Moonsweeper Atari 2600  FAQ/Strategy Guide
Version: 1.2
Author: Larcen Tyler
Last Revision Date: 07/26/04
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This document is electronically published work Copyrighted ©2002 Larcen Tyler.
Permission is granted to make a copy _ONLY_ as a personal reference copy, in
which case the document _MUST_ remain in its original, unedited form.  Any
other reproduction is strictly prohibited.  This document may not be used as
a promotional item or for profitable means of any kind (even if no profit is
intended to be gained.)

This document is only allowed to appear on the GameFAQs website and no other
website whatsoever, nor may any part of this document appear on any website
for any reason whatsoever.

Moonsweeper is a registered trademark owned by Imagic Games.

Atari 2600 and any accessories mentioned within are registered trademarks and
copyrighted materials owned by Atari Games.

GameFAQs is a registered trademark and copyrighted 1995-2002 by Jeff 'CJayC'
Veasey.

Any other names mentioned within not mentioned in this section are registered
trademarks and/or copyrighted materials owned by their respective owners.

Larcen Tyler is in no way affiliated with any of the companies listed above,
or their affiliates in any way.  No affiliation should be assumed for any
reason whatsoever.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. REVISION HISTORY
2. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME
3. SCORING
4. TIPS
5. CONTACT INFORMATION
6. CREDITS
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1. REVISION HISTORY

11/22/02: Wrote this because I had nothing better to do! :)

07/26/04: Don't ask why, but I never got to making a few small revisions untill
now! First off, shields can be used even without any points remaining.  And,
secondly, you have to be careful about shooting miners!

07/27/04: Technically I received this the previous day, but this is to make it
easier to read.  Dimetric Houston submitted a few tidbits that I didn't notice
originally.  Thanks man!
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2. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME

(The Difficulty Switches and TV Type switches aren't used in this game.)

You are the pilot of the U.S.S. Moonsweeper, whose goal it is to patrol the
various moons of Jupiter² to rescue stranded miners while dodging solar
flares, enemy alien attacks, and obstacles.

There are two portions of the game: Orbit and Surface.

ORBIT:

While you are in Orbit, you must dodge the solar flares that are coming at you.
You can shoot them if you want to by pressing the button while aiming in the
direction you wish to shoot.

If you want to activate your shields, simply pull the joystick downward while
pressing the button.  Be advised that using your shields costs you points.  If
you use up all your points, you can still use your shields, just don't expect
to get much of a high score!

Watch out for solar flares and shots from unseen enemies.  If you are hit, you
will lose one life.  The game ends when you use up all of your lives.

While in orbit, you will come across a moon.  To land on a moon, simply move
into the path of its orbit and you will land.  You can't land, though, if you
are using your shields.


SURFACE:

Your controls are slightly different on the surface.  You can steer by pushing
the joystick left and right, but now you can also control your speed.  Push
forward to accelerate and pull backwards to decelerate.  If you pull back and
press the action button, you can fire at enemies in the sky.  Otherwise, your
shots will hit ground targets.

Be careful of towers.  They don't move and won't attack, but colliding with
one will cost you a life and you will be returned to orbit.  You can shoot
them and you will earn points for doing so.

Miners are your primary objective here.  While you are on the surface, a small
pulsating indicator (for want of a better word) will appear below your score.
This indicator will appear in various spots, indicating where the next miner
will appear, so you can get your ship into position to pick one up.  If
you lose a ship at any time, all miners on board will be lost.  Be careful,
as it's possible to accidentally shoot a miner! If you do, you will get no
points, and miss out on a chance to rescue a miner.

Watch out for Launcher Ships! These ships will deploy smaller craft onto the
surface to attack your Moonsweeper.  You can destroy both of them for points.
The Landing Craft can not only shoot at you, but also capture miners, so
get them fast!

Satellites will fly across the screen from time to time, but don't attack.  You
can, however, shoot them and earn big points.

When you have rescued six miners, you will be able to leave the planet.  To
do so, you must fly through the accelerator rings to get enough speed to
leave.  When you see one, fly through it and then through the next ones after
to gain enough speed to take off.  While they appear in a straight line on
the Blue moons, the rest of the time, they will appear in a zig-zag pattern,
so be careful.  If you miss one, watch for another series to try again.


THE DIFFICULTY LEVELS:
There are four different colors for the moons that you will encounter, each one
representing the difficulty of that moon.  The higher the difficulty, the fewer
miners and more enemies there are

The four difficulties are:

Blue: Easy
Green: Moderate
Yellow: Hard
Red: Very Hard

The odds of seeing different moons are based on the game variation you choose:

Variation 1: Blue and Green.
Variation 2: Blue, Green, and Yellow. (Mostly Blue and Green)
Variation 3: Same as above except it's mostly Green and Yellow.
Variation 4: Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red.

To select a different variation, simply use your Game Select switch on your
Atari 2600 console.  The first number indicates the game variation, and the
second one indicates whether it's one or two players taking turns.

If two players play, the difficulty doesn't increase untill both players
have completed the same moon of that difficulty.  Also, players don't
switch untill one player loses a ship.
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3. SCORING

While in orbit, you earn 10 points for each flare, torch, and bullet you shoot.
Points are deducted while the shields are in use.  The more you use it, the
more points you lose.


On the surface, you earn points based on what type of moon you are on.  The
scoring legend for each moon is as follows:

BLUE MOON:

Rescuing A Miner: 10 Points
Shooting A Tower, Surface Destroyer, or an enemy shot: 10 Points
Shooting A Landing Craft: 200 Points
Shooting A Satellite: 300 Points
Successfully Taking Off From The Surface: 980


GREEN MOON:

Rescuing A Miner: 20 Points
Shooting A Tower, Surface Destroyer, or an enemy shot: 10 Points
Shooting A Landing Craft: 200 Points
Shooting A Satellite: 500 Points
Successfully Taking Off From The Surface: 1225 Points


YELLOW MOON:

Rescuing A Miner: 30 Points
Shooting A Tower, Surface Destroyer, or an enemy shot: 40 Points
Shooting A Landing Craft: 300 Points
Shooting A Satellite: 700 Points
Successfully Taking Off From The Surface: 1470 Points


RED MOON:

Rescuing A Miner: 40 Points
Shooting A Tower, Surface Destroyer, or an enemy shot: 80 Points
Shooting A Landing Craft: 300 Points
Shooting A Satellite: 1000 Points
Successfully Taking Off From The Surface: 1960 Points

A bonus ships will be awarded for every 10,000 points earned.  You can have
a maximum of nine extra ships can be in reserve at one time.
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4. TIPS

-This game may seem a little difficult at first, so be sure to play Game
Variation 1 to get the handle of the game before you actually move up
to higher levels.

-For the first few playthroughs, don't worry about earning a high score,
just concentrate on using shields to protect yourself in orbit.  Remember,
though, that you can't land on a moon while using shields.

-While on the surface, be sure to slow down so you can get comfortable with
the controls and rescue miners more efficiently.  Once you get comfortable
with the controls, you can speed up more often.

-Keep an eye on the indicator at the top of the screen.  When it changes
position, it means that's where the next miner will appear, so move your ship
underneath it as quickly as you can so you can pick another miner up.

-You'll notice on each moon, that the higher the difficulty, the faster you go
when you first land.  When you're on the red moons, you can't decelerate at
all, so make sure you get your steering down for picking up miners and
dodging towers.
(above tip submitted by Dimetric Houston)

-And most importantly, HAVE FUN!
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5. CONTACT INFORMATION

READ THIS BEFORE YOU SEND ME ANY E-MAIL!

The following types of E-Mail I will _NOT_ accept under any circumstances:

-Mail that contains flaming (insults) or offensive content within.  If you
don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything!

-Spam/Advertisements of any kind.  This is against the law, and will not be
taken lightly.

-Asking if you can use this on your website/in your FAQ/Magazine/anything
like that will not be tolerated.  In case you missed it, I specifically
stated that I won't allow it in the disclaimer section at the beginning.

-Asking where to find this game in a ROM format, or any other illegal
software requests will be ignored.

-Asking me where to find this cartridge.
(Honestly, I wish I knew where to find Atari games, but I have as much of
a hard time finding them as you probably do! Your best bet is to check
online.)


The following types of E-Mail I will accept:

-Suggestions and/or constructive criticism.
-Strategies of your own.
-Any information I may have left out in this version.
-Generally, anything that will help me improve this guide in future revisions!
(Make sure to put 'Moonsweeper FAQ' as your subject line.)

You can reach me at: [email protected]
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6. CREDITS

As Bugs Bunny once said, "Credit where credit is due!" And, of course, I've got
to give the proper credit:

-Bob Smith at Imagic for putting this great game out!
-Atari for making the Atari 2600.
-AtariAge (www.atariage.com) for providing an HTML version of the manual which
gave me a great plethora of information!
-My mother for constantly playing the Atari 2600 and passing the addiction onto
me.
-Jeff 'CJayC' Veasey for such a great website where FAQ writers (like me!) can
post our work!
-Dimetric Houston, for providing me with the valuable information about the
speed levels on the different moons, as well as informing me that the tune
that plays at the end of the game is "Swing Low Sweet Chariot." Thanks man!
-The makers of the soft drink Mountain Dew who put enough caffeine in it so that
I could stay up late working on this.
-And lastly, but certainly never least, YOU for reading this document!
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©2002 Larcen Tyler

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