Friday Flash Fun

July 9, 2009 6:59 PM

Hedgehog Launch 2 : to the Moon, and beyond! I know it's Thursday, but it's late.
posted by mrstrotsky (30 comments total)

Woohoo!
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:16 PM on July 9, 2009

I hate you so much, mrstrotsky, and I say this with a lot of affection.

I will be billing you for the hours of productivity lost.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:20 PM on July 9, 2009

I loved the original. This one, not so much. It has a lot of neat bells and whistles, but it ends unexpectedly early, long before maxing out the various options. I expected more planet hopping.
posted by brain_drain at 7:22 PM on July 9, 2009

brain_drain: try the free play option
posted by mrstrotsky at 7:26 PM on July 9, 2009

Also where are the Moon People?
posted by AmberV at 7:29 PM on July 9, 2009

So how do I go about making these sorts of games? Please send me the codes thx.
posted by Maximian at 7:32 PM on July 9, 2009

Why is the whole thing upside down?
posted by Lord_Pall at 7:38 PM on July 9, 2009

Aw, yeah. Ended kinda early. I got my ass to Mars.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:44 PM on July 9, 2009

It would be pretty hard to get enough money to activate the gravity-canceler before beating the game... and it doesn't work in free-play mode. Sort of disappointing.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 7:48 PM on July 9, 2009

Weird, in the end I had to dismantle a heavily protesting talking computer and then it sang a really drowsy song.

But then I was reborn as a sort of infinite star-child, so all is well.

------------

Once you can afford the fuel sucker, at higher levels of it you basically get a free energy machine. I dropped from 15,000 ft down to 9,000 or so amid a seeming platform drought, but then I just kept hopping platforms for what seemed like *hours* and made Mars in the end on the same run (day).

11 days in all on the first try. I managed HL1 in three days once, but sadly it seems even Imageshack doesn't seem to believe me anymore. :(

After that I liked the hopping around trying to maximise income best, so I'm pleased they put in a free play mode.

This opens up whole new avenues of time-wasting. Loved the original, love the sequel. Thanks for posting this, mrstrotsky.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:09 PM on July 9, 2009

Four days. The trick is simple. Get three-four rockets left and then pile out altitude. At launch, go high, then fly fast left. The hangtime means the multiplier is huge. As soon as you can, get the magnet ramped up.
posted by eriko at 8:09 PM on July 9, 2009

mrstrotsky, I did try the free-play option, but it's not nearly as fun when there's no particular goal to attain.
posted by brain_drain at 8:14 PM on July 9, 2009

3 days (made the moon in 2). 2 rockets and no magnet or sucker. It's all about the colour radar.

I did think I had more fun with the first one, but this one was neat. Thanks!
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:39 PM on July 9, 2009

> The trick is simple.

Not only that, but the game will play itself once the rockets are maxed out you have energy sucker enabled. I'm averaging three and six minutes of hang time for each ten thousand feet up you can send the hedgehog.

My hedgehog's still at around 30,000 feet, flying as fast as possible to the right, and in the meanwhile I've packed for work tomorrow, brushed my teeth, and am writing this comment.
posted by ardgedee at 8:41 PM on July 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

Four days, yay!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:44 PM on July 9, 2009

Actually, I think the sucker negates the need for higher level radar because *any* platform generates fuel. You still want the better colours for higher lift, but just bouncing around on nearby platforms of any colour will cost you virtually nothing as the fuel is instantly replenished.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:47 PM on July 9, 2009

For bonus points, once you have the fuel sucker, magnet and best side rockets, launch high, then crank yourself sideways as fast as you can. Then, walk away from the computer and come back 10-20 minutes later. You might have hit the ground by then.
posted by Decimask at 9:10 PM on July 9, 2009

Yeah, freeplay is a bit dull. After I maxed everything out, I launched one more time, neglected to ditch my comrades in the center of the earth, and finally abandoned them somewhere in the ionosphere.

Space does... strange things... to a hedgehog.
posted by logicpunk at 9:16 PM on July 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

I've been to the moon, it's nice. I recommend you go at non-peak times of the year.
posted by America at 9:19 PM on July 9, 2009

Aw, yeah. Ended kinda early. I got my ass to Mars.

Wait, I thought the object was to fly around aimlessly collecting space dollars. I mean, I'm a hedgehog with 54 million dollars in the bank. Fuck Mars.
posted by nanojath at 9:30 PM on July 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

Yes, but that's 54 million Minovian dollars.
posted by Flunkie at 9:51 PM on July 9, 2009

The googles. The only thing you need is to upgrade your goggles. Then you look cool. Fuck all that materialistic money and astrophysics goal-oriented bull-huckey. Get some goggles, look good, and you are set.

I'm pretty bad at this game.
posted by idiopath at 10:05 PM on July 9, 2009

The googles. The only thing you need is to upgrade your goggles. Then you look cool. Fuck all that materialistic money and astrophysics goal-oriented bull-huckey. Get some goggles, look good, and you are set.

Not true!
posted by the other side at 11:22 PM on July 9, 2009

22 Days.

It would have been sooner had I realized that when you're launching to the center of the earth, and the game is upside down, you launch the hedgehog UP towards the earth, not down into the sky. I might have been the first person to launch a hedgehog into space by tossing it in the air, and letting it fall through Nebraska.
posted by phyrewerx at 12:45 AM on July 10, 2009

> in the meanwhile I've packed for work tomorrow, brushed my teeth, and am writing this comment.

And then I went to bed. The game played itself without human intervention for about an hour twenty minutes and collected a total of $186,941,778.6.
posted by ardgedee at 3:01 AM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

For bonus points, once you have the fuel sucker, magnet and best side rockets, launch high, then crank yourself sideways as fast as you can. Then, walk away from the computer and come back 10-20 minutes later. You might have hit the ground by then.

I don't understand what you need the fuel sucker for, in this strategy. You don't slow down (horizontally) when you hit a platform, so once you're at full speed, why would you need more fuel?

And anyway, if you're away from your computer, you're not even using your fuel.
posted by Flunkie at 5:54 AM on July 10, 2009

I was hoping it would let me circle Uranus, but, you know...
posted by Ogre Lawless at 1:35 PM on July 10, 2009

...With a hedgehog? You're a braver soul than I.
posted by Orb2069 at 3:52 PM on July 11, 2009

Maximian: So how do I go about making these sorts of games? Please send me the codes thx.

A recent post has some suggestions. Also, Kongregate Shootorials. If you're serious.
posted by Pronoiac at 10:39 AM on July 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

So I've been coming back to this game a few times on weekends, and today I got to Mars on day 2, because I got really lucky on day 1 and made it to the moon (just barely). I think if you can get about $4500, enough to buy the best radar and fuel suckers, and a decent fuel tank, you're pretty much set.

Also, last weekend I ran my guy on maximum speed sideways for about 10 minutes, going between 10k-15k feet in elevation, and got the $1M to buy the gravity kill option, which turns out to be a fantastic joke, because once you launch, you are inexorably bound for Mars, no stops. I like it--it's the game's way of saying "I think you've had enough. Let's end this now."

Yeah, I've probably had enough.
posted by A dead Quaker at 12:46 PM on August 1, 2009