+-+-+-+-+ | Q I X | +-+-+-+-+ GAME: QIX PLATFORM: ARCADE GENRE: ARCADE PUZZLE CREATOR: TAITO Copyright 1981 AUTHOR OF THIS FAQ: Kevin Butler AKA War Doc E-MAIL: kevinb(at)technologist(dot)com FAQ VERSION: 1.01 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS UNIT I: INTRODUCTION 1. Legal Stuff 2. Version Information 3. Acknowledgements 4. Welcome 5. Overview UNIT II: GAME INFORMATION 6. The Game 6.1 The Controls 6.2 The Playing Fields 6.3 Scoring UNIT III: STRATEGIES 7. Playing the Game UNIT IV: CONCLUSION 8. Conclusion _______________________________________________________________________________ To find a particular chapter or subchapter do the following: 1. Highlight the chapter or subchapter name you wish to find. 2. Press CTRL-C 3. Press CTRL-F 4. Press CTRL-V 5. Press CTRL-F 5. You will arrive at the desired chapter or subchapter. _______________________________________________________________________________ ************** ********************************* U N I T I ********************************** ************** +=================+ | 1. LEGAL STUFF |============================================================ +=================+ This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advanced permission from the author. Use of this guide on any other web sit or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All content in this guide is Copyright 2003 by Kevin Butler. Only the sites listed below have permission to publish this work or to display it: www.gamefaqs.com www.cheats.de faqs.ign.com If you wish to put this guide on your site, e-mail me and ask. Save yourself the headache of putting up with lawsuits and whatnot because you failed to ask a simple "Can I post your guide on ?". If you wish to use info in this guide, please acknowledge that you have done so. If you see this guide on any other site then the one listed above, please e-mail me. If you wish to ask questions or give input to this guide, please e-mail me. Just have Qix as the subject so I know it isn't another kooky vendor trying to sell me hair gel or another XXX site telling me I have new friends. +=========================+ | 2. VERSION INFORMATION |==================================================== +=========================+ Version 1.0 8/17/03: A guide is born. Version 1.01 8/28/03: Fixed a couple of errors. +======================+ | 3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |======================================================= +======================+ The following are a list of people or organizations that have made this FAQ possible: My wonderful family (who has had to put up with the tapping on the keyboard) Taito for making a great arcade game GameFAQ's for putting up this FAQ +=============+ | 4. WELCOME |================================================================ +=============+ Welcome to my FAQ for Qix. Since the game has you continuously making boxes to get the required area in the game, there is no walkthrough per se. Instead it will be broken up into the game itself and strategies for survival. Input is appreciated along with constructive criticism. If you wish to e-mail me thoughts on this FAQ, better ways of doing things, other strategies, etc., feel free. Make sure you put Qix as the subject. If you don't, I'm liable to discard the e-mail as spam. +==============+ | 5. OVERVIEW |=============================================================== +==============+ Qix was created by a company that really does not need an introduction. They took the world by storm in 1978 with Space Invaders. After Space Invaders, they created such games as Lunar Rescue and Space Invaders II. Qix was another innovation by Taito. It went contrary to all the other games of the day (except perhaps Pac-Man). It wasn't a space-shoot-em-up type of game, but one that actually required one to plan and think actual strategy to accomplish the game's objectives. Although tournaments were held to see who was the master of this game, it really never took off. This may have due to the very reason it was so innovative, it required people to actually think about the game instead of the mindless entertainment of shooting up aliens. Have fun and good luck avoiding the Qix. *************** ******************************** U N I T II ********************************** *************** +==============+ | 6. THE GAME |=============================================================== +==============+ Qix is a two-dimensional, overhead style game. You are responsible for moving your Marker around the perimeter of the game screen. At opportune moments, you need to create "boxes" to reclaim some of the area that the Qix is in. As you continue to make these "boxes", the percentage area that you have claimed will go up. Once you reach the threshold area, then you go onto the next screen. To keep you from accomplishing this area gain are various enemies: The Qix it- self, Sparx, and Fuses. After a certain time, the Qix will split and you will have to contend with two of them "running" around the game screen. The action is continuous and sometimes the mental strain is great. There is no time limit but the enemies make sure you don't have too much time to think. Maybe it is time for more mindless entertainment destroying aliens. ____________________ / 6.1 The Controls /__________________________________________________________ -------------------- The controls on this game are very easy. It may, though, take just a little bit of time to get used to them. - A four-way joystick for moving left, right, up, and down - A slow button - A fast button __________________________ / 6.2 The Playing Fields /____________________________________________________ -------------------------- Qix involves just one screen. I have included an example of what the playing screen looks like: +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | MARKERS | | LEFT->O | | AREA YOU'VE CLAIMED SCORE O | | GRAPHIC OF CLAIMED SO FAR->57% 75%<-THRESHOLD O | | AREA CLAIMED ->------------------------------------ | | +---------------------------------------*---------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | | \ | | | | | \| | | | | | / | | | | |\ / | | | | | \/ /<- QIX | | | *<- SPARX / / | | | | / / | | | | PLAYING FIELD | | | | | | | | +- YOUR MARKER | | | | | | | | | V | | | | ___/\_____ | | | | | \/ | | | | | | <-- CLAIMED AREA | | | | | | | | | +---------+--------+------------------------------------------+ | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ You control your Marker through the screens. _______________ / 6.3 Scoring /_______________________________________________________________ --------------- There are a couple of ways you earn points in Qix. The first involves actually claiming areas. There are two buttons, slow and fast. These buttons determine how fast your Marker goes. In essence, going slow increases the risk of losing your Marker so it is obviously worth more points. Here's how the points work out for making "boxes": Slow: It is a base 500 points multiplied by the percentage of area covered by that box. For example, if you create a box that claims 3% of the total area, then points scored would be 500 X 3 or 1500 points. This area fills in with brown. Fast: It is a base 250 points multiplied by the percentage of area covered by that box. For example, if you create a box that claims 1% of the total area, then points scored would be 250 X 1 or 250 points. This area fills in with blue. NOTE: The above points may not be exact since the game rounds off the percentages to whole numbers for display but calculates them using decimal percentages. You also get bonus points for going above the 75% Threshold. Any percentage above the 75% Threshold is multiplied by 1000 to determine your bonus points. During the split Qix screens, if you successfully split the Qix's into their own compartments, you will get a multiplier bonus that is applied to points scored when you are making boxes. For example, if you had a 250 points and the multiplier was 3X, you now have 750 points. This multiplier increments by one every time you successfully split the Qix's. Of course, when you do this, you don't get the bonus points (if you had any). You get 3 Markers for the game. **************** ******************************** U N I T III ********************************* **************** +======================+ | 7. PLAYING THE GAME |======================================================= +======================+ When you start the game, your Marker will be at the bottom, middle of the playing screen. It is now up to you to start creating boxes. Keep in mind that you need to be constantly moving or the Sparx will take out your Marker. In addition, when you are moving your Marker around the perimeter, you can only move along the perimeter actually touching the Playing Field. - First of all, you must be constantly aware of two things. First, you must know where the Qix is located at all times. It moves randomly and can go anywhere on the Playing Field that your boxes haven't blocked. Last, the Sparx are constantly moving around the perimeter of the Playing Field. This can set up a dangerous situation where one Sparx is coming at you from one way and another from the other to make your Marker a "Sparx Sandwich". - Once you have assessed the danger, it is time to start making boxes. There are a few things to note when you are making boxes: - When you start to draw the line, the Sparx cannot travel along the new perimeter you are creating until it is filled in. - The Qix, though, is your primary concern. If it touches any part of a line before the box is filled in, you will lose your Marker. - The box must begin and end either at a filled box or on the side of the Playing Field. You cannot connect the line to itself. If you try to do this, you will go into what is called a "Spiral Death Trap" and a Fuse will follow your line to your Marker and destroy it. _______________________________________________________________________________ Here is what I am talking about in how to make boxes: +---------------------------------------*---------------------+ | | | | | \ | | | \| | | | / | | |\ / | | | \/ / | * / / | | / / | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +________/\___________________________________________________+ \/ - Press either the Slow or Fast button and push the joystick up to start the line creation. Keep in mind, once you choose a speed, you are committed to that speed until the box is made. +------------------------------------------------------------*+ | | | | | \ | | | \| | | | / | | |\ / | | | \/ / | | / / | | / / | | | | | | | | | * | | /\ | | \/ | | | | | | | +---------+---------------------------------------------------+ - The Qix looks close so push the joystick to the right. +-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | | \ | | | \| | | | / | | |\ / | | | \/ / | | / / | | / / * | | | | | | | | | | | ___/\_____ | | | \/ | | | | | | | +---------+--*------------------------------------------------+ - Now, we have to connect the last part either to the border of the Playing Field or a filled in box. Looks like we are close to the border so we will connect it there. +-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | | \ | | | \| | | | / | | |\ / | | | \/ / | | / / | | / / | | | | | | | | | | | | __________ | | | | | | | | | | | | * +_________|________/\____*____________________________________+ \/ - Once you connect the last part successfully, the box will fill in either brown or blue depending on the speed button selected. Congratulations, you have made your first box. You continue to do this with varying sizes of boxes (again, dependent on risk), until you get at or greater then the Threshold. This is the "Spiral Death Trap": +-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | | \ | | | \| | | | / | | |\ / | | | \/ / | | / / | | / / | | | | | | | | | | | | __________ | | | | | | | | | | |_/\_____+ | | | \/ | | | * +---------+--------------*------------------------------------+ FUSE - Instead of connecting to the border or a filled in box, you attempt to connect to the line you have drawn. You cannot do this. What will happen is a Fuse will ignite where FUSE appears. It will travel up to your Marker via the line to destroy your Marker. Another way the Fuse appears is if you hesitate or delay in the middle of box creation. _______________________________________________________________________________ - After the fourth wave, the Qix will split in two. Now you have two Qix's bouncing around to deal with. You major goal is to actually "split" the Qix's into their own areas. This means creating a series of boxes so that each Qix will be in its own compartment. See Chapter 6.3 for how this is scored. - For maximum points, you must do two things: - First, use the slow button as much as possible since this is where the points are. - Try to claim as much area in each box as possible. That percentage multiplied by the speed value can yield some big point values. - Constantly try to split the Qix's (if you can) to get that bonus multiplier even higher. - When you are close to the Threshold, find an area in the Playing Field that hasn't really been touched and try to make a big box. That way, you will go over the 75% Threshold and claim a bonus. - As the waves progress, everything gets faster and the game will become less forgiving if you are less then committed to making a box. - Also, listen for sounds in this game. The only real sound you need to be concerned with is what sounds like a fuse being lit. If you are making a box and you hear this sound, that means you are taking too long or you have unfortunately gotten yourself into a "Spiral Death Trap". In the case of delay, once you move the fuse will go out. **************** ******************************** U N I T IV ********************************* **************** +================+ | 8. CONCLUSION |============================================================= +================+ When this game came out, it was sitting by itself in a corner of the local con- venience store. The attract noises are what first brought me over to the game. I watched a little of the demo but I figured that I would have to play the game if I was going to understand it at all. At first, it was kind of difficult to figure out what I had to do. With practice, however, one got better at the game by learning the nuances and strategies for survival. It was the un- predictability of the game that kept it interesting and definitely increased its playability. Unfortunately, it is very rare to find this machine anywhere. However, through the miracle of emulation, a whole new generation is realizing what we "old" folks enjoyed those many years ago. In addition, www.shockwave.com is bringing many of these classic games back. Check out their site to see what ones are there. I hope this guide helps you in being able to get the most amount of gameplay for this game. If you do have other ideas or thoughts, please e-mail me and share them. Who knows, maybe I'll start a Q&A Chapter in this guide if enough people ask the same questions. Any- way, thank you again for reading this guide. To see other FAQ's I have written please go to: http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/32691.html ~~~ No trees were harmed in the making of this FAQ ~~~