From: rains@dms.UUCP (Lyle Rains) Newsgroups: rec.games.video.arcade Subject: KLAX lesson 3 Date: 6 Sep 91 19:00:26 GMT Organization: Atari Games Inc., Milpitas, CA You are not ready for this lesson yet. Save it. Study it. Practice, practice, practice. You have much yet to learn, Grasshopper. This posting should be titled "KLAX for the Lunatic Fringe: a Case History." It is a tutorial on one approach to getting over 2,000,000 points in KLAX on a single coin. By this I do not mean that you will insert a single coin and do this every time. I mean I have done it once. Well, actually, a few times. It is not for the timid. But it will show you some strategies which can be used to good advantage in your daily KLAX play. +------------------------------------------------------------+ | ***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING*** | | | | KIDS, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.** This is KLAX as played | | by a _Professional_Game_Designer_ (otherwise known as a | | crazy man) under controlled conditions (i.e., I play for | | free). Doing this in an actual pay-for-play environment | | could be hazardous to the health of your wallet. | | | +------------------------------------------------------------+ ** Actually, home is _exactly_ where you should try this sort of thing. When Tengen comes out with the home and computer versions, you can try this stuff for hours without going broke. You are probably aware that the High Score Table contains both total high score and high score per quarter columns. One can essentially buy one's way onto the total high score table. Since we are not paying to play the games, we within Atari Games tend to compete for the best per-coin high score in our friendly company rivalry. The following is only one possible way of playing for this high score, but it is among the best methods we have found. The basic strategy is going top be to start at level 1, play through level 5, warp to level 11, and take a "secret warp" to level 56. I have never survived level 56 using this strategy, so I can't tell you what to do from there. LEVEL 1 Here is a cosmic paradox. Level 1 is the easiest level in the game. It is also the hardest level to do well. Don't get discouraged by the complexity of the patterns (KLAXgrams) shown below. This is as bad as it will get, and you can work up to it slowly. If you wish, use the "Tengen Stax" method shown below. It is worth fewer points, but it is *lots* easier. There are only 4 colors of tiles in the first level. The patterns shown will score about 370,000 to 565,000 points on level 1. The highest theoretical score that we know for level 1 is about 720,000 (but it is so difficult that I will not waste my time trying it -- and I play for free). In building these patterns, you may complete at most ONE KLAX to get rid of "junk"; if you complete 2 KLAXs, the game will not let you drop extra tiles on the paddle after the first, because the first tile will complete the level. You must be quick to drop all the tiles on the paddle into the center column. If the top [c] finishes scoring before you get the remaining tiles in place, things will not work correctly. You must be prepared to settle for less and bail out earlier if necessary. These are "best case" patterns. They are very similar: notice that the only difference in the first 2 is an extra [a] at the bottom of the paddle stack, but it is surprisingly MUCH more difficult to achieve! An [x] is a don't care: use the fourth color or just make sure you don't complete a KLAX with them. [c] [c] [c] [b] [b] [b] [a] [a] [a] [a] [b] === === === |[a][a] [a][a]| |[a][a] [a][a]| |[a][a] [a][a]| |[b][b] [b][b]| |[b][b] [b][b]| |[b][b] [b][b]| |[x][a] [c][x]| |[x][a] [c][x]| |[x][a] [c][x]| |[x][b] [a][x]| |[x][b] [a][x]| |[b][b] [a][b]| |[a][c][b][b][a]| |[a][c][b][b][a]| |[a][c][b][b][a]| +---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+ ~370K ~435K ~565K "Rains' Revenge" LEVEL 2 This pattern is known as "Tengen Stax," because the guys over at Tengen discovered it. I think it should be called "Stax to the Max," but call it whatever you want. It makes use of the high value of vertical 4-KLAXs. It's also easy to remember and is recommended for the entire family. There are many minor variations possible with higher and lower scores. These are left as an exercise to the reader. [e] === |[a][b] [c][d]| |[a][b] [c][d]| |[e][e] [e][e]| |[a][b][e][c][d]| |[a][b][e][c][d]| +---------------+ "Tengen Stax" LEVEL 3 Level 3 is a "diagonal wave". Try to complete as much of a BIG X as possible but bail out as soon as possible to keep the game difficulty down. You need at least 3 diagonals to complete the level. You should have been using the pull-down feature to save time so far. Also, between levels keep tapping the button to speed up the scoring (again, reducing time). Again, many variations are possible. [a] === |[a] [a]| |[x][a] [a][x]| |[x][x] [x][x]| |[x][a][x][a][x]| |[a][x][x][x][a]| +---------------+ "BIG X" LEVEL 4 Level 4 should be played the same as level 2. There are more colors on level 4 than level 2, so it is harder. But it is also more important to do well on level 4 because it is a "points wave." Any points that you score over the 10,000 needed to complete the level will be doubled as a bonus. So a 200,000 set of "Tengen Stax" will get you 390,000 points including the bonus. Did I mention that furiously tapping through the scoring at the end of level sometimes reveals a "feature" in which mysterious white tiles appear in the bin and give you extra points? LEVEL 5 Just survive level 5 any way you can. The difficulty is ramping up pretty well by now, so I just build simple vertical stacks to get rid of tiles as easily as possible. I often have over 1,000,000 at this time, and survival is the most important thing. DO NOT TAP THE BUTTON AT THE END OF THIS LEVEL TO SPEED THE SCORE -- you may inadvertently get to the select screen and select the default level 6. When you get to the select screen, warp to level 11. LEVELS 11 and 56 I play both of these levels the same. I go for a "Super Star" pattern which includes an "X". The "X" on level 11 (and on level 6, too) will cause an immediate warp to level 56 (or 51), plus mucho bonus points. This pattern depends on getting a wild tile ([*]) to complete the star. I still love completing this pattern and watching everything score at once. [*] === |[a] [b]| |[x][a] [b][x]| |[c][c] [d][d]| |[x][b][e][a][x]| |[b][x][e][x][a]| +---------------+ "Super Star" ******************************************************* Well, that's it. If you did everything right (and if the game was kind to you), you will have a score over 2,000,000 points on one coin. Now wasn't that easy? If you actually do this, you will amaze your friends (and yourself) and will probably dominate BOTH high score tables for awhile. Have fun, keep kool, and happy KLAXing. -- wmm -/@-@\- Lyle Rains <-- motcsd!dms!rains or lrains@netcom.com ( (_) ) Atari Games <-- "Tube hits for two-bits" \_o_/ Milpitas, CA <-- With convenient parking in lots 237 and 880.