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MONEY
Probably the biggest factor in the whole game is money.
No money, no skill, no mech, no chance. The more cash
the better equipped you'll be for combat.
Every five minutes or so your account is boosted by
fifteen credits as ma and pa robot decide it's time to give
some more of your allowance. Don't hang around !!
Initially invest in a low risk account and then move onto
the intermediate one. Do this for a few hours and you'll
be counting the wads, around 350,000 of 'em.
RECOMMENDED STOCKS
Only two stocks are worth your while:
NASHAN DIVERSIFIED (NasDiv)
BAKER PHARMACEUTICALS (BakPhar)
NasDiv is a steady performer, so if you do nothing but
put all your credits in this stock, you should amass quite a
fortune by the end of the game.
BakPhar is a speculative stock that will make you rich in
a short time if your timing is right.
One strategy is to put most of your credits in NasDiv and
a few in BakPhar. Save regularly and check the market
often. When BakPhar starts going up, put all your credits
in it, and usually your money doubles and doubles again.
It is essential to save your game whenever you get ahead,
though, for BakPhar's value can drop to zero in no time!
After investing, leave Comstar and go and do something
(explore, rest, visit the weapons shop, take a training
lesson.........), returning frequently to assess your
holdings. It takes a fairly long time to earn enough credits
to buy a serious weapon and good armour, not to
mention the money you will need for training, so you may
have to wander about the compound pointlessly, waiting
for your stocks to go up.
TRAINING SCHOOL
Your main goal is to learn how to operate the Mechs at
the Training Centre. This will take six lessons, between
which you can explore the surrounding compound. The
game requires time to pass between lessons.
You'll not get far without any training, and the first thing
you need to know is how to defend yourself. The
important basics to learn are knife fight, rifle and machine
gun, as these are the only weapon skills you'll find
yourself needing.
Stop off at the mechit-lube and take up an
apprenticeship. I know that it's expensive, but it enables
you to patch up a battlefield mech, and take it in for a full
repair and slap another member of your party inside.
When it comes to combat training, try to move around as
much as possible and overheat as little as possible, and
aim for speed on all the missions as this contributes to
your overall mech skill.
Medical skill is also a worthwhile venture; it'll also make
sure you stay in the game longer.
WEAPONRY
Start off with a machine gun. It takes quite a few hits to
kill a human and has no effect on mechs whatsoever but,
still, they're relatively cheap. Later on try to get hold of a
Laser Weapon; I recommend the inferno best of all. One
shot disposes of 90% of humans and Inferno Fire will
overheat a mech, giving you time to flee. Whatever you
do don't hang around taking on a twenty ton mech with a
hand held SRM - it just doesn't work. Equip yourself
with a forty point armour, it normally prevents any
damage to the person in a typical combat round.
The Inferno never runs out of ammunition and rarely
misses, so it's advisable to stay around until you can
afford one......BUT - you CAN get by with less
firepower. Weapon shops are everywhere throughout
Pacifica, and you can also salvage weapons after combat.
Buy whatever armour you can afford for yourself and any
allies. Armour shops are in many towns. Get a MedKit
(sold at any of several hospitals) and a Mapper (at the
video store in Starport and a few other
towns). Later on, get your Mechs modified at a Mech-It
Lube's Speed Shop and you'll become almost invincible.
MECH ETIQUETTE
First and foremost, with the lump of cash you should have
by now, any mech you own should be customised at the
mechit-lube, extra lasers and armour always come in
handy at the expense of jump jets and missile launchers.
Never rule out kicking, more often than not it proves to
be invaluable when a mech is close to shutdown.
Always try to face an attacking mech, all it could take is
one hit with a small laser to the back to knock out half
your arsenal.
THE INVASION, STARPORT & THE JAIL
On the 6th or 7th training mission, you'll suddenly face
real opponents - the Kuritans, who have invaded the
compound. You've got to escape to Starport, a neutral
city northeast of the starting point. If you're lucky, you'll
escape with a Mech.
There are two ways to do so. Choose a Locust for your
final mission, then head West when the forcefield around
the training grounds disappears, and get out of town. Or
use a Chameleon and, as soon as you're attacked, walk
back into the building you just left. When the walls come
down, exit West out of the city. (Sometimes neither of
these methods are successful! If that happens, you can
get Mechs at several other points).
STARPORT
Head Northeast to Starport. Save frequently if you
decide to fight attackers in the hope of obtaining money
and equipment. Inside, immediately find the Clothing
Store and get rid of your uniform to avoid being attacked
as often. Then check your stocks at Comstar and
re-invest if desired. Check out the Inaugural Hall to learn
of the Inauguration, then you might want to earn credits
by fighting at the Arena. repairs can be costly if using a
rental Mech, however, and may even exceed your
250-credit payoff.
REX PEARCE & THE CRESCENT HAWKS
At the Inaugural Hall later that night you'll meet Rex
Pearce, an ally. Save the game before entering, since you
might get killed when you leave with him. Rex gives you a
box from your father and says he's got a new Commando
Mech that Katrina left him.
A member of the Crescent Hawks, he says your mission
is to round up other Hawks, find a secret cache of spare
Mech parts your father hid, and signal Princess Katrina to
return to Pacifica for the parts and your team.
But the enemy attacks before you can look at the
holocard in the box (which is necessary to locate the
cache), and the card is damaged. If you survive, you can
roam about Starport gathering gear, earning credits and
skills, having Rex's Commando modified at the Speed
Shop and so on.
THE JAIL & THE UNDERCOVER AGENT
Go a little North and East to a small town with a jail and
hospital. Save right away, for you may meet an ally who
turns out to be an undercover agent. If you're having
trouble getting people to talk, or if services like
Mechit-Lube are always closed, you've got an agent in
the group. Put him outside on foot and get into a few
battles. He'll either be killed by the enemy or Rex. If you
don't have your own Mech, steal one from the Jail's
parking garage.
FINDING THE OTHER HAWKS, DR. TELLHIM &
THE CACHE
There are two places to view the damaged holocard. The
easiest, quickest way is to return to the destroyed Citadel
and go to your barracks. You'll find a holocard viewer
and can see most of the message. The second way is to
go to one of the several towns Southwest of Starport.
One has the Mayor's house in it, and you can pick the
lock and enter. Use the Mayor's holocard viewer and
you learn that you must find Dr. Tellhim at his hut in the
Northwest. He'll say where to find the cache. (His hut
won't appear on the map unless you view the holocard).
Head Northwest, exploring the various towns. You need
to pick up two more Crescent Hawks; one is a Doctor,
found by visiting hospitals, checking the records and
talking to people there. Get him a MedKit to recover
faster from wounds.
Your other ally is a Tech, found by visiting the
Mechit-Lubes and asking to TALK and Apprentice. It's
invaluable to get him additional Tech training, for he can
scavenge spare parts from enemy Mechs that you
destroy, thus earning you money as well as simplifying
repairs to your own Mechs.
Tellhim is in a building located near the water, near
Sector 36/40 x 49/20. With the proper crew and gear,
you'll pass his tests and he'll tell you that the cache is on
an island to the Southeast (39/60 x 55/60). Once there,
enter the cave.
THE COMPUTER TERMINALS
You are in a maze full of locked doors and computer
terminals. You have a key-card that needs to be
imprinted with a different Red number, Blue number and
Yellow number to open each door.
Each computer throughout the complex has its own
special colour coded number that can imprint your
key-card, and each computer's code can be used only
once. You must open ELEVEN different doors (that's 33
different computer colour imprints you must find!), to get
to the Map Room and the Power Transmitter.
When you have located and opened the door to the Map
Room, you enter it and must then activate a combination
of planets to get the password (PESHT, BENJAMIN,
SKYE, SUMMET, RYERSON, KATHIN,
ACHERNAR).
Activate the planets by touching them all, then walk over
to the control panel on the West wall for your password.
Leave the Map Room, go back through the maze to the
Upper Control Rooms, and turn on the transmitter to call
Katrina (you do this by walking into the panels).
[]'s
Probably the biggest factor in the whole game is money.
No money, no skill, no mech, no chance. The more cash
the better equipped you'll be for combat.
Every five minutes or so your account is boosted by
fifteen credits as ma and pa robot decide it's time to give
some more of your allowance. Don't hang around !!
Initially invest in a low risk account and then move onto
the intermediate one. Do this for a few hours and you'll
be counting the wads, around 350,000 of 'em.
RECOMMENDED STOCKS
Only two stocks are worth your while:
NASHAN DIVERSIFIED (NasDiv)
BAKER PHARMACEUTICALS (BakPhar)
NasDiv is a steady performer, so if you do nothing but
put all your credits in this stock, you should amass quite a
fortune by the end of the game.
BakPhar is a speculative stock that will make you rich in
a short time if your timing is right.
One strategy is to put most of your credits in NasDiv and
a few in BakPhar. Save regularly and check the market
often. When BakPhar starts going up, put all your credits
in it, and usually your money doubles and doubles again.
It is essential to save your game whenever you get ahead,
though, for BakPhar's value can drop to zero in no time!
After investing, leave Comstar and go and do something
(explore, rest, visit the weapons shop, take a training
lesson.........), returning frequently to assess your
holdings. It takes a fairly long time to earn enough credits
to buy a serious weapon and good armour, not to
mention the money you will need for training, so you may
have to wander about the compound pointlessly, waiting
for your stocks to go up.
TRAINING SCHOOL
Your main goal is to learn how to operate the Mechs at
the Training Centre. This will take six lessons, between
which you can explore the surrounding compound. The
game requires time to pass between lessons.
You'll not get far without any training, and the first thing
you need to know is how to defend yourself. The
important basics to learn are knife fight, rifle and machine
gun, as these are the only weapon skills you'll find
yourself needing.
Stop off at the mechit-lube and take up an
apprenticeship. I know that it's expensive, but it enables
you to patch up a battlefield mech, and take it in for a full
repair and slap another member of your party inside.
When it comes to combat training, try to move around as
much as possible and overheat as little as possible, and
aim for speed on all the missions as this contributes to
your overall mech skill.
Medical skill is also a worthwhile venture; it'll also make
sure you stay in the game longer.
WEAPONRY
Start off with a machine gun. It takes quite a few hits to
kill a human and has no effect on mechs whatsoever but,
still, they're relatively cheap. Later on try to get hold of a
Laser Weapon; I recommend the inferno best of all. One
shot disposes of 90% of humans and Inferno Fire will
overheat a mech, giving you time to flee. Whatever you
do don't hang around taking on a twenty ton mech with a
hand held SRM - it just doesn't work. Equip yourself
with a forty point armour, it normally prevents any
damage to the person in a typical combat round.
The Inferno never runs out of ammunition and rarely
misses, so it's advisable to stay around until you can
afford one......BUT - you CAN get by with less
firepower. Weapon shops are everywhere throughout
Pacifica, and you can also salvage weapons after combat.
Buy whatever armour you can afford for yourself and any
allies. Armour shops are in many towns. Get a MedKit
(sold at any of several hospitals) and a Mapper (at the
video store in Starport and a few other
towns). Later on, get your Mechs modified at a Mech-It
Lube's Speed Shop and you'll become almost invincible.
MECH ETIQUETTE
First and foremost, with the lump of cash you should have
by now, any mech you own should be customised at the
mechit-lube, extra lasers and armour always come in
handy at the expense of jump jets and missile launchers.
Never rule out kicking, more often than not it proves to
be invaluable when a mech is close to shutdown.
Always try to face an attacking mech, all it could take is
one hit with a small laser to the back to knock out half
your arsenal.
THE INVASION, STARPORT & THE JAIL
On the 6th or 7th training mission, you'll suddenly face
real opponents - the Kuritans, who have invaded the
compound. You've got to escape to Starport, a neutral
city northeast of the starting point. If you're lucky, you'll
escape with a Mech.
There are two ways to do so. Choose a Locust for your
final mission, then head West when the forcefield around
the training grounds disappears, and get out of town. Or
use a Chameleon and, as soon as you're attacked, walk
back into the building you just left. When the walls come
down, exit West out of the city. (Sometimes neither of
these methods are successful! If that happens, you can
get Mechs at several other points).
STARPORT
Head Northeast to Starport. Save frequently if you
decide to fight attackers in the hope of obtaining money
and equipment. Inside, immediately find the Clothing
Store and get rid of your uniform to avoid being attacked
as often. Then check your stocks at Comstar and
re-invest if desired. Check out the Inaugural Hall to learn
of the Inauguration, then you might want to earn credits
by fighting at the Arena. repairs can be costly if using a
rental Mech, however, and may even exceed your
250-credit payoff.
REX PEARCE & THE CRESCENT HAWKS
At the Inaugural Hall later that night you'll meet Rex
Pearce, an ally. Save the game before entering, since you
might get killed when you leave with him. Rex gives you a
box from your father and says he's got a new Commando
Mech that Katrina left him.
A member of the Crescent Hawks, he says your mission
is to round up other Hawks, find a secret cache of spare
Mech parts your father hid, and signal Princess Katrina to
return to Pacifica for the parts and your team.
But the enemy attacks before you can look at the
holocard in the box (which is necessary to locate the
cache), and the card is damaged. If you survive, you can
roam about Starport gathering gear, earning credits and
skills, having Rex's Commando modified at the Speed
Shop and so on.
THE JAIL & THE UNDERCOVER AGENT
Go a little North and East to a small town with a jail and
hospital. Save right away, for you may meet an ally who
turns out to be an undercover agent. If you're having
trouble getting people to talk, or if services like
Mechit-Lube are always closed, you've got an agent in
the group. Put him outside on foot and get into a few
battles. He'll either be killed by the enemy or Rex. If you
don't have your own Mech, steal one from the Jail's
parking garage.
FINDING THE OTHER HAWKS, DR. TELLHIM &
THE CACHE
There are two places to view the damaged holocard. The
easiest, quickest way is to return to the destroyed Citadel
and go to your barracks. You'll find a holocard viewer
and can see most of the message. The second way is to
go to one of the several towns Southwest of Starport.
One has the Mayor's house in it, and you can pick the
lock and enter. Use the Mayor's holocard viewer and
you learn that you must find Dr. Tellhim at his hut in the
Northwest. He'll say where to find the cache. (His hut
won't appear on the map unless you view the holocard).
Head Northwest, exploring the various towns. You need
to pick up two more Crescent Hawks; one is a Doctor,
found by visiting hospitals, checking the records and
talking to people there. Get him a MedKit to recover
faster from wounds.
Your other ally is a Tech, found by visiting the
Mechit-Lubes and asking to TALK and Apprentice. It's
invaluable to get him additional Tech training, for he can
scavenge spare parts from enemy Mechs that you
destroy, thus earning you money as well as simplifying
repairs to your own Mechs.
Tellhim is in a building located near the water, near
Sector 36/40 x 49/20. With the proper crew and gear,
you'll pass his tests and he'll tell you that the cache is on
an island to the Southeast (39/60 x 55/60). Once there,
enter the cave.
THE COMPUTER TERMINALS
You are in a maze full of locked doors and computer
terminals. You have a key-card that needs to be
imprinted with a different Red number, Blue number and
Yellow number to open each door.
Each computer throughout the complex has its own
special colour coded number that can imprint your
key-card, and each computer's code can be used only
once. You must open ELEVEN different doors (that's 33
different computer colour imprints you must find!), to get
to the Map Room and the Power Transmitter.
When you have located and opened the door to the Map
Room, you enter it and must then activate a combination
of planets to get the password (PESHT, BENJAMIN,
SKYE, SUMMET, RYERSON, KATHIN,
ACHERNAR).
Activate the planets by touching them all, then walk over
to the control panel on the West wall for your password.
Leave the Map Room, go back through the maze to the
Upper Control Rooms, and turn on the transmitter to call
Katrina (you do this by walking into the panels).
[]'s