Millipede Atari 2600 FAQ/Strategy Guide Version: 1.0 Author: Rob 'Larcen Tyler' Adair Last Revision Date: 08/11/06 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This document is electronically published work Copyrighted ¸2006 by Rob 'Larcen Tyler' Adair. 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. Millipede, Atari 2600 Video Computer System, and any accessories mentioned within are registered trademarks and/or copyrighted materials owned by Atari Games. GameFAQs is a registered trademark and copyrighted 1995-2006 by Jeff 'CJayC' Veasey. Any other names mentioned within not mentioned within this section are registered trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of 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. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. REVISION HISTORY 2. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME 3. SCORING INFORMATION 4. TIPS 5. CONTACT INFORMATION 6. CREDITS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. REVISION HISTORY Version 1.0 01/17/06: Already authored a guide for the 'prequel' so why not create one for this game as well? 02/13/06: Due to personal matters, had to put this guide on hiatus, but finished up with it. 08/11/06: Due to some problems when I resubmitted the guide for e-mail changes, some formatting was incorrect. I've (hopefully) fixed that here. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME You managed to outwit the centipedes that were bugging you, along with those sinister spiders, those frantic fleas, and sly scorpions, and you thought it was over. Well, guess again. The Millipedes, cousins of the centipedes, have now attacked you. Hear the skittering feet approaching? That's the millipede approaching you rapidly, and it's not alone either. Spiders, bees, mosquitoes, dragonflies, inchworms, and earwigs are all accompanying the millipedes in its effort to eliminate you. Fortunately, you've still got your mobile blaster on hand, and you also have another secret weapon: DDT! It may not be environmentally correct, but when you're dealing with these creeps, you're gonna need every form of defense you can get! So get to your blaster and get blasting! GETTING READY TO BLAST BUGS: Set up your Atari 2600 or Atari 7800, and plug a joystick into the left controller jack, since this is a one player game only. When you've powered up, you'll see the title screen. Press reset or the joystick button to start the game. When you first start, you can choose a starting score of 0, 15,000, or 30,000 points. After you complete a game, you can start at a score of up to 15,000 points below your previous high score, rounded to the nearest multiple of 15, with a maximum of 300,000 points. When you are happy with the selection, press the button to begin the game. (Example: Say you scored 152,000 points on your last game. If you started a new game after that, you could start the game with 135,000 points. The game subtracts 15,000 from your score, and then rounds it down to the nearest multiple of 15.) BASIC GAMEPLAY: When the game starts, your blaster, a square, is at the bottom of the screen. The playing area you can move around in is a gray color, while the rest of the area is black. You will see numerous mushrooms, which are rectangle shaped, scattered around the playing field. These are harmless, but can block your movement unless shot. Each mushroom takes three shots to destroy. You will notice several DDT bombs scattered across the playing field, which appear as rectangles with 'DT' inside them. These are useful in your battle against the millipede and the other insects you'll encounter, as their explosion can take out quite a bit if timed properly. YOUR ENEMIES: THE MILLIPEDE: As you might have guessed, the millipede, which starts at the top of the screen and marches from one side of the screen to the other, dropping to the next row below when it does so, is your primary enemy. If it touches a mushroom, it will also drop to the next row. Shooting the head will cause it to turn into a mushroom, causing the body segment behind it to turn into the head. However, if you shoot a body segment, the millipede will split into two separate, smaller ones, with the body segment behind the one you shot turning into a head. SPIDERS: The spiders from Centipede are back, and their pattern is still the same: Entering from one side of the screen and jumping up and down while moving across the play area to the other side, pausing occasionally to fake you out. They remove any mushrooms they touch, and if you touch one, you're a goner. BEETLES: Beetles will sometimes enter from the side of the screen and slowly crawl across your playing area untill they reach the other side. Like any other bugs that come at you, touching one of these is lethal. The beetles will usally start at the top boundary of your movement field and then drop to the bottom and crawl across the screen untill they reach a certain point (usually random) and then will crawl upwards and out of the playing area. Any mushrooms it touches will become flowers, which cannot be destroyed. MOSQUITOES: Mosquitoes will come from the top of the screen and move in a diagonal pattern, untill they touch the side of the screen, at which point they will move in the opposite direction they were originally going in. Their pattern is not too hard to match, but they are known to swarm at times (see below for more information on swarming insects.) BEES: Bees come from the top of the screen and move toward the bottom in a straight pattern. They leave mushrooms behind them, and while they are easy to avoid, when they swarm they are more dangerous. INCHWORMS: Inchworms appear on one side of the screen and slowly move towards the other side of the screen. They don't appear in your movement field, so they can't harm you, but it's worth shooting them, since shooting one of them slows down all enemies on screen for four seconds. DRAGONFLIES: Dragonflies are like bees, except they move in a zig-zag pattern, and can also swarm at times. EARWIGS: Earwigs also move from side to side, but they have the ability to poison any mushrooms they touch. If you don't shoot an earwig before it leaves the screen, any mushrooms it touched will change color. Beware, as if a millipede touches a poison mushroom, it will go crazy and charge towards the bottom of the screen! SWARMING INSECTS: Sometimes, after defeating a millipede, instead of moving to the next wave, you'll encounter a swarm of bugs, in which either a group of bees, dragonflies, or mosquitoes, will come at you in large numbers from the top of the screen. In addition, the spider can also attack during this time, making things more dangerous. Try to stay calm and shoot as many insects as possible, as each swarming insect you shoot increases in value with every one shot. (See scoring information below for more information.) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3. SCORING INFORMATION Points are awarded as follows: SHOOT MILLIPEDE BODY SEGMENT: 10 Points SHOOT MILLIPEDE HEAD: 100 Points SHOOT SPIDER AT LONG RANGE: 300 Points SHOOT SPIDER AT MODERATE RANGE: 600 Points SHOOT SPIDER AT CLOSE RANGE: 900 Points SHOOT SPIDER AT VERY CLOSE RANGE: 1200 Points SHOOT BEETLE: 300 Points SHOOT MOSQUITO: 400 Points SHOOT BEE: 200 Points SHOOT INCHWORM: 100 Points and Slow Down Enemies for 4 Seconds SHOOT DRAGONFLY: 500 Points SHOOT EARWIG: 1000 Points SHOOT DDT: 800 Points and Triple Point Value for each enemy destroyed with DDT SHOOT SWARMING INSECT: 100 Extra Points Above Normal Value for second bug destroyed, and increasing in value with consecutive bugs destroyed (up to 1000 points for each bug) DESTROY MUSHROOM: 1 Point When you lose a life, you receive 5 points for every flower onscreen as well as for every three mushrooms left on the screen. You begin with three lives, and earn a bonus for every 15,000 points earned. You lose a life if you come into contact with a spider, beetle, mosquito, bee, dragonfly, or the millipede. The game is over when all lives are used up. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4. TIPS -Let the spider get as close as possible to you before shooting it to earn maximum points. -If a swarm of insects appears, don't panic. Try to shoot them as they come, or just dodge them if necessary. Remember, if your timing is right, you can earn a lot of extra points by shooting swarming insects. -If the millipede hits a poison mushroom, it'll rush towards the ground without stopping for anything. You can utilize this as a chance to earn big points by getting underneath it and rapidly shooting. But be careful, when it's touched a poison mushroom, it will rush at a fast rate of speed, so be ready to move if it gets too close to you. -Shooting an inchworm slows your opposition down for four seconds, so make sure to shoot them if you see one for a quick breather. -If the millipede reaches the bottom of the screen, once it starts crawling back upwards, watch out for additional head segments appearing near the bottom. -Wait for the millipede to get close to a DDT bomb before detonating it. It's possible to take it out with a well-timed explosion while earning a lot of points in the process. -And the rule all video game players live by and die by, HAVE FUN! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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 you put "Millipede Guide" as your subject line.) You can reach me at: LarcenTyler7650 (AT) Yahoo (DOT) com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6. CREDITS On with the credits: -My mother, for buying the Atari 2600 and passing her love for it onto me. -Dave Staugas, for programming this game. -Jerome Domurat, for providing excellent graphics for the game. -Andrew Fuchs and Robert Viera, for excellent sound design for the game. -Jeff 'CJayC' Veasey, for providing us writers with a place to share our work. -Atari, for providing us with the Atari 2600 as well as this excellent game in both the arcades and on the Atari 2600. -And, of course, YOU, for reading my guide! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ¸2006 Rob 'Larcen Tyler' Adair All rights reserved.