Name This Game FAQ Last updated July 7, 2013 ========================== || TABLE OF CONTENTS: || || 1. Legalese || || 2. Plot || || 3. Settings || || 4. Elements || || 5. Filler || || 6. Controls || || 7. Acknowledgments || || 8. Contact || ========================== -------------------------- -- 1. LEGALESE ----------- -------------------------- I was thinking I would copyright this FAQ. Just kidding! It's not copyrighted. I'm distributing it for free on the internet so copyrighting it seems a little absurd. -------------------------- -- 2. PLOT --------------- -------------------------- You and your friend receive a phone call one day. "The treasure you've hidden at the bottom of the sea is in danger," speaks the mysterious voice. "Who is this? How do you know about our treasure?" "A giant octopus is preparing to grab it. You must protect it." "Tell me who you are!" "I wouldn't waste time with questions. That octopus is not very patient." Click. Silence. Beads of sweat gather at your forehead. You say to your friend, "I don't know who that was but we better get out to the sea and protect our treasure. Fast!" "I'll get the speedboat." You arrive at the shore soon after. A dark shadow looms beneath the water -- the giant octopus. You just hope you're not too late. You don your scuba gear during the boat ride over. As you get close, you notice another shadow appear. A smaller, faster one. In the shape of a shark. "This isn't going to be easy," you mutter as you reach for your harpoon. "This is a dangerous game we're playing," says your friend. "I agree." You stand up and prepare to dive. "I just wish it had a name." -------------------------- -- 3. SETTINGS ----------- -------------------------- There are six settings for the game switch. 1: Medium, 1P 2: Medium, 2P 3: Easy, 1P 4: Easy, 2P 5: Hard, 1P 6: Hard, 2P -------------------------- -- 4. ELEMENTS ----------- -------------------------- The game has the following elements: > YOU: You scuba dive back and forth. You can only move horizontally, not vertically. You have a harpoon you can fire straight upwards. Kind of like Space Invaders. This is the Atari, after all. > YOUR TREASURE: It sits there below you. You cannot interact with it. Just don't let anything happen to it. > THE GIANT OCTOPUS: This thing's tentacles mysteriously grow. Shoot them for 50 points. > A SHARK: Oh no! It tries to kill you! It goes sideways until it reaches the end of the screen, then it moves down one row, and then it goes sideways in the opposite direction, and so on. When it gets near the bottom rows, it moves faster. Like... Space Invaders. When you shoot the shark, you will get some points (deeper shark = more points), as well as the distinct advantage of not letting it kill you. If you never shoot the shark, it will eventually reach you. And when it does it will kill you. In other words, you must shoot the shark. Do not forget to do this. After you shoot the shark, it (or possibly a different shark) will appear back at the top and start its descent all over again. You must kill it again. Et cetera, forever. The shark has two speed settings: low and high. When you begin the game, the shark doesn't switch to high speed until it's near the bottom. When you advance to level 2, the row at which it switches speeds is higher up. On level 3, it's higher still. You get the idea. > YOUR FRIEND: According to the graphics, your friend has long hair that whips in the wind, and they are always happy. They sail back and forth on the top of the screen, and every once in a while drop down a line that provides you with oxygen if you touch it. Your oxygen is that red bar at the bottom. You can mostly ignore the oxygen on the lower levels, but as you get higher up, your oxygen depletes faster and faster, and getting a refill from your friend becomes very essential to stay alive. -------------------------- -- 5. FILLER ------------- -------------------------- That's really all there is to say about this very simple game. It's fun for about 2 minutes, and then it's acceptable for another 2 minutes, and then you just get sick of it. It's like eating Brussels sprouts. To pad out my FAQ a little bit, here are some suggested names they could have given Name This Game: - Blood Lake - The Terror of the Giant Octopus - Octopus and Shark - Snorkel to Safety - The Octopus Who Loved Treasure - The Guy Who Protected His Treasure from the Octopus - No Oxygen - Speedboat Friend - Dropping Oxygen Down to the Scuba Diver - Why Does an Octopus Want My Treasure? - Two Minutes' Worth of Fun - Eh: The Game -------------------------- -- 6. CONTROLS ----------- -------------------------- Hey I just remembered I didn't tell you what the controls do. So, in case you didn't already figure them out: - Joystick: Moves your player - Button: Fires your harpoon ...This didn't fill as much space as I had hoped. -------------------------- -- 7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- -------------------------- Thank you to me for writing the first ever Name This Game FAQ! That was very nice of me. -------------------------- -- 8. CONTACT ------------ -------------------------- Perhaps you have some corrections/additions for this FAQ? Perhaps you would like to suggest further names that could have been given to Name This Game? I can be reached at cottonrhetoric@gmail.com Peace, love, and retro gaming, Cotton