Starquake - hints and tips
Not that many votes for it so I guess some may not even know it. It is a fantastic platform shoot-em-up hybrid starring B.L.O.B - Bio Logically Operated Being. The aim is to find the missing bits of the core of the planet to save it.
There are key elements to the game and completing it.
B.L.O.B
- keep his energy up, picking up the various objects replenish his energy and other things
- he can 'fly' by building up little platforms, unfortunately he has limited power which needs to be replenished
- fire power, he can shoot but this has limits
B.L.O.B can fly around on little flying platforms located around the maze of tunnels under the planet surface. He can't fly through some places including tunnels and security doors. Sometimes he needs to build his little platforms to get up
B.L.O.B can pick up extra lives which are joysticks.
B.L.O.B can use teleports, these have five character codes of which a few are QUAKE (vital, get there to get to the core), EXIAL, OKTUP and lots more which you can probably obtain with a search or off the WOS site - or find them the old fashioned way, as you come across them.
Hints/Tips
- find the mastercard, you need this to use the security doors.
- go to the core via a teleport to find out which core pieces you need, these include bits that look like the core, an umbrella, a fire extinguish, there are quite a few.
- you can use triangular "Cheop's pyramids" to change items, I suggest saving this until later on
- as you can only carry four objects, and one is best advised to be the mastercard, make frequent trips back to the core
- watch out for flying mines, they look a bit like space stations (you'll find out if you fly into one or vice versa)
- a lot of scenery can be deadly so be careful what you fly into or touch, spikes are an obvious one as are little electric currents
- stay on the flying platforms as much as possible, they are speedy means of getting about and help pick up the bits you need to sustain life and firepower
- the core elements have a lot of places they can be, but you'll soon get used to key locations to check.
I often fly out of Quake and use the several different directions to explore. I had a map of the planet at one point, you may be able to find it somewhere on t'internet.
There are key elements to the game and completing it.
B.L.O.B
- keep his energy up, picking up the various objects replenish his energy and other things
- he can 'fly' by building up little platforms, unfortunately he has limited power which needs to be replenished
- fire power, he can shoot but this has limits
B.L.O.B can fly around on little flying platforms located around the maze of tunnels under the planet surface. He can't fly through some places including tunnels and security doors. Sometimes he needs to build his little platforms to get up
B.L.O.B can pick up extra lives which are joysticks.
B.L.O.B can use teleports, these have five character codes of which a few are QUAKE (vital, get there to get to the core), EXIAL, OKTUP and lots more which you can probably obtain with a search or off the WOS site - or find them the old fashioned way, as you come across them.
Hints/Tips
- find the mastercard, you need this to use the security doors.
- go to the core via a teleport to find out which core pieces you need, these include bits that look like the core, an umbrella, a fire extinguish, there are quite a few.
- you can use triangular "Cheop's pyramids" to change items, I suggest saving this until later on
- as you can only carry four objects, and one is best advised to be the mastercard, make frequent trips back to the core
- watch out for flying mines, they look a bit like space stations (you'll find out if you fly into one or vice versa)
- a lot of scenery can be deadly so be careful what you fly into or touch, spikes are an obvious one as are little electric currents
- stay on the flying platforms as much as possible, they are speedy means of getting about and help pick up the bits you need to sustain life and firepower
- the core elements have a lot of places they can be, but you'll soon get used to key locations to check.
I often fly out of Quake and use the several different directions to explore. I had a map of the planet at one point, you may be able to find it somewhere on t'internet.
Post edited by Rebelstar Rules on
Comments
Maybe I'll give it another go sometime as everyone else seems to love it.
the fastest I've ever completed it in is about 28 minutes, a friend of mine played the game just to see how many extra lives he could collect iirc he got up to 32
Love this game! It'll definitely be making my Top Ten speccy game list! Now I just need to weed out the other nine.......
I died trying, really annoying as there was a pyramid right next to Quake/the core and I couldn't make it to it.
Here's some teleport codes for those needing them, there are 15 so I may return and complete the list *done*
QUAKE
ALGOL
AMAHA
AMIGA
ASOIC
DELTA
EXIAL
IRAGE
KYZIA
OKTUP
RAMIX
SONIQ
TULSA
ULTRA
VEROX
No need to go hunting the Internet with The Tipshop linked to the WoS database page for Starquake. Maps, codes, hints, cheats, RZX all present and correct.
http://www.the-tipshop.co.uk/cgi-bin/info.pl?wosid=0004873
I remember that one.... wondering around forever, not a clue as to what was going on...
Wasn't Gift from the Gods the leftovers from Imagine's infamous Bandersnatch or something?
"Direct descendant" is how it has been described by a Sinclair User article but the only thing that seems to be a direct co-relation seems to be the large sprites and excellent graphics. Since very little known as to what Bandersnatch was supposed to be like, it's quite difficult to attribute what else GFTG has in common with the former.
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
EDIT: just checked the youtube video (5:14 and 6:00) and screens have nothing to do with GFTG. Memory failed. Maybe the character, but not much either...
Forget my comment! :-)
Ah, thanks... I knew I heard something like that somewhen somewhere :)
Edit: Wiki..
Brataccas is believed to be the remains of the much hyped vaporware project Bandersnatch, which was partially developed by Imagine Software.
All nine core elements replaced, however only 64% "adventure score" and a whopping score of 280425 :razz:
I'd like to do a screendump but here's what the winning screen says :
The cores complete
but how are you gonna
get home when only a
thtupid loony would wander
this far out in the galaxy
With a picture of the completed core at the bottom ;)
Lol - that article is ace...
Love it, especially the bit about "brucie"
D.
Knight Lore was what bandersnatch should have been
Similar to Starquake, although a little more 'rigid' in that you have to do certain things in certain ways while Starquake you can just fly around shooting stuff and teleports aren't entirely necessary and you get a lot of enjoyment just playing.
Not sure if it is possible to get much closer to 100% than 64%, I mean you use up energy boosts, platform boosts etc as you go round, sometimes you can't avoid them if they are on the floor you have to pass over. With a map I guess you could teleport around and visit each section, but I'm guessing it would be nigh impossible to visit every screen without dying first.
Beat the adventure score with 70% today, but just shy with 276820 score.
A few extra tips :
- there are little blocks of white which are 'traps' which you can fall through by creating platforms and landing on them at some speed.
- the mines I previously mention can take a little longer than other aliens to generate so can be you can pick up on when they're coming
- try to find the mastercard early on, it can often be very close and if it isn't I recommend starting the game afresh
- once you know what the core elements are you can use Cheops pyramids to exchange items, if you know an item you don't want to change then dump it before activating a Cheops pyramid - and if it wants to change your mastercard then don't, unless you need one core element
- look for 2-3 items to carry as well as the mastercard before returning to the core, there's no sense going back every time you find one.
- the little drums replenish the lowest attribute, and if you have zero lives left it will replenish one.
- try to leave some fire, life or platform sources around in case you revisit areas and need them, they gain zero points so using them up needlessly and avoidably is pointless - literally!
- you get 250 points just for entering a new screen, this isn't just useful for score boosting but can help you work out if you've been there before.
Anyway record breaking mission, had to zap some aliens to creep up to the 290k mark before completing the core.
High Score : 301,600
Adventure Score : 80%
I was running out of lives, had to visit Irage to boost my score and try and find some firepower bonuses. Not sure how much left of the planet there was to visit, I know of few places that I didn't go.
Adventure Score : 88%
Shame I had to finish it quickly, have to go off to work. Went so long without finding the mastercard, was just musing to myself that by the law of averages I should have found it by then and found it a matter of minutes later.
Would have carried on for a bit but for the time, zap a few aliens and find as many unvisited screens as possible. I was hoping/aiming for 400,000, that may be a pipedream. I did have something like 14 lives at one stage
A few more tips, don't think they're repeats :
- if you go two screens away the aliens in the other screen will "reset", so if you have no ammo or simply having the mines is too much of a hazard, you can change that.
- when using a Cheops Pyramid you may wish to drop core elements you need or they may be chosen for the swap.
- if flying or dropping downwards stick by the edges, spikes and hazards are more central 99% of the time.
- Amiga is a real pain, you need too much platform building so visit but only if you want the extra 250 points for the screen to the left of the teleport.
Adventure Score : 96%
Time Taken 59.34
Whalloped my previous best of around 387,000 which I did in the past few days. Dedicated to my dad who died on 4th May 2012.
Probably the last score I'll post, can't really see me significantly beating 454k or indeed beating 96% without risking the deathTRAP that is Amiga. Got the maze more or less clear in my head now, go round from Verox past a few like Algol to Soniq, pay a visit to Quake, then to Irage, Oktup, Ramix and Asoic before branching out from Quake through the various routes.
One more tip, you can complete the core without the key but it is quite handy for venturing round and not needing to precariously hop over lots of spikes. If you want to search for it try Asoic or from Quake go right and then up, checking the 'room' first on the left as you go up. Those are the two places it can often be found, just like the mastercard is often in the same screen as Verox
I might need to give Starquake a bash later and see if I can get a decent score....been a wee while since I played it!
And sorry to hear about your dad....condolences to you and your family....
I second that. I remember, I had the money for that or fairlight. I've never looked at starquake since, but I've completed fairlight many times.