Meteos - gameplay guide Version 0.91 By J NOTE: This guide has been written for the European version of this game. There are differences between versions (see note on planet names in Introduction, section 2). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .0. Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To search for a particular section, append references together with dots in-between and at start and end, e.g. '.3.1.5.'. An asterisk (*) indicates an incomplete section. 0. Contents 1. Legal and contact 2. Introduction 3. Current content 4. Gameplay guide 1. Playing Meteos 1. Basics 2. Stacks 2. Planets 3. Strategies 1. Playing for points 1. Deluge* 2. Time War I 2. Playing for Meteos 1. Time War II 2. Simple 3. Fusion 3. Playing for Star Trip endings 1. Straight 2. Branch 3. Multi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .1. Legal and contact ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This guide is distributed under a Creative Commons license (Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ If you come across any significant section of this guide and its use does not comply with the above terms, please e-mail me. To contact me to either suggest information or ideas or point out corrections, use e-mail. The e-mail address to use is J49137@gmail.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .2. Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have chosen to call this a 'gameplay guide': it concerns, chiefly, how to play the game well and attain high scores. I set the standard quite high here, explaining what I think are the best possible strategies. Take the time to familiarise yourself with how the game works first, using section 4.1, before expecting to be able to use these consistently when you play. Note about planet names: I own the European version of the game, in which many planet names vary from other versions'. In the guide, wherever I mention a planet, I include its alternative name (if different) in parentheses that follow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .3. Current content ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the moment, this guide contains: - How to play Meteos. - Data and general strategies for each planet. - Some strategies for Deluge Mode. - Complete sections for Fusion, Time War, Simple and Star Trip. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4. Gameplay guide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The guide starts here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.1. Playing Meteos ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section covers the basics: what Meteos are, why they are bad, and how to get rid of them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.1.1. Basics ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meteos are the coloured blocks that constantly fall from above, and a planet nova occurs when a column piles over the top of the Touch Screen. A nova is bad: it equates to losing a life, and you usually have only one. To save your planet from annihilation, launch Meteos upwards and off the screen. Although play varies immensely from planet to planet and across the numerous game modes, a few things are always the same. When a column builds up to the top of the Touch Screen, you will hear a beep and the column will flash, to attract your attention the fact that the planet is close to a nova. Bear in mind, however, that while one column is flashing, others that pile too high flash only, not beeping, so check all columns after a close call. Meteos can only be dragged up and down their columns, best done using the Stylus. Move them one at a time to align 3 or more of the same type, either horizontally or vertically, which initiates an ignition. Depending on the planet, of which there are 32, the orientation of the alignment (horizontal or vertical), the number of Meteos in the columns directly above, and the number of aligned Meteos, different things can happen; usually, the Meteos and any in their columns above them fire upwards, slowly or quickly, often falling back down. The ignited Meteos (the ones you aligned) turn grey, referred to in-game as 'incinerated', and can no longer be lined up for use in ignitions. Incinerated Meteos turn back - that is, to a random type of Meteos - after having spent a period of time of the ground. Each planet has a set variation of Meteos occurences, and only a few types. - In planets with lower gravity, ignitions are more likely to leave the screen. - The higher the ratio of ignited Meteos to the total number of Meteos launched, the more likely ignitions are to leave the screen. - Whether horizontal or vertical ignitions have greater power is very varied among the planets. In modes where you attack another planet - Star Trip, Simple and Multiplayer - any Meteos that you send off the screen that are not incinerated land on your opponent's/opponents' screen together at once as incinerated Meteos. The Meteos are saved up and shown in the box above the Speeder, and launch if no more are launched for a second, or if you tap the box. If Meteos land on your screen already incinerated, they are from another planet in the match: for those Meteos, the probability for which type of Meteos they will change into if left is dependent on the data for the planet on which they were last non-incinerated. That means you are likely to have incinerated Meteos from Igneous (Firim) return to fire Meteos, even if your planet has a very low likelihood or even an absence of them. Also, Meteos from other planets take much less time to turn back to normal Meteos initially (the first time they land on your planet). The only other way to shoot Meteos upwards apart from by using items is by flicking the top Meteos in a column upwards with the Stylus: if this hits another of the same type in midair, they will both disappear with a tiny poof. Fall speed of Meteos in the air increases as a game progresses - so the going gets tougher, with more Meteos landing all the time. Additionally, they can be sped up by the player, most comfortably done by holding L or R (one exception: stacks on Gigantis (Yooj)). The speed while holding L or R increases as the normal rate does. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.1.2. Stacks ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When an ignition occurs, a stack forms; the Meteos in the stack (those above the incinerated Meteos in their columns) stick together, even (usually) when a secondary ignition is made halfway up the stack. The stack will be no more, returning to its individual Meteos, when left on the ground for a while. This period is equal to that after which incinerated Meteos turn into ordinary ones, and is dependent on planet. It also decreases as the game progress. Stacks can be added to: Meteos or other stacks of Meteos that touch the stack from below (midair only) or above (anywhere) become a single stack, even if they are joined by just a single Meteos. They can also be added to by ignitions that link two stacks, or a stack and the Meteos that would form a new stack anyway because of the ignition. Performing a second ignition within a stack will cause 'x02' to appear; this denotes a combo of 2, contributing to score and, on most planets, launching the Meteos higher. Some planets allow an infinite amount of ignitions in a stack as long as there are non-incinerated Meteos, which is useful in Deluge Mode. The maximum combo is 'x99'. If you align two or more sets of 3 or more Meteos with one movement - so that they ignite at exactly the same time - the combo will increase by only one. Also, if two stacks join together, the highest combo of the two becomes the one over the whole new stack. Sometimes, an ignition in a stack will fire off from the main one, separating the two. The way to determine when this will occur, in order to avoid it, is simple. The rule is that if Meteos that were not incinerated by this new ignition that move up because of the ignition slide plast any other Meteos that are part of the main stack, the entire stack is launched upwards; if none or only the newly incinerated Meteos have this friction with the main stack, a separate stack breaks off (made up of those Meteos above the new ignition). Generally, the way to play is to clear the screen as quickly as possible, which is most effectively done in one go. When the screen is made devoid of Meteos, a great point bonus is given (only helpful in Deluge Mode and perhaps Star Trip); you know you have achieved this when a small white flash emanates from the top of the Touch Screen for a split second. Do this by causing horizontal ignitions in the very bottom row of the screen and aligning Meteos while the stack is in the air so that two or more columns will be added to the stack as it lands. Examples: X = Meteos O = Meteos to be aligned XX XX X OXX X XX X XX X X XXX X X XX X X XX X XXX XXX X XXX XXX X XXX XXX X XXXX X XXXXXXX X XXXXXXX XXXXXO XXXXXXOXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXOX XXXXOO XXXXOOOXX Stack is Line Ignition! falling Meteos up O X XX X X X XXX XX XXX X XXX XXX XXX OXX XXX XX XXX X XXX X XXX O XXX XX XXX XX XXX XX XXOXX XXXXOOOX XXXXO XX XXXXX XX XXXOX XXOOX XXOOXOOX XXOOOOOX Stack is Align Stack Align quickly falling carefully lands for ignition The advantage of using the Speeder (L or R) is great. It will allow you to launch more Meteos back off the screen, which can only mean more points, faster completions and more trouble for opponents. Finally, it is important to look across the whole screen, not focusing too much on one area, especially with those planets that have a wider play area. Send multiple stacks up into the air just to keep the planet alive while you build up to a screen clear. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.2. Planets ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this section, I provide information on each planet: Name: European version name (alternative name). Gravity strength: Self-explanatory - qualitatively judged by Meteos fall speed. Ignition strength: Self-explanatory - qualitatively based on how high a stack of 3x3 or 3x6 goes at game start, including the effect of gravity strength on that. Screen width: The number of columns of Meteos. Revert time: Time taken by grounded stacks to stop being stacks - timed approximately in seconds at match start. Quirks: Strange things on certain planets. Meteos types: The planet's Meteos and their frequency (an overview only). General use: Basic idea of how best to play on the planet. The order is alphabetical because, apart from the initial 4 planets, the order on the selection screen is dependent upon that in which they were unlocked. Name: Aetheria (Brabbit) Gravity strength: High Ignition strength: Medium Screen width: 9 Revert time: 1.5 Quirks: None Meteos types: Air and few of other types. General use: Keep the whole screen in the air for large combos, which is very good both defensively and offensively. Refresh the burnt Meteos by igniting a few in a row and releasing L or R. Name: Anasaze Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: High Screen width: 9 Revert time: 2.5 Quirks: None Meteos types: Mostly soil, a little zoo. General use: Get the whole screen off in the 7th or 8th ignition. Name: Arborea (Wuud) Gravity strength: High Ignition strength: Low Screen width: 10 Revert time: 2 Quirks: None Meteos types: Herb and not much of other types. General use: Like Aetheria (Brabbit). Try not to ignite too quickly to avoid losing the stack off the top. Name: Bavoom Gravity strength: Very high Ignition strength: Very low Screen width: 10 Revert time: 3.5 Quirks: Low gravity strength with speeder on Meteos types: Mostly air, but quite varied. General use: Use its quirk to set up a screen clear and then launch it, but beware that other columns will fill up very quickly. Name: Candelor (Lastar) Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: High Screen width: 10 Revert time: 2.5 Quirks: None Meteos types: Wide variation of common types, plus glow. General use: Set up a screenwide stack that will leave the screen at the 6th or 7th ignition. Name: Cavernis (Cavious) Gravity strength: Low Ignition strength: High Screen width: 11 Revert time: 2 Quirks: None Meteos types: Most of soil, otherwise varied. General use: Screen clears as quickly as possible (x06 combo). Name: Florias Gravity strength: Low Ignition strength: High Screen width: 10 Revert time: 3 Quirks: None Meteos types: Herb and a relatively large amount of zoo. General use: Go for screen clears, making sure to keep track of the whole (wide) playing field in the later stages. Name: Forte Gravity strength: Very low Ignition strength: Low Screen width: 9 Revert time: 3 Quirks: Vertical ignition strength is very high Meteos types: Heavily weighted towards soil. General use: Continue with ignitions in a screenwide stack, keeping a vertical one in reserve until there are no others. Use that saved alignment to clear the screen when the time comes. Name: Geolitia (Geolyte) Gravity strength: Very low Ignition strength: Low Screen width: 9 Revert time: 2.5 Quirks: None Meteos types: Fair spread with a little zoo. General use: Quick screen clears at about x06 combo. Name: Gigantis (Yooj) Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: High Screen width: 11 Revert time: 3 Quirks: None Meteos types: Mostly air, with other common types. General use: Similar to Geolitia (Geolyte). Name: Globin Gravity strength: Low Ignition strength: High Screen width: 10 Revert time: 3.5 Quirks: None Meteos types: A lot of zoo, a little dark, the rest equal. General use: Try to create ignitions of more than 3 Meteos to get the stack to cover the screen before it leaves at about the 5th ignition, especially earlier on in the match. Name: Gravitas Gravity strength: N/A Ignition strength: N/A Screen width: 10 Revert time: 5 Quirks: 1st ignition has no ignition strength, 2nd has near-infinite Meteos types: A wide variation. General use: Launch Meteos as quickly as possible with quick double ignitions. Name: Hevendor Gravity strength: None Ignition strength: Near-infinite Screen width: 11 Revert time: N/A - never had a stack land, though I hear it's possible Quirks: No gravity Meteos types: Equal proportions of many frequent Meteos. General use: Quick ignitions, holding L. Cover the whole screen, not focusing too much on one area, and align Meteos on the bottom row. Name: Holozero (Layazero) Gravity strength: Low Ignition strength: Medium Screen width: 8 Revert time: 2 Quirks: None Meteos types: Zap mainly, and then some of other common types.. General use: Screen clears can be hard to perform consistently while using the speeder, as they take as little as 4 ignitions to launch off the screen. This can work quite well if you can get into the pattern, as few ignitions are needed. Name: Ignius (Firim) Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: Medium Screen width: 7 Revert time: 2 Quirks: None Meteos types: Lots of fire. General use: Clearing the play area is easy to do quickly because of its size and the small combo required. Name: Insomnis (Dawndus) Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: High Screen width: 8 Revert time: 4 Quirks: None Meteos types: Equal spread, including zoo. General use: Screen clears, lasting up to a x08 or x09 combo. Name: Luna=Luna Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: Low Screen width: 9 Revert time: 1.5 Quirks: Commits suic- er...None Meteos types: Similar to Hevendor. General use: Because stacks fall back so slowly, you may need to launch the tops of the rest of the playing field off to save the planet from a nova before you add the next 2 to 4 columns to the stack. Name: Magmor (Jeljel) Gravity strength: Very low Ignition strength: Medium Screen width: 9 Revert time: 2.5 Quirks: None Meteos types: Fire and others. General use: Clear the screen, which occurs after the 7th ignition. Name: Megadom Gravity strength: Very low Ignition strength: Very high Screen width: 9 Revert time: 2 Quirks: Very low ignition strength with large stacks Meteos types: Nothing in particular, all common. General use: Wait for some Meteos to land before launching anything, as small stacks go off the top straight away. You can either launch many smaller stacks as an offensive playstyle, or create a single stack that cannot be launched off the screen in the pursuit of a good defence; the latter poses a danger when the Meteos run out and need to be renewed. Name: Mekks Gravity strength: Very high Ignition strength: Medium Screen width: 7 Revert time: 3 Quirks: None Meteos types: Iron and zap. General use: Launching from low down in the stack that should quickly grow to encompass the entire screen because of its width, continue to launch the stack up to the top as many times as possible before renewing it. Try to quickly, successively, align two sets of Meteos in one launch skywards to renew more of the stack per launch. Name: Meteo Gravity strength: Very low Ignition strength: High Screen width: 11 Revert time: 2 Quirks: None Meteos types: A range, including fair amounts of glow, zoo and dark. General use: The play area's great width makes screen clears hard to set up while staying alive. One way to counter this is to create two large stacks on the screen and join them just before they go off-screen. Name: Neuralis (Wiral) Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: Very low Screen width: 9 Revert time: 3.5 Quirks: None Meteos types: Zap, a small amount of dark. General use: Create a single stack and then set up a few more ignitions within it to get past the 5th ignition and to achieve a screen clear. Name: Oleana Gravity strength: Very low Ignition strength: Low Screen width: 9 Revert time: 2.5 Quirks: None Meteos types: H2O, predominantly. General use: Again, screen clears. Watch out for the slow fall rate that can lead to high columns on the other side of the screen. To avoid novae, start with an ignition that launches the centre columns. Name: Perilia (Boggob) Gravity strength: Very high Ignition strength: Medium Screen width: 9 Revert time: 5 Quirks: None Meteos types: Herb and little of the others. General use: Try to keep the stacks on-screen long enough to join them together. Name: Polaria (Freaze) Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: Medium Screen width: 7 Revert time: 2.5 Quirks: None Meteos types: H2O, with air, soil, iron and zap. General use: Very like Ignius (Firim). Name: Pyros (Hotted) Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: Very low Screen width: 10 Revert time: 2.5 Quirks: 1st ignition weak, 2nd strong, weak thereafter Meteos types: Almost all fire, some iron and very little dark. General use: Set up large stacks in double launches to keep the screen relatively Meteos-free. Name: Sferia (Vubble) Gravity strength: Very low Ignition strength: Very high Screen width: 8 Revert time: 2.5 Quirks: x01 combo vertical ignitions don't work Meteos types: H2O, and including a little glow. General use: Wait for taller columns before attempting to assemble any sort of large stack for a screen clear. Name: Smogor (Grannest) Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: Medium Screen width: 9 Revert time: 3 Quirks: None Meteos types: Common Meteos, with more iron than any other. General use: Again, screen clears at about 8 or more ignitions each. Name: Stellis (Starrii) Gravity strength: Low Ignition strength: Very high Screen width: 8 Revert time: 2.5 Quirks: None Meteos types: The most common here is zoo, and there's some glow. General use: Get the screen clears at 5 to 7 ignitions each. Name: Suburbion Gravity strength: Very high Ignition strength: Low Screen width: 9 Revert time: 4 Quirks: None Meteos types: A relatively large amount of dark with others. General use: Combos make the weak initial ignitions increase in power quickly: the stack will often launch a near-full screen after only 4 ignitions. Aim for ignitions of 4 or 5 Meteos to clear the screen for those extra points. Name: Trinova (Thirnova) Gravity strength: Medium Ignition strength: Very high Screen width: 11 Revert time: 2 Quirks: None Meteos types: Fire and zap, with some glow. General use: Add columns quickly to avoid a nova. Name: Vortinia (Gigagush) Gravity strength: High Ignition strength: Medium Screen width: 11 Revert time: 2 Quirks: None Meteos types: Mostly zoo, but it's not much more frequent than the others. General use: Ignitions need to be quick so as to enlarge the stack in spite of the quick revert time, few Meteos (because most leave the screen every single ignition), quick fall rate and very varied Meteos. The Meteos will not all launch off the screen, so just keep a single, screenwide stack going up and down. Meteos get renewed very efficiently a few minutes into the game, as long as you keep launching from the bottom. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3. Strategies ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the main body of the guide. Here, I go over the various modes in the game and give explanations for how to best cope in the different situations. I have organised the subsections by objective, of which there are very few, but which are spread out across the game's modes, so as to avoid repeating information: this way, I can give a general introduction to the objective that applies to all further subsections. Star Trip has its own section because splitting up its individual modes would get complicated. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.1. Playing for points ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section covers modes where your aim is to earn as many points as possible, within a time- or nova-limit. _______________________________________________________________________________ Firstly, an explanation of the scoring system. You are awarded points for just three things (ignitions, launched Meteos and screen clears): P = number of points N = number of aligned Meteos C = combo number Ln = number of launched non-incinerated Meteos Li = number of launched incinerated Meteos I = 10 when Li is greater than 0 (= 0 when Li is 0) Ignitions: P = 100*N*C Launched Meteos: P = (30*Ln)+(10*Li+I) Screen Clears: P = about 10,000 Not sure what it depends on yet. This shows why it is better to ignite more than 3 Meteos. For every extra one you align, you get a minimum of 100 extra points (a maximum of 9900 extra), while incinerating it loses you only 20 points, and that only if it gets off the screen. Also, consider that when playing for points, there are, where combos can be made, two ways to play: either to aim for screen clears as often as possible, or to aim for a combo as high as possible (possibly with a screen clear at its end too). Deciding which to use depends on the maximum combo before the stack can no longer stay on-screen: if 300*the highest possible combo is greater than 10,000, continue causing ignitions rather than clearing the screen. Therefore, force a screen clear as quickly as possible if the stack cannot stay on-screen for 10,000/300 ignitions - around 33, or 25 or 20 if you can consistently align 4 or 5 Meteos respectively. However, there are few planets that can make it this far, which makes this paragraph quite redundant... Where you can continue combos until you run out of Meteos in the stack, either try to launch it high up to refresh the top half with new Meteos, or set up Meteos that will be easy to ignite to save the planet from a nova when it all lands, to start another combo. This can be repeated infinitely on certain planets to attain multiple x99 combos. _______________________________________________________________________________ Here are general strategies and advice to get points. Of course, these are not true for all planets. Firstly, although not important, always try to ignite 4 or 5 Meteos in a row rather than 3, because you earn 1.333 or 1.666 times more points respectively for it. Keep the speeder on almost all the time, but release the button if you are in danger of annihilation. Secondly, launch from the bottom row, using horizontal launches. This is essential for getting screen clears, which is usually the aim. Add Meteos to stacks a few columns at a time quickly to form one large stack and then launch it off-screen with a few quick ignitions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.1.1. Deluge ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Deluge Mode, you play for as many points as possible in one nova, the maximum score for any one planet being 9,999,999. Unless you can set up an infinite combo one way or another, the amount of Meteos falling past the 3-minute mark is very hard to keep up with, and most games will not last much longer than 3 minutes, at least initially. Here, I will describe strategies for each planet to attain high scores. Again, they are listed alphabetically. To shorten the section, I will describe the two main methods here, and refer to them in the list. The method to use depends on the highest combo achievable before the stack will no longer stay on the screen. The first is for those planets that can sustain more subsequent ignitions; the second, more common general strategy is better where Meteos cannot stay on screen for too high a combo. There are planets that are different, however, and require something else. Use a few ignitions to create a stack and add columns to it so that you control the entire screen of Meteos. The way to set off ignitions within it depends on the planet: either a few to boost it up high so that the top is refreshed with new, non-incinerated Meteos, or as many as possible continually until there are no more possible ignitions. The latter is used where ignitions are not very effective and will not send the stack off the screen. To refresh the stack, either allow it to fall, setting up a few Meteos in place to save the planet from a nova once everything starts flashing; or, preferably (if possible) align a few sets of Meteos in succession to launch everything up and off the screen, earning a screen clear. Even more preferably, just refresh the top half of the stack by moving it up high but not off the screen: this is most effective when the Meteos fall rate is higher, and is more advantageous because the combo is not reset. Otherwise, aim for rapid, continuous screen clears, the quicker the better. Try to assemble a stack with all the screen's Meteos and launch it quickly with multiple ignitions within. _______________________________________________________________________________ Aetheria (Brabbit) This is, in my opinion, the easiest planet to start achieving very high scores on. It is possible to sustain a stack in the air for a long time: make it as wide as the screen and keep launching it up and then letting it fall a bit. This is so as not to lose the stack off the top of the screen, and generally can be raplaced with very fast, multiple ignitions after 2 minutes. When using the speeder does not let the stack rise at all, let go of L or R for a few ignitions to launch it up, refreshing its top, ready for more. Also, keep a few Meteos down the bottom in reserve, lined up ready to ignite if it gets near to losing the stack. Anasaze Here, go for screen clears, which happen at the 8th or 9th ignition. Use the abundant earth Meteos to make finding aligments easy, and make sure to launch from the bottom of the pile to get those 10,000 or so extra points. Arborea (Wuud) Set up a stack for combos. Because the Meteos fall slowly when setting the combo up, you may need to launch a few Meteos while waiting, to avoid annihilation. It is easy to have the stack turn into individual Meteos at the start by launching it too high because few Meteos land, so try not to create too many ignitions early on. It can be helpful to release L or R while the stack is going up so that more of the incinerated Meteos are refreshed. Bavoom The aim is screen clears again. Use the fact that the speeder slows the fall rate to help when putting the large stack together, letting it fall fast when things are aligned for the next ignition by letting go of the button. Beware, though, that keeping the speeder on and waiting for stacks to descend slowly will likely lead to flashing columns elsewhere on the screen. Candelor (Lastar) Screen clears. However, the low amount of ignitions needed makes adding every Meteos to the stack before it goes away difficult. Try to align 5 Meteos for ignitions, or have a falling stack add columns to itself either side, which counts as single extra combo. Annoyingly, before a minute passes, the stack can end up as a single, completely incinerated row after the 5th ignition, and the Meteos are not replaced quickly enough to make another one; avoid this by igniting again on the way up, which will also add more points. Cavernis (Cavious) Let a few rows of Meteos fall before starting, so as to avoid losing small stacks separately. A screen clear usually takes in the area of 8 ignitions. Florias Again, screen clears. Watch out for the wide screen, which makes it hard to cover the whole field of Meteos. Sometimes only a x06 combo will launch everything off-screen, so add everything to the stack as quickly as possible. After 3 minutes, using the speeder is very hard because of the 11 columns, so use it only when a nova is likely. Forte Playing here is quite interesting because of the strength of vertical ignitions. Keep one in reserve in the stack for the end to launch it all, and raise the combo quickly. That the stack barely moves and that half of the Meteos are earth makes very quick successive ignitions easy - aim for 15 to 20 before using that vertical ignition to start the cycle over again. Geolitia (Geolyte) This is the typical planet, where screen clears work best and occur at just the right time for quick play. Quickly set it up and align a few more sets of Meteos to get rid of the screen's Meteos. Gigantis (Yooj) The amount of combos required is 7 or 8, but the high Meteos fall speed and screen width makes it hard to sustain a chain of screen clears for long. You have to work quickly to link up the columns into one stack, while watching all of the screen. Globin The Meteos will leave the screen at a x05 combo even if there are many Meteos in the stack, and the screen's width is 10 columns, so you may need to add columns to both sides of a stack returning to the ground, or create 4- or 5-Meteos ignitions to make the stack large enough before it is launched away. Gravitas This planet is a strange one, and doesn't make it easy to achieve anything high at all. Use 4- and 5-width ignitions in pairs that slightly overlap to rid the whole screen of Meteos in a couple of launches. Screen clears are possible, but difficult to set up: set off x01 ignitions on the far left and far right of the screen, and link these two together on the bottom row with a third ignition that overlaps both of the first two. You will need to keep an eye on the tops of the columns while you set this up. Hevendor Again, it's very hard to reach high scores here because Meteos leave at the first ignition, only returning to the planet under very, very rare circumstances. Screen clears are possible, if you can set off the 3 ignitions required covering all 11 columns at near enough the same time that no more Meteos fall onto the screen before the screen is clear. If you can manage these, go for them all the time; if not, you will make more points by simply launching many small stacks of Meteos as quickly as possible. The reason I say small stacks is that ignitions earn you more points than Meteos launched, so you should aim for ignitions rather than to launch many Meteos. Still, launch larger stacks if you are in danger of a planet nova. Holozero (Layazero) Screen clears are, once again, the objective. They work quite well here, and you should have no trouble getting the Meteos to leave the screen. If you find it hard to attach all Meteos to the stack before it leaves off the top, try to use 4- or 5-Meteos alignments instead: remember that slow screen clears are far more point-efficient, time-wise, than quick launches of quite large stacks. As always, launch from the bottom. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.1.2. Time War I ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2:00 Time War This is very similar to Deluge Mode. You play on Geolitia (Geolyte), and need the best score possible within 2 minutes. Constant screen clears work best and occur at just the right time for quick play. Quickly set it up and align a few more sets of Meteos to get rid of the everything on the screen in one go. 160,000 or more is a decent score here, if you practise enough. _______________________________________________________________________________ 5:00 Time War Again, like Deluge Mode with Holozero (Layazero). However, the speed doesn't increase much, and is still very playable right up to the time limit, meaning higher scores are possible than with the same planet on a Deluge match. Screen clears work quite well here, and you should have no trouble getting the Meteos to leave the screen. If you find it hard to attach all Meteos to the stack before it leaves off the top, try to use 4- or 5-Meteos alignments instead: remember that slow screen clears are far more point-efficient, time-wise, than quick launches of quite large stacks. As always, launch from the bottom. A score of 300,000 is difficult, but achievable. Don't expect anything so high if you're new to the game, though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.2. Playing for Meteos ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The objective is to earn Meteos in two of the Time Wars, and Simple and multiplayer matches. There is no multiplayer section, because that is the same as Simple...and also I have no-one to play with... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.2.1. Time War II ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 100-Meteos War The aim is to launch 100 Meteos as quickly as possible, on Ignius (Firim), and the Meteos fall rate starts very high. When you first play the game, it is difficult even to survive; once you can pick out the alignments to make for a quick screen clear, it gets easier. If you win while holding L or R the entire time, a time above 15 seconds is unlikely: using the speeder is the first step to quick completions. Steps for a good time: - Align the Meteos for the first ignition straight away, either in the middle or completely to one side. Preferably, this should be made of 4 or 5 Meteos, as this will launch more Meteos off the screen in this first ignition. - Add a column or two onto this as it falls back down. If possible, try to create an entire screen stack on this second ignition either by using 5-Meteos ignitions or adding columns either side of the initial stack. This should also be done as quickly as possible. - Add more columns with the next ignition if there are any left (again, quickly); otherwise, align Meteos within the stack (3 only) as it nears the ground. - Wait for some time, then align the final 3 Meteos. The timing is vital: too long and the stack won't go high enough to reach the 100-Meteos target this ignition; too short and it will go off the screen before the target is reached, as there are not enough Meteos on the stack. Aim for about half a second of time of the ground, in general. If possible, use a vertical ignition, as this will lower the time that Meteos take to go up, and negate the possibility of the stack not traveling high enough to reach 100. Basically, fiddle around with the timings of these four ignitions, and you should need only those to launch 100 Meteos. Look at how many Meteos are left to reach 100, or how many more rows would have launched if the limit were not reached, and adjust the timing appropriately next time. If all this is done well, times sub-8.00 are achievable: currently, my best is 7.05. _______________________________________________________________________________ 1000-Meteos War Firstly, use the speeder while you can. Part of getting a time under 1:30 depends on luck - on how many Meteos fall in the time; partly, it's finding good, 3+ Meteos horizontal ignitions quickly; partly, it's strategy. Wait between ignitions for the Meteos to pile up, then launch from the very bottom row, going from one side of the screen to the other so as not to let any one area pile too high. This means that fewer Meteos get incinerated. Also, avoid leaving single or double columns on their own, as their flashing and beeping of impending doom can get annoying. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.2.2. Simple ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Simple game is very similar to a multiplayer game, so these strategies apply to that as well. Here are general strategies to employ in a match. Use the speeder: the more Meteos that come down, the more that can go back up. If there is more than one opponent, aim at one first, then the other once (if) that dies, by selecting it on the left of the Touch Screen. This will kill one quicker, meaning you are bombarded by less of an attack from then on. The basic idea in a Simple match is to launch really large blocks of Meteos together, completely filling your opponent's screens. Do this with screen clears for most planets, as often as possible, and waiting a little for the Meteos to pile up before the final ignition (don't leave it too long, though). On Forte, use a vertical ignition to launch the stack. On Gravitas, Hevendor and Pyros (Hotted), aim instead to launch many stacks as large as possible, unless you can manage screen clears. On Megadom, launch many smaller stacks of Meteos: forming a single massive stack will not allow for it to be launched, and will eventually leave the entire screen flashing. On Aetheria (Brabbit), Arborea (Wuud), Mekks and Vortinia (Gigagush), create a single, screen-filling stack and launch it up intermittently. Use a few ignitions per launch upwards to refresh a lot of Meteos, but not so many that you will lose the stack: this varies with Meteos fall rate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.2.3. Fusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section details how best to earn the Meteos for fusion rather than the actual amounts required for anything. Simply know that to get a planet, item or sound set to appear in the Fusion Room, collect the amount of Meteos required to unlock it; once that is done, it will always be there to fuse at any time you want. Other than playing on the planets with the most of the Meteos type required, you could use this concept from section 4.1.1: 'In modes where you attack another planet - Star Trip, Simple and Multiplayer - [...] if Meteos land on your screen already incinerated, they are from another planet in the match: for those Meteos, the probability for which type of Meteos they will change into if left is dependent on the data for the planet on which they were last non-incinerated. That means you are likely to have incinerated Meteos from Ignius (Firim) return to fire Meteos, even if your planet has a very low likelihood or even an absence of them.' So, play a Simple match as Hevendor against 3 of the planets with the best distribution of the Meteos type you want, set the difficulty to 1 star and the CPU level to the highest you can manage. When already-incinerated Meteos land, allow them to revert to their non-incinerated forms, and then play as you normally would in a Simple match. I say to use Hevendor because this makes it easy to launch a lot of Meteos quickly, especially where the difficulty is low, without incinerating many Meteos; of course, you could use any other planet, to your preference. You will find that you collect pretty much all the more common Meteos you need in normal play anyway, but some of the rarer Meteos are found only on certain planets. Here is a list of the best planets for each Meteos type: either play on them or use the strategy above. This is the order in the Fusion Room, and is pretty much from common to rare. The planets are listed from, in my opinion, best to worst for that Meteos. Air - Aetheria (Brabbit), Bavoom, Gigantis (Yooj) Fire - Pyros (Hotted), Ignius (Firim), Magmor (Jeljel) H2O - Sferia (Vubble), Polaria (Freaze) Soil - Forte, Anasaze, Gravitas Iron - Mekks, Smogor (Grannest), Suburbion Zap - Neuralis (Wiral) (by far), Holozero (Layazero) Herb - Perilia (Boggob), Arborea (Wuud), Florias Zoo - Stellis (Starrii), Globin, Florias Glow - Candelor (Lastar), Meteo, Trinova (Thirnova) Dark - Meteo, Suburbion Soul and Time are extremely rare and evenly distributed across all planets, and can also be fused in the Fusion Room. The following is a list of which planets can provide which of these two 'Rare Metals', but it is advised to buy them instead due to their infrequency in-game. SOUL TIME Aetheria (Brabbit) Anasaze Arborea (Wuud) Bavoom Florias Candelor (Lastar) Forte Cavernis (Cavious) Geolitia (Geolyte) Freaze Globin Gigantis (Yooj) Insomnis (Dawndus) Gravitas Luna=Luna Hevendor Magmor (Jeljel) Holozero (Layazero) Oleana Ignius (Firim) Perilia (Boggob) Megadom Pyros (Hotted) Mekks Suburbion Neuralis (Wiral) Vortinia (Gigagush) Sferia (Vubble) Smogor (Grannest) Stellis (Starrii) Trinova (Thirnova) Planet Meteo and the planet in the credits at the end of Star Trip can have both Rare Metals land. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.3. Playing for Star Trip endings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are a total of 12 Star Trip endings in Meteos. This section concerns unlocking each one. I will add the names of the endings at a later date. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.3.1. Straight ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ONE: INVISIBLE BONDS Complete the mode once, with fewer than 500,000 points to unlock the first ending of the game. You will play against 6 randomly selected planets which are not your chosen Home Planets, plus Meteo at the end, and are able to set the difficulty. It really couldn't be easier. _______________________________________________________________________________ TWO: A MIRACLE REBORN Complete with 500,000 or more points. This is a little more difficult. Firstly, be aware that losing and then continuing will half your total points; secondly, you are given extra points between planets, 10,000 points for the first, working its way up by tens of thousands to 60,000 betweens planets 6 and Meteo. This means, provided you don't suffer a nova, that you have 210,000 to start with, and need only earn 290,000 more. I would suggest selecting Hevendor as your Home Planet because it makes points hard to get. As you go along, use the strategies outlined in the Deluge section (4.3.1.1) but slow it down a little to ensure that the match lasts longer than it would if you attacked as well as possible. You must, however, finish each battle within the 3-minute time limit so as to avoid losing half your points. Play at the highest difficulty you can cope with, probably 3 stars or more required to keep the opponents alive long enough to earn sufficient points. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.3.2. Branch ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THREE: A SPIRITUAL LEGACY FOUR: A SPORT IS BORN FIVE: THE GALAXY EMBARKS SIX: THE NEW UTOPIA SEVEN: THE GALACTIC FORK EIGHT: IN THE ANGEL'S HALO NINE: A NEW UNIVERSE In this mode, each of the 7 possible different encounters with planet Meteo at the end yield a different ending. This time, there are 8 planets to defeat along the way, 28 spread out over the routes; however, they are selected independently of your chosen Home Planet, and are in the exact same layout every time you play. Each time you get a victory by annihilating your opponent within 3 minutes, you get a choice of routes, higher or lower. Select a fairly low difficulty to make achieving all 7 endings here a quick and easy affair. The order in which they are listed above is from top to bottom on the in-game layout. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .4.3.3.3. Multi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A mission is given at each encounter, where you battle with up to 3 other planets: succeed to get a choice of routes, or fail to be forced into the lower option. You always play on a random one of the planets you must play against. Your chosen Home Planet makes no difference at all. _______________________________________________________________________________ STRATEGIES TO WIN MISSIONS If at any point you are about to win without completing the mission, you can try again by forcing a planet nova. You'll halve your points, but get another go. The information is in this format: #. Name Mission/ENDING Planet(s) Strategies 1. H2O Planetaries Win within 2:30 Geolitia (Geolyte), Oleana To beat them quickly, aim at one first, then, after it goes out, attack the other. Aim for screen clears as quickly as possible with either planet. 2. Chlorophylls Launch 200 Meteos or more Arborea (Wuud), Perilia (Boggob) As long as the match lasts more than 30 seconds, you should be able to launch the required amount of Meteos. If this fails, try to be less offensive and make it last a little longer. 3. Molten Hellions Launch 100 Meteos or more Ignius (Firim), Pyros (Hotted) This should be very quick and easy, seeing as 100 Meteos can be launched in a couple of screen clears on Ignius (Firim) or a few large stacks launched on Pyros (Hotted). 4. Earth Lovers Clear the screen of Meteos Anasaze, Cavernis (Cavious), Forte Although easiest on Forte, there is no problem here. Do as normal on the other two, and align 3 Meteos vertically on Forte when the stack covers the screen. 5. Mechatropoloids Clear the screen of Meteos Megadom, Smogor (Grannest) This can be quite difficult to achieve on Megadom because large stacks go virtually nowhere. Try to set the screen clear up before too many Meteos land, or commit suicide until you get Smogor (Grannest). 6. Stray Planet Battle for over 1:00 and win Magmor (Jeljel) As long as you hold off for the first minute, your computer-controlled opponent should last long enough. 7. Dimensionals Send 50 burnt Meteos or more Gravitas, Trinova (Thirnova), Vortinia (Gigagush) Wait until large amounts of burnt Meteos land on the screen, then launch them away quickly before they revert to ordinary Meteos. Easiest on Gravitas since the second ignition is guaranteed to go off-screen. 8. Bubblies Launch 30 H2O Meteos or more Florias, Sferia (Vubble), Stellis (Starrii) This shouldn't be difficult, especially with Sferia (Vubble): just launch Meteos as normal. You are likely to launch 200+ total Meteos anyway; just try not to incinerate many of the H2O ones. 9. Clean Air Club Launch 75 Meteos at once Aetheria (Brabbit), Bavoom, Gigantis (Yooj) To launch so many Meteos, you need to launch a screen-wide stack upwards but not off the screen, and keep it high up with the speeder on so that landing Meteos are immediately launched; set off another ignition if the stack begins to fall before the display on the right indicates that 75 or more will be launched. This can be quite a challenge if the difficulty is low, because the Meteos fall rate won't be great enough to keep stacks from leaving the screen. This is easiest to achieve with Aetheria (Brabbit) because of its very low Meteos fall rate. 10. Hot & Chillies Launch 50 Meteos at once Insomnis (Dawndus), Polaria (Freaze) All this requires is a screen clear, perhaps waiting for a few more Meteos to add to the stack than you normally would before the final ignition. 11. Electric Nymphs Launch 30 Meteos at once Mekks, Neuralis (Wiral) This is quite easy to pull off: just launch a large stack up and off the screen, or keep it up there with more ignitions on Mekks. On Neuralis (Wiral), a screen clear is easily enough. 12. Rare Cultures No mission Candelor (Lastar), Globin, Suburbion No mission - no strategy. 13. Illusionists No mission Holozero (Layazero), Holozero (Layazero), Holozero (Layazero) No mission - no strategy. 14. Twin Moons Win within 1:30 Luna=Luna It's too easy to win here; rather, you should be aiming to fail the mission but win the match. For help with that, see ending twelve below. 15. Hevendor Realm Win within 2:00 Hevendor, Hevendor, Hevendor This can be very hard to do because there are 3 enemy planets. Firstly, you could set the difficulty to a low value for the whole Star Trip. Secondly, be sure to focus on the Hevendors in turn by touching one on the left to select it at the start, then another when the first is annihilated. Try to launch very large stacks from low down on the screen, waiting for incinerated Meteos from the other planets to revert before you launch them. Try not to leave single or double columns on their own near at one side. 16. True Meteo TEN: THE ASCENT Meteo, Meteo, Meteo Again, because there are 3 planets to defeat, you may have some trouble with this one. Aim for screen clears, and follow the advice for mission 15. 17. Meteo ELEVEN: THE GREAT BATTLE Meteo This is easy enough: just defeat planet Meteo. Do as you would on Simple mode. 18. Meteo TWELVE: THE LIMITLESS EYE Meteo This is easy enough: just defeat planet Meteo. Do as you would on Simple mode. _______________________________________________________________________________ STRATEGIES TO SURVIVE To survive in matches where 3 planets attack you together (particularly missions 8, 12, 15 and 16), either set the difficulty to 1 star - this makes things harder when aiming for ending twelve - or aim for one planet over the others, as you might in a Simple match. Do this by selecting the planet to destroy first on the left of the play area; this will help by focusing all attacks on one opponent. Take them out in turn, and there should be no trouble. _______________________________________________________________________________ ENCOUNTER LAYOUT Following each number in the diagram is a dash, then something like '4A-5B', where the numbers are the possible next encounters, and the letters indicate the path. The numbers match those in the section above. A = path opened by completing mission B = path open without completing any missions c = path opened by failing mission 9-12A-13B 16 4-7A-8B 12-15B 2-4A-5B 7-9A-10B 15-16A-17C 1-2A-3B 5-7A-8B 10-12A-14B 17 13-17B 3-5A-6B 8-10A-11B 6-7A-8B 14-17A-18C 11-13A-14B 18 16, 17 and 18 are the 3 possible last matches, and each give a different ending. As you can see, 17 is by far the easiest ending to get because there are 3 routes to it, while 18 requires that you fail mission 14 and 16 requires that you succeed at mission 15. _______________________________________________________________________________ SUGGESTED ROUTES TEN: THE ASCENT For this ending, you must beat 'True Meteo', which is 3 planet Meteos at once. The only way to get to this (16) is by completing mission 15, 'Hevendor Realm'. It is therefore required that you reach mission 12, by succeeding with either mission 9 or 10, preferably 10 because of the easier mission. I suggest this route: win 1 -> 2 -> 4 or 5 -> 7 or win 8 -> win 10 -> 12 -> win 15 -> 16. ELEVEN: THE GREAT BATTLE There are so many possible ways to get to encounter 17, so there is little point in suggesting any one over any others. You will basically end up here if you reach 13, fail 15 or win 14. TWELVE: THE LIMITLESS EYE Attaining this one shouldn't be hard, but it is, because of the absolute failure that is a computer-controlled Luna=Luna. You absolutely must fail mission 14, which entails keeping Luna=Luna alive for 1:30. This is best done by setting the difficulty to 5 stars, and then, once at the mission, not using the speeder until after 1:30. Launch very small stacks off the top of columns, preferably with little more than 5 non-incinerated Meteos on them, when a column starts to flash. After 1:30, you should have no problem helping your opponent to annihilate itself... This is the route I propose, going to 7 (Dimensionals) rather than 8 (Bubblies) for ease of survival. For this, you must win mission 6 (Stray Planet): 1 -> 3 -> win 6 -> 7 -> 10 -> lose 14 -> 18. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------