Neopets Dubloon Disaster Guide

The new version has several different things from the old version of Dubloon Disaster. The most significant is the bringing of a multiplayer feature where you can collect dubloons with your friends. We cannot forget the new preview video, which is the same video except in nicer, prettier drawn images. ;) There are also new graphics features where you can no longer get rid of the background image, but you can get rid of background effects. The movement of Dorak is also a slightly bit different but not too big of a change. The other major change is the dubloon points. This will later be explained in our dubloon point ratio section.

Of course, in the event of a new scoring system, the avatar was to be changed as well. Instead of having to achieve over 800+ in the old version, the avatar is now achievable for 2500+ points. Don’t be intimidated by the point difference, the game is much easier now. ^

Starting 

Before you start playing there’s a few basic things that you should do first in order to up your game play and just make the game generally easier.

• Make sure you have time. It took me around a half hour to get the avatar.
• On the main menu, click “Game Options”. Then make sure the water effects is ” unchecked.” The water effects will slow down your computer.
• Get the biggest resolution for the game. You want to make sure all eyes are on the game, and nothing else.
• Turn off all external programs.
• Many people say not to play songs during the game. However the rhythm and beats may be soothing to you so this is whatever you feel comfortable with.
• Close as many windows as possible, and minimize others so your dubloon disaster window is against your desktop. This provides even more concentration on the game.
• Turn off all messenger systems, MSN, AIM, etc. Last thing you want is something like that messing up your game.
• Remember your 3 P’s. Patience, Practice, and Persistence. Those two are the only possible ways that you will be able to achieve the avatar or whatever score you wish.
  • Patience – Taking the avatar takes awhile. Don’t get frustrated and give up.
  • Practice: You’re not going to develop godly finger skills overnight. :P Keep practicing, and your fingers will start getting that muscle memory down.
  • Persistence: You have to want that avatar. You have to really want it otherwise your heart won’t be in it and you won’t be able to get the avatar because you’re not going to try your best. If you don’t have persistence, just stroll over to the neoboards and hear people bragging about their dubloon avatar. :p

Controls 

The only controls you’ll be needing for this game are the up, down, left, and right arrow keys. Unless you’re playing multiplayer, but that’s a different story. ;) Just remember, it takes awhile for your fingers to learn the muscle movement and get used to moving around with the arrow keys and turning and such.

• Up Arrow Key: This is the accelerate button, which is actually causing you to move forward. The longer you hold down the faster you go.
• Down Arrow Key: This is the reverse button. DO NOT use this unless you are in danger. Your fingers will be more adapted to using the up arrow key than down, and you will just end up throwing yourself into the mine by accident.
• Right and Left Keys: These are simply steering.

Point Ratios 

Here are the point ratios for dubloon disaster and how many points dubloons are worth. The more expensive the dubloon, the less likely you are to find it in the game.

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Mines 

Mines are little starish things with red flashing dots in the middle that follow you around the screen like magnets. If they hit you, it’sgame over, you have to start over. They appear every time you get a dubloon until there are 9 mines on the screen. Then they will stop appearing. Just like magnets are, the closer they get to you the faster they go. Therefore, you have to be very careful when getting closer to the mines. Here is a little image to help you out a bit about the speed of mines.

The green zone is your comfort zone. You can stay this far away from mines and still be safe from them without them speeding up. Now the yellow and orange zone is where the mine might start to speed up on you and you should definitely move away. As for the red zone, if you’re shooting for a high score or the avatar, it would be best to KEEP OUT of there. It’s a very risky zone as the mines are moving very fast, and are close to hitting you. Only if it is COMPLETELY necessary should you get into that zone.

Strategy#1

This strategy is probably the better of the two strategies for the following reasons:

• Faster way to get a score
• Less risky
• Easier to maneuver

So what is this amazing method you ask? It’s commonly known as ‘herding’ where you get all of the mines into the center of the screen and getting all the dubloons around them. Here’s a step by step guide to this:

Starting: The big 9

1. Go for your first dubloon. When you get it and the mine comes up, ‘herd’ that mine to the center of the screen.
2. Continue doing that until there are 9 mines in the center which are not too close together. If they are too close together they will blow up. By them blowing up, you have to collect two more dubloons and herd 2 more mines into the center. Then there’s also the risk of one of those mines appearing underneath you and you having to restart the game.
3. Seeing as your mines are only in the center, you can freely move around them collecting all dubloons on the sides of the screen, keeping in mind to stay out of the “red zone”.
4. However there are some problems you can run into that you have to be careful of. These problems are shown below.

A Dubloon appears amongst your herd of mines: The big 9

1. Calm down. First step. It’s still possible to get the dubloon even if it’s in the middle of the herding pile.
2. If the dubloon is either on the topish, or the rightish, or the leftish, move our boat in the opposite direction and move around on that opposite side until the mines are away from the dubloon.
3. If they are far enough away at this point (after which might take a bit of tricky maneuvering) zoom to your target before the mines can sufficiently change direction.

A Whirlpool: The big 9

1. This is the worst thing that can happen. Best thing you can do, is get out of the way because mines will be sucked into the whirlpool and you don’t want to be in the way otherwise, you’ll get blown up.
2. If you’ve safely made it out of that problem alive, you have to start herding the mines from the start again.

Two Mines hit eachother and Blow Up: The big 9

1. This is likely to happen more than once, and you’ll have to deal. Just chill, take a deep breath and continue the game. You’ll have to herd those two new mines and cross your fingers that they don’t appear beneath you.
2. Continue getting those dubloons! :o

Strategy#2 

The next is a rather slower way to get a score. It’s slow and tedious and rather risky. It involves having only 2 mines showing up at a time and individually blowing them up. This is risky because there is the risk of a mine coming up suddenly underneath you and giving you know means of escape. Keep in mind that this method takes around 5 times longer than the strateg above.

Blowing up the mines is shown above. The mines will move in a triangle effect towards you. And the top, or the point is where they collide. Now the closer you get to them, the faster they go and faster they collide. However there’s always the danger of you getting hurt in the process so try to keep a pretty safe distance.