Yeah, I didn't post a link. All of the flash versions are exceedingly difficult to play by moving the mouse around on a tiny screen. And Robotron is much, much harder than this game. Centipede is more-or-less a one-trick pony in comparison.
If you wish to play (I'm glad someone does), the best thing to do is download two very small files.
The free MAME emulator is at
Code:
http://www.romnation.net/srv/emulators/mame.html
and the free Centipede rom is at
Code:
http://www.romnation.net/srv/roms/55644/mame103/Centipede-revision-3.html
My copy of the game is the Multi Arcade Machine Emulator rom. It has the same dip switches as the original game. One can alter gameplay in two significant ways with the Atari dip switch on this game. One can increase your number of starting men from three to five. I'll be honest, I did that. One can also decrease the score required to earn an extra man from 12,000 down to 10,000. I didn't do that, and the .png screenshots I posted reflect this.
Unfortunately, the rom (revision 3 listed at romnation is the same one I have from years ago) is not set up for use with a trackball. You can use arrow keys or the mouse to move around.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by wiki
Strategies
Several strategies were subsequently developed to circumvent the normal play of the game, leading to scores in excess of one million points and games lasting several hours.
One popular strategy, the "blob," involves deliberately filling the rows immediately above the shooter with a field of mushrooms, thereby neutralizing the disruptive effect of the fleas. Clearing the screen of mushrooms above the blob greatly slows the descent of the centipede, allowing the player to amass points by hunting spiders.
A second successful strategy is the "trap," whereby the player creates a mushroom trap one column from the edge of the screen and strategically deposits mushrooms at the second, fourth, and sixth rows, creating a trap for the centipede. The player can then rack up points indefinitely by defending the trap from spiders.
World record scores
Eric Ginner of Mountain View, CA, was the first Centipede champion, winning the 1981 Atari National Championships, held in Chicago, 10/18/81. By the end of '82, both Darren Olsen of Calgary, AB, and Billy Mitchell, of Hollywood, FL, had attained over 25 million points on Centipede, primarily using the "trap" technique of play.
To verify differences in gameplay, the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard divided Centipede gameplay into two categories: Marathon (using the trap, the blob and other tricks) and Tournament (using no tricks, just constantly firing -- commonly called the "shoot-em-up" method.)
Today, only submissions on Tournament play are accepted. The world record for Tournament play now stands at 7,111,111 points, achieved by Donald Hayes of Salem, NH, on 11/05/00 at the Funspot Family Fun Ctr. in Weirs Beach, NH. The feat took approximately 9 hours of non-stop play on one quarter. On 2/05/01, Hayes was honored by his local City Hall for his accomplishment.
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If I can manage to learn the "trap" method, I feel confident that I could get up into the millions on this game. All I've done is use the "blob" method.
blob method in action
