Time Pilot 84(Arcade) FAQ/Walkthrough
version 1.0.0 by schultw.andrez@sbcglobal.net(anti spam spoonerism)
Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting
much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and
I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I
could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if
you'd like to post it on your site.
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OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTROLS/POINTS
3. STRATEGIES/WALKTHROUGH
4. VERSIONS
5. CREDITS
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1. INTRODUCTION
Well, Time Pilot 84 isn't as good as the original, but it's pretty fun, so I
guess it deserves a guide. It's based on the same sort of controls as Time
Pilot, and it has the same idea--shoot a bunch of enemies, then tackle the
big guy--but despite the graphical variety, there's no gameplay variety.
Occasionally the game throws in a new enemy when you are not watching, you
have ground as well as air enemies, and some enemies need to be killed by
heat-seeking missile. Other than that, though, nothing.
The backgrounds are the same, with color swaps, although there is a sort of
map to them--there's a high tech area, then desert to the right, then water,
then the game loops to the high-tech area. There's very little difference if
you move up and down. Still it's fun to play through for a few levels before
you sort of give up and move on to something else. But it shows up how some
simple changes like different enemy AI and cloud parallax can be more
consistently appealing than throwing all sorts of technical stuff and just
making a bunch of different designs that seem vaguely futuristic. You'll
remember the helicopters and UFOs from the original Time Pilot, along with
the big weird bosses. You won't remember much from TP84.
2. CONTROLS/POINTS
The original arcade machine had a circle you moved around in. This is best
replicated on emulators by holding in 1 direction, moving to another about 90
degrees away, then moving 90 degrees more to turn around. In general you want
to waver between 2 directions 45 degrees apart from each other, firing
continually, to take out a swath of the field ahead of you, with the regular
fire button.
The smart missile button is a bit different. You can only have two on the
field at once. With it, you need to wait for the white brackets to envelop an
enemy, then fire. Enemies can either be killed by regular or smart missiles
but not both. Generally, if an enemy looks metallic, it needs a smart missile.
You also need to get it to stay on screen to kill it, and wasted smart
missiles will just wander all over the place. Also, if enemies are too close
to the edge of the screen, firing at them won't do much good.
Points:
100 for air enemies
200 for ground based metallic enemies--don't fly right over the ones that
move, as they may fire
500 for most air based metallic enemies
1000/2000/3000/4000 etc for getting rid of enemies in a formation of 5. This
formation changes, and if you wait to kill it too long, you don't get the
bonus. You hear the same tune before they appear as you did for Time Pilot.
1000 for the big metallic enemies that come from the bottom and fire out
missiles
2000(?) for the rare groups of 5 metallic airplanes that appear at the bottom
and move to the top
5000 for ground enemies that quickly appear and disappear
5000 for the final boss octagonal thing
0 points for missiles
Extra men at 20000 and 20000+60000x.
Dip switches allow 2-3-5-7 men, 4 levels of difficulty(default = hard), and
different extra lives, also 10000+50000x, 30000+70000x, and 40000+80000x.
3. STRATEGIES/WALKTHROUGH
There's no real walkthrough for the game per se as the levels just keep
looping, with different color schemes and different streamlining for the dumb
enemies, but the basic mission is this: kill the grunts flying around, hit a
few guys on the ground, and then wait for the big enemy to come up on the
screen--first you'll see a glowing octagon at the bottom, then all your
enemies will disperse. Shoot him down with a smart missile. Watch which way
the first missile comes at you, then go clockwise or counterclockwise to
avoid it, then run at the enemy. Fire when lined up.
In general, try not to loop around unless you need to avoid a metallic enemy
or a bullet. Metallics are predictable, but tougher to kill, because you do
not know when you will line them up for a smart missile. You should not waste
time trying to kill the metallics--pick on the enemies.
Running away from metallics is not cowardly--they tend to flip and turn, or
even go in odd spirals, more than the regular enemies. The only enemies worth
attacking are the ones that appear in formation, because they are defenseless
and give a nice bonus.
If metallic enemies start looping to avoid your smart missiles, don't stay in
view just to see them get killed. The best way to kill a metallic with a
missile is when you get an almost-direct hit or you fire a missile with the
enemy just behind and very close. Otherwise, they are not worth dawdling over.
Kill as many cheap enemies as you can to get to the boss, which is about as
easy to kill as two regular metallics.
The levels here are shorter than TP84 and never really get harder. The only
real obstacles you have to playing a while are fatigue and the smart missiles
you need to circle around.
Pay attention to noises that alert you to coming formations and big metallic
enemies.
End of FAQ Proper
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4. VERSIONS
1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 2/11/2008, complete.
5. CREDITS
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 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.
