please help: question about armalyte (C64)

Daigoro999 · Post by **Daigoro999** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 3:55 am

I recently tried to play this awesome shmup again and this game really holds up, it is not an easy shooter, but i like the somewhat slower pace compared to your standart arcade shmup. The problem is this: You can switch between three extra weapons in this game, and i forgot how this is done. I tried to find a game manual but ended up empty handed. Does anyone remember how it is done?

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 4:44 am

space bar would be my guess. I dont even remember 3 shooting modes.

mulletgeezer · Post by **mulletgeezer** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 3:37 pm

the space bar is used to fix the position of the multiple type device. I think the super weapon select is done by the ctrl key, or something around the bottom left of the c64 keyboard. Let me know if you get really stuck, I think i still have the orginal game somewhere.

Daigoro999 · Post by **Daigoro999** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 9:34 am

Yeah, the space bar fixes the devixe; actually there should be two keys to change the extra weapons due to the awesome twoplayer mode. If you could look it up i would be grateful since i already tried to press every single key on the emulator twice. i didn't find the manual on the internet and i did look hard. It could be a problem with the emulator or there is some trick to it i don't remember. Your help would really be appreciated, mulletgeezer.

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 12:16 pm

I used to play this quite a bit.
Super weapon is selected from C= key.

1st super is the slow, but powerful. 2nd is the one that gives spread laser, good for enemy swarms. 3rd gives fast and straight laser, good for quick drilling.

You should build up your batteries (displayed as little 'stars') as quickly as possible, as you lose only one of them when you die. The last form of the collectable icon gives you one battery.

hope this helps

Daigoro999 · Post by **Daigoro999** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:14 pm

Thanks MJR, i am aware how the extra system works, it took me some time to figure out what the 'bee' extra does (the fifth), it seems to direct some of your backward shots to the front, that is if you have any. Anyway the commodore key does not work for me, it just pauses the game. I suspect it is a problem with the emulator, i will try a different one. But there should be two keys to cycle through the shots, one for each player, right?

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 7:44 am

Daigoro999 wrote:Thanks MJR, i am aware how the extra system works, it took me some time to figure out what the 'bee' extra does (the fifth), it seems to direct some of your backward shots to the front, that is if you have any. Anyway the commodore key does not work for me, it just pauses the game. I suspect it is a problem with the emulator, i will try a different one. But there should be two keys to cycle through the shots, one for each player, right?

Umm.. don't recall as I never played 2 player game. But you should check your emulator settings, I think it's easier in VICE. I only ever played it with original c64..

I wonder if the bad review for armalyte in shmups.com was because the reviewer never found the C=key..?

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:25 am

MJR wrote:I wonder if the bad review for armalyte in shmups.com was because the reviewer never found the C=key..?

No, I knew about it.

I just found the game's level designs subpar and the bosses boring. Add to that the annoying flaw that the explosions of destroyed enemies stay in formation, so you can't always tell which enemies you've already killed unless you look very closely, and you have a bunch of things that really make the game much less enjoyable than it could have been.

Btw, I didn't exactly say the game is bad. You know, I grew up in a time where a "5" under a review meant "average", not "hideous".

In fact, in my review I wrote:Armalyte is not a bad game, but it's in no way the classic everyone seems to be so excited about.

And that's about it. If you disagree with my opinion on the game, feel free to submit a second review in which you praise Armalyte in a way you think appropriate.

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:28 am

7 is the new hideous, 8 is the new "average", 9 is the new "worth a rent" and 10 is the new "good".

Review score inflation

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:31 am

Herr Schatten wrote: And that's about it. If you disagree with my opinion on the game, feel free to submit a second review in which you praise Armalyte in a way you think appropriate.

OK then, fair enough

I used to absolutely love armalyte, to the point that I 1CC:d it several times.
But that was 1990, and my memories may be rose-tinted. I haven't put it under serious scrutiny recently, but if I do, and if I still disagree with you, I may well put up a second review. That would be fun

K-J N. · Post by **K-J N.** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 9:38 pm

Herr Schatten wrote:Add to that the annoying flaw that the explosions of destroyed enemies stay in formation, so you can't always tell which enemies you've already killed unless you look very closely

Fun fact: The reason for this is that they wanted to make absolutely sure there was no slowdown or flicker in the game. Having the explosions stay in fromation means you can allways control how many sprites there are on a line at all time. This is the same reason enemy bullets will ocationally self-destruct if they get to close to a crowded line.

Emperor Fossil · Post by **Emperor Fossil** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 1:51 am

Herr Schatten wrote:
MJR wrote:I wonder if the bad review for armalyte in shmups.com was because the reviewer never found the C=key..?
No, I knew about it.

I just found the game's level designs subpar and the bosses boring. Add to that the annoying flaw that the explosions of destroyed enemies stay in formation, so you can't always tell which enemies you've already killed unless you look very closely, and you have a bunch of things that really make the game much less enjoyable than it could have been.

Reading the review, it does seem like you didn't get the hang of the battery + generator system. The bosses shouldn't take 'ages' to kill. The first couple can usually be killed in about ten seconds if you have a good stock of batteries and a powered up generator.

And the moving explosions was a compromise made in order to have so many sprites onscreen at once. They needed to keep the number of sprites that didn't move in a pre-defined path to a minimum. However, I do think they should have made the explosion animation more brief and made the sprite colour change to a distinctive explosion colour (Yellow would be good.)
edit: Whoops. Somehow I skipped K-J N's explanation above about the moving explosions.
BTW, whatever emulator you were using had a really garish palette, judging by the screenshots.

Anyway, regarding the c= key in emulators, I realise this thread is from ages ago, but just in case anyone else tries this game, the Ctrl key usually functions as the c= key in most c64 emus.