stay in a corner,
or paint over where you've already been, or the combs where you've been, you
can't really go wrong. Just be sure to keep moving. I prefer to take out the
bottom part first, because you won't be surprised when the fish come out and
disrupt your plans. I like going left, up, up, left, down, right all the way,
down and left. This takes out a few nasty corners and I can often goad the fish
down--after which I go through the down tunnel and take out a corner on top.
If you've lost a guy, you may want to go down through the tunnel immediately
to cover an area you hadn't. Stay well away from the fish so that you have an
easy out, and don't try to paint both corners.
5-4. GENERAL STRATEGY
The general approach to this game isn't too hard to describe, but it's hard to
execute. First, when you're stuck, go back and forth on the brushes, and if you
can't seem to get where you want, or the fish cut you off, let them follow you
around. Go to the other brush, fake them out, then zoom to the area you want. If
you're playing for a high score, then you'll need to consider trapping a fish.
Timing when to reverse on one is critical, and sometimes they can be quite
stupid. Remember if you turn sharply to the side to use the paint roller, the
fish may be too surprised to turn around. They pick up on you if you're coming
at them, or you flip around.
Be sure to notice where the fish are. If one is heading for you, make sure the
other isn't headed where you want to be. If so, change direction. Don't get
stuck in a corner unless you have to--when in doubt, head for an exit or a paint
roller.
Don't use the roller just because you can. It's more effective when pursuers
are nearer to you.
You'll need to master the art of the reverse, or when to bring the roller back
to the other side of the bridge only when you want to.
Beware if a fish is too far away from you--it can and will flip around between
intersections, especially if you go through a tunnel. Note how they can flip
when you're carrying the brush.
Fish go faster than you, so when in doubt, don't play chicken before going
back to the brushes.
The trickiest parts to get may be the corridors above and below the fish tanks.
They're long stretches where a fish can take his time to get at you from the
other side. But on the other hand, they're great places to lose the fish. Let's
say a fish is chasing from above and you turn right into the fish tanks. That
fish may turn right, trying to follow you, ABOVE the fish tank. This gets him
completely lost. You might even be able to double back if he turns down at the
bridge. So the long corridors can be good if you're followed from a moderate
distance or if you know where your opponents are, but otherwise they're too
risky.
Another good place to fake fish out is at the bottom. Say you're going down
the screen to your original starting point. A fish is chasing above. You can
turn left and if the fish turns left in the lane above you, you can double back.
They don't always catch on that you have, and you can gain time that way.
However, don't just duck in and back. It's risky to execute, and the fish don't
bite. There are times it'll feel natural, when you're chased a bit too much and
suddenly find a barrier between you and the fish. You can't gain time in
standard play trying to flee them, as the fish are slightly faster than you.
Remember that nailing one fish nets the same score as completing a level, so
if you are playing for points, don't worry about cleaning up levels. You can
often sucker fish in by crossing a bridge from the far side of a paint roller
and coming back to roll your pursuer. But you will time it wrong frequently at
first. On the bright side, the fish can be surprisingly stupid at times. If
you've gone on a winding chase, or if you're at the start of the level when they
first come at you, they can sometimes brain fart and be easy pickings, whether
you turn around on them or even come at them straight on. It's worth gambling
early on as you have little to lose. Fish may be brain food but they're not
always brainy enough here to avoid becoming food.
The main test here is your mental endurance; you have a method of hanging
around that you can clearly verbalize, but if you don't execute it perfectly,
you're toast.
But most importantly--don't let the messy folks drive you nuts. Don't try to
clean up the mess they made right away. They can track over the same place
several times. And don't follow them for more than a few turns--the fish will
get after you in a hurry once you forget they're around.
Picture ways you can get trapped at various locations, and these scenarios
seem to developing(you'll visualize your own with experience,) steer away from
the place you want to go next. Yes, it's nearly mandatory to plan ahead in this
game. And what you plan for isn't always terribly exciting.
End of FAQ proper
================================
6. VERSIONS
1.0.0: submitted to GameFAQs 3/25/2004, pretty much complete. I'm out of ideas
at any rate and don't feel like thinking of more.
7. CREDITS
The usual GameFAQs gang. They know who they are, and you should, too, because
they get some SERIOUS writing done. Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Masters,
RetroFreak, Snow Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, and others I forgot.
War Doc for his initiative and example in writing old games up. Maybe one day
all old arcade games will have guides on GameFAQs.
CJayC for creating GameFAQs.com so that I could post cute little time wasting
guides like this. mame.net and the cheats section for helping me replay this--
and get somewhere in it.
