CRYSTAL CASTLES Board
Information Explanation
The pages that follow
contain a wealth of information about all 37 screens in Crystal
Castles. In general, everything is self-explanatory, but a few
things still need to be gone over.
First, the level and screen are listed in the form x/y, for
level x, screen y. The board name is given next. I have named 1/1
since the game really doesn't give a title. The 'gemeater
wave' boards are properly named "Staircase",
though you won't see this unless the machine is set so as to not
give any bonus lives. When giving extra lives, a message
indicating this appears, instead of the "Staircase" screen title.
Next, the number of enemies on each screen is shown. Note
that in level 9, because the hat can turn into a ball, I have two
possibilities in this spot.
Something else that can vary is the number of gems on each
screen. Because certain boards can have different layouts, the
gem count can vary, so there are two possibilities listed on
these screens.
The tunnels category lists the number of tunnel OPENINGS
on each screen. So, one tunnel will (usually) have two openings.
The count varies only on 1/1, because of the warp tunnel, which
can appear or not, depending on the previous game.
The points possible category lists all points
possible on each screen. Even though it's impossible to get
points for all gems, and all gemeaters, (because, to get a
gemeater, it must get at least one gem), the numbers are easy to
work with when calculating real-life scores. Simply subtract what
your pattern misses from the total shown.
The points on each screen give the board total; each board
total in one level adds to the level total; and each board total
throughout the game adds to the game total. The board, level, and
game totals in the theoretical maximum possible points category
work in exactly the same way. But, the board totals in this
category differ from the other category in that they show a more
realistic expected maximum score for each screen. For the most
part, each screen's total reflects the expected loss of a few
gems to the enemies on each screen, with, in a few cases, the
loss of a gemeater or two also figured in. It is this category
that is most significant, since these scores can be realistically
realized, though it is, in some cases, quite hard.
Let me emphasize that some of the board totals in this
section are NOT at the 'absolute, absolute' maximum,
BUT, it would be futile to list these absolute maximum scores,
for one or both of two reasons: one, the score would be possible
on only 1 in 50 games, or less; and/or two (this only applies to
games starting at level 8); the score would only be possible by
sacrificing time bonus points, which would result in a net total
below that of the listed score/expected time bonus combination.
So, what I am stressing is a REALISTIC maximum total.
There are two things to note about the second through the
tenth board information pages: first, when there are two possible
gem counts for a screen, I use the higher of the two when
figuring totals. Second - and this is very important to note -
since the only board (realistically) that you can start on, and
realize a net gain over starting at level 8, is level 2, I have
calculated starting scores for this level based on warping to
level 2 from 1/1. The scores I have used for the start of 2/1
are: 72,079 points for the "Points possible" section,
and 71,881 points for the "Theoretical Maximum Possible
points" section. Therefore, this accounts for the
discrepancy between the scores on the level 1 page, and the
continuation on the level 2 page.
The last page in this section gives board information for
games starting at level 8. Since most good scoring games begin
there, this is a highly useful page. It shows totals only, and
they are arrived at just like on the previous pages.
