The minimum score required in Starmaster by Activision for the Atari 2600 to earn a patch was: Ensign 3800 points, Leader 5700 points, Wing Commander 7600 points, and Starmaster 9000 points. The best advice in Starmaster is to read both manuals, so that you know all of the nuances of the game. The manuals gives some really good tips and vital information. Make sure both difficulty switches are set to B. Activision StarMaster is another one of those games that will have you biting your nails. Plug the joystick into the left side, as this is the only side that you'll be using in Starmaster. The controls are up, down, left, and right. But the thing to remember is when you hold the joystick to the right, the screen will move to the left. This comparison is sort of like looking through a telescope. When you move the scope in any direction, the reverse side tip of that scope goes into the opposite direction. The b/w & color switch brings up your galactic chart and switches back to play mode. You'll have four different gaming levels to choose from. "E" for Ensign which is the easiest level, "L" for leader, "W" for Wing Commander, and "S" for StarMaster which is the hardest level. During game play you will encounter four modes of operation. The Galactic Chart, Warp Travel, Engaging the Enemy, and Docking with the Star base. When you hit the b/w & color switch you will notice several things. Your ship is represented by a "+" mark, the star bases are "I-O-I" shaped icons and the enemies are shown as dots on the screen. Your MACC or Mission/Attack Control Computer is displayed at the bottom middle of the screen in blue. There are a series of letters E,W,S,E,D they represent different things that you'll need to know while playing. The first "E" is your game level "E for Ensign" "L for Leader" "W for Wing Commander" and "S for StarMaster". Each descending letter also has their specific duties, "W" for warp energy that is expended to travel from one position to another. The letter "S" is for star dates that have elapsed while engaging in flight combat. The letter "E" for your energy that is depleted and is remaining throughout your entire game play. The letter "D" for the damage that is taken. The bold colors around your "MACC" are represented for different functions that corresponding with each color. Green for an empty sector, Red for enemies that are present in this sector, and Blue for a Star Base being in this sector. The damage control indicator shows what exactly is going wrong with your ship if anyone of these letters "LSWR" show up on the "D" row, you're in serious jeopardy of being unable completing your mission. Laser, Shields, Warp Drive, Radar. You press the reset button to start the mission and as you start your warp through space you will encounter meteors you can either avoid by steering around them or shooting them to destroy them. Each meteor that you collide with drains between 100-500 energy units from your reserve shields so be very mindful of your skill set abilities. Once you've entered an area that has an enemy that is close by, your gun sight will start to flash indicating you should be poised to fire the laser. The objective here is to kill the enemy as fast as you can using the least amount of energy and all of this without taking any damage. Once this is completed the colors of your control console change from red back to green, meaning all clear in that sector. Continued in part 2...