student@covax.co.iup.edu (student) (02/26/91)
I honestly tried to persevere in this game, but it is just too darn
annoying! The player's ship is stupidly large, and you lose most of your
(rather useless) shield if you even nick the background. For crying
outloud, why does the ship move so painfully slow?! (I KNOW you can get
speed-ups, but it's not worth it, since the extra speed makes you die
faster when you hit the background!) And of course, you lose all your
weapons when you die, as if the game weren't hard enough. Sheesh!
One other important thing... Why isn't the bullet movement smooth?!
This is an Amiga, after all, not a cheap PC. Granted, this thing's got
the graphics and the sound, but the gameplay rots!
Whew... Anyway, the reason I'm posting is to see if anyone knows
where I can get the Blood Money boot program that boots it with infinite
lives. It's about 80 bytes, I think, so would someone be kind enough
to tell me where I might find it? As always, thanks in advance!
Carlos
Disclaimer: I am just venting out my frustrations.robinson@delux8.cs.umass.edu (Richard Robinson) (02/27/91)
In article <2734@beguine.UUCP> ajpierce@uncmed.med.unc.edu (Andrew Pierce) writes: >weapons. For example, on the water world, rear firing missiles are an >absolute must. On the fire world, multiple bombs are similarly >indispensible. One of the most useful things you can buy is the extended >shot range feature, although don't buy this if you have rear firing as the >shot recycle time is then too slow. This gives you the choice of moving Don't buy the rear shot or the extended fire. The rear shot is not worth the money, which would be much better spent on more bombs. As for the extended range, it makes you extremely vulnerable, since you can't keep up a continuous barrage (you have to wait until the bullets disappear off the screen, which takes much longer.) Your weapons shot far enough as it is. One last tip. Have a precision joystick. It's real tough to make the necessary movements without one. (I know - my joystick is real bad). >P.S. I didn't notice jerky movement. Are you running anything in the >background? I too don't have any jerky movement. -Dread -- robinson@elux1.cs.umass.edu
buffa@kish.inria.fr (Michel Buffa) (02/28/91)
In article <45765@nigel.ee.udel.edu>, student@covax.co.iup.edu (student) writes: > > I honestly tried to persevere in this game, but it is just too darn > annoying! The player's ship is stupidly large, and you lose most of your > (rather useless) shield if you even nick the background. This is a game for real arcade fans, not for beginners who don't know how to master a joystick. You'd like a game where you never die ? My opinion is that Blood Money is one of the best shoot'em'ups for people who are a bit trained with this kind of game. The only bad point is that you can not try directly levels 3 and 4. I finished in two days the two first levels. I really think you should start with an easier game of this type, like SILKWORM, which is too much easy for me (finished in an evening), or Battle Squadron which is very easy too. "The player's ship is stupidly large, and you lose most of your > (rather useless) shield if you even nick the background." -> Have you ever played in the real arcades ? The authors wrote this game for people who usually spend money in the arcades, so the difficulty level is about the same as the games in the arcades. For crying > outloud, why does the ship move so painfully slow?! The ship is not slow. I think the controls are perfect. (I KNOW you can get > speed-ups, but it's not worth it, since the extra speed makes you die > faster when you hit the background!) True. And of course, you lose all your > weapons when you die, as if the game weren't hard enough. That's the challenge. I usually finish the first level without loosing any life, and even manage to buy 3 or 4 extra lives. Level 2 is easier than level one, and it's possible to complete both levels 1 and 2 with only one life. Sheesh! > One other important thing... Why isn't the bullet movement smooth?! What ????? > This is an Amiga, after all, not a cheap PC. Are you crazy ? Blood Money is one of the best shoot'em'ups on our machine, and I'm crazy about this kind of games, I played many of them: Datastorm, revenge of defender, R-type, X-out, Z-out, Silkworm, Battle Squadron, Anarchy... Have you seen the PC port ? Have you seen the Atari port ? This game has a slow scrolling but very fast sprites and gigantic levels, also, my opinion is that the playability is excellent for shoot'em'ups fans. The game is difficult but at least the two first levels are feasible. Granted, this thing's got > the graphics and the sound, but the gameplay rots! I don't agree at all. Try an easier game, a game matching your capacities. Try Silkworm or Battle Squadron. Don't try R-TYPE, X-OUT, Z-OUT, Anarchy, Datastrom, you'll find that there is no good game !!!! Train yourself first, and criticize after. > Whew... Anyway, the reason I'm posting is to see if anyone knows > where I can get the Blood Money boot program that boots it with infinite > lives. It's about 80 bytes, I think, so would someone be kind enough > to tell me where I might find it? As always, thanks in advance! A game with infinite lives looses all its interest. Try first to master it, and if it takes too long then try the infinite lives, but Blood Money is the kind of game where you die after ten seconds during 15 minutes of trying, but every day you progress. If you don't, it means that you should try only reflexion games! !! -- ------------------------------------------ Michel Buffa: Projet Robotvis, INRIA, France Internet: buffa@sardaigne.inria.fr Surface Mail: Michel BUFFA, INRIA - Sophia Antipolis, 2004, route des Lucioles, 06565 Valbonne Cedex -- FRANCE Voice phone: (33) 93.65.78.39, Fax: (33) 93 65 77 65 ------------------------------------------
reavis@oxy.edu (Paul Herbert Reavis) (03/03/91)
one of my absolute favorite arcade games... mostly because it was such a
nightmare to finish. challenge! (sheesh!)
several things i've noticed while playing:
1) rapid-fire joysticks are _god_ in this game. controllable rapid fire
(i.e., fires in bursts as long as button is depressed), of course... i took
a repeater chip out of some cheap $8 atari joystic (continuous fire--what a
nightmare) and patched it into a slik stik (sp?), and had incredible amounts
of fun...
2) if you buy long-range (the first $200 item, middle of right column),
it produces gaps in your fire spray... i think it has something to do with
the number of missiles/bullets allowed on the screen at once from a single
launcher. this produces some nasty problems when you do any tight
infighting-- you may trigger a burst and not get anything. bam. advice--
avoid long-range, especially on the first world. i usually wait until i'm
at the very end of the second before i buy it.
3) yes, bombs are huge amounts of fun, especially when you have 3 or 4
launchers... but be really careful when going through turnstiles (things
that spin when you shoot them), since a bomb will make it fly--which is
not a good thing when you're trying to navigate.
4) BUY SHIELDS! this is _so_ important... nothing is more expensive than
losing all your equipment, plus a life. the $250 is WORTH it.
5) when starting, it is actually better to start on the second world
than the first. i find it a lot easier to get through, and i always seem to
come out with a lot more equipment and cash. the last few screens on the
first world are some of the hardest in the game. the first time i completed
the whole game i did it 2-4-1-3.
6) don't rag on back-fire. it has saved my ass (literally) hundreds of
times. this isn't a subtle game--go for the maximum firepower (up, down,
front, back, 4Xbombs, etc), charge in, kill everything, take the money.
simple. i like it that way. a bit distracting at first (i used to find it
hard to distinguish between bombs and enemy fire), but you get used to it.
impresses the audience, too.
7)if you push a sliding turnstile (it works like it sounds) or some
analogous object off the screen with bullets/bombs, it will disappear. pound
it to 'em.
8) KILL TURRETS. Nothing is as deadly as a turret. they'll get you every
time. "Operation Bloody Stump" my best friend dubbed it, on the second world
with the barfing fish. use top/bottom fire, kill them before they even get
on the screen if possible. but kill them.
does anyone know anything about dave jones' next game (drool, drool)? if
it's even half as good...
e-mail me for additional info, score comparisons, etc. have fun.
as usual,
paulstudent@covax.co.iup.edu (student) (03/03/91)
I still stand for my opinion that Blood Money's gameplay leaves
something to be desired. In the arcades I have finished R-Type so many
times I long lost count, and often I lap it twice on a single ship. (The
game ends after the second time you finish all 8 levels.) I also
regularly finish Life Force (Salamander) on the Nintendo and C64, Gradius
(Nemesis) on the Nintendo (the 64 version crashes on the 3rd level),
and I also completed Xenon 2 on the Amiga, all without cheats. Comparing
Blood Money to these games reveals BM's weaknesses.
Also, the bullet movement (as well as some other animation) is still
not quite as smooth as the sprites in, say, Hybris. (And no, I don't have
a pirated version!)
Carlos
Disclaimer: Standard.