 Traversing the Tricks and Traps of Turmac Roll
by cougars8888
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When Neopians are enjoying a pleasant stroll through the fields of Meridell, every
so often they are forced to jump aside as a Turmac comes hurtling past, bumping
and bouncing along. This petpet loves nothing more than to eat a few berries on
his adventures through the countryside, snacks which can be readily found in the
extremely popular action game, Turmac Roll. I have always treasured this game,
finding it an enjoyable play while remaining challenging at the same time. It
even harkens back to the side-scrolling games of “old school” gaming. When I realized
the Neopian Times had only one game guide for Turmac Roll (though with plenty
of information on the biggest Turmac of them all, Turmaculus), I decided to pull
up my sleeves, practice my jumps, and write a guide to help everyone from beginners
to experts in this lovable game. It seemed to me that the most difficult part
of the game that would prevent people from getting trophies would be understanding
the obstacle patterns in it. I’m sure avid players of this game have recognized
some of the patterns here. This is an in-depth look at each arrangement of hills
and stumps, and how to best get past them. It may even help you get another trophy
to add to your growing collection. And without further ado, let’s get started!
The Basics
In Turmac Roll you control your rolling Turmac through a side-scrolling course
of hills and tree stumps using the arrow keys on your keyboard. Right speeds
you up, Left slows you down, and Up allows you to jump. It’s important to note
that you do not need to hold down the right arrow key to maintain your speed;
that will happen automatically. Just hold it down until you’re as fast as you
want to go. When asked to choose your difficulty always pick Hard mode, especially
if you’re going after a trophy. The berries are worth three times as much as
in Easy, and there really isn’t any difference in the level of play.
The Obstacles
Although the game may seem a random mixture of hills, stumps, ramps, and berries,
it’s actually formed with groups of these obstacles in various recognizable
patterns. Once you learn them, and learn a strategy to get past them, you’re
on your way to an easy 3k a day. That’s where this guide comes in; to help you
figure out the best way to get past those patterns, and boost your score. These
tricks and traps may seem hard to view at first, but after just a few games
(and this article to help) you should be able to distinguish them easily. The
first sequence, present in every single game without fail, is the Starting Pattern.
The Starting Pattern
As mentioned, every game begins with the same series of hills. It is an easy
place to start gaining points right off the hop (or roll), with only a couple
of danger points present in the form of tree stumps that are easy jumps for
your Turmac. Don’t start out lazy here; jump for berries, as they are basically
freebies. Getting all of them is tricky though, so don’t be frustrated if you
miss a couple. For the berries at the last few large hills allow yourself to
just roll off the hill, instead of jumping. You’ll take the points on your way
down.
After this starting sequence, the game opens up into any of the other obstacles,
so be ready! They could be any one of the following…
Hill, Hill, Chipped Hill
Okay, so you’ll have to pardon the names I’ve provided for the various patterns.
They’re created so everyone will understand just what I’m referring to. The
chipped hill is exactly like a normal hill, except it looks like it has a small
piece taken out of it at the top left. The Hill, Hill, Chipped Hill is a tricky
situation that starts like normal hill patterns, but when you see that chip,
it’s your signal to react in one of two ways.
You can A) Jump off the chipped hill, and allow it to carry you over to a
small ramp and little farther away. This is dangerous though if you under-jump,
and has resulted in many personal game overs. The better thing to do is B) DON’T
jump. This is one of the few times you don’t jump off a hill, and only because
you know what’s coming next. Let yourself roll off, grabbing the high berry
on the way (easy to miss this one though!) and jump the small ramp as soon as
you land.
Double Stumps
This is an evil looking obstacle, but an easy one. Instead of clearing the
first stump and jumping again as soon as you land, let your Turmac jump onto
the top of the first tree stump. From here you must jump again with quick timing
to let yourself be carried onto, or over the second stump, where two berries
are waiting for you as a reward.
After a bit of practice the trickiest part of this obstacle proves to be getting
both berries, since you are rolling too fast to get the bottom one. Here’s that
magical time to slooowww dowwwn. You will get both berries this way, but remember
to accelerate again to top speed afterwards.
Many Hills and a Stump
Just to clarify, this is the pattern with about five hills in a row, 2 with
berries in their valleys, and then a large tree stump. The stump of course,
presents the problem. If you don’t have your speed or jump timing just right,
you’ll roll directly into it and its good bye Turmac. This is another place
where you can’t be afraid to slow down a little. Somehow (doesn’t matter how
you do it) get yourself into the valley of the second berry. I usually jump
from the first berry, or decelerate so I roll into it. From here take a full
speed jump out, and you’ll sail clear over the stump and onto the next part
of the course.
Rollercoaster Hills
This pattern is THE most fun and helpful in the game, so learn to recognize
it!! It starts the same as the Many Hills, but with no berries in the valleys
and one at the peak of a hill near the start instead. From there it’s a rollercoaster
ride of ups and downs with absolutely no dangers in between, just point-racking
fun. Take the chance to sit back and enjoy the short break from concentration.
Stretch your fingers, crack your knuckles, rub your eyes, eat some asparagus,
whatever you need to do. Be ready though, because as soon as you’re off the
coaster there’s a ground level berry, and then it’s back to work.
It is important not to confuse this pattern with the Many Hills and a Stump.
If you think you’re ready for a chance to relax but have misidentified the sequence,
you’ll be casually rolling to your doom without even realizing it. The trick,
as mentioned, is to watch the position of the berries.
Short Scoops
“Scoops? As in…Ice Cream scoops? This guy must have been hit in the head by
the Snowager a few too many times!” No I’m not crazy; there really is Ice Cream
in the game! But they are “scoop hills” as I have named them for the sake of
this article; the hills that seem to have a dip at the top which looks like
a hump, or an ice cream scooper. A short scoop is simply a small version of
these, in the form of a mound. They will happen directly before either a stump
with a berry, or a ramp. They are very easy as long as you jump from them, and
I introduced them here for the sake of the next obstacle pattern, the Gauntlet.
The Gauntlet
This one is titled to reflect the length and difficulty of the pattern, if
you don’t know the proper strategy to roll and jump your way through it. It
starts with a tall scoop hill and a ramp, then a short stump, another scoop,
small stump, chipped hill, tall stump, small hill, stump, and a ramp. Not very
pleasant sounding at all, is it? Don’t worry, you’ll learn to distinguish it
very easily once you start playing. The trick here is just to know when to jump,
and when not to jump.
At the first scoop hill jump at the hump; that is to say, jump from the dip
at the top, not before it. It may be tricky at first, but it comes easily with
practice. From here you will clear the first stump, and your Turmac will roll
towards the second scoop. DON’T jump here! Let yourself roll off and make a
quick hop over the other stump and into a delicious berry.
The trick next is to jump off the top of the big stump instead of over it.
You will be carried over the small hill, and one last jump over the ramp will
clear you from the wretched Gauntlet! Don’t give in to the temptation of clearing
the stump and jumping using the small hill. Far too many times in my experiences
this will land you just before the ramp, an annoying way to lose.
The Deadly Triple Stump
This is perhaps the very hardest obstacle to get past, because there isn’t
really any easy way to do it. It consists of three stumps, two small ones and
a large one in the middle. Ideally you want to jump onto the middle one, and
then over the last. But the timing for this needs to be perfect, or you will
undershoot and crash. Instead, aim to land past the stump, in the space between
it and the third. If you’re early and land on the big one, great! Just jump
off and you’re good to go. But if you go past it, use the slow down trick once
more. Decelerate in the air so that you land right before the third stump. Then
very quickly speed up again, WHILE pushing jump. If done correctly, you will
clear the triple stumps and can start breathing again!
Other Obstacles
Most of the other obstructions in the game are easy to get past, and require
very little advice or summarizing. The only one of note is the Hill with a Hole
and Ramp. Just jump over the stump and jump again as soon as you land to clear
the ramp, and you’ll be fine. Other than that, it essentially comes down to
the following: always jump off of hills and off the top of stumps (unless noted
above) and jump over something if it’s in your way as you’re rolling towards
that high score!
Final Tips
Just a few final things to remember, and a couple pointers to help you out
while you’re playing:
° Every berry counts, but NO berry is worth dying for! If you can’t reach
it, leave it.
° It’s not a race; slow down if you need to.
° Never lose your focus! If you freak out because you just got an Aquaberry,
chances are your Turmac will go rolling out of your control. Stay calm.
° Timing is key. Don’t jump before you’re ready, but don’t be late either.
° Learn the obstacles and their patterns and use what works best for you.
° The holes in the ground do nothing, so don’t worry about them
° For advanced players: Learn to use your other hand. By doing this you
can switch between right and left every thousand points or so, which believe
me, really makes a difference. It allows one hand to rest, and also forces you
to refocus. If you’re not comfortable switching, then DON’T do it!
° Again, for advanced: Once you hit 3,000 points things start to really
heat up on the course. Obstacles happen at faster intervals, with hardly any
time between them. Adjust accordingly!
Well, that’s all I have to say! I hope you found this guide helpful, but more
so I hope that it helps you reach a new high score, 3k a day, and possibly a
new trophy! Now go play Turmac Roll, and enjoy one of the best and most popular
games in Neopia!
Author's Note: Thanks to the TNT members who made the wonderfully fun game
of Turmac Roll! Oh, and Neopets in general ^_^
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