====Description==== Major Havoc (or The Adventures of Major Havoc) is an arcade action game released by Atari, Inc. in 1983. A vector-based upright arcade cabinet, Major Havoc consists of several smaller game experiences played in succession, including a fixed shooter, platform game, and a lunar lander sequence. It was developed by Owen Rubin with some levels designed and tuned by Mark Cerny, who joined the development team approximately a year into the game's development. The game was released as a dedicated cabinet in 1983 and then one year later as a conversion kit for older vector arcade games like Tempest. Dedicated versions of the game used a roller control for left-right movement, while conversion kits used their native controller hardware, such as the Tempest rotary spinner knob. from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Havoc Tool-assisted superplay (TAS) of Major Havoc Arcade levels 1-21 (1,030,478 points) -The goal of this TAS is to see all the levels achieved by a TAS. -This is not a speedrun -In the maze section, you can kill any enemy (except the cannon) using the shield (1000 points), but only once per life or per level. -The shield can also absorb 4 bullets fired by Robots (Perkoids) (No points). -To get a higher score, I try to kill one enemy (sometimes two 3:48 and 11:46) in each maze. -In the maze, normally an O2 (Magenta) gives you 100 points, but if you collect them after hitting the reactor (Yellow), they give you 1000 points (and increase by 200 points for every subsequent one collected). -The strategy is to keep as much O2 as can be collected before the reactor explodes. -On level 11 the ONE WAY on the left side of the reactor appear to encompass the reactor (15:37). Once you touch the reactor, you can't go back in the direction you came from. I had to change my pattern because I couldn't leave some O2 (to collect after touching the reactor) where I had planned. @jerky512dslextreme commented that it is possible to go back by jumping, he was right, I tested it and if you jump high enough (higher than I tried doing the TAS) you can get back the way you came, even if you're in the middle of the ONE WAY sign. Thanks for the tip, if I do another TAS I will do this part differently. -Level 5, I played with the Fishoids to see what they will do if you don't shoot them (6:00) But you can't do that for long because soon one of them will go straight to you in an inevitable way as shown in level 21 at 34:33. -Level 17, I beat the fishoids by not moving and just holding the fire button (25:19). -The bonus in the Fishoids section decreases by 100 for every second. -Level 7, at the end of the maze (9:19) I wasn't sure if it was possible to jump over the fireball (Pyroid) but there was room to do so. But it was very precise, about a 4 frame window to jump perfectly. -Level 10, in the fighters section (Flyboids), I kept one at the end to see its pattern (12:45). -The bonus decreases by 400 for each fighter (Flyboid) you let pass under you. -When the Bonus reaches 0, the section ends even if you have not killed everyone. -In the "Space Fort" section where there are red line planes that are indestructible, normally the wave ends when you shoot all the fighters (9:40). -The bonus decreases by 400 for each fighter (Flyboid) (not red line planes) you let pass under you. -The section ends if the bonus reaches 0. -Note that the hitbox of many enemies is smaller than expected. I assure you that no invincibility cheats were used, which would be useless for a TAS. At 27:24 we see that the hitbox of a Perkoid does not reach the top of the sprite. But don't try this at home, I was 1 pixel away from dying. -After level 20, Levels 16 to 20 repeat but with random colors. -It took me about 20 hours of work to make this TAS. I hope you find this as fun to watch as I enjoyed making it. Thanks. What is a TAS? ruclips.net/user/Prog61about For a good introduction to TASing: ruclips.net/video/Ietk1-Wb7oY/видео.html For more information visit tasvideos.org. 0:00 Level 01 1:07 Level 02 2:36 Level 03 4:16 Level 04 5:50 Level 05 6:53 Level 06 8:09 Level 07 9:36 Level 08 10:55 Level 09 12:05 Level 10 14:11 Level 11 16:06 Level 12 17:28 Level 13 18:46 Level 14 20:34 Level 15 23:10 Level 16 25:15 Level 17 26:40 Level 18 28:37 Level 19 31:09 Level 20 33:22 Level 21 36:17 End
This arcade game is one of a few that follows the "collection of minigames" format, but I think it's the only one that was vector graphics based. Too bad you can't really get an ending - the devs intended one but it never happened due to ROM space and time constraints: "When we originally designed it, you were going to get to "a" home world every fourth wave. You will notice along the left side of the screen during the "tactical scan" part of the game there are 4 dots and the edge of a planet, and as you move through the 4 waves, the ship gets closer to the planet. Because of time, we never got the planet waves done. Then we thought that we would END the game with a large planet wave, that was Vaxx. It was designed on paper a bit, but again, time and ROM space kept us from doing it." Also, there are "magic" (flashing?) keys which will let you exit out the bottom of the maze instead of having to return to the top. Did you test which way was faster or got more points?
You must not have heard about the Promised End. Owen Rubin approved ending here (links to project detailed in video info): ruclips.net/video/vD-JckArxJY/видео.htmlsi=aKfh8gWfzgP2Pm59 TAS free as well ;)
People unfamiliar with the game may not realize that you're almost instantly nulling out the horizontal motion on every landing, making it drop straight down. @4:08 @9:28 @15:58 strange bug, station explodes before it explodes. @9:40 lolololol
You can go back to the right of the Level 11 Reactoid after you set it off. I do it all the time to collect extra yellow o2. You might end up "inside" the Reactoid at first so you have to jump up and to the right to get out of it (the Clock behaves the same way if you land inside of it). It's a hit box/collision detection bug with these larger objects that should block you from getting inside from the top...but then the player is too tall and can get stuck between the object and ceiling (like how you can get the player stuck under a half wall section). I can see why it looks that way on L11, but it's not anything to do with the One Way sign because you can hop inside the Clock on Level 17 I believe and see the same thing happen. We decided not to fix this bug in The Promised End, but did move the Level 11 Reactoid up against the wall to the right because the button to set it off is on the left side. Didn't make sense to set it off on the side opposite the button and this was the only Reactoid out in the middle of a hallway like that in the OG game.
You're right, I tested it and if you jump high enough (higher than I tried doing the TAS) you can get back the way you came, even if you're in the middle of the ONE WAY sign. Thanks for the tip, if I do another TAS I will do this part differently.
All the weirdness of the game and the thing that seems completely bonkers to me is that extendy-hand thing that stops the reactor from self-destructing if not disabled.
![[TAS] Major Havoc Arcade levels 13-20](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w6ma9KVSUNE/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TAS] Major Havoc Arcade levels 13-20](/img/tr.png)
![[TAS] Arkanoid Arcade (651,360 pts) (Hard)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2MXaWhSqM7w/mqdefault.jpg)
====Description====
Major Havoc (or The Adventures of Major Havoc) is an arcade action game released by Atari, Inc. in 1983. A vector-based upright arcade cabinet, Major Havoc consists of several smaller game experiences played in succession, including a fixed shooter, platform game, and a lunar lander sequence. It was developed by Owen Rubin with some levels designed and tuned by Mark Cerny, who joined the development team approximately a year into the game's development.
The game was released as a dedicated cabinet in 1983 and then one year later as a conversion kit for older vector arcade games like Tempest. Dedicated versions of the game used a roller control for left-right movement, while conversion kits used their native controller hardware, such as the Tempest rotary spinner knob.
from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Havoc
Tool-assisted superplay (TAS) of Major Havoc Arcade levels 1-21 (1,030,478 points)
-The goal of this TAS is to see all the levels achieved by a TAS.
-This is not a speedrun
-In the maze section, you can kill any enemy (except the cannon) using the shield (1000 points), but only once per life or per level.
-The shield can also absorb 4 bullets fired by Robots (Perkoids) (No points).
-To get a higher score, I try to kill one enemy (sometimes two 3:48 and 11:46) in each maze.
-In the maze, normally an O2 (Magenta) gives you 100 points, but if you collect them after hitting the reactor (Yellow), they give you 1000 points (and increase by 200 points for every subsequent one collected).
-The strategy is to keep as much O2 as can be collected before the reactor explodes.
-On level 11 the ONE WAY on the left side of the reactor appear to encompass the reactor (15:37). Once you touch the reactor, you can't go back in the direction you came from. I had to change my pattern because I couldn't leave some O2 (to collect after touching the reactor) where I had planned.
@jerky512dslextreme commented that it is possible to go back by jumping, he was right, I tested it and if you jump high enough (higher than I tried doing the TAS) you can get back the way you came, even if you're in the middle of the ONE WAY sign. Thanks for the tip, if I do another TAS I will do this part differently.
-Level 5, I played with the Fishoids to see what they will do if you don't shoot them (6:00) But you can't do that for long because soon one of them will go straight to you in an inevitable way as shown in level 21 at 34:33.
-Level 17, I beat the fishoids by not moving and just holding the fire button (25:19).
-The bonus in the Fishoids section decreases by 100 for every second.
-Level 7, at the end of the maze (9:19) I wasn't sure if it was possible to jump over the fireball (Pyroid) but there was room to do so. But it was very precise, about a 4 frame window to jump perfectly.
-Level 10, in the fighters section (Flyboids), I kept one at the end to see its pattern (12:45).
-The bonus decreases by 400 for each fighter (Flyboid) you let pass under you.
-When the Bonus reaches 0, the section ends even if you have not killed everyone.
-In the "Space Fort" section where there are red line planes that are indestructible, normally the wave ends when you shoot all the fighters (9:40).
-The bonus decreases by 400 for each fighter (Flyboid) (not red line planes) you let pass under you.
-The section ends if the bonus reaches 0.
-Note that the hitbox of many enemies is smaller than expected. I assure you that no invincibility cheats were used, which would be useless for a TAS.
At 27:24 we see that the hitbox of a Perkoid does not reach the top of the sprite. But don't try this at home, I was 1 pixel away from dying.
-After level 20, Levels 16 to 20 repeat but with random colors.
-It took me about 20 hours of work to make this TAS. I hope you find this as fun to watch as I enjoyed making it. Thanks.
What is a TAS? ruclips.net/user/Prog61about
For a good introduction to TASing: ruclips.net/video/Ietk1-Wb7oY/видео.html
For more information visit tasvideos.org.
0:00 Level 01
1:07 Level 02
2:36 Level 03
4:16 Level 04
5:50 Level 05
6:53 Level 06
8:09 Level 07
9:36 Level 08
10:55 Level 09
12:05 Level 10
14:11 Level 11
16:06 Level 12
17:28 Level 13
18:46 Level 14
20:34 Level 15
23:10 Level 16
25:15 Level 17
26:40 Level 18
28:37 Level 19
31:09 Level 20
33:22 Level 21
36:17 End
This arcade game is one of a few that follows the "collection of minigames" format, but I think it's the only one that was vector graphics based. Too bad you can't really get an ending - the devs intended one but it never happened due to ROM space and time constraints:
"When we originally designed it, you were going to get to "a" home world every fourth wave. You will notice along the left side of the screen during the "tactical scan" part of the game there are 4 dots and the edge of a planet, and as you move through the 4 waves, the ship gets closer to the planet. Because of time, we never got the planet waves done.
Then we thought that we would END the game with a large planet wave, that was Vaxx. It was designed on paper a bit, but again, time and ROM space kept us from doing it."
Also, there are "magic" (flashing?) keys which will let you exit out the bottom of the maze instead of having to return to the top. Did you test which way was faster or got more points?
You must not have heard about the Promised End. Owen Rubin approved ending here (links to project detailed in video info):
ruclips.net/video/vD-JckArxJY/видео.htmlsi=aKfh8gWfzgP2Pm59
TAS free as well ;)
Vector game squad, assemble!
Reminds Me Of The Game "VVVVVVVVVVVV" 2.D Game.
V V V V V V
People unfamiliar with the game may not realize that you're almost instantly nulling out the horizontal motion on every landing, making it drop straight down. @4:08 @9:28 @15:58 strange bug, station explodes before it explodes. @9:40 lolololol
If some dude just pulled up to a Major Havoc cab and did this, you’d SHIT yourself incredibly violently lmfao what a tas
You can go back to the right of the Level 11 Reactoid after you set it off. I do it all the time to collect extra yellow o2. You might end up "inside" the Reactoid at first so you have to jump up and to the right to get out of it (the Clock behaves the same way if you land inside of it).
It's a hit box/collision detection bug with these larger objects that should block you from getting inside from the top...but then the player is too tall and can get stuck between the object and ceiling (like how you can get the player stuck under a half wall section). I can see why it looks that way on L11, but it's not anything to do with the One Way sign because you can hop inside the Clock on Level 17 I believe and see the same thing happen.
We decided not to fix this bug in The Promised End, but did move the Level 11 Reactoid up against the wall to the right because the button to set it off is on the left side. Didn't make sense to set it off on the side opposite the button and this was the only Reactoid out in the middle of a hallway like that in the OG game.
You're right, I tested it and if you jump high enough (higher than I tried doing the TAS) you can get back the way you came, even if you're in the middle of the ONE WAY sign. Thanks for the tip, if I do another TAS I will do this part differently.
All the weirdness of the game and the thing that seems completely bonkers to me is that extendy-hand thing that stops the reactor from self-destructing if not disabled.
Atari made some great vector games, too bad I never saw this one in the arcades as a kid. I never even heard of it until I saw this video.
Will do the TAS with Williams' _Turkey Shoot_ ?