Katakis

Katakis

Game No.	194
Voting	8.57 points, 72 votes
Developer	Manfred Trenz, Andreas Escher
Company	Rainbow Arts
Publisher	Rainbow Arts
Musician	Chris Hülsbeck
HVSC-File	MUSICIANS/H/Huelsbeck_Chris/Katakis.sid
Release	1988
Platform	Amiga, C64
Genre	Shoot'em Up, H-Scrolling
Gamemode	Single player 2 players (in turns) 2 players (simultaneous)
Operation
Media
Language
Information	Inofficial follower: Enforcer Clone: Crush Also known as: 'Denaris'

Description[edit | edit source]

Katakis is the story of the planet with the same name. It was once a booming paradise for researchers, scientists and inventors. But always have the humans been the victim of their own intelligence. So the inhabitants of Katakis created fantastic machines, that should facilitate life. But the technical wonders developed their own life and devastated the planet.

Now you are called upon to end this going-on. With a DS-H75 Eaglefighter, which can be upgraded with a satellite and different extra weapons, you try to get into the centre of the machine town and to destroy the mechanical enemies.

You control this spaceship through altogether 12 levels, whereby at the end of each level a huge end boss waits for you to be defeated. Collisions with asteroids, flying enemies, ground troops and the background need to be avoided.

Game modes

In the title screen you see in turns the highscore list and an options menu, in which you can choose the following:

F1 1 player: single player.
F3 2 player: two players compete in turns. The 2-player mode allows to play with two in turns, i.e. that one person steers each only one spaceship. If the glider has total loss, the next one gets his chance to get through. (Both players use the joystick in port #2).
F5 Teamwork: 2 players together (player 1 controls the spaceship, player 2 the satellite). The teamwork mode is remarkable. Two players can play at the same time; one player controls the glider, the other the satellite. Both can complement one another. The satellite is indestructible, but cannot pick up items. The glider is very vulnerable, but can upgrade itself as well as the satellite by picking up crystals. (player 1 - port #2 - glider, player 2 - port #1 - satellite)

Design[edit | edit source]

... an animation from the game...

... single screen animation from the game ...

2D screen with its background scrolling from right to left. The spaceship can be moved freely into all directions in the screen. At the end of each of the 12 levels a huge end boss must be defeated. Each level has its own design. Enemies fly mostly in straight lines. Unfortunately, there are many bugs in the display, e.g. sometimes shots keep "stuck" or colour mistakes happen. The tiling of the sprites or charsets that were used for the graphics is relatively distinct.

Hints[edit | edit source]

Controls[edit | edit source]

Joystick movement = moving the spaceship into the corresponding direction
Fire button = shoot
Keep fire button pressed = beam (more destructive power, lower shooting frequency)
Space = the satellite is docked on or off
F7 = pause, continue game with fire button

Upgrading the Eagle-fighter[edit | edit source]

Upgrading the Eagle-fighters is mainly done by shooting the space containers and picking up the so-called Geega-crystals that are left and collecting the multi-coloured balls that appear after shooting whole formations of enemies.

Symbols[edit | edit source]

Geega-crystals
One Geegacrystal - makes a small satellite (Zykon).
Two Geegacrystals - make a middle-sized satellite (Celest).
Three Geegacrystals - make a big satellite (Gemega).
Blue Geegacrystals - Iron Reflection Lasers (with a fine beam).
Green Geegacrystals - Gyroscopic Mines (running on the surface).
Red Geegacrystals - Power Moai (nothing more to say).

Zeela Stars

	(red) raises the speed of the glider
	(grey) reduces the speed of the glider

Balls

- The number of the collected balls is shown at the lower rim of the screen (red = shooting power, green = missiles, blue = shield).
- When the display is full, the corresponding option is improved, (e.g. red display full - shooting power is upgraded).
- If the fighter gets destroyed, you lose the displayed balls.

	raises the shooting power
	raises the number of missiles
	activates the shield for a short time
	destroys all visible enemies on the screen
	1000 bonus points

Enemies and end bosses[edit | edit source]

The enemies and end bosses of each level always react in the same way, i.e. you can remember the formations and movements and master each oh so tricky passage in the game sooner or later (mostly later). The end bosses react especially sensitive to a certain weapon type (find out for yourself).

Highscore[edit | edit source]

If you reach a high enough score, you can enter your name into a highscore list, which comprises ten entries and can also be saved on disk. For this you type your name over the keyboard and confirm it by pressing the "RETURN" key. After that you are asked, if the list should be saved on disk. Press the key "F1" so save the list on disk, but
CAUTION !! If Jiffy-Dos (or another disk drive speeder) is active and speeds up a drive which is connected to the serial bus, you need to switch off this speeder before saving (due to the switched on sprites) and switch it on again after saving.

Solution[edit | edit source]

Tips[edit | edit source]

Look closely at the formations and the movements of the enemy, as they almost always repeat themselves at the same position.
If a container appears, shoot it and pick up the Geega-crystal, as it almost always carries the correct upgrade for the next section.
If your fighter gets destroyed you always start at one of 2-3 preset locations in the level!
Beware of the triangle-shaped gliders, as the have the unpleasant talent to close up also from the left side of the screen and also change the flying direction.
Gyroscopic mines (stem from green Geega-crystals) are a perfect weapon against enemies that are located or move on the ground.
Every end boss has a weakness. It shortly flashes when you hit it there.
Every end boss has a special sensitivity for a certain type of weapon and its use (super shot, short laser hits, etc.)
You start again without any upgrades and special weapons in level 11, no matter how strong your Eagle-Fighter was in the previous level. So you have to collect the first container to survive the first attack wave.
After playing through the complete game an entry into the highscore list is only possible after the end of the type crawl (press fire button).
The 2- player (in turns) mode is faulty in all available versions (also the original, last state of knowledge). Do not use it.
There is also a 64'er-longplay of Katakis, in which alle levels and enemies are described closely. 64'er Longplay
Do not get discouraged, play - play - play . . .

Strategies[edit | edit source]

Level 1

At the start stay a bit below the middle of the screen and shoot from there. Fly just over the first piece of rock and then shoot the container. Pick up the Zeela-star. Fly above the big rock, shoot the container, pick up the crystal, it contains a Zykon-satellite. Dock it on (space key) and stay in the lower part of the screen. After the meteorite hail stay in the middle of the screen, shoot the container, pick up the crystal (Celest-satellite with Power Moai). The first part of the level is done.

Stay in the middle of the screen and fire. After the last peak steer full down and destroy the tank at the ground. Before the next mountain peak hold fully to the upper right (due to the tank). Notice the shooting order of the next tank (3 shots, then a short break). During the break you have time to pass it. The second part of the level is done.

The end boss enters the screen from the right. He has to be hit a bit above the eyes (about 8x with the Celest-satellite, if you shoot normal) so he will resolve in an explosion. The first of twelve levels is done.

Level 2

At the start stay low as far as possible and shoot the three machines walking on the ground. (These machines have a diagonal shot and hit rather precisely, therefore they are very dangerous. They can be found in the whole level.) Shoot the container, it has a blue Geega-crystal. Pick it up and you have gyroscopic mines. (They are indispensable for this level.) Beware of the machines walking on the ground towards you. In front of the part, that looks like a drive gear nozzle, there are three machines on the ground which lift off when the glider comes near and fly towards it very fast. After the nozzle follows a formation, which is easy to shoot. But after the next elevation there are again machines that walk on the ground and shoot diagonally up. Without gyroscopic mines this section is almost unsolvable. Now keep to the middle of the screen. When the drive gear nozzles get visible at the upper and lower rim of the screen, the first part of the level is finished.

Keep to the middle of the screen and fly between the drive gears. Watch out for the small yellow cannonry, which are at the upper and lower rim of the screen. The following passages are very narrow, you need to steer the glider very exact and fire permanently. Do net let yourself get irritated by the approaching formations. Take care of the machines on the ground again. When entering the hall, the second part is done.

The end boss enters the screen from the right again, stays a while at this place and then moves a bit to the left and so on. So you should not need too much time to destroy it. It needs to get hit directly into the mouth. After about eight fully loaded super shots it resolves into its parts in an explosion. (You should only use super shots, as it is relatively immune against the others and you need to much time!) The second of twelve levels is finished.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

Shooting into the knee - endless points in level 10

Generally, you should use NO cheat pokes / trainers in Katakis/Denaris in all versions, as the timing of this game is very tight and some cycles more/less can lead to results such as flickering of end bosses, level bucking, ghost sprites and even crashes in the middle of the level. The following pokes are the "least dangerous" as they do not change the number of cycles.

unlimited lives for player 1 (with the help of a cartridge e.g. Action Replay enter):
- POKE 13999,173 ($36af,ad)
- POKE 14103,173 ($3717,ad) - tested with all described versions (also "Denaris"), see "Links".

numerous trainers in cracked version, but they kill the fun of the game and can lead to crashes.

The end boss in level 10 offers an endless supply of points, when shot at the right position...

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
8.57 points at 72 votes (rank 22). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
64er	10	Issue 7/89
C64Games	10	25th July 2006 - "Highlight" 9997 downs
C64.com	9,5	19th December 2006 - 1442 downs
Lemon64	8,5	04th January 2011 - 120 votes
Kultboy.com	9,00	11th May 2007 - 10 votes
Gamebase64	10	"Classic!"
ASM	9/12	Issue 9/88
Powerplay	75%	Issue 6/88
ZZap64	93%	Issue 88/10

Reviews[edit | edit source]

Werner: Ingenious shooter with great graphics and sound. (10 points from me)

FXXS: " Outstanding shooter for ambitioned players. Difficulty grade is very high at the beginning, due to the small room to manoeuvre between the meteors. What a pity that there "get ready" after loading is so short or respectively that you cannot start each life by pressing "fire". Music is top and the graphics are not half bad, therefore 9 out of 10 points."

Logan: "Super sound, very diverse graphics, good level design and very hard to play through. Unfortunately, the game has a few bugs and is by this at some places unplayable (if the bug appears)."

Amase11: "I can only go along with that. It is just great. Therefore also from me 10 out of 10 points."

Robotron2084: "Flickering graphics, disappearing shots and the most boring end fights ever. So, Katakis is not really a striking solution of simplicity... but 7.5 points can be justified."

1570: "Design and Musik are very good, gameplay can be improved. You mostly push the satellite in front of you. For the end bosses it is most of the time enough to find the right position and keep on shooting. The game is only difficult, because there are many places where only luck (or a blue ball...) can help. If there is none and you maybe also get a bug, then you lose all lives very fast, as you re-enter without extras. Concerning the playability, e.g. Armalyte is definitely superior. But the music in Katakis is so good, that you have to play it every now and then."

Shakermaker303: "I found Katakis as the best shooter game of its type. Great music, good graphics (+ design) and plenty of action make this shooter perfect for me. You find into the game quickly and it had for me this factor of delight which makes an addictive game. For some it might be too "simple", but just the same I advocate the highest points of 10."

GMBigB: "Outstanding graphics and next to Metal Warrior 4 the C64 game with the best sound. But a bit too hard for my taste. There is often only one way to make a level and the setting down at the start or the middle of the level removes the motivation fast. So it is not enough for more than 8 points."

H.T.W: "After having played through the game for what felt like 50 times with different versions (incl. original versions), I also have to add my opinion here:
Flickering graphics are only found in different crack versions, in the original version nothing (or not much) flickers.
Crashes are also only in different cracks, the original versions played with C64 and 1541-II do not crash.
The level-4-chip-bug happens only seldom in the original version and if it does, then only if you do not make the place in the middle of the level 2x in succession or are shot more than 2x by the end boss. In fact, this bug is no problem, as after 10x trying you will always make this level in one go.
The only proper bug is the faulty display in the status line for player 2 in the 2-player-mode (in turns) and the fact that in this mode the second player cannot enter the highscore list. And of course the limitation of the highscore list to 6 digits, it can flow over and start again at zero.
Now the game itself: The graphics and music are very nice although you partially see that the background consists of charsets and the music gets a bit slower when there are many sprites on the screen. For me, the difficulty grade is quite right, by now I can play it to the end without cheat. All in all a very good horizontal shooter and the rumours about crashes and flickering may be caused by bad cracks and the fact that inserting trainer (pokes) usually results in a changed timing and in this game a few loops more or less can show unforeseen results.

KEULE: "For me personally the best shooter at the C64: great graphics, great music, neat extra weapon system, outstanding playbility. Only R-Type can maybe keep up with that... from ne 10 points."

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Origin of the name[edit | edit source]

The name Katakis has a Greek origin and stems from a phone book in Gütersloh, Germany.
The name Denaris was created by a random generator programmed in Basic. Surprisingly it turned out that this name exists in reality and has also a Greek origin.

Known bugs and problems[edit | edit source]

Fastloader conflicts: The fastloader used by some versions does not like connected peripheries such as printers and other drives, this is also for emulated ones.
Crashes after disk operation: Furthermore, it can happen in some versions, that while saving the highscore, the game gets stuck in the main screen and the the "laser animations" change to thick white lines.
Bug: If you lose a life in level 4 twice after one of the (aim-searching) chips was active, it will reappear in the upper left after the new beginning, possibly partially invisible. It is very hard to avoid, so that you are almost inevitably hit by it and lose a life. Then it gets a problem, if you then re-enter in the middle of the level (also, if you e.g. only goof at the end boss) AND you do not collect the following two appearing containers with blue Geega-Crystals, as THEN after a short time (before you get hit) new chips appear (also at first invisible), which fly towards your glider with determination, so that the whole thing starts again after re-entering (as partially also no container appears), until the Game Over. With extreme skill and luck it is possible to break through the devil's circle though. (Comment: The problem is that at this place AFTER re-entering the level anew twice, the two containers do not always both appear and one has in fact no chance without the 2 blue Geega-Crystals.) The same problems exists with the rhombuses in level 10. But it is impossible to avoid them; If you have to handle them, the only thing that helps is, to fly directly up after re-entering, to provoke a collision, before new rhombuses appear and the game will start anew. This concerns all tested versions.

Teamwork mode: As far as known, the teamwork mode is not faulty in the original disk version, but in certain crack versions.
Faulty 2-player-in-turns-mode (does NOT concern the 2-player team mode)

These bugs concern all known versions (also the original)

1st The display for player 2 is wrong (number of ships, etc.)

2nd Player 2 cannot enter the high score list

3rd In some cases which are not traceable, the game even crashes in the 2-player mode

Only a six-digit point display: After reaching 1 Mio. points the display jumps back to 0.

Versions[edit | edit source]

There are many different cracks of this game, but most of them are not error-free.
For Katakis-v1: The Emulators "+4" version works stable in the 1-player mode, for alternative drives such as 1581, CMD-FD, CMD-HD, IDE64 one should prefer the IDE64-Version, little problems makes also the version by Cyberpunx "+5".
For Katakis-v2: here the original version by pcollins (g64+nib) is recommended.
For Denaris: Here also the original version by pcollins (g64+nib) is recommended.

Katakis-v1:

Emulators "+4" : single sided, optional fastloader (detachable, then compatible with 1581, FD, HD, JiffyDOS), very stable, level-4 bug, 2 player in-turn mode faulty
IDE64 version of the Shining8-Crack : single-sided (d81), stable, level-4 bug, 2-player-in-turns mode faulty, no fastloader but compatible with 1581, FD, HD, IDE64, and other fastloaders.
Cyberpunx "+5" : single-sided, relatively stable (seldom fastloader crashes), level-4 bug, 2-player-in-turns mode faulty
Shining8 "+2": single sided, relatively stable (errors after end titles), no fastloader, level-4 bug, 2-player-in-turns mode faulty
Beastie Boys "+" : { relatively stable, 2 disk sides, level-4 Bug
Cyberpunx "+5" : single sided, fastloader crashes, level-4 bug
Moskwa TV/Shining 8 "+100%": fastloader crashes, level-4 bug
Madonna Cracking Group : 2 disk sides

Katakis-v2:

Original version by pcollins (g64+nib): 2 disk sides (alternative disk side 1 with original highscore list), very stable, level-4 bug, 2-player-in-turns mode faulty, fastloader, starting from Vice 2.3.17 no start (GCR code update for the emulators?), do not use cheat pokes (queries on cheats or code changes built into the game or only changed timing?)
Original version from GB64 (g64+nib): 2 disk sides, fast loader , stable, level-4 bug, 2-player-in-turns mode faulty, fastloader, starting from Vice 2.3.17 no start (GCR code update for the emulators?), do not use cheat pokes (queries on cheats or code changes built into the game or only changed timing?)

Denaris

Original version by pcollins (g64+nib): This version reacts exactly the same as the Katakis-v2 original version by pcollins (g64+nib) (see above). The only change to Katakis-v2 is the title in the title screen "Denaris".

See also Katakis Versions Error List (new entries are wanted) and discussion in the Forum-64 Beste Version von Katakis/Denaris

Denaris[edit | edit source]

Due to legal problems the game was sold under the name Denaris in some countries. Except for parts of the graphics (e.g. title screen, pod sprite, colours in level 2) Denaris is identical to Katakis. More infos at schnittberichte.com

- Katakis v1 (round container, white level 2)
- Katakis v2 (square container, green level 2, changed sprites)
- Denaris (as Katakis v2, only changed name)

Clone[edit | edit source]

Smash Designs published a clone of Katakis under the name Crush (Katakis 2).

Successor[edit | edit source]

In 1992, an unofficial successor of Katakis was released under the name "Enforcer".

It was on the Golden Disk 64 6/92.

Katakis development system[edit | edit source]

The end bosses are put together using several sprites (divided by raster interrupts). The many different background graphics were drawn in the paint program Paint Magic and put together with special tools to form the levels. The same was done with the sprites, whereby a grabber was used to cut out the sprites from the HiRes images. Small corrections were done in a sprite editor. The named tools are also known as "Katakis development system" and were provided by Manfred Trenz for publication in the" 64'er-Top-Spiele-Heft 2" (diskette ).

The "Engine" of "Katakis"/"Denaris" and "R-Type"[edit | edit source]

The basics of the program were also used with different graphics (level) and music in R-Type according to Manfred Trenz. This was one reason for the short development time. (see also thread in Forum 64 ).