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Ugga Drop Gold Trophy Guide


by dark_rose_15

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Ugga Drop is a fairly simple game that you can easily master with a bit of practice. It also has the added benefit of being one of the games in which every player who can score 40,000 points receives a gold trophy. Who doesn’t like a bit of parachuting with a guaranteed gold trophy at the end???

Controls

Spacebar: The first press makes your character jump off the cliff, and the second press releases your parachute.

Left and right arrow keys: Moves your character left and right while you’re falling. Once your parachute is open, your position is set and you can no longer move left or right.

Basic Gameplay

You start the game as one of five possible characters: a Kacheek, Wocky, Scorchio, Meerca or an Usul. The characters always appear in this exact order and which one you are is randomly picked at the start of the game. If you don’t like the character you have been given, then just keep restarting the game until you get your favourite.

Each round starts at the top of a cliff, which gets higher with each level. Press the spacebar as soon as you can after the countdown hits “Go!” to make your character jump off the cliff and begin their descent. Don’t press before this as it will be counted as a false start and you will lose 200 points!

While your character is falling, press the right and left arrow keys to move your character around to collect tokens and position them for landing. You can also bump into other characters to try to give yourself a bit of an advantage. If you are level or lower than another character, not only will you push them sideways but you’ll also push them a little bit higher and your character a little bit lower. This is particularly useful for pushing other characters out of the way for the best landing spot or catching up to someone going faster than you. Be careful not to get pushed yourself though! This can slow you down and might cost you first place.

Once your character is close to the ground, press the spacebar to release your parachute for a soft landing. You need to land on the ground and finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd place to advance to the next round. If you land in the mud, release your parachute too late and crash into the ground, or finish 4th or 5th place, then the round will be repeated and you will lose one of your three lives. If you lose all three lives, then it’s game over.

During each round, there will be round silver tokens floating in the air that you can collect during the fall. Each of these tokens will actually add 10 tokens to your collection. You will also earn tokens for successfully landing softly on the ground and earning a place between first and fourth. These tokens can be used to purchase two different upgrades, Quick Draw and Super Slime, which cost 500 tokens each. Quick Draw increases the speed at which your character releases their parachute, which means that you can release a lot closer to the ground. Super Slime increases the speed of your fall, making it easier to pass the other characters without having to bump into them. After purchase, both of these upgrades can be further upgraded another two times, costing 3000 total tokens.

Scoring

There are 4 levels with 5 rounds in each, for a total of 20 rounds. In order to get 40,000 points for the gold trophy, you need to get first place in every single round with no false starts.

First place: 2000 points, 200 tokens and advance to the next round

Second place: 1000 points, 100 tokens and advance to the next round

Third place: 500 points, 50 tokens and advance to the next round

Fourth place: 100 points, 10 tokens and lose life and repeat round

Fifth place: 0 points, 0 tokens and lose life and repeat round

False Start: Lose 200 points and repeat round

*******

Strategy for Gold

Choosing your Character:

I personally prefer the Wocky or Kacheek, as I find their positioning works best for me. I like that at the start they’re roughly located over the mud patch between the ground on the left and the ground island. That means that once they’re falling, all I need to do is press the right arrow key to move them towards the ground island and I can usually bump into other characters to make me go faster and collect some bonus tokens to boot. In later levels, they’re over solid ground so, so long as I don’t move too far to the right, I should be landing on ground rather than mud with no problems.

I know other players prefer the Kacheek or Usul as they find it easier to doge the other players. While you’re learning the game, try all the different characters and find what works best for you. Once you have a favourite, stick with them and just restart the game if you get a different character.

Starting and Falling

Your start is very important and can be the difference between first and second place. The count down goes “Ready? 3… 2… 1… Go!” and it is critical you press the spacebar as soon as you see the green of Go! appear. However, make sure you don’t get too excited and press the spacebar too early, as a false start will cost you 200 points and ruin your trophy chances!

While falling, your first priority is to maneuver yourself into your landing zone. Your great start will be ruined if you land in the mud! Your second priority is to bump into other characters, but only if you can do so advantageously. You want to ensure that your character is coming first or at least a close second by the time the ground appears. Don’t panic if you’re second during the fall as the other characters often mess up their landing, particularly in the first level. Just don’t mess up yours and you’ll mostly likely be fine. After the completion of 5 rounds you will move up one level, which means you move further up the cliff and have more falling time. By the later levels, you’ll have enough fall time and power ups to easily bump other characters out of the way.

Token and Upgrades

Don’t worry about collecting tokens for upgrades. If you happen to get some during your fall, that’s great but don’t go out of your way to get them. Tokens don’t add any points to your score, they’re ONLY for purchasing upgrades. Coming first place each round will give you 200 tokens each time, for a total of 1000 by the end of the first level. Upgrades cost 500 tokens each, so that’s enough to buy one of Quick Draw and one of Super Slime at the end of every level. It’s best to get one of each upgrade, rather than powering up one fully and then the other, as it keeps both your fall and your parachute release in balance. If for some reason you have to pick one or the other, go for Quick Draw over Super Slime. By the end of level 3, you should be fully upgraded without any difficulty.

Softly Landing

Learning to land softly is crucial to your success in this game. Release your parachute too late and you’ll crash hard into the ground, but release it too early and while you’re floating, another character might slip past you. The point at which you can release your parachute depends on your level of Quick Draw upgrade, as in the higher your upgrade level, the later you can release without crashing into the ground.

If you’ve followed this guide and upgraded both Quick Draw and Super Slime each level, then you can use these points to estimate when to release your parachute for each level. All landing points are in reference to the rocky outcrop with the ladder hanging down on the left side of the screen. Please understand that these points are ESTIMATES only and depending on your computer speed and reflexes, you may need to release earlier or later.

Level 1: Halfway down the outcrop

Level 2: 2/3 of the way down from the top of the outcrop

Level 3 & 4: Between 2/3 and 3/4 of the way down from the top of the outcrop

With practice you should easily avoid landing in the mud, however, if you find it’s happening a little too often, then consider switching your character or paying closer attention to your landing position. On the other hand, if you know you’re NOT going to finish first and you haven’t already released your parachute, then deliberately crash into the ground or land in the mud. While it will cost you a life, this will repeat the round and give you another chance to get first place without ruining your trophy run. This is particularly useful in the earlier rounds before you have all of your upgrades. Just make sure you keep track of how many lives you have remaining!

Final Words

If you’ve followed this guide, you should be looking at 40,000 points and your new shiny gold trophy very shortly. It took me a couple of hours practice to completely master this game, and I’ve kept it on as a good np game since. If you start getting frustrated with the game, try switching up your character or just walk away and do something else for while. Remember to have fun and don’t let that pesky mud get you down!

Good luck and safe parachuting!

 
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