Monday, June 3, 2013
By: Matthew Doucette
TI Invaders, a TI-99/4A game, was the inspiration behind our Decimation X games. A few on the internet have noticed the similarities between the two, particularly the "nail" enemies.
A cool fact about TI Invaders is that Jason and I both reached level 14 with two rows of the second, blue, "Flashers". We never were able to reach level 15 with the once rumored (since proven) third wave of, orange, "Flashers". Incidentally, from level 7 on, there is always at least one row that contains "Flashers". We were also able to get the mid-level saucer value up to at least 250.
2022-JAN-10 UPDATE: Jason found old records that shows he got 26,966 on the "14th board" with "double blue flashers."
(document scan coming soon...)
Matthew scoring 25,501 points in TI Invaders, reaching level 14.
The video above is me scoring 25,501 points, not 22,501 points as I originally posted, and reaching level 14 in TI Invaders, on May 7th, 2006 via an emulator.
Be sure to check out TI Invaders on VideoGameHouse for more details on the game.
2022-JAN-16 UPDATE:
Two videos which show the "end" of the game, the "eyes":
TI Invaders (1981) - TI-99/4a - beyond level 18 (Eyes)
TI Invaders - All 11 invaders (TI-99/4A) by Jason Doucette.
(using the bitmap data from the original source code)
Also, a note from Jason on our homebrew names of all the enemies and breaking the "world record" score:
"'The official score at Twin Galaxies is only 20,949.' I think many people beat that. I just (this 2021 xmas) found a record (looking at old notes) from my TI-99/4A games that I played decades ago; it says I got '26,966 on the "14th board" with "double blue flashers".' We had names for all of the enemies -- after the original 3, it was: nails, worms, flashers, balls, bats, blue flashers. 'Double blue flashers' would mean the 14th board where the blue flashers are on two rows, which matches your video." - Jason Doucette, youtu.be/7dZj6n2yP78
2022-JAN-21 UPDATE:
A table of TI Invaders' enemy names:
| TI Invaders Source Code Names | Xona Games' Homebrew Names | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | INVADER ONE | n/a |
| 2. | INVADER TWO | n/a |
| 3. | INVADER THREE | n/a |
| 4. | SNAKE | NAILS |
| 5. | TURNOVER | WORMS |
| 6. | HALF FLASHER WITH EYES | FLASHERS |
| 7. | PULSAR | BALLS |
| 8. | BAT | BATS |
| 9. | 11000 FLASHER | BLUE FLASHERS |
| 10. | 00111 FLASHER | ORANGE FLASHERS |
| 11. | EYES | n/a |
Also, there are the YELLOW SAUCERS, which is indicated in the title screen.
Note we never had names for the first three invaders, and neither did the developers. They were reached by every player, as they existed in the first level and even on the title screen.
Jason believes we may have called the 10th enemy RED FLASHERS, as they are red, but I recalled them as ORANGE FLASHERS (evident in my original notes above). They can look orange in-game. We never reached these officially titled "00111 FLASHERS" as children, but we somehow heard rumours of them. However, we not only never reached the EYES, we never even heard rumours of their existance. Well designed game.
More Tech History Articles:
| 2019/Jan/14 | — | How I Record Retro Gameplay on PC |
| 2019/Jan/13 | — | Mode 13h Demo Effects (1997) |
| 2019/Jan/13 | — | 3Dfx Demo Effects (1998-1999) |
| 2015/Nov/30 | — | Tandy 1000 SX |
| 2015/Sep/10 | — | How I Record My Console Gameplay |
| 2013/Sep/17 | — | Running CityDesk on Windows Vista/7/8/10/11 |
| 2013/Sep/09 | — | Our Own NES Game Genie Codes |
| 2013/Jun/03 | — | Munch Man (TI-99/4A) |
| 2013/Jun/03 | — | TI Invaders (TI-99/4A) |
| 2012/Nov/21 | — | Nintendo Love |
| 2012/Oct/28 | — | To Be Continued... 3Dfx Graphics Demo (1999) |
| 2006/Jul/29 | — | Turbo Pascal's 64-bit comp Type |
| 2006/Apr/15 | — | The TI-99/4A Home Computer |
| 2006/Apr/15 | — | Rare Parsec Facts (TI-99/4A) |
About the Author: I am Matthew Doucette of Xona Games, an award-winning indie game studio that I founded with my twin brother. We make intensified arcade-style retro games. Our business, our games, our technology, and we as competitive gamers have won prestigious awards and received worldwide press. Our business has won $190,000 in contests. Our games have ranked from #1 in Canada to #1 in Japan, have become #1 best sellers in multiple countries, have won game contests, and have held 3 of the top 5 rated spots in Japan of all Xbox LIVE indie games. Our game engines have been awarded for technical excellence. And we, the developers, have placed #1 in competitive gaming competitions -- relating to the games we make. Read about our story, our awards, our games, and view our blog.