Bug Attack FAQ(Apple II game) by Andrew Schultz version 1.0.0 If you'd like to post this FAQ on your website, drop me a line addressing me by first name, and I'll probably allow it. ** AD SPACE ** Check out my Apple games page at http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762/games/games.htm I wrote a review for this game, but there was some technical information that wasn't included in the review. So I thought I'd type it up into a brief FAQ. So I took a whole hour of my time to write this up, recognizing it may be more nostalgia or "what was level 17 like?" than critical information. ======== LEVEL INFO SCORING STRATEGY CHEATING VERSIONS/CREDITS ======== LEVEL INFO Each level is divided into three scenes: 1. You must shoot down a variable number of "crawlies" who bounce off the vegetation. Their tops are the major color, but their bottoms switch. If they get to the row just above you, they reappear at the top. 2. There are the eight centipede pieces. They move through the vegetation from left to right, down, etc. Shooting one part has no effect on the others. If they get to the bottom, you die. They are made up of white and the "minor" color. 3. There are eight horseflies. They generally move in a clockwise rectangular cycle, swooping down more each time, before moving in tight circles and shooting frequently. Level|Vegetation|Major/minor colors |What's after it? -----+----------+-------------------+---------------- 1 |Cacti |Green/red |nothing 2 |Cacti |Orange/purple |orange/purple interlude 3 |Clover |Green/red |millipede 4 |Flowers |Green/red |nothing 5 |Flowers |Orange/purple |medfly 6 |Cacti |Orange/purple |nothing 7 |Cacti |Green/red |green/red interlude 8 |Clover |Orange/purple |millipede 9 |Flowers |Orange/purple |nothing 10 |Flowers |Green/red |medfly The pattern then repeats. Now, the number of "crawlies" starts at two on level one, then increases up to eight. Then at level eight there are two, and up to eight, and so on. In other words, the number cycles every seven levels. The vegetation cycles every five levels, and the coloring cycles every ten, so if you're colorblind the game cycles every 35 levels, and if you care about color it cycles every 70 levels. On each level, there is a 17x10 box of icons where vegetation may rest. Below that is the area where you shoot. SCORING, ETC. --on the first scene, you get 20 for each crawly you hit. --on the second scene, you get 30 for each centipede piece you hit. Centipedes bounce off walls just before they get to the edge, so you can hit them when you're at the side, but keep this in mind when timing a shot. --on the third scene, you get 50 for each horse-fly you hit. --on clearing the third scene, you get 10*(fuel left) and fuel is recharged to 99. --on clearing any of the three scenes, you receive 5*(vegetation pieces) regardless of how many times they've been hit. --you get an extra life after completing the second level and watching the skit at the interlude. --on the medfly, you get 50 for each medfly you hit(there are five, and they look exactly like horseflies, but I give them different names because they have different capabilities.) You also get 1000 and an extra ship if you clear them all, but you don't lose a guy if you don't. --on the millipede, you get 30 for each piece you hit with 1000 if you clear them all. You don't lose a guy if you're unsuccessful with the medfly, but you do with the easier millipede. The millipede never fires at you. --fuel is recharged to 99 after the medfly and millipede are over, but no fuel bonus is given. --the vegetation is realigned after each of the three scenes and after the medfly or the millipede. There is no vegetation at the start of the medfly scene, but the medflies generally turn into the next wave's vegetation(i.e. cacti.) --enemies fire less frequently on the first level. STRATEGY Nothing terribly deep here, but you should probably note the following: --it's a bit of a nuisance to stay in one place(i.e. where you have a lane to shoot) since the game records your position as a direct function of joystick position. Steady hands are a plus. --on the first scene, it's pretty easy to avoid the knives from the crawlies. If one does get to the bottom row and walks across the screen, stay just ahead of him until he drops a knife, then move past him. --on the second scene, you will want to stay away from the very edges, where you can almost never hit the centipede. You'll also want to stay in one place and maybe even have cleared out a few shooting lanes in the first scene. Fire through these lanes if possible, and note that you will potentially have to hit a piece of the centipede 80% of the time it goes down a level, and it is as fast as you are. Firing, moving in the same direction as it does, and firing again can eliminate two segments on one row. Of course, you have to aim for the head first, since the centipede is as fast as you are. --on the third scene, note that the horseflies travel in rectangles to start off--three edges are the top and sides of the screen, and the bottom one gets closer to you before they start circling. If you can't nail them(best bet is the side of the screen. You CAN hit these guys there) then you'll need to dart under one, fire quickly, and get out until you get lucky. --the millipede goes twice as fast as the centipede when you shoot but is slower otherwise. You'll need to get timing down. --the medflies are tough, but make sure to hit the one on the bottom while they're in the middle and then scram ASAP, and always shoot even though you're moving. You may need a bit of luck for this bonus, and you'll want to stay out of the corner. Again, the "fire and run" tactics work well. CHEATING vgstrategies.about.com points out that ctrl-B allows you to destroy one monster at random. However, there is a chance the machine will choose a monster that is already destroyed. In that case, nothing is destroyed. You get no points for the cheat unless it completes a medfly/millipede scene, and you don't get an extra guy on the medfly scene if you kill the final medfly this way. You are still just as vulnerable, too, but you can move and shoot while holding down control-B. ======== END OF FAQ PROPER VERSIONS/CREDITS 1.0.0 submitted this FAQ to GameFAQs 6/9/2001. ftp.apple.asimov.net for having the image of this game I loved to play. vgstrategies.about.com for the tip on cheating.