Virtual On -- Cybertroopers FAQ v 0.9 By Ian Mak

Introduction

Virtual On is the latest arcade video game presented by Sega. It is
basically a 1-on-1 Doom deathmatch game but this time you are controlling
some huge mechs called Virtuaroid (VR). Once you get into the game, you
will be attracted by its deep, fast and exciting gameplay. This game has
been a great hit in Japan, mainly due to the large number of Gundam fans
there.

Game story

Note: This is the official story of VO in Japan. I have read from
different sources that tell a different story. Maybe it is the story in
US.

Earth has entered the Virtual Century (V.C.). The whole world is now being
controlled by some great syndicates that operating the media industry. The
Earth is in a "dark age" in both politic and culture. Human has switch
their focus to space. Compare with the Earth, the colonies outside Earth
are expanding at a great speed. The syndicates on Earth have bewared of
this new power.

In V.C.0084, one of the syndicates on Earth, DN, has found the "ruins" of
a civilization that contain technology that is far more advanced than on
Earth. DN hide this technology and use it to produce weapons that is much
more advanced than other sydicates'. These human-like robots are called
"VirtualRoid".

VR are difficult to control. Only people who are "Virtual On Positive" can
control a VR well. In order to search for these people, DN made a video
game called "Virtual On" and put it in the arcade game center to test the
"Virtual On Positive" of the player. Moreover, there is a remote control
system in the game machine. Of course, the players of this game do not
know this.

However, the ruins on Moon has become out of control. The ultimate weapon
-- Sun Cannon has beed started up. DN has decided to destroy the ruins
with their VR. The code name of this plan is "Operation Moongate". Players
who are "VOP" are forced to join this operation through the game machine.
Can you finish the "game"?

Characters

MBV-04-G Temjin

The most all-rounded VR in the game. It is fast, well armored and has good
weapons. It is suitable for close to mid range combat. In the right hand,
Temjin can be the most deadly VR.

Weapons: Beam rifle, bomb, beam sword

HBV-05-E Raiden

Raiden has great firepower. Its laser is the most powerful weapon in the
game. Raiden is also the most well armored VR. But its maneuverability is
the lowest.

Weapons: Bazooka, ground bomb, laser

TRV-06k-H Viper II

Viper II is based on the skeleton of Temjin, but its armor is greatly
reduced. As a result, it has great jumping ability and its dashing speed
is very high. Its weapon system is also one of the best.

Weapons: Vulcan, 7 way missle, homing beam

HBV-10-B Dorkas

A cost-down version of Raiden. But it is absolutely not weaker than
Raiden. Its Phalanx can pass though obstacles. It hammer has great homing
ability. Moreover it is small and does not fall down easily. It is very
good at close to mid range combat.

Weapons: Fireball, hammer, phalanx

MBV-09-C Apharmd

Another VR based on Temjin. It is designed for close range combat. Apharmd
has better armor and higher speed than Temjin. Its tongfer is the most
fearsome close range weapon in the game. But its shotgun is quite useless.
Great skill is required in controlling Apharmd.

Weapons: Shotgun, bomb, tongfer

SAV-07-D Belgdor

Another cost-down version of Raiden. Due to the reduction of armor, it has
better maneuverability than Raiden. It is designed for long range support
attack. Its homing missiles can hit enemies miles away. But because the
homing missile launcher is located on the head, it is very unbalanced and
will fell down easily.

Weapons: Grende, napalm, homing missle

SRV-14-A Fei-yen

Being a female VR, Fei-yen is the fastest VR in the game. Compare with
Viper 2 Fei is more agile but she does not have a good weapon system. But
when her life is reduced to half, she will switch into "hyper mode" and
all her attack will be twice powerful.

Weapons: Hand beam, bowgun, heart beam

XBV-13-t11 Bal-Bas-Bow

A prototype VR. It has no leg and its speed is low. But its jump is the
best one. Its weapons do not have good damage but they are difficult to
evade, especially Floating mines. But still it is the weakest VR in the
game.

Weapons: Ring laser, floating mines, hand bit

The Game Screen

On the screen you can find the following:

1. The life meters, both yours and your enemyТs. 2. The timer 3. Three
weapons charge gauges, each for one weapon. You cannot fire

weapon if its charge gauge is in red(it may be running out of charge or
just reloading). 4. Lock on sight. Normally it is a single circle around
your enemy. Most of the weapon will automatically track your enemy if
there is a lock on. When you are close to your enemy, there will be a
double circle around the enemy. This is called a double lock on. At this
time, some of your weapons will switch to close combat mode. Weapons in
close combat mode are in yellow charge. 5. Distance meter. It tells you
the distance between you and your enemy.

Basic control

Controlling VR is through two flight sticks. On each stick there are a
trigger and a dash button. With the sticks, your VR can dash, jump, crouch
and many other actions.

Slow speed movement: You can walk with a low speed in any direction by
holding one stick in that direction.

High speed movement: You can walk with a high speed in any direction by
holding both sticks in that direction.

Jump: You can jump by pulling the left stick to the left and the right
stick to the right at the same time. I.e.

o--- ---o

Dash: You can dash in any direction by holding one or both sticks in that
direction that press the dash button.

Turning: You can turn clockwise by pulling the left stick forward and the
right stick backward and vice versa.

Guard: Your VR can guard against close range attack by pulling both sticks
inward. I.e.

---o o--- -->
Note: You can guard only when there is a double lock on and long range
attack cannot be guard.

Firing weapon: Each VR has 3 weapons. On the screen you can see three
gauges. Each represents one weapon. You can fire the right weapon by
pressing the right trigger, left weapon by pressing the left trigger, and
the center weapon by pressing both triggers. You can fire your weapon
during standing, walking, dashing, jumping and crouching.

Crouching: VR can crouch only when firing a weapon. A crouch attack is
done by pulling both stick inwards and press the trigger. That is

---o o--- -->
Generally crouch attacks have better homing ability and faster speed. Most
of them can be used as anti-air defense. Advanced control

Dash cancel: You can stop a dash by pulling one or both sticks to the
opposite direction of the dash and press the dash button. For example, to
stop a left side dash, you have to pull the stick to the right then press
the dash button. However, you cannot cancel the dash after a dashing
attack.

Jump cancel: You can also cancel a jump by the guard (or crouch) motion.
Your VR will land immediately. But you cannot cancel a jump after your VR
has reached the highest point or after a jump attack.

Weapon cancel: There are two types of weapon cancel in this game: crouch
cancel and center weapon dash cancel.

Crouch cancel - when you fired a weapon in standing or walking position,
you can immediately fire a crouch shot. For example, Temjin can fire a
walking laser beam, then immediately followed by a 2 shots crunch laser
beam. So in the screen there will be 3 beams. This technique is very
useful in close range combat. For example,

Temjin: thrust(right trigger) --> crouch bomb Apharmd: tongfer --> crouch
bomb Raiden: bazooka strike --> crouch laser(!)

Your opponent cannot guard the second attack because the crouch attack is
not a close range attack.

All center weapons except TemjinТs sword and ApharmdТs tongfer cannot be
canceled by this way, however.

Center weapon dash cancel - After firing a standing or walking center
weapon(except RaidenТs laser), you can immediately dash away. Of course
you can attack during the dash. For example, Dorkas can do a standing
phalanx then dash forward and fire fireball immediately. Apharmd can do a
tongfer attack then dash away. This technique can greatly reduce the
freeze time after an center weapon attack.

Quick recovery after downed: If you eat a certain amount of damage, you
will fall down. If you wish to get up faster, just continue to move your
sticks(only 1 stick is O.K., you may accidentally make a jump if you move
both sticks) and your VR will soon get up.

Rising dash: You can dash immediately after you get up. Method is to hold
one or both stick in the direction you want to go and hold the dash button
also when you are down. BTW this dash is a special one. Your attacks
during this dash will contain some amount of "forward dash property". For
example, Temjin will shoot four BIG beam if you fire the beam rifle during
this dash.

Rising attack: You can attack a nearby enemy during rising. When you fell
down, and your enemy is standing near you with a double lock on, you can
attack him immediately by continuously pressing the trigger of the weapon
in close combat mode.

Back attack: You can only do this at close range and with a double lockon.
Method is to hold one or both sticks in a forward diagonal direction and
press the trigger of the weapon in close combat mode. This attack cannot
be guarded. Your VR will quickly go to the back of your enemy and attack.
Apharmd, Temjin and Viper players should definitely learn this move.

Special moves

Only three VR in this game have special move. Not very useful but they are
fun to watch.

TemjinТs Gliding Ram. Method is jump first, then at the highest point,
push both sticks toward and press both triggers.

DorkasТs Mega Spinning Hammer. Method is to do a clockwise turn and press
both triggers.

Viper IIТs S.L.C. Dive. Method is the same to TemjinТs Gliding Ram. Viper
II is invincible during the dive.

All these special moves are counted as close range attack and can be
guarded.

Vs CPU sequence

Temjin-->ViperII-->Dorkas-->Belgdor-->Bal-Bas-Bow-->Apharmd-->Fei-yen-->
Raiden-->Z-Gradt(last boss) | ^ |-->Jaguarandi--| (mid boss)

Mid-boss

There is a mid-boss in this game. It is called Jaguarandi. It is even more
powerful than the last boss. Imagine a Raiden with thicker armor, 8 way
laser, super fast bazooka and maneuverability of Temjin. It is a nightmare
for beginner.

Jaguarandi is not a real VR. Instead, it is only a set of data residue
inside the simulation system. The original of this data is the fighting
record of a little boy, who is a tester of the simulation program. The boy
had faced a lot of difficult combats and these combat records are being
visualized into a powerful VR Ц Jaguarandi. It is still a mystery that why
this VR appeared in the program, but DN has no plan to fix this bugЕ
Jaguarandi has 3 weapons:

Right hand - bazooka Left hand - 4 way missile Center - 8 way laser

Bazooka is the main weapon of Jaguarandi. It is fast and powerful. 3 hits
of bazooka can kill a VR(Viper will die in 2 hit). But it does not home
well, luckily. For fast VR, you can evade them by walking only. Heavy VR
should dash, but never dash attack. Jaguarandi can hit you with forward
dash bazooka when you freezed.

4 way missile is easy to deal with since there are some spaces between the
missiles. If you are standing in front of it, the missiles cannot hit you.
So when you see it is going to fire the missiles, stay calm and see if you
are in front of it or not. You can also try to evade it by jumping.

8 way laser is slow, and between the lasers there are spaces. Just go into
the spaces between and you are safe.

Jaguarandi will enter "berserk mode" when it is facing you and it is at a
distance 100-300. It will use 4 way missile-->8 way laser-->
missile-->laser continuously. At this time you should walk into the space
its fire and counter attack.

Jaguarandi will appear if you average spent more than 35 second in each
round of the first 5 stages.

Last-boss

After you beat Raiden, you will reach the core of the "ruins". The
last-boss, Z-Gradt is before you. It has five weapons:

1. Ring laser 2. Chain laser 3. Floating mines 4. Phalanx 5. Big laser
cannon

Z-Gradt will first attack you with the first four weapons. At this time,
there is a energy filed around it. Your attacks will be very ineffective
at this time. But after a while it will start to transform and fire the
big laser cannon. This is the chance for attack because its energy filed
will be turned off.

Basic tactic against Z-Gradt is to evade its shot before it fires the
cannon. Once it started to do so(its color will changed into gold), get
close (so you only need to move a short distance to avoid the big laser)
and use the most powerful weapon first. Then use the normal right hand
weapon shot. DonТt dash, Use standing or walking shot since it is much
more effective. DonТt let the cannon hit you. After it fired the cannon,
dash away and wait for the second transformation.

You have to destroy Z-Gradt within time limit in order to beat the game.
You cannot win by time out.

Basic tactics

1. Catching your enemy

The most important thing in the combat is to keep your enemy in sight. It
has two advantages. First, when your enemy is in your sight, there will be
a lock on around him. This increase the homing ability of your weapons.
Next, you can see what your enemy is going to do so you can react much
more quickly and accurately.

There are three method to keep your enemy in sight:

I. By turning. II. By jumping(or jump cancel). Your VR will turn to your
enemyТs direction automatically when you jump. III. By dash attack. Like a
jump, your VR will turn to your enemyТs direction through out the dash.

You should use different methods at different situation. For example,

If you are very far away from your enemy and you have a covering. At this
time both I or II can be used to find your enemy.

If you are Apharmd. You have just attacked with Tongfer but missed. Your
enemy is dashing away. At this time I will be too dangerous since it is
slow and you will be hit if your enemy attack. III can be used but you
will lose the attack initiative in the next attack. The most suitable way
is to do a jump but immediately cancel it. You will face the enemy again
and you can attack your enemy when he freeze after dashing.

If you know that your enemy is at your back and he is going to attack, III
is the best way to do. Immediately find an obstacle and dash to it. Fire a
weapon and you will face him again. Then wait for the next chance for
attacking.

2. Evading enemy fires

Most of the time in the battlefield, you will not have obstacle to cover
you. So you must know how to avoid getting hit.

For fast VR like Viper II or Fei Yen, walking is fast enough to evade many
attack like TemjinТs beam rifle or BelgdorТs grenade. They can even attack
back with hand beam or Vulcan. So if you know that you can evade by
walking, donТt dash.

Side dash is the most common way of evading. Side dash is safe against
most attack since it is fast enough. But you will be unable to strike back
your enemy during the dash. Although it is possible to fire weapon during
the dash, the freeze time after a dash attack is fatal.

The way to overcome this problem is dash cancel. After you have evaded all
the enemy fires, you can cancel the dash and immediately strike back. The
good usage of dash cancel is necessary for you to be a good VR pilot.

For Viper II, Feiyen and Bal Bas Bow, jumping is also a good way to evade
enemy fires as they can move a long distance in the air. During the jump
you can evade and attack at the same time. But you have to find a cover
for landing because you are defenseless at that time.

If you have been freeze and you see enemy fire coming, you can try to do a
jump cancel. It can reduce the freeze time after a dash. Moreover the
starting speed of a jump is very high. You can evade weapons with low
homing ability in this way.

The bomb of Temjin and Apharmd is great for defense because it can
neutralized most weapon(RaidenТs laser can go through the bomb, but it
will not do any damage to you). Use them wisely.

3. Attacking

Although most of the weapons in this game have some degree of homing
ability, your enemy can evade them easily simply by dashing or even
walking. Then how can you hit him?

The easiest way is to attack him during his freeze time after a dash,
jump, or firing a weapon.

But your enemy will have this idea also. So the winner of this game is the
one who can control the fighting pace and keep the attack initiative. The
most point here is to force your enemy to dash or jump first.

If your enemy do a side dash attack before you, you should do a forward
dash attack immediately. By this way your enemy cannot hit you but your
attack will hit him. In fact, forward dash attack is the most useful move
in this game.

Other stuff

S.L.C. dive of Viper II can be easily evade by jumping. But homing beam
will hit you if you jump. If you cannot see what Viper is going to
fire(e.g. He is on your head), stay calm and listen. Homing beam will make
a "ding" sound when it is fired. So if you donТt hear this sound, jump. If
there is not, dash away.

RaidenТs laser is the strongest close range weapon in this game because it
comes out faster than any sword or tongfer. So donТt even think of
slashing him. If you really want to slash him(e.g. you are Apharmd), use
crouch attack. You can hit him but you will get hit by laser also.

DorkasТs phalanx can use to avoid TemjinТs sword or ApharmdТs tongfer.
IТve seen a CPU Dorkas evade RaidenТs laser by phalanx, too but I never
made it.

Cyber Troopers Virtual-On читы

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