-Teasures of the Crystal Sea- -Guide - PICTURES OF TROPHY (Updated trophy news!!)

[Bndfrk]

this is a GREAT guide! thank you SO much for posting it!

[Kodiak]

Originally Posted by sea magic

one question: do you get anything from finding the stuff at the end of each level?

The answer to this question is "no." All you get is the ability to proceed to the next level. The only item received from playing the game is the trophy at the end of level 6 (which is NOT a random trophy -- i.e., it is awarded every time you complete level 6 -- but you can only win it once per vacation).

[sydney88]

Well, every time I get to level 6 I get just a bit farther. I just need to look at the level 6 guides/tips and I'm sure I can make it!

[Kodiak]

Originally Posted by EXOTERIC

I find the KC pay out is very poor considering the amount of time that you have to play. Checkers on hard makes me 60 KC in 15 seconds! QWC makes a whopping 400+ in 20 minutes. Considering the cost of the vacation I feel it could be more.

Hey, EXO, I agree with you completely on this. By my calculations, the payout in this game is around 300 KC per hour. That's considerably lower than checkers and just about every game in the arcade. When you factor in the cost of taking a vacation, there's really no reason to play this game IMO other than to win the trophy. It was fun getting past level six, but once you've mastered the game, it's really not that fun to play over and over again. I would play a bunch to earn trophies that I could gift and trade to others, but Ganz has decided to make the trophy non-kinzpostable. A big thumbs down to them for that. There will be plenty of people who won't be able to earn this trophy and, therefore, will be denied the ability to have it adorn their trophy rooms.

---------- Kodiak added 46 Minutes and 44 Seconds later ----------

Originally Posted by bwicker

A health box on level 5 would be nice. I would like to know if there is a way to get past the series of spinning green corals without taking a hit? It's pretty easy to manuever around with their paths except for the red coral toward the bottom. I always cut accross to the left at that spot and always take one hit.

I also take a hit when moving across the smaller spinning green corals. Is that best done by pausing at some spot? I always do it by keeping steadily moving left, but that usually results in being caught toward the last coral and having to take that hit. Obviously the level can be completed by taking these two hits, but a health crate would be nice. The big room full of fast spinning small green corals has not presented a problem. it just requires killing one red octopus and gingerly moving slowly through the maze while paying close attention to the outer reaches of the coral arms. There seems to be enough distance between them to make it to the other side somewhat easily.

I've only made it to level 6 twice. I didn't get that far either time. In the future I am going to try to move quickly to the right approximately to the third or fourth little shooting guy. I intend to pause directly above him because he shoots two red orbs upward at 45 degree angles. Once past the initial shooting guys, there is a series of spinning green corals. My intent is to move at a downward and right (southeasterly) direction because the exit of that cave is at the bottom right. I do not know if it can be acomplished without taking a hit because I only tried it once, and guessed the wrong direction on that run. Any help with what I can expect after that would be greatly appreciated. I hate blowing a turn by having to explore and guess. What tips are there for further on in level 6?

bwicker, your post raises issues concerning some of the tricker sections of levels 5 & 6. I am hoping that the following will help you out. First, you ask whether one can navigate the large spinners about halfway through level 5 without taking damage. The answer is "yes." The key is to avoid the spinner in the lower right-hand corner with the two red coral stems coming up from the bottom. You're certain to get hit if you go that way. Instead, when you exit the spinner immediately preceeding that one, go straight down as quickly as possible and then straight left as quickly as possible. If you hug (but don't hit) the walls as you make this left-hand turn, you can get through this section unscathed. This is clearly one of the toughest sections of level 5, but it can be mastered.

Second, you ask about the best way to navigate the smaller spinners in the long tunnel that comes later in level 5. For me, this is an easier section than the one referenced above. The key is to stay at the top of the tunnel and move straight to the left without pausing until you get to the very last spinner. There, you will have to pause and move down and to the left to avoid hitting one of the last two spinners. But you should be able to time this section so that you go straight left and don't pause until the end.

Finally, you have discussed in this and another post the tricky lava-shooting thingamajiggies at the start of level 6. Initially, I tried the same approach as you -- moving quickly to the right in the hopes of minimizing the damage I took. I've learned, however, that this isn't the way to go. If you go slowly from one thingamajiggie to the next, you can time this section so that you don't take any damage. As you know, each thingamajiggie shoots two lava balls -- one to each side of it on a 45-degree angle. When you start this section, move next to the first thingamajiggie. When it shoots, duck under the lava ball moving to the left and stop your vessel at the top of the tunnel directly above the first thingamajiggie. When perched in this position, the lava balls will just miss your vessel. Then, when the thingamajiggies fire again, duck under the lava ball moving from right to left and stop your vessel at the top of the tunnel directly above the next thingamajiggie to the right. Proceed in this manner until you have made it past all of the lava ball shooters. I hope this helps. Good luck!

[bwicker]

That sure does help. I had already figured out two of the three, but you explain how to avoid damage by quickly cutting to the left. I will have to try that next time.

My next question for you, if you will continue to help me, is the green spinning coral just after the thingamagiggies on level 6. At this time I can make it through level 5 every time with no problem. When I get to level 6 I usually take one hit going through the thingamagiggies. Then I ALWAYS take a hit going through the green spinning coral. I feel like it is possible by using a zig zag path, but I have not quite figured out the exact path. So I end up with 2 hits at this point and I have to "survive" the next couple of legs further on. I haven't got the safe spots figured out through the next series of thingamagiggies. I think if I can get that down pat, then the latter stages of the level are doable. I made it once and got 1 trophy, but I haven't been able to learn how to cleanly make it through the initial stages of level 6 in order to have enough life left to experiment.

Thanks for your help.

[sydney88]

Maybe you've already answered this question, but how do you get past the lava-shooting snails later on in level 6? I've only got there once, and it sure would help if I knew how to get past that with minimal damage.

[Kodiak]

Originally Posted by bwicker

That sure does help. I had already figured out two of the three, but you explain how to avoid damage by quickly cutting to the left. I will have to try that next time.

My next question for you, if you will continue to help me, is the green spinning coral just after the thingamagiggies on level 6. At this time I can make it through level 5 every time with no problem. When I get to level 6 I usually take one hit going through the thingamagiggies. Then I ALWAYS take a hit going through the green spinning coral. I feel like it is possible by using a zig zag path, but I have not quite figured out the exact path. So I end up with 2 hits at this point and I have to "survive" the next couple of legs further on. I haven't got the safe spots figured out through the next series of thingamagiggies. I think if I can get that down pat, then the latter stages of the level are doable. I made it once and got 1 trophy, but I haven't been able to learn how to cleanly make it through the initial stages of level 6 in order to have enough life left to experiment.

Thanks for your help.

Unfortunately, I'm no help to you on the first spinning coral section on level six. I've got the late ones down cold. But, thus far, I've always taken a hit on the earlier, spinning coral section. If you keep practicing, I'm sure you can get the rest of the early stages of level 6 down, though. The key for me is taking no damage on the initial line of lava shooters. Using the strategy from my earlier post, I'm now able to avoid damage on this section almost every time. So, even if I get hit by one of the spinning corals, I get back to full health at the health crate. From there, it's just a matter of not getting hit by too many subsequent lava balls because the spinners at the end of the stage are relatively easy.

---------- Kodiak added 6 Minutes and 7 Seconds later ----------

Originally Posted by sydney88

Maybe you've already answered this question, but how do you get past the lava-shooting snails later on in level 6? I've only got there once, and it sure would help if I knew how to get past that with minimal damage.

I'm not exactly sure which section you're referencing here. There are three more sections on level six with the lava shooters after the intial section discussed above. The second section is the hardest. You have to move your vessel through a U-shaped portion of the tunnel with a number of lava shooters on all sides. This is pretty tricky. My advice is to go very slow and to use 2 or 3 of your lightning blasts from the lightning crate that preceeds it. If you knock out 2 or 3 of the snails, it's much easier. The third section is a straight, horizonal line of seven lava shooters. This section is actually quite easy. All of the lava shooters fire a single ball from left to right. All you have to do is wait until they shoot and then quickly press down. You can zoom past all seven of them without getting touched. Finally, there is a portion of a tunnel near the end that has three more lava shooters firing lava balls to both sides. This section can be handled much like the first section at the start of the level. Moving right to left, you can swoop under the lava balls and perch yourself directly above the lava shooters, where you will be safe from damage. This section is relatively easy once you've done it a time or two.

You're almost there. If you can get past the section you're stuck on, you should be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck!

[bwicker]

Yes that was the section I was asking about. The other two sections are easy enough. Your tip to shot the lava shooters is a good one. The next step is to find the best "shooting position" that will take out a minimum of one, but hopefully two shooters with the same shot. If the number of shooters is reduced, then the section should become managable. Obviously once you get back to full health I think the game plays out fairly straight forward. It's longer and you can't afford too many mistakes, but once the first portion of the level is learned, it should be winable.

Another question that has no major significance is have you discovered a health crate on level 5?

A game note: wouldn't it be nice to be able to shoot the spinning corals? Maybe by shooting one of them 2 or 3 times could knock them out and make the section passable without taking a hit. let me know if you master a safe path through that stretch.

Thanks for your help.

[Kodiak]

Originally Posted by bwicker

Another question that has no major significance is have you discovered a health crate on level 5?

I don't believe there are any health crates on level 5. I certainly haven't found any, and if you check out EXO's sticky, I don't see any health crates in reviewing her map of level 5 either.

[bwicker]

What is EXO's sticky? Is that a link to another helpful thread?

I have tried the game once more and it does help to shoot the lava throwers in that difficult U shaped stretch. Eliminating a couple lava blobs makes navigating throught the rest of them more manageable. Good tip!