Nimmos Pond
Can You Be a Grand Master?
by: Docktor

The first in a series... Life is pretty good here in Neopia. Our only job other than taking care of our pets is to play games, really, though many of us also have shops that keep us very busy. We can earn NP at quite adequate levels to support our pets and their lifestyles, but... is there more to games than just playing?

Neopians get their scores added to the high score tables, and if you do really well, your high score can get you a trophy and daily NP. But there's another aspect to your game scores, and that's what I want to write about now. As you play games, you can click on the My Scores button or link on most of them and see what your current list of scores is on all the games you've played. You can also get to it from your own description page on the High Scores line. The main thing is, not only do you get a numeric score on games, but you get a Ranking title too. The 6 rankings for a game are Beginner, Amateur, Novice, Expert, Master and Grand Master.

Every week, I'll be writing an article explaining some of the details of how to become a Grand Master at one of the games here in Neopia. Please note that these are not "how to play" articles that list the keystrokes and all that. Rather, they are specifically designed to discuss how to best become a Grand Master at the game.

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This week: Nimmo's Pond
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This week, it's about one of the newest games around, Nimmo's Pond. This game is much like the old Asteroids game that some people remember as something from the Pong era, but with several interesting twists. First of all, it's got a frog--I mean Nimmo--in the middle of it! A good philosophy for almost every shooter type game is: don't get hit.

In Nimmo's Pond there is no time limit, so just take your time and control your Nimmo carefully. The only thing that will time out after a few trips across the screen is one of the flies, but except for weapon powerups, if you don't get hurt, you won't need them. I start out by shooting whichever lily pad seems to be moving the fastest, because it's more likely to come quickly at you and bump you. Then I clean up the small ones that result from shooting that one, to keep the number of things I have to watch to a minimum. I also rarely move, and try to keep myself slightly below center (about where you start out anyway). If I do move, I slow and stop myself as soon as I can, and just spin to aim. Aiming is kind of coarse in Nimmo's Pond, but usually the pads will float into your line of fire, and ammo is free and unlimited.

By not moving, you keep your paddle power maxed out all the time and available for when you really need it. Sometimes it seems that all the pads are converging on you from every direction, and that's when you need to have a bomb handy. Always keep all 3 bomb spots filled if you can, and use one of them as a last resort. If you try to escape instead, you're likely to bump or get bumped before you can really get back in control. Be sure to keep powering up the same weapon. There are three, and I prefer the Spread weapon (yellow flies) because of the aiming accuracy issues I spoke of.

The Launcher is okay unless the pads get close, and then you can end up shooting over them and having to move. So, in this game, just keep whittling away at the lily pads, and stay safe. You do get points for eating flies, but be sure you don't gobble up any for a weapon other than the one you're using, or it'll reset to that weapon at a level one. Don't get hurt trying to get a fly unless it's absolutely critical (like a red health fly when you're almost out of health).
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