Escape from the Mindmaster(Atari 2600) FAQ/Walkthrough
by Andrew Schultz
[email protected]
Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent. 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.
I will refer you to my leve maps at GameFAQs in the course of this
walkthrough.
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OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTROLS
3. STRATEGIES
4. BY-LEVEL WALKTHROUGH
5. VERSIONS/CREDITS
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1. INTRODUCTION
Escape from the Mindmaster(MM) is a puzzle/maze game featuring 6 fixed mazes
with puzzles based on randomness. In each puzzle you have 4 pegs you must fit
into 4 holes. Along the way, the puzzles get more difficult. The shapes
become tougher to discern, you have to avoid force fields, and you get a lot
of one way doors. Puzzle 6 is actually pretty easy. It's just a map with a
few one way doors. But all the same, it's a nice challenge.
MM is a game that used the Atari SuperCharger.
2. CONTROLS AND POINTS
The arrows turn you in different directions. Forward makes you go forward if
you can, and back makes you go back if you can. (Fire) lets you pick one
block up. You can hold a joystick/key to move or turn in a certain direction
repeatedly, or you can tap twice. You can go through all doors except the one
to the next level--well, until you put all 4 pegs in all 4 holes.
Once you've picked up a certain piece, you have to put it in a hole. You
cannot walk into a niche where a piece or a peg is, and niches are the only
places you will find pieces.
Also, if you turn to face a niche with a mini-game in it, you must play it
right away.
Scoring is pretty simple. For a completed level, you get (timer points) +
(bonus points from side game). If you don't play the side game, you miss out
on the bonus points.
At the end of level 6, you get even more bonus points based on the game
difficulty.
slow stalkers + 9 chances = 100 (no, you can't change it right before the
end.)
slow stalkers + 5 chances = ???
fast stalkers + 9 chances = ???
fast stalkers + 5 chances = ???
The final scoring:
(I am not yet assuming that categories are based on groups of 50. As I get
more data, I will fill this in.)
0-49 = quaint
145 = promising
381 = intriguing
432 = impressive
3. STRATEGIES
These are just general strategies. Strategies specific to the maps are
discussed in the walkthrough proper.
If you use an emulator with save states such as Stella, you can obviously
find the niches where everything is and put all the information together.
This is not critical for your survival, but it can help you get a really good
score. Of course, you can also avoid the annoying little stalker that way,
too.
You can also print out my maps on GameFAQs to remember what characters are
where.
But cheats aside, the best way to start is to look in known areas with lots
of niches. You may get lucky and something may turn up. You don't necessarily
have to remember if you found a peg or a piece, just where it was, because
when you find its matching part, you'll know what to do. I'd just take the
first piece you see, because if it turns out there's something easy
ahead(piece close to peg,) you can always just get it later.
Be sure to check every niche in each sub-area of the map before moving on.
It's a pain to have missed something.
Note where the big track of open space is. The stalker will be there. It
cannot go through doors. If you are behind a door and it is obviously really
close, consider trying another one. Most side corridors/rooms have two ways
out.
Note the stalker starts off where he touched you if he gets you.
4. BY-LEVEL WALKTHROUGH
Level 1:
Shapes: X, bolt, circle, square.
Go up the shaft where you start the game. Contrary to the general rule, it
doesn't hurt here to search all niches before you get a match. There's a good
chance 2 of the same shape will be in this shaft. I won't crunch the odds,
but basically, 6 of the 12 niches are in the starting left hall. So you can
assume a 75% chance one or more is NOT in the area, and do that for each
shape. The probability is then 68%+ that something will match, so that makes
things easy.
You can leave via the top or bottom door--it shouldn't matter. Just note
which door the alien stalker is closer to, if you are scared of him. He will
be running in the loop outside. Check the two niches on the left to see if
either looks familiar. By now you should almost certainly have a match.
If you find any stray pieces here, pick them up because you know you will
find a match inside the loop to the right. Actually there there's a decent
chance of a match too.You may have tu run in and out a few times but, as with
the starting corridor, there are two ways out, so you can avoid the stalker
easily.
The game avoiding missiles is pretty easy. Just move your ship left and right
as needed. The long fast missiles will be the toughest ones, and eventually
one will come down too fast and hit you, even if you stay in the center. You
get several hits before you die. I get 25-30 points each time I play. The
difficulty starts off low and then jumps very quickly. So don't worry about
doing really well at this.
The door up is inside the loop, just off the bottom. Take it to level 2.
Level 2:
Same shapes as level 1.
There are 10 niches here. You also have 3 force fields. I would go along the
top first. Go to the upper left, then across to the right. It's useful to
know what is between the two force fields here, to know if you need to come
back. The force fields are not bad to dodge. Just wait til the one completely
in front of you is gone, then push forward twice. It must be completely gone-
-catching the tail end is curtains.
You have a lot more side paths here. The place south of the entrance has two
niches above the force field. You don't need to enter that unless the stalker
is really close to you. There are two little side passages with two niches
each, and you would do well to pay attention to what is in them in general. A
force field divides the midle one. But attack these two last.
The exit is in the lower right.
The bonus game is a reflex tester, where you just push buttons based on what
comes up. Guesses are penalized but not drastically, so just go as fast as
you can. 18 was what I got. Again, it's not worth it to hone your skills at
this.
Level 3:
Shapes:
. ..... ..... .
. . . . ...
.... ..... . . . .
. . . . . . ...
... . ..... .
I look at them as the swirl, the upside down fork, the square, and the tail.
They're a bit tougher to remember than the original shapes, because they are
all line drawings with little dots on the end, and they aren't shapes we know
so well. Don't let the dot-blobs on the end and in the middle get in the way
of discerning everything.
First, you'll want to count how many pieces you've found, because the last
one is along a nasty one way corridor where the enemy can trap you. It's not
strictly one way, but it's annoying to go back through the force fields.
I would go to the bottom here first, starting with the lower left and
sweeping right. However, I would not take anything til I see what is in the
lower right. If you see anything beyond the force fields, take it. It's worth
running back and forth a bit to clear out anything you might find. There are
9 niches here, so every one houses something, though one niche will just have
the bonus game.
Now go back to the left side and up. There's a niche in the UL corner and 2
south of that. Then along the top, get past one force field and look south.
How many pieces have you found? If 4, leave the passage to the right for
later. If 3, put whatever piece you have in its hole before looping to the
upper right and going 2D. Look right, get whatever piece is in there, and
exit. If 4, then you can save that bit for last. The enemy can really camp
around that area, so it might not be a bad place to chuck a life.
You also need to be careful exiting if the nouse gets too loud as you get
near the exit square. The stairs up are in a 2x1 box inside the loop with the
stalker.
The bonus game is pretty dippy here. Just remember one sequence of arrows,
then another, etc. Then push that sequence of arrows to repeat it. For
getting sequence X right, you get X points and get to see X+1. The game ends
at X=8 for a total of 36 potential points.
Level 4:
This level has 11 niches and it also has some one way doors. You'll have a
lot of backtracking here and that means going through some annoying force
fields. But the same strategy as before applies. Take the first thing you
find, but keep track of all pieces/holes so you know what is left at the end.
It's a good idea to deal with the non-one-way stuff first. See if you can get
anything matching from the 5 niches in the left area--the two C/N shaped side
passages, each with a force field. Note what pieces are in there and then go
to the bottom, where there is a door to the right that leads to the first
one-way area. Look right to one niche, then go forward after the first force
field appears, then forward again 2 squares. Look right. That's another
niche. Gu up two squares through a one way door.
Go 3L and 2U to get back to the main loop, then 3U R D and look left for
another niche. Another niche is 3D. There are two more niches left. Clear out
everything you can before proceeding to the edge. You will probaboy need to
go up the far right corridor, via the DR, a couple of times. Be prepared so
you don't have to go more than once.
You may have bad luck and need to go there twice to pick stuff up, but it's
more likely you'll need to go there to drop something off and pick something
up. You can chuck a life if you want, then come back around and place your
final piece/peg before going to the exit.
The exit is 1R of the 2nd force field square, but that makes getting there
sound more nervous than it really is.
The bonus game here is a silly but cute little fly-through-the-moving-
barriers deal. You get 1 point each time you do. It is a timed exercise with
no penalty for hitting something. If you stand just below the top and wait to
pass the 3rd brick as it comes down, you will get a lot of straight shots. I
get 15 here.
Level 5:
Shapes:
.... .... .... ....
... .... .... ....
.... .... .... ....
... .... .... ....
.... .... .... ....
Yeah, the shapes are clumps of 5 straight lines. And each is organized a bit
different than the rest. Here is how I define them:
#1 is the lower-right zigzag. The lower right is out of place but no others
are.
#2 is the lower-left zigzag. It and the lower right are out of whack.
#3 is the simple zigzag. It bends back only twice.
#4 is the upper-right zigzag. The upper right is out of place.
This is definitely the most challenging level. While it's organized in a
straightforward manner, the pieces are so similar that it is easy to confuse
them. There are only 9 niches, but you need to keep track of them pretty
stringently, and you constantly have to run through the 3 basic halls you
have. You should also notice that each hall starts on the left, has 3 niches,
and moves one-way to the right. Then it kicks you into the bottom of the
turnaround in the right.
Now to start you will probably want to go left at the top. There's a small
chance you may get hit by a force field, but probably not. You really have to
wait around for that. Keep behind the force fields as you jump ahead. Don't
try to take the first door. It is an exit to the next level. Turn left, wait
for the force field, and go 2D. Turn left and wait for the force field and
enter.
Note what is in the first hall(it helps to have a piece of paper) and move
all the way right, 2D and 1R. Try to go 3D 1L quickly if the enemy is not too
close. You're probably going to get stung once or twice, but don't worry.
For the next trick, go through the bottom hall. You have 3 barriers to get
through, then 1 as you go up--wait for it again, then go 2U, turn right and
wait for a barrier. Go through that hall and take notes. If the hole for your
peg appeared before your peg, then double back right, down, 2R U L 3U and
left and place the peg in before going to the next step.
Then repeat for the hall in the center. You can come up from the
bottom(quickly 4U) or down from the top(3D after the field appears.) There's
a door 1R. Take notes again. You are guaranteed of having 1 piece in 1 hole
at this time.
Unless you are very lucky you will probably need 8 or 9 trips even with best
play:
2-3 trips for the first peg and hole(1/42 chance of 1 trip, even chances of 2
or 3)
1 trip for the next peg, 1 trip for the next hole, etc.
This can get tedious so you want to be on your guard against the stalker. If
need be, circle around it or run to the opposite end of the right area to get
away from it. Your preferred path is probably through the bottom, but if you
have to go through the top, that is no big deal.
The exit is not hard to get to--you just pause at the final barrier on top
and turn left and enter. You'll have all the time you need.
The bonus game here is Lunar Lander. You need to move the ship to the right,
then don't let it fall too fast. It needs to land without touching the sides,
which means even if the bottom of the rocket is on the pixel next to the pad,
you are out of luck. Fortunately there aren't many pixels, this being an
Atari. You will get 5-7 points for each landing, so it's most important to
hit it right. Don't overdo the right-arrow so you go into the right side,
either. It will disrupt you for the rest of the pattern. Land or crash, you
get a full tank of fuel and get 5 total tries.
Level 6:
This is an easy level compared to the others, since the map is not random.
You don't have to find all the 1 way doors--just touch each square and note
the ways out of it.
If you want hints, then:
--the exit is 1L of the square you are in, so you want to get there
--ReyVGM has a map dedicated to the EXACT solution
--you have to loop through most of the map to get there
ok, if you want the outright solution...
U 2R D 2R 4U R U 2L 2D 3L 2U 2R U R U 4L 7D. There's no bonus game here, so
you just ascend the stairs and meet the master. He gives you your final score
and evaluation, and the game is over!
End of FAQ Proper
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5. VERSIONS/CREDITS
1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 9/26/2008, complete.
Thanks to GameFAQs for being, well, THERE.
Thanks to AtariAge for the manual and for being a great resource in general,
too.
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 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.
