+-+-+-+-+
| Q I X |
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GAME: QIX
PLATFORM: ARCADE
GENRE: ARCADE PUZZLE
CREATOR: TAITO Copyright 1981
AUTHOR OF THIS FAQ: Kevin Butler AKA War Doc
E-MAIL: kevinb(at)technologist(dot)com
FAQ VERSION: 1.01
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Fields
6.3 Scoring
UNIT III: STRATEGIES
7. Playing the Game
UNIT IV: CONCLUSION
8. 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.
_______________________________________________________________________________
**************
********************************* 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 Qix 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 8/17/03: A guide is born.
Version 1.01 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)
Taito for making a great arcade game
GameFAQ's for putting up this FAQ
+=============+
| 4. WELCOME |================================================================
+=============+
Welcome to my FAQ for Qix. Since the game has you continuously making boxes to
get the required area in the game, there is no walkthrough per se. Instead it
will be broken up into the game itself and strategies for survival. 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 Qix as the subject. If you don't, I'm liable to
discard the e-mail as spam.
+==============+
| 5. OVERVIEW |===============================================================
+==============+
Qix was created by a company that really does not need an introduction. They
took the world by storm in 1978 with Space Invaders. After Space Invaders,
they created such games as Lunar Rescue and Space Invaders II. Qix was another
innovation by Taito. It went contrary to all the other games of the day
(except perhaps Pac-Man). It wasn't a space-shoot-em-up type of game, but one
that actually required one to plan and think actual strategy to accomplish the
game's objectives. Although tournaments were held to see who was the master of
this game, it really never took off. This may have due to the very reason it
was so innovative, it required people to actually think about the game instead
of the mindless entertainment of shooting up aliens. Have fun and good luck
avoiding the Qix.
***************
******************************** U N I T II **********************************
***************
+==============+
| 6. THE GAME |===============================================================
+==============+
Qix is a two-dimensional, overhead style game. You are responsible for moving
your Marker around the perimeter of the game screen. At opportune moments, you
need to create "boxes" to reclaim some of the area that the Qix is in. As you
continue to make these "boxes", the percentage area that you have claimed will
go up. Once you reach the threshold area, then you go onto the next screen.
To keep you from accomplishing this area gain are various enemies: The Qix it-
self, Sparx, and Fuses. After a certain time, the Qix will split and you will
have to contend with two of them "running" around the game screen. The action
is continuous and sometimes the mental strain is great. There is no time limit
but the enemies make sure you don't have too much time to think. Maybe it is
time for more mindless entertainment destroying aliens.
____________________
/ 6.1 The Controls /__________________________________________________________
--------------------
The controls on this game are very easy. It may, though, take just a little
bit of time to get used to them.
- A four-way joystick for moving left, right, up, and down
- A slow button
- A fast button
__________________________
/ 6.2 The Playing Fields /____________________________________________________
--------------------------
Qix involves just one screen. I have included an example of what the playing
screen looks like:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MARKERS |
| LEFT->O |
| AREA YOU'VE CLAIMED SCORE O |
| GRAPHIC OF CLAIMED SO FAR->57% 75%<-THRESHOLD O |
| AREA CLAIMED ->------------------------------------ |
| +---------------------------------------*---------------------+ |
| | | |
| | | |
| | \ | | |
| | \| | |
| | | / | |
| | |\ / | |
| | | \/ /<- QIX | |
| *<- SPARX / / | |
| | / / | |
| | PLAYING FIELD | |
| | | |
| | +- YOUR MARKER | |
| | | | |
| | V | |
| | ___/\_____ | |
| | | \/ | | |
| | | <-- CLAIMED AREA | |
| | | | | |
| +---------+--------+------------------------------------------+ |
| |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
You control your Marker through the screens.
_______________
/ 6.3 Scoring /_______________________________________________________________
---------------
There are a couple of ways you earn points in Qix. The first involves actually
claiming areas.
There are two buttons, slow and fast. These buttons determine how fast your
Marker goes. In essence, going slow increases the risk of losing your Marker
so it is obviously worth more points. Here's how the points work out for
making "boxes":
Slow:
It is a base 500 points multiplied by the percentage of area covered by that
box. For example, if you create a box that claims 3% of the total area, then
points scored would be 500 X 3 or 1500 points. This area fills in with brown.
Fast:
It is a base 250 points multiplied by the percentage of area covered by that
box. For example, if you create a box that claims 1% of the total area, then
points scored would be 250 X 1 or 250 points. This area fills in with blue.
NOTE: The above points may not be exact since the game rounds off the
percentages to whole numbers for display but calculates them using decimal
percentages.
You also get bonus points for going above the 75% Threshold. Any percentage
above the 75% Threshold is multiplied by 1000 to determine your bonus points.
During the split Qix screens, if you successfully split the Qix's into their
own compartments, you will get a multiplier bonus that is applied to points
scored when you are making boxes. For example, if you had a 250 points and the
multiplier was 3X, you now have 750 points. This multiplier increments by one
every time you successfully split the Qix's. Of course, when you do this, you
don't get the bonus points (if you had any).
You get 3 Markers for the game.
****************
******************************** U N I T III *********************************
****************
+======================+
| 7. PLAYING THE GAME |=======================================================
+======================+
When you start the game, your Marker will be at the bottom, middle of the
playing screen. It is now up to you to start creating boxes. Keep in mind
that you need to be constantly moving or the Sparx will take out your Marker.
In addition, when you are moving your Marker around the perimeter, you can only
move along the perimeter actually touching the Playing Field.
- First of all, you must be constantly aware of two things. First, you must
know where the Qix is located at all times. It moves randomly and can go
anywhere on the Playing Field that your boxes haven't blocked. Last, the
Sparx are constantly moving around the perimeter of the Playing Field. This
can set up a dangerous situation where one Sparx is coming at you from one
way and another from the other to make your Marker a "Sparx Sandwich".
- Once you have assessed the danger, it is time to start making boxes. There
are a few things to note when you are making boxes:
- When you start to draw the line, the Sparx cannot travel along the new
perimeter you are creating until it is filled in.
- The Qix, though, is your primary concern. If it touches any part of a
line before the box is filled in, you will lose your Marker.
- The box must begin and end either at a filled box or on the side of the
Playing Field. You cannot connect the line to itself. If you try to do
this, you will go into what is called a "Spiral Death Trap" and a Fuse
will follow your line to your Marker and destroy it.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Here is what I am talking about in how to make boxes:
+---------------------------------------*---------------------+
| |
| |
| \ | |
| \| |
| | / |
| |\ / |
| | \/ / |
* / / |
| / / |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+________/\___________________________________________________+
\/
- Press either the Slow or Fast button and push the joystick up to start the
line creation. Keep in mind, once you choose a speed, you are committed to
that speed until the box is made.
+------------------------------------------------------------*+
| |
| |
| \ | |
| \| |
| | / |
| |\ / |
| | \/ / |
| / / |
| / / |
| |
| |
| |
| |
* |
| /\ |
| \/ |
| | |
| | |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
- The Qix looks close so push the joystick to the right.
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| |
| \ | |
| \| |
| | / |
| |\ / |
| | \/ / |
| / / |
| / / *
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| ___/\_____ |
| | \/ |
| | |
| | |
+---------+--*------------------------------------------------+
- Now, we have to connect the last part either to the border of the Playing
Field or a filled in box. Looks like we are close to the border so we will
connect it there.
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| |
| \ | |
| \| |
| | / |
| |\ / |
| | \/ / |
| / / |
| / / |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| __________ |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | *
+_________|________/\____*____________________________________+
\/
- Once you connect the last part successfully, the box will fill in either
brown or blue depending on the speed button selected. Congratulations, you
have made your first box. You continue to do this with varying sizes of
boxes (again, dependent on risk), until you get at or greater then the
Threshold.
This is the "Spiral Death Trap":
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| |
| \ | |
| \| |
| | / |
| |\ / |
| | \/ / |
| / / |
| / / |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| __________ |
| | | |
| | | |
| |_/\_____+ |
| | \/ |
| | *
+---------+--------------*------------------------------------+
FUSE
- Instead of connecting to the border or a filled in box, you attempt to
connect to the line you have drawn. You cannot do this. What will happen
is a Fuse will ignite where FUSE appears. It will travel up to your Marker
via the line to destroy your Marker. Another way the Fuse appears is if you
hesitate or delay in the middle of box creation.
_______________________________________________________________________________
- After the fourth wave, the Qix will split in two. Now you have two Qix's
bouncing around to deal with. You major goal is to actually "split" the
Qix's into their own areas. This means creating a series of boxes so that
each Qix will be in its own compartment. See Chapter 6.3 for how this is
scored.
- For maximum points, you must do two things:
- First, use the slow button as much as possible since this is where the
points are.
- Try to claim as much area in each box as possible. That percentage
multiplied by the speed value can yield some big point values.
- Constantly try to split the Qix's (if you can) to get that bonus
multiplier even higher.
- When you are close to the Threshold, find an area in the Playing Field
that hasn't really been touched and try to make a big box. That way, you
will go over the 75% Threshold and claim a bonus.
- As the waves progress, everything gets faster and the game will become less
forgiving if you are less then committed to making a box.
- Also, listen for sounds in this game. The only real sound you need to be
concerned with is what sounds like a fuse being lit. If you are making a
box and you hear this sound, that means you are taking too long or you have
unfortunately gotten yourself into a "Spiral Death Trap". In the case of
delay, once you move the fuse will go out.
****************
******************************** U N I T IV *********************************
****************
+================+
| 8. CONCLUSION |=============================================================
+================+
When this game came out, it was sitting by itself in a corner of the local con-
venience store. The attract noises are what first brought me over to the game.
I watched a little of the demo but I figured that I would have to play the game
if I was going to understand it at all. At first, it was kind of difficult to
figure out what I had to do. With practice, however, one got better at the
game by learning the nuances and strategies for survival. It was the un-
predictability of the game that kept it interesting and definitely increased
its playability. 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. In addition,
www.shockwave.com is bringing many of these classic games back. Check out
their site to see what ones are there. 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. Any-
way, 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 ~~~
