My New Berzerk HS

Phetishboy

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I hit 4740 tonight and finally saw the purple robots. I know not a huge score by any means, but I can't believe I actually had a few minutes to focus on getting better. Best score since I got the machine moved into the gameroom last month. Please feel free to humble and embarrass me with some of your high scores. It'll give me something to shoot for.
 
Bah...I'm a hair under 12K. I've got high score on all my customer's Berzerk's.
:)
Edward
 
Right after I posted this, I went down and fired up Burgertime. I got to the 3rd screen for the first time ever. What is happening to me? I used to be the one and done guy, now I am actually advancing thru screens and shit.
 
Sounds too me that your enjoying your games instead of fixing / restoring them this weekend? I had all the games in my game room (only 8) fired up last night all working perfect and low and behold... Pengo's marquee stopped working. Doh. Almost could enjoy them all working for a change!
 
Sounds too me that your enjoying your games instead of fixing / restoring them this weekend? I had all the games in my game room (only 8) fired up last night all working perfect and low and behold... Pengo's marquee stopped working. Doh. Almost could enjoy them all working for a change!

Yeah, I just fired up the games in the back room while I was changing laundry over next door. Coincidentally, my BT marquee started flickering rapidly then cut out and back on a few times. Time to replace the bulb(s). Always something.
 
Yeah, I just fired up the games in the back room while I was changing laundry over next door. Coincidentally, my BT marquee started flickering rapidly then cut out and back on a few times. Time to replace the bulb(s). Always something.

Yes, always something... Just trying to figure out what needs to go or how to fit Frenzy and Asteroids into the game room / basement soon... Both of those have some minor problems so will keep them out in the garage a little while longer. Time to enjoy my games for a month or two!!!
 
My HS is 15,380. Got it a couple years ago. I can regularly get 10K, even on the first guy, but man the difficulty ramps up quickly after that! It's pretty manageable until you hit the first wave of White robots, which are the first that shoot as fast as you do if I remember right.

Here are a few tips that I follow:
  • It's all how you move once the board starts. You get a couple seconds to assess your vulnerabilities before the robots appear and start shooting. Try to anticipate where the same spots are and move immediately before they shoot. This is really where I wish I could get better once the levels get higher. You can have shots coming at you from above, below, right, and even the upper and lower right angles, sometimes all at once. The easiest approach is if there is a wall to your right you can hug until they shoot. If your in an open area, you're in trouble.
  • Always exit out of the right exit if possible. I know some people just cycle through levels clockwise to stick to less variety, but I've always followed the levels from left to right.
  • Don't exit until all of the robots are destroyed. Not only does that prevent you from being called a chicken, but it also gives a 10 pt bonus for every robot killed.
  • Move through the screen from the top when possible. The robots always shoot from the same side and height. If you block their shots will a wall immediately to your right, and you can move them up to the edge of that wall, then you can shoot them before they move up high enough to shoot back. They can shoot you if you are moving down below a wall.
  • Don't forget Otto can kill robots for you. I know it shows in the attract mode, but sometimes people forget this. This is very handy when it takes too long to make it to a section where you can get a clean shot off on a robot. Head quickly to an exit then let Otto do the work.

If I think of any more tips, I'll let you know!
 
My HS is 15,380. Got it a couple years ago. I can regularly get 10K, even on the first guy, but man the difficulty ramps up quickly after that! It's pretty manageable until you hit the first wave of White robots, which are the first that shoot as fast as you do if I remember right.

Here are a few tips that I follow:
  • It's all how you move once the board starts. You get a couple seconds to assess your vulnerabilities before the robots appear and start shooting. Try to anticipate where the same spots are and move immediately before they shoot. This is really where I wish I could get better once the levels get higher. You can have shots coming at you from above, below, right, and even the upper and lower right angles, sometimes all at once. The easiest approach is if there is a wall to your right you can hug until they shoot. If your in an open area, you're in trouble.
  • Always exit out of the right exit if possible. I know some people just cycle through levels clockwise to stick to less variety, but I've always followed the levels from left to right.
  • Don't exit until all of the robots are destroyed. Not only does that prevent you from being called a chicken, but it also gives a 10 pt bonus for every robot killed.
  • Move through the screen from the top when possible. The robots always shoot from the same side and height. If you block their shots will a wall immediately to your right, and you can move them up to the edge of that wall, then you can shoot them before they move up high enough to shoot back. They can shoot you if you are moving down below a wall.
  • Don't forget Otto can kill robots for you. I know it shows in the attract mode, but sometimes people forget this. This is very handy when it takes too long to make it to a section where you can get a clean shot off on a robot. Head quickly to an exit then let Otto do the work.

If I think of any more tips, I'll let you know!

Awesome tips. My biggest problem is knowing where I am and where they are when a new level begins on the same guy. I like the 1 second warning you get after you lose a guy and restart a level. Wish they'd give you that one second every time. Gives you a bit of time to formulate a plan. The purple robots were tough, is that the last color?
 
Berzerk is a very tough game. My high score is around 20K. My typical game is usually in the 13-14K range. I don't crack 15K very often.
 
Awesome tips. My biggest problem is knowing where I am and where they are when a new level begins on the same guy. I like the 1 second warning you get after you lose a guy and restart a level. Wish they'd give you that one second every time. Gives you a bit of time to formulate a plan. The purple robots were tough, is that the last color?

I think the color keeps rotating. At least it has for my score.
 
I like the 1 second warning you get after you lose a guy and restart a level. Wish they'd give you that one second every time.

You don't want this on the higher levels. The delay is better when the maze lights up upon room entry than it is after dying. Trust me, I have gotten 67k playing left to right, you want the other delay so you can see the maze start to form and can place robots where you think they will spawn when the game maxes out difficulty. Plus you don't technically restart the level when you die, you get an entirely new maze with new robot quantity and less time to plan.
 
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You don't want this on the higher levels. The delay is better when the maze lights up upon room entry than it is after dying. Trust me, I have gotten 67k playing left to right, you want the other delay so you can see the maze start to form and can place robots where you think they will spawn when the game maxes out difficulty. Plus you don't technically restart the level when you die, you get an entirely new maze with new robot quantity and less time to plan.

I just checked out the TG settings for Steve's scores, and I don't have mine set right. I only get one extra life at 10K. Whoo Hoo! I'm going to fix this and see what I can get with another guy! I never knew the diff between fast and slow bullets either. I have some dip switch playing to do! Anyone know what to look for to see if the "RC-31 Logic Program" is installed? My bullets seem no faster than what they did BITD.
 
I just checked out the TG settings for Steve's scores, and I don't have mine set right. I only get one extra life at 10K. Whoo Hoo! I'm going to fix this and see what I can get with another guy! I never knew the diff between fast and slow bullets either. I have some dip switch playing to do! Anyone know what to look for to see if the "RC-31 Logic Program" is installed? My bullets seem no faster than what they did BITD.

The bullet speed maxes out very early in the "slow bullets" version but Evil Otto moves 2x your speed at max which means if you enter a room with one robot or something in this romset, you are dead if you don't book to a top/bottom exit. In the "fast bullets" version, Evil Otto never moves faster than you but at 17 or 18k the speed of the bullets maxes out at 3 or 4 fast bullets in a row shot by the robots.

The fast bullets romset is much more difficult and was released due to operators complaining that players were on the games too long. The only slow bullets version I've played was at Funspot. It is pretty rare. I have a set of slow bullets roms but I've never gotten around to installing them in my machine.
 
The bullet speed maxes out very early in the "slow bullets" version but Evil Otto moves 2x your speed at max which means if you enter a room with one robot or something in this romset, you are dead if you don't book to a top/bottom exit. In the "fast bullets" version, Evil Otto never moves faster than you but at 17 or 18k the speed of the bullets maxes out at 3 or 4 fast bullets in a row shot by the robots.

The fast bullets romset is much more difficult and was released due to operators complaining that players were on the games too long. The only slow bullets version I've played was at Funspot. It is pretty rare. I have a set of slow bullets roms but I've never gotten around to installing them in my machine.

Thanks for the explanation! That's pretty cool. I've only ever played the fast version then. Man, my 15K score would really suck if I had slow bullets, huh?

Anyone else have any useful tips?
 
Thanks for the explanation! That's pretty cool. I've only ever played the fast version then. Man, my 15K score would really suck if I had slow bullets, huh?

Anyone else have any useful tips?

I wrote a intermediate/advanced strategy guide. I sent it to a few folks here that requested, feel free to PM yr e-mail addy if you would like a copy.
 
I wrote a intermediate/advanced strategy guide. I sent it to a few folks here that requested, feel free to PM yr e-mail addy if you would like a copy.

phetishboy @hotmail.com

Thanks Steve W. Feel free to stop in and put a HS on my Berzerk any time.
 
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