Originally posted by: KhoiFather
Somebody tell me how those people in top five scored over millions of points? What the ish?
I calculated 24,416,959 as a hard upper bound (assumes 0 spending) for Switchback. The 58M score is almost certainly a hack of the score submission.
- Score has 2 components: destroying Vectoids and bonus when starting a new level.
- Individual Vectoids have a point value of 100 x their $ reward.
- Bonus has a point value of 2 x interest paid for that level.
- Speed does not affect score. Both time spent during a level and time between levels are irrelevant.
Edit to add: Played through Switchback again, taking care to minimize spending. Final score: 14,049,508 ($4,915,726 in bank).
A couple hints: Vectoids that escape reenter, so if lives are cheap (Easy maps), letting a few go instead of building towers to finish them may maximize cash. The final level does not pay interest/score bonus on completion, so spend freely.
Edit again to add: Played through yet again, and submitted score on Candystand: 14,754,820 ($5,257,632).
If a Vectoid escapes, its point value is deducted from the score in addition to losing 1 life. If it is destroyed during the next pass, its point value is added to the total, for a net change of zero. The Bonus Vectroids escape and reenter normally (they don't lose their Bonus status).