From: dcchan@engin.umich.edu (David Chi Wei Chan)
Subject: REPOST:  SmashTV and the Pleasure Dome
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 92 20:55:50 EDT
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor

This list is what I've saved from this newsgroup regarding SmashTV.  The
last couple articles (including one by yours truly) details the Pleasure
Dome and how to get there.

Enjoy!

-Tony Chen
 adchen@lee.cs.uiowa.edu


From: rmv2498@zeus.tamu.edu (VURLICER, RYAN MARK)
Subject: Re: Smash TV
Date: 26 Oct 91 19:22:39 GMT

	My absolute best is 14 million +  on one credit.  This is mainly due
to the fact that in a two player game, for some reason, Scarface tends to 
concentrate mainly on player one.  Being player two, I have a better chance to
get past him.  But the only way you can really expect to go anywhere, in my
opinion, is to have an excellent second.  There are about four people I know of
with whom I have a good chance of getting beyond Scarface.  On a really good 
day, both player will get past.  The first few stages of level 3 are fairly 
easy (and lots of points if you concentrate on killing the snakes that pour
out of the statues).  This allows you to build up a couple of men for the last
4 or five stages.  One skill that is an absolute must is the ability to dance
among the mines w/ out hitting one.  (How many people thought those things on
level 2 were powerups the first time you saw 'em?  Love the hange time on the
eyeballs...)
	Another skill you have to get good at is keeping your drone.  Double the
firepower is invaluable  (especially w/ the three way gun).
	Another really useful trick for level three is the everpopular tank 
trick.  There are at least three levels where the primary baddies are tanks.
If you have missiles, or the blade barrier, it is easy to kill the pilot without
destroying the tank.  DO NOT KILL THE TANK.  This will leave a pilotless tank
running around.  On the game I play, four is the maximum that come out.  Then,
all you have to do is avoid shooting them, or being run over, and collect 
goodies for a while.  (Note:  The tanks also run over (and kill) snake-warriors
and level 1 grunts [wielding 2X4s]).  

	Another really useful trick is to power down the game right before you
play it.  this wipes the daily high scores (sorry), but does not affect the 
all-time highs.  Once the daily scores reach a certain level (or perhaps simply
a set number of games are played), drones stop appearing, and extra men become
rarer.  Resetting the machine resets this.  Meaning drones and extra men.  Lots
of fun.

	Am I the only one who thinks that the cash award given at the end of the
stage bears little to no resemblance to the amount of cash picked up?

Ryan Vurlicer

(Still haven't gotten past the twin cobras though...)


From: kmiyake@village.rutgers.edu (Keith Miyake)
Subject: Re: Smash TV
Date: 26 Oct 91 22:20:47 GMT

I have made it to the end of the game (past the Game Show Host) on a credit
(two-players).  I have not played any of the new revision ROMs, and have
not yet seen the Pleasuredome.  My high score is somewhere in the 17 mil.
range.

One method I have heard of to get a high score is to try and make the game
reset (hitting the side of the cabinet).  This can bring up one of the
'secret warps'.  Other side effects may include losing the game to a reset
and being kicked out of the arcade or worse.  I don't do this, but I have
heard that it won't warp you past a certain point, so you can go 'backwards'.

General hints:
keep moving, don't stay together when playing two-player, try to pick up
all the goodies, don't waste special weapons (esp. the missle), figure out
how much it takes to kill things (like mr. shrapnel), remember where things
like the balls are supposed to come out, move closer to shoot faster

I like to take paths that go up rather than down.  Some of the lower ones
are harder, and don't seem to have any gain in terms of money.

>  Am I the only one who thinks that the cash award given at the end of the
>stage bears little to no resemblance to the amount of cash picked up?

From my experience, it seems that getting killed will 'zero' out one (or more)
of the end of round bonuses (chosen at random?).  Continuing a game (adding
more money) sometimes seems to give extra bonuses.

>(Still haven't gotten past the twin cobras though...)
Stay at the bottom of the screen and move side to side while shooting up.

Keith
-- 
kmiyake@cs.rutgers.edu


From: tannerr@prism.cs.orst.edu (Ryan Tanner)
Subject: Re: Smash TV
Date: 26 Oct 91 08:30:20 GMT

My all time high score is a little over 25 million on one credit playing
doubles (he finished on one also).  We have ROM ver 8.00.  25 million
is the highest score I've heard of.  I consistently reach Diecobras, and     
usually beat them.  I never pump anymore.  We've asked the arcade owner to
increase the difficulty level twice so far though it was already above
the easier settings.  

My advice is to get a partner and practice.  Remember, you're a team.  Don't
snag stuff the other player needs to live.  If he dies off, you're going to
be dieing soon (although I have finished all but the last wave of the
snake level by myself (that's always fun)).  Also, stick to the corners
on the harder levels.  Learn to shoot defensively.  Help out your
partner when he's swarmed and you can spare the shots.  Don't fight
over extra guys and gifts and guns.  

Anybody figure out the nondeterministic scoring system at the end of
mutoid man, scarface, and the host?

anyone else finish on one?  let me know.

Ryan (tannerr@prism.cs.orst.edu)


From: UD137927@NDSUVM1.BITNET
Date: 30 Oct 91 02:55:52 GMT
Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computer Network


     It's been awhile since anyone's turned on our net.window to the rgva
group, so it was a fine day at the office as we all ignored all the important
stuff to do, and listed our personal comments on the various games you talked
about -- all over Jed's shoulders, of course, so he couldn't hear himself
think, but that's what he gets for netpassing on the office link.
     While a few of the devoted staffers here took sympathy with the
beleagured foes of the endless SFII fans, what guaranteed a response was the
plaintive cry for help from Smash TV fans. Having one of the few business
offices where otherwise sensible staff members can solve both SFII and Smash on
one credit, we thought you'd like some small tips from the Frozen North.

     THE KEYS -- are used to enter, natch, the Key Rooms. Opinion's divided
as to how many are needed for what room, but it certainly can't hurt picking
them up.

     THE PLEASURE DOME -- Map follows:

     If your machine is set right -- and of the three in our town, one set
at a _lower_ level CAN NOT access it -- occassionally the second room you enter
will have a different title. Pardon the memory lapse, but it's been a few
months since the last game. Anyway. Keep with it! This means that the Pleasure
Dome is accessibleduring this credit (or strings of credits). Make sure to get
at least one key in this room, and then play the mazes however you prefer them,
 all the way up to and beyond the Two Cobras.
     Now -- enter the first key room. Be bored to tears by the endless
onslaught of gun fodder. Be on the look out. Somewhere, either in this room, or
the one immediately to your right, is the furtive entrance to the Dome. If
you've solved the game at all,the entrance will stand out like a sore thumb --
it goes down, doors opening that usually don't. Take it -- it's lots more fun
than killing the host, as deserved a death as that might be.
     You will find yourself in a series of rooms that make the Key Rooms look
like Space Invaders. Proceed to destroy everything in your path. Smash novices
may be interested to note the appearance of a _new_ villain here, the "shadow
men," so ingeniously named because they resemble the usual grunts, except
they're shadowy. They're about as proportionately faster than red grunts as
red are above blue-green-brown etc. Nasty.
Anyhow -- when success is yours, you'll find yourself in the tastefully
attired Pleasure Dome, where, unlike the usual end games you pick up
miniture copies of those pneumatic bimbos from all over the floor instead
of little Santa presents. There! Safe, done, and legendary. Enjoy the trip,
visit when necessary, and don't forget to pick up keys.


                            -- The Orb
                               subscriptions available

From: UD137927@NDSUVM1.BITNET
Subject: Re: Help with Smash TV (SMASHTV)
Date: 31 Oct 91 22:01:51 GMT

     The Orb's always glad to be of help, gang -- even though our
arcade data base is a little less impressive than, say, our
Libertarian library (until one of our founding members ran away with it
-- sigh!).
     Still, Mary and Jed would like to say that they're touched by all
the e-mail they got on the subject of Smash TV! Apparently, though, a
few people were a bit lost in our "map" discussion. Given the technological
levels of North Dakota, sending e-mail is much like waiting for the Pony
Express, so we'll just post general answers to the net and hope the rest
of you SF II fans just skip on to the next post.
     Fisrt, yes, the mythical "second room" listed in the Map _is_ the
second room you enter, period, in the game, the one right after that
cake walk of a first screen (some of our staff players insist on using
nothing except bombs, razor disks, and force fields to kill all the
grunts on that screen).
     Sadly, it's been ages since any of us has played the game, so we've
forgotten the room names, including the alternate title of Room #2 that
would let you know that the game is allowing itself to be beat. I guess
if enough people write in with enough pleas (and thank yous) for help
we could scuttle the Orb's coffee fund and give it to the R&D staff to
go do some backtracking research. Quarters, away!
     The key rooms that are mentioned are the ones immediately after the
cobras. Another poster's hints on passing them -- staying on the bottom
of the screen and shooting up -- are as good as any we could give.
Even Jed's stumped on a system to beat Scarface into the slime he so
dearly deserves to be, although hard practice and observation seems to
point out that Player #2 seems to be ignored until Player #1 is paste.
     Anyway -- back to the key rooms. Once again, memory fails us as to
which one to look for (hey, it was almost a year ago!), but if any of
you have done that same walk to the host at the end of the game, LOOK FOR
AN EXIT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN, probably in either the first or
second key room. By all means, take it, and watch out for the shadow
guys. Once again, you can't GET to the Pleasure Dome if that alternative
title doesn't show up in the first stages Room #2. What triggers that,
we have no idea.
     Finally, human interest moves us to observe that in most of the games
that we "triggered" the Pleasure Dome sequence, both your "friendly" orbs
and extra lives seem to be in short supply (less than 2 lives given per
level, no "friendly" orbs at all). Take that as any warning you may. Jed,
he just sees it as a challenge, and has now formally challenged the
editorial offices to a game of Smash TV. The rest of us just know that that's
Jed's infantile compensation for never having got past the "bowling alley"
stage in Tempest.


--The Orb
submissions requested


From: adchen@lee.cs.uiowa.edu (was adchen@phoenix.princeton.edu)


Okay, for all those Smash TV players out there who are wondering about
the elusive Pleasure Dome, my friend and I reached what was titled the
"Outer Region of the Pleasure Dome" (or something like that).  

Requirements:  at least ROM version 8.00 

To tell which version your machine is, the second room (i.e the room
right after the really easy first room) should say "Collect 10 keys".
If it says only "Collect Powerups" you've got older ROMs.  To be really 
sure, turn your machine off and on (it'll erase the daily high scores) and 
the ROM version should show up on the screen.

The only thing you have to do during the game is to keep grabbing keys.
Actually, even this might not be a strict requirement.  The 3rd or 4th
room before the Pleasure Dome the message will be "You don't have enough
keys."  This is total nonsense!  We collected ZERO keys in that room and
the next room message was "You have enough keys!" 

Anyway, the most crucial room is a very long room, in terms of enemies.
It seems like forever for them to stop coming at you.  When you're
finally done, the choices of exits will be RIGHT and DOWN.  Going right
leads to the Evil MC (last end guy), and on old ROMs you will only get
this choice.  Going down leads to the above-mentioned "Outer Region of
the Pleasure Dome".  This suggests the existence of other Pleasure Dome
rooms, and in fact the maps of levels 3 and 4 show several "?" rooms.

If you don't know if the room you're in is THE room, either count how
many rooms you move across (to the right) or better yet, be familiar
with the messages.  I'm pretty sure "You have enough keys!" is the
key message in this crucial room.

You'll notice the Pleasure Dome when you see it because the entire room 
is constantly flashing.  Very annoying to the eyes.  You collect a huge 
wad of minature bimbos, racking up points in the process.  You also get 
a blank screen saying something like :

Mutoid Man - killed
Scarface   - totally wasted
Die Cobras - fangless
Evil MC    - coming soon

Then you get to tackle the Evil MC as usual.

We're trying to figure out ways to get to the "?" rooms.  The odd thing
is that some of those rooms are diagonal from the other rooms, and there
appears to be no way to reach them.  Oh well, the carnage continues...