Cloud Raiders Guide

This game, was for many, complicated at first, but I soon got the hang of it and so I have decided to tell you what I know and maybe make it a little easier for you to get to the end, or just 1000 NP. Well, I will put out the basics and then tell you some tips at the bottom.

Steering:

Steering is very simple. You make wind by holding down your mouse. To make your ship go up, you make wind under the ship and move the wind upward. To go down, you do the same but start your wind above the ship. The wind does not lead the ship to where you want to go! It pushes it. So you must start your wind where the ship will hit it. If you make your wind too steep, the boat will come to a stop until the wind fades away or until you run out of space and pop out again. It is bad if you pop out because it will have the same effect as if you had been blocked by a tree and will cause some damage.

Obstacles:

Obstacles are things that will sit there and can’t move and are impenetrable. There are dark purple clouds, windmills and trees. Dark purple clouds ARE different than light purple clouds (more about that below). All obstacles will bounce you away from them and cause some damage. If you hit one, the bounce will give you a chance to veer away from it before you hit it a second time. There is no way to get rid of them; they are there until you leave them behind. All in all, steer clear of them; nothing good comes from them!

Enemies:

There are many enemies. The basic and most common enemies are the red, green, blue/yellow birds and the dim purple clouds. They all do the same thing when you hit them: cause some damage, then disappear. They're not good, but it’s better to hit them than an impenetrable obstacle.

The small boat and fat, purplish bird are worse than the basic enemies. They are moving enemies. They will fly toward you so you must dodge them. Don’t worry; they will only aim once, then stay on that course until they leave the screen or hit you. That’s the only difference between the two; they will still cause damage and they will still disappear.

Missiles and big cannon balls. There just like the red or green birds, only they cause much more damage. If you’re hit by one of these with less than half of your life, chances are that you will die.

Big Boats are the worst enemies. The biggest ship can’t die and will fire six mini cannonballs at ones in regular intervals. The slightly smaller but still big boats CAN die if you have a dark skull or a blue swirly. The smaller boat will fire one cannon ball in regular intervals.

Power ups:

There are seven power ups. All of them do something good; there are no bad apples in the bunch. The most common is a coin or dubloon. every time you get one, it will add 10 points to your score. But there are many and every one counts!

The second most common power up is a life or red cross. When you get this, it will add a bit of heath. It will NOT restore you to full health. It will only go up a little so it is not worth risking if there is immense danger surrounding it; you would get more hurt than what the life could restore. Worth 2 points.

The rest of the power ups are about equally common; you will see them every so often, not nearly as much as a coin or life.

A star is my favorite power up. It will give you a shield that lasts about fifteen seconds. Don’t be fooled; fifteen seconds is plenty of time. When you have this, it is best to get as many coins and other items as possible, because you can’t get hurt until the fifteen seconds are up. Dark purple clouds and trees can still bump you away, though. Worth 3 points.

The blue swirly is a pretty good power up. When you get one, it will turn all the enemies on the screen into coins. Best to do this just before it leaves the screen, so you get as many coins as possible. Worth 10 points.

The double coins (or double dubloon) will double the score you get from all coins and other power ups you get while having this item. Get as many coins as you can because it will only last for fifteen seconds. The double coin itself is worth 10 points.

The dark skull/crossbones may look like it's bad, but it’s not. It does the same thing as the blue swirly, only instead of giving you coins, they will just disappear. It is still good to get it just before it leaves the screen. Not as good as the swirly, but it will still get all those pesky birds out of your hair.

The blue arrow pointing down seems to be less common than all the other power ups. But when you do get it, it will slow all attacking enemies and mini cannon balls down. I think it’s worth 10 points.

Buttons:

There are two buttons that you can click at any time during the game. They are located at the top right corner of you screen. There is a red and a purple button.

If you click the purple button, all the special graphics will disappear. The mountains and clouds down below will no longer be visible, your ship will no longer trail sparkles, the swirly purple wind will now only show white and a couple other things. It just makes everything a little less “fancy”. Many people say that it is easier to play the game with the graphics turned off, but whatever floats your boat.

The red button is the quit button and will ask if you want to quit the game. You can also use this as a pause button so you can leave your game for a while and go do something else. This will NOT save the game for you if you leave the game or Neopets.

Other:

There is the health bar, wind bar, and your points counter. The health bar is the yellow and red bar on the top left corner of your screen, and of course it shows how much life you have left. If it gets to the red zone, be REALLY careful.

Wind bar keeps track of how much wind power you have. It’s the blue bar in the top left corner of your screen. Believe it or not, you have a limit on how much wind you have, so don’t use it until you need it. I have never had lack of wind trouble but for those who do: Use moderately and don’t be wasteful of your wind.

The name says it all when it comes to the point counter. It counts your points.

When you see a red flag, it means you finished the level! Yay!

Tips:

The red bird will sometimes move and sometimes will not.

If you make your ship go up and down, it will speed it up. (Don’t make it too fast, though, or you won’t get enough warning of things that are coming.)

There are only three levels.

The ground and sky both cause damage.

Wind can block small cannon balls.

If you crash into a bird or basic enemies, it will give you 3 points and if you crash into a minor enemy, it will give you 5 points. I don’t recommend crashing on purpose for points. You need the life more than points.

Only the middle part of the boat matters; the wings/sails don’t matter if they're hit.

Well, I think that’s everything I know about Cloud Raiders. I hope this little guide is helpful to anyone out there who is new to the game or just needs some tips thanks for reading.