Dan Coogan & Ray Mueller
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Ray's original post to RGVAC (below) is how I discovered him through a Google search, followed by a series of emails back and forth from me to Ray and back to me.
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From: rmueller
Subject: World Record holder seeks advice on finding Gravitar
Newsgroups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting
Date: Thurs, Apr 22 1999
During my high school and college years, I deposited thousands of
quarters and tokens into arcade games.
In 1983 I spent 12 hours at a Chuck E. Cheese getting 4,700,000 on a Gravitar. I was recently informed by Twin Galaxies that the record still stands.
This has made me interested in finding a Gravitar machine to keep in my home. I was also a fanatic for Lady Bug and Space Panic.
What is the best way to go about finding these machines?
What is a fair price to pay?
Are replacement parts and art work still available?
Thanks in advance for pointing me in the right direction.
-Ray Mueller
Boulder, CO
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Front |
Page 82 |
Dec. 1983 Video Games magazine
You can see Ray's high score (highlighted) on page 82.
. . . look on the left side ~
5th game from the bottom is the Gravitar listing
(Thanks to Eric Clayberg for the use of the jpegs)
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* Here is some additional proof to Ray's amazing game (scroll down to December 1982):
* Page archived, as original link is no longer working
"On Saturday, December 4, Mr. Raymond Mueller, 21, scores 4,722,200 points on GRAVITAR by Atari Inc. after playing the game for twelve hours and 21 minutes at Chuck E. Cheese in Boulder, Colorado"
Here are the initial emails Ray and I exchanged:
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Subject: Gravitar
Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2002
From: Dan Coogan
Organization: Coogan Photographic
To: Ray Mueller
Hi Ray,
I was searching the Google archives for info on Gravitar and found your
interesting posting (4/22/99). I've been playing Gravitar in Mame for a
few months and just love it. At 38, I played most of the classic games
when they were in the arcades (and paid for a few operators to buy their
games, I'm sure) but never had played Gravitar.
In fact I love playing it so much I ended up buying one from Derek Litton in MA --
here's the actual
Gravitar game from Derek's web site
Currently I own 4 uprights, but 3 are waiting to be picked up, so I
only have Donkey Kong Junior (my all time favorite, bought in July 2001)
here in my home.
I just purchased a Taito Crazy Climber (from Howard Cheatle in PA),
Berzerk (from Mark McMasters in GA) and Gravitar (from Derek Litton in
MA ) -- these 3 will be delivered by Eric's in early March, I can't wait.
So here's the Big Question - How do you score over 4 Million+ points
on such an amazing game? It's difficult and I love it, and have finally
scored 30,900 in Mame, so 4,700,000 seems to be an unattainable score.
Thanks for any advice/tips you can offer for playing this amazing game.
Best,
Dan Coogan
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Subject: Re: Gravitar
Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2002
From: Ray Mueller
To: Dan Coogan
Hi Dan,
It is always good to hear from another Gravitar fan. It looks like your
machine is in excellent shape. I'm still looking around for one of my own.
I used to have an upright Ms. Pac Man and a cocktail Defender, but sold
them both due to new additions to the family and the resulting lack of
space. I see this as a temporary set- back only, and have plans to start
building my collection again soon.
I find it interesting that few people became interested in Gravitar
when it first came out, and so many arcades converted them to Space Duel
or Black Widow. Some of my friends thought it was just too hard, but I
found it to be a challenge and a welcome relief from most other games that
were easily mastered and became so repetitive.
I find playing the Mame version more difficult because of having to
use the keyboard for the controls. The secret to Gravitar is getting so
familiar with the placement of the buttons that moving your ship around
is just second nature, like driving a car. Since you have the left, right,
thrust, fire and shield buttons, if you have to stop and think about what
you are doing, you will most likely get blown away.
Other than that, there are some strategy tips I can share with you.
For instance, you can go to the easy planets, steal their fuel without
destroying all the turrets, then attempt a harder planet. This should give
you plenty of extra fuel if that is what you need. When you then destroy
one planet, all the fuel cells and turrets get replenished on the remaining
planets, so you have even more fuel available to you.
I think that once you get good with controlling your ship, you will
find that you have more than enough ships and ample fuel to get though
most systems. There are also some ways to get the maximum number of points
per system, like destroying the hard ones first, if getting a higher score
is your objective.
The big road block for most people is getting past the last planet with
reverse gravity and invisible planet walls, and that takes a lot of practice,
but again, there are some tricks that can make it easier.
Let me know how your Gravitar works once it arrives, and I would be
happy to help you past any sticky points, If I can.
Thanks for the message!
~Ray
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Subject: Re: Gravitar web site
Date: Thu, 29 May 2003
From: Dan Coogan
Organization: Coogan Photographic
To: Ray Mueller
Hi Ray,
Well I finally made it all the way into the final screen of the Negative
Gravity/Invisible Landscape. It took about a year, but I finally did it.
Current high score is 414,350. I've made it through the Positive Gravity/Invisible
Landscape about 6 times now, and I didn't think I was ever going to get
through it, so I'm pretty happy with the progress.
So I decided to set up a Gravitar web site and wanted your feedback
before I announce it to the newsgroup. Here is the url: http://www.cooganphoto.com/gravitar/gravitar.html
I'm still working on the Game overview page (still needs some work)
& the screen captures (got 3 of the 11 planets done, + I need to do
the red planet and a few other things, and I need to do the html coding
for all those pages), but I hope to get that done in the next few weeks.
Let me know what you think and if you have any thing you want to add
-- I'll be more than happy to add it.
best,
Dan
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Subject: Re: Gravitar web site
Date: Thu, 29 May 2003
From: Ray Mueller
To: Dan Coogan
References: 1
Dan,
Congratulations on both meeting your goal and on a great looking website.
Yours is the most complete site on Gravitar I have ever come across. It
is clean, complete, and not too cluttered. You must have put almost as
much time in to developing your web page as you did getting past the
4th level. The flow chart is a nice touch.
The only improvement I can think to offer would be to post a video file
that shows some screen play. That is the only way I can think of to impress
upon folks how smooth you have to get with ship control to make it through
an invisible planet with tunnels. It could also show the techniques such
as leaving the fuel cells as landmarks and shooting to find the walls.
I also have to admit to you that I have yet to get a machine of my own.
I found someone fairly close with a Gravitar in fairly good shape, but
I have yet to take the plunge. He wants $500 for it, and it would probably
take another $200 to get it in perfect shape, which seems to be the going
rate these days based on my eBay watches. In fact, I have been quite surprised
how much demand there is for Gravitar machines and parts. For a game that
has been highly criticized as being too difficult to play, it has to be
one of the hottest items on eBay. Although I suppose that could also be
due to its scarcity.
I did mange to get a Lady Bug PCB, and plan on doing a rebuild on it
with my kids once they get a bit older.
Well, you have rekindled my desire to get a game and start practicing
again, soon.
Good luck! I will keep your web page bookmarked and check back often.
~Ray
This page last updated: 12/31/06
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