For anyone curious, this exploit stems from a coding error/bug in a single line of code of the original arcade game released back in 1981. I don't recall the specifics (something to do with an errant minus value or something), but some MIT types broke the entire game's code down line by line and figured out the exact cause several years ago. I've never done this exploit via emulation, so I don't know and can't say anything about that, but as far as I can tell, this exploit works on any version ported from the original arcade code, as the bug in the code is still there. I first learned of this exploit in an arcade in 1983, and have made a point to test it on every single Galaga variant I come across since then, with mostly success. I have done this on every official Galaga arcade cabinet I have ever come across, including the 20th Anniversary arcade cabinet with Ms. Pacman. It also works on the Xbox arcade version, amongst other home console versions. There are also quite a few "alternate" and "knockoff" versions out there that don't work, due to different coding from the original. I also wanted to add that this exploit is not limited to Stage 1. I can personally attest that it definitively can be done on any stage up to and including Stage 10 (not including the Challenging Stages, obviously). I never bothered to try it on any stage beyond Stage 10, but it *should* work on any non-Challenging Stage. In my personal experience, Stage 4 has consistently been the fastest, but that has to be considered anecdotal, as I can't quantify that in any tangible way. I can't say if all this also applies to emulation, but I would think it would work on any emulated version based on the original code. What I can say it that it works most places I have tried it.
I just read the detail. Apparently when one of those 4 enemies (two on left mentioned as well as two on farthest right) take a shot from position 0 (just off the left screen) it doesn't clear one of the -six- 8 registers (they can only shoot -six- 8 missiles at a time). When all -six- 8 are full then it "thinks" there are -six- 8 shots on the screen already so holds fire. While the "safe" position for your ship is nice, I think you have to keep crossing the middle so an enemy shoots from position 0. Also, doing it part way 6/8 or 7/8 may still make future levels easier if they only shoot 1 or 2 shots at a time. But some people have trouble dodging non-shooting enemies! If they had made a version for Atari 2600, I could see a "teddy bear" game variation where they don't shoot, and another that just has the bonus rounds.
@@karmaduq You are correct. I read the breakdown of code, but mistook that it puts the number 6 in one of 8 registers for 6 registers. Once I learned my mistake, I only fixed one comment, until now.
@@sandal_thong8631 Does this work after the enemies fire 255 shots in the same round? I ask this because many 8-bit games use only 1 register to count and problems occur when it tries to go below 0 or above 255 (e.g. Pac-Man's glitch level at 256).
@@mchenrynick When it shoots it puts a 6 in one of 8 slots, and when it hits the bottom, it puts a 0 there, unless it's in vertical position 0, an oversight. Maybe if you beat 255 levels, something happens to the game.
Here is a trick that works. In the second phase, you need to shoot the bottom far left blue ship last. Before you do this, make sure you have one of your ships captured and recovered. Once you shoot the bottom far left blue ship, you will be in the bonus round and have two of your ships to shoot with. From this point forward, none of the enemies will ever shoot again. Basically, shooting by the enemies will have been turned off. Enjoy….
I just heard about this trick about a week ago, blew my mind. I played Galaga growing up, I wasn’t that good until I got older. There was an arcade Galaga in our lunch hall at a job I had in my late 20’s I would pay everyday at lunch for the entire lunch break, eventually figured out the fire pattern & movements of the aliens. Eventually got to flip the game, it was infinite go to a million point & go back to zero or go up to level 100 then go back to level 1. I could finish the game with my first man, not die once & go all the way to the end. As a young kid in the arcade watching older teenagers drop a quarter in a game & play for what seemed like forever, I was finally that player.
To all of those who have tried it (under emulation) and have not succeeded; you MUST follow the instruction in the description and use the Galaga Namco Midway Set 1 ROM. Although the OP says the Namco Rev B ROM also works, it never worked for me. However, loading the Galaga Namco Midway Set 1 (ROM name: galagamw) worked like a charm...I am running Advance MAME v1.4 on a Raspberry Pi 3B+. -The two blue aliens stop dropping bombs somewhere between 5 and 10 mins. Hope this helps!
The truth is I have known of this trick four years! However it is not the two left ones but only the lower left one in the corner, that's the only one you have to worry about! I have done this trick well over a hundred times and have never had to do with two! It is much easier also it just one you don't have to dance around as much
The guy breaking down the code says there are four enemies that do the shot in position 0 off the screen (two on left and two on right). Once they do it -6x- 8x then it thinks there are -six- 8 shots on the screen already so won't shoot.
I tried this on a Arcade1up Galaga 2in1 countercade 2Gen and it didn’t work. After 40 minutes the enemy ships kept shooting and I gave up. The doesn’t work.
@@virtualintrepidpilot i have a namco revision b, didnt work for me either. That 20 min im not getting back, ahh well must say i have spen a lot more time on a lot sillier things.
I don't think you can keep your ship in the "safe" position shown in this video and have it work. The enemy ships have to shoot from position 0, which is off the left side of the screen 6x. The game only allows 6 enemy shots at a time, so even if you do it 5/6 of the way, you may find levels easier if they only make 1 shot at a time.
I hated the trick. I could play for hours straight, no tricks, and the trick just made it so people using the trick could play at my level without using the trick.
![[TAS] Galaga Arcade 201.4% hit-miss ratio (Double ship) (31 stages)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mWZYJykjvGw/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TAS] Galaga Arcade 201.4% hit-miss ratio (Double ship) (31 stages)](/img/tr.png)
For anyone curious, this exploit stems from a coding error/bug in a single line of code of the original arcade game released back in 1981. I don't recall the specifics (something to do with an errant minus value or something), but some MIT types broke the entire game's code down line by line and figured out the exact cause several years ago. I've never done this exploit via emulation, so I don't know and can't say anything about that, but as far as I can tell, this exploit works on any version ported from the original arcade code, as the bug in the code is still there. I first learned of this exploit in an arcade in 1983, and have made a point to test it on every single Galaga variant I come across since then, with mostly success. I have done this on every official Galaga arcade cabinet I have ever come across, including the 20th Anniversary arcade cabinet with Ms. Pacman. It also works on the Xbox arcade version, amongst other home console versions. There are also quite a few "alternate" and "knockoff" versions out there that don't work, due to different coding from the original.
I also wanted to add that this exploit is not limited to Stage 1. I can personally attest that it definitively can be done on any stage up to and including Stage 10 (not including the Challenging Stages, obviously). I never bothered to try it on any stage beyond Stage 10, but it *should* work on any non-Challenging Stage. In my personal experience, Stage 4 has consistently been the fastest, but that has to be considered anecdotal, as I can't quantify that in any tangible way. I can't say if all this also applies to emulation, but I would think it would work on any emulated version based on the original code. What I can say it that it works most places I have tried it.
I just read the detail. Apparently when one of those 4 enemies (two on left mentioned as well as two on farthest right) take a shot from position 0 (just off the left screen) it doesn't clear one of the -six- 8 registers (they can only shoot -six- 8 missiles at a time). When all -six- 8 are full then it "thinks" there are -six- 8 shots on the screen already so holds fire. While the "safe" position for your ship is nice, I think you have to keep crossing the middle so an enemy shoots from position 0.
Also, doing it part way 6/8 or 7/8 may still make future levels easier if they only shoot 1 or 2 shots at a time. But some people have trouble dodging non-shooting enemies! If they had made a version for Atari 2600, I could see a "teddy bear" game variation where they don't shoot, and another that just has the bonus rounds.
@@sandal_thong8631 I've seen as many as 8 bombs on screen, but it makes sense to cap it lower on earlier levels.
@@karmaduq You are correct. I read the breakdown of code, but mistook that it puts the number 6 in one of 8 registers for 6 registers. Once I learned my mistake, I only fixed one comment, until now.
@@sandal_thong8631 Does this work after the enemies fire 255 shots in the same round? I ask this because many 8-bit games use only 1 register to count and problems occur when it tries to go below 0 or above 255 (e.g. Pac-Man's glitch level at 256).
@@mchenrynick When it shoots it puts a 6 in one of 8 slots, and when it hits the bottom, it puts a 0 there, unless it's in vertical position 0, an oversight.
Maybe if you beat 255 levels, something happens to the game.
Here is a trick that works. In the second phase, you need to shoot the bottom far left blue ship last. Before you do this, make sure you have one of your ships captured and recovered. Once you shoot the bottom far left blue ship, you will be in the bonus round and have two of your ships to shoot with. From this point forward, none of the enemies will ever shoot again. Basically, shooting by the enemies will have been turned off. Enjoy….
I just heard about this trick about a week ago, blew my mind. I played Galaga growing up, I wasn’t that good until I got older. There was an arcade Galaga in our lunch hall at a job I had in my late 20’s I would pay everyday at lunch for the entire lunch break, eventually figured out the fire pattern & movements of the aliens. Eventually got to flip the game, it was infinite go to a million point & go back to zero or go up to level 100 then go back to level 1. I could finish the game with my first man, not die once & go all the way to the end. As a young kid in the arcade watching older teenagers drop a quarter in a game & play for what seemed like forever, I was finally that player.
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To all of those who have tried it (under emulation) and have not succeeded; you MUST follow the instruction in the description and use the Galaga Namco Midway Set 1 ROM. Although the OP says the Namco Rev B ROM also works, it never worked for me. However, loading the Galaga Namco Midway Set 1 (ROM name: galagamw) worked like a charm...I am running Advance MAME v1.4 on a Raspberry Pi 3B+.
-The two blue aliens stop dropping bombs somewhere between 5 and 10 mins.
Hope this helps!
French Narrator: TEN MINUTES LATER...
I used to roll this game over back in the day w/o knowing this trick. Wish I had known it then.
now you know
I loved this game when I was young going to the arcade it used to cost 20 cents where I lived
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I remember at the arcade during the week, you could get 8 tokens for $1 or 50 tokens for $5 :)
cool
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The truth is I have known of this trick four years! However it is not the two left ones but only the lower left one in the corner, that's the only one you have to worry about! I have done this trick well over a hundred times and have never had to do with two! It is much easier also it just one you don't have to dance around as much
The guy breaking down the code says there are four enemies that do the shot in position 0 off the screen (two on left and two on right). Once they do it -6x- 8x then it thinks there are -six- 8 shots on the screen already so won't shoot.
Thank you for your observation
@@virtualintrepidpilot Oops 8x I mean. For some reason he said it puts a 6 in the 8 registers.
Legit, increased my scores by 10%, every time.
Nice
I did this on mame and since you can save states of the game I can go back and continue it a and ad to the score, LOL
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I didn't know that incredible
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Does this works on arcade game collection on ps4? In options there are 2 versions: classic or new
I never try in PS4. But maybe in classic. Thanks for your comment please subscribe to our channel.
Same thing in slap fight don’t shoot on your first man then when you eventually die you will be teleported
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How many ships can be captured and rescued at the same time?
Only one
One
Does it work on the Namco Museum version on Nintendo Switch?
it doesn't work, thanks for your comment subscribe to our channel.
I tried this on a Arcade1up Galaga 2in1 countercade 2Gen and it didn’t work. After 40 minutes the enemy ships kept shooting and I gave up. The doesn’t work.
Only works on Galaga namco Rev. B arcade version.
@@virtualintrepidpilot i have a namco revision b, didnt work for me either.
That 20 min im not getting back, ahh well must say i have spen a lot more time on a lot sillier things.
@@virtualintrepidpilot Will not work on the bootlegs?
@@jeffven8847 It does work.
I don't think you can keep your ship in the "safe" position shown in this video and have it work. The enemy ships have to shoot from position 0, which is off the left side of the screen 6x. The game only allows 6 enemy shots at a time, so even if you do it 5/6 of the way, you may find levels easier if they only make 1 shot at a time.
Put you ships between 20 200
200 the 20 and 000
And don’t move
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I didn't understand what this "trick" does... what happens? I watched twice and for me, nothing happened! lol
Hes making the game easier cuz once the trick is activated notice that the enemies are no longer firing at you! 😎👍
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Will this work on a xbox?
If you've got mame or some arcade emulator.
It doesn't work on my namco collection for the Xbox why it supposed to be a true arcade emulation
In namco collection for Xbox doesn't work, is only for arcede version. You can try using MAME.
I hated the trick. I could play for hours straight, no tricks, and the trick just made it so people using the trick could play at my level without using the trick.
The tricks usage is only to show one bug on the game