0
04/11/2001
Desperados DEMO FAQ
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Version 0.2
by
Kobal2 (Kobal@multimania.com)
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0. INDEX
1. Version History
2. Introduction
3. The Basic Gameplay
a) Basic Stuff
b) Characters
4. Strategies, Tips and Tricks
a) The Bridge
b) The Belltower
c) The Prison
d) The Saloon
5. End Notes
6. Last Quote
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1) Version History
Version 0.1 : the one that started it all, with a few basic gameplay
tips, and some solutions for the more tricky parts of the level.
Version 0.2 : added a few tricks found either by myself or browsing
through forums. Some "*" surround the new parts.
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2) Introduction
You know it all...i'm not related in any way with the devellopers or
editors or coders or whoever made this awesome game. You can copy parts or all
this FAQ on your website if you don't say you made it etc...
This is my first FAQ ever, so if you have suggestions/comments, feel
free to send me a mail (remember to put "Desperados FAQ" as topic though)
Oh and, forgive my not-so-good english, I'm french. Feel free to laugh
about that too.
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3) The Basic Gameplay
Quite the same as good old Commandos, with a few twists.
a) Basic Stuff
You select a character by clicking on his portrait, or by pressing his
quick key (by default : 1 for Cooper, 3 for Doc and 4 for Kate, a for All). You
move a character by clicking somewhere on the map while he is selected. You
can run by double--clicking, but it makes much more noise (ie : the ennemies
will hear you if you run within approx. 5cm from them). You can crawl by
pressing the C key or clicking on the crawling icon, it's really slow, but you
can enter the ennemies cones of vision much more safely this way.
You can display the cone of vision of one ennemy at a time by pressing
the ALT key, then moving the mouse pointer over him (no need to click). It
doesn't really works the same way as in Commandos : in commandos the ennemy
had 2 types of LOS : bright and dark, you could safely creep in the dark area,
but you would be spotted immediately if standing there. Here, there is only
one zone, which will turn from green to yellow and narrow according to what the
ennemy sees : if you crawl, it will slowly change, but don't stay there for
too long, because after some time the ennemy WILL see you. It's just a matter
of time. I guess they did so to prevent the old trick with consisted in "crawl
within field of view, stand, the ennemy sees me, crawl back and hide, the
ennemy runs to me to find me...alone :/"
If you press ALT then click, a spinning "?" will appear, and if you
do so in a crowded area, you will soon see numbers at the bottom of the screen.
These numbers show you the number of people (ennemies AND neutrals) who had
the "?" in their field of vision since you placed it. Quite useful if you want
to find a safe place to hide.
You can mount/unmount horses by clicking on them, though i haven't
found any real use for it, apart from looking damn cool.
* If you're in a REAL hurry to go away, you can move your horse while
you're still mounting it. Cool to see, not really usefull. Nice touch though.*
* You can "park" horses by walking them near a parkable zone (ie.
those bars in front of buildings. If a zone turns yellow when your horse goes
over it, it means it's a park space. If you unmount a horse on a park space,
the horse won't wander aimlessly.*
* Sometimes, when an ennemy sees an unparked horse, he will go to it,
mount it and go park it somewhere. I've only seen this done once, and the
guy was in search of me, maybe it's a factor for such an attitude.*
* You can jump from a window onto your saddle, movie style, though
once again, i haven't found any usefullness to it, apart from the style. To
do so, park your horse in front of a building, go to the 2nd floor, and click
on your horse. The selected character will do a long jump, twisting in the
air to face the right way, and land right on the saddle, ready to go. As far
as I know, every character can do so.*
* Untested : seems a character on a horse can lead another horse by
the reins. I haven't tried that yet, so I cannot tell you how it's done. Just
know it can be done :) *
The map is also a usefull tool : you bring it up/down by pressing the
M key. red dots are ennemies, blue dots are civilians, yellow dots are items
you can pick up. The items can only be picked up by the character who can use
them (in the demo, all the items are for Doc)
A new concept is the Quick Action, and it's definitely useful. by
pressing the Q key (or by clicking on the watch... again you should REALLY use
those quick keys) you can store an action for each character, and toggle it
with the spacebar. Let me re-peat myself : you can store ONE action. That is,
you can't program something like "when i press space, Cooper dashs out of the
building, fire 3 shots, then rushes back in". You can store "Cooper dashs out"
OR "Cooper fires" OR "Coopers runs for safety". Yeah, I know, it's kinda
weird, but it's still very useful, and you can really do some neat stuff with
it. I'm not so good at aiming, so usually when i plan a shot, i store a shot
in the quick action, then fire a shot by myself. If the bad one is still
alive, I launch the quick action while he runs for me, then escape as fast
as I can. Another thing you can do is store a contact attack (like Cooper's
knife), then make the approach yourself,so that you don't have to fiddle with
the quick keys in the middle of the action.
The buildings work differently than in Commandos : if a building has
two or more entrances, you can use any of them one you entered the building
(ie. go in through the back door, get out by the front one). You can also hide
bodies in the buildings. When an alert is up, ennemies won't check inside
buildings unless they saw you run inside, so you can use them to lay low till
things get back to normal. Sometimes there are doors BEHIND the scenery, you
can display doors by pressing the special action key, which will highlight all
usable doors in blue. Desperados brings another new thing : civilians. Man
could they use a punch in the face. Basically, they won't do a thing if they
see you unarmed, walking the street like any other cowboy out there. But if
they see dead bodies or stuff like that, they'll freak out and scream,
sometimes alerting nearby guards. If they SEE you killing people, hauling bodies
around, they'll get nasty : if an alarm is raised and they know where you're
hiding, they'll give the bad guys directions and such. Oh, and of course you
can't kill them, you're supposed to be the good guy after all. You can punch
them though, if you feel like it or if one threaten to blow your silent
approach.
Reloading : this is the wild west son, ain't no semi automatic pistols
round these parts. Each gun has a number of available shots before you have to
reload. You reload by pressing the gun button twice. It takes quite some time.
You can of course reload even if you haven't fired all your bullets. My advice
would be to reload after each firefight ASAP, at least if there's nobody
rushing right for you. You'll look as dumb as I did if, after planning a Clint
Eastwood style triple shot you end up rushing out and making three "plink"
sounds. :)
* Every characters main gun has unlimited ammo, but it doesn't mean you
can shoot all the time. First there is the reloading problem, described above.
But you also have to care about your gun's heat : the faster you shoot, the
hotter you colt gets. You can gauge your gun's temperature by looking at the
ammunition button : if it turns red, it means you gun is heating. If it is red
all the way, you have to wait for some time before you can shoot again.*
Every character has 5 (well, 4 in the demo) actions he/she can perform.
I strongly suggest you learn the quick keys for those, because using them via
the screen buttons takes WAY too much time. They are described in the characters
section.
* Let's talk about the "Hold Action" key. I've just discovered it, and
it's really usefull : you can ready a basic action (gun, fist, knife etc...),
then, when your press and hold the Hold Action key, your character will revert
to "no action selected" mode for the time you hold the key. As soon as you
release the key, the action will be selected again. Nifty hu ? No ? Imagine
this : Cooper readies his gun /Hold Key/ runs to an ennemy, /release key/ fires,
/hold key/ runs like hell, /release key/ turns around and finishes his pursuers.
I told you, this game IS a movie :) *
* You can tell wether a building is empty/full of bad guys without
having to save and try : when you hover the pointer over a door, you'll see it
changing to a keyhole, and an eye looks through it. If the eye is green, the
building is empty. If it's blue, there are civilians inside. If its red, BEWARE,
ennemy inside. If there are ennemies inside, the cursor will also display how
many they are. *
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b) Characters
John Cooper
He's your average John Wayne : tough guy, with leather pants and a stetson, fire
faster than his shadow. He's also the leader of the group. If you must, you can
consider him as the Green Beret, only much cooler.
Here are his specific talents :
* He is the only one who can carry unconscious/dead bodies
* He can fire FAST : you can store up to 3 shots in a Quick Action, so
that when you press the space bar you have 3 bodies to haul around. Think of
the duel between Harmonica and the 3 dusters in the first scene of "Once Upon a
Time in the West", only Cooper doesn't get shot. NOTE : you can dispatch those
shots any way you want (ie. you can put three bullets in one guy, ore one
bullet in 3 guys)
* His gun is your average western colt : six bullets,
and you have to reload after shooting them. Medium range and much damadge at
close range, though it lacks real punch at long range.Unlimited ammo
* He has a strong punch : his second action is a punch that stuns the
ennemy for some time, and deals 10 damage, in addition to send them flying for
a few meters. Useful to capture people (Dillon, for instance), to stop civilians
from alerting the bad guys (you can't shoot them...to bad...), or to dispose of
someone quickly : it fires faster than the knife.
But be careful, the ennemy wakes up after some time, and I guess he is pissed
and starts a search (I have yet to try this...I usually butcher the down men).
You can see how long ennemies will stay stunned by the number of stars around
their heads.
* He carries a mean knife, which he can use it in 2 ways : you can
either stab with it (silent, and more importantly SURE kill), or you can throw
it, for a silent, sure AND distant kill, but if you throw it from too far, it
won't deal so much damage. Oh, and of course, if you throw the knife, you can't
use it until you have recovered it from its target cold body.
** He can sabotage horse saddles : to do so, use the knife on a horse,
and Cooper will hack the reins. Next time anyone tries to ride the horse
the saddle will fall (I think it would have been much more usefull if the horse
bucked, and the ennemy flew to the ground, getting knocked down in the process
(like those guys trying a little rodeo). Oh well, it stills slows them down.
Cooper is the only character who is able to re-saddle a horse.*
* (Not in the demo) : Golden Watch : kinda like the radio of the
Commando's Green Beret i guess, a remote decoy of some kind.
Doc MacCoy
He's a doctor and a bounty hunter. He looks like the "old mentor with a drinking
problem" type. He's of course the doctor of the group, but also the sniper and
in some way the grenadier. He wears a large black hat and a long black duster,
and carries his doctor bag.
Here are is specific talents
* He can pick locks
* His gun is a long barreled pistol, with 6 bullets. It has a better
range than Cooper's one, but either is Doc not so accurate or something, but it
doesn't seem to do much damage at longe range most of the time. Sometimes you
will do as much as 50, and next time 12...it really varies at long range. At
close range, it's a sure kill. Doc doesn't fire as fast as Cooper though, and
takes more time to draw/hide. Unlimited ammo.
* He can mount a sniper scope on his gun (press Action 1 then Action 2).
Works like in commandos : the mouse cursor becomes a magnifying glass. When you
move it it becomes blurry and you must wait until it gets clear again to shoot
(I told you about the drinking problem right ? :). It's more silent than his
normal gun, and kills instantly. One good tactic with it when you have 2 close
ennemies to dispatch fast is to save a sniper shot in your quick action, then
aim at the other one, shoot and immediately fire the quick action. If the two
guys are close enough, the rifle won't have time to de-focus. Limited ammo,
you can find more on the field though
* Doc carries around a number of sleeping gas bottles. When he throws
one, all ennemies within range (a circle of approx. 3 centimeters) are knocked
inconscious as if punched, but don't take any damage. Since the throw is kind
of a lob, you can toss the bottles over walls, but the throw range is poor.
* By pressing (Action 3 then Action 2), Doc attaches a hot air balloon
to the bottle. When you then fire it, it goes straight up, then in the wind's
direction (in the demo : East North East). You can shoot the balloon at any
time to make the bottle drop.Kinda useless IMHO, since firing at the balloon
makes noise, while the point of the gas bottle is NOT to make any noise.
* Of course, Doc can cure the group members, including himself, by
pressing Action 4.
*(Not in Demo) Build a Scarecrow : Doc puts his duster on a scarecrow
so that ennemies shoot it/think it's him.
Kate
she is the group's sex bomb and poker ace/professional cheater. Not really the
one for blazing actions, she has quite a few tricks in her sack though.
Here are her specific talents
* Her gun is a purse-sized Derringer with 3 bullets. The kind of thing
that in real life is as dangerous to you as it is to your opponent. I haven't
used it yet, but i guess it has a low range/low power. Unlimited ammo
* She can toss poker cards around. When an ennemy sees one, he goes to
check it, and she has 10 of those. You can also set up a trail of cards the
ennemies will follow until the last one, where I trust you have an ambush
already set up. Use it like the cigarette pack in commandos.
* She can seduce an ennemy by playing with her garter belt in his line
of vision. As long as the ennemy sees her, he will follow her. I haven't tried
to use it outside of the saloon, since ennemies shoot Kate on sight outside,
so I don't know if it works on anyone but Dillon. I think in the real game she
works kind of like the Commando spy, ie nobody will shoot her unless she is
seen doing something wrong.
* If Kate is in a sunlit area she can use her
mirror to blind ennemies at really long range. THIS is her ultimate weapon.
When ennemies are blinded, their line of sight becomes null for a few seconds
(which you can use for a little run'n stab action), then they run to Kate's
position, where you can set up nice little ambush. Remember to have Kate run
for cover though, for she doesn't stand a chance in a firefight.
* (Not in Demo) Kick : i guess it's like Cooper's punch.
* (Not in Demo) Change Dress : like i said, I think she works like the
spy in commandos, so this would be the "put uniform back on" equivalent.
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4) Strategies, Tips and Tricks
Ambushing 101 :
Let's face it, the odds are against you. you're fighting 2 to 60, and
you'll presumably die in seconds should you start a major firefight. The
solution lies in guerilla tactics : hit, run, hide, repeat. Here are a few
basic tricks.
Have Doc and Cooper put 4 quickaction shots in one bad guy, then hide
Cooper. Have Doc (with his long range gun) shoot the same bad guy once, then
run for the same cover. When the ennemy rushes in, fill him of lead. Easy but
noisy.
The following ambushes have 1 common basis : Cooper ambushed somewhere
with a quick knife-throw (or a quick 3shots if Cooper's hiding place is away
from other ennemies) stored. The goal is to have 1 bad guy rushing to the point
where Cooper is ambushed.
Here are a few solutions to do so :
- Easiest one : hide Cooper in a building near the target's usual path,
get out when he is in range and doesn't see you
- Have Doc stand in the guys LOS. Dangerous, because the ennemy might
have the time to fire a shot or raising the alarm
- Have Cooper drop a dead body in the ennemy's LOS (that is, somewhere
he will look during his path, NOT while he is watching of course). He will
usually rush to see what's the deal, and that's when you strike.
- Have Kate stand somewhere near Cooper's hiding place, and blind the
ennemy until he rushes. Have Kate run someplace safe though
- Have Kate drop a trail of cards, starting where Cooper is and
progressively going near the ennemy's path. Be careful to drop them when he
isn't watching.
- Have Cooper drop a dead body in the ennemy's LOS (that is, somewhere
he will look during his path, NOT while he is watching of course). He will
usually rush to see what's the deal, and that's when you strike. You can also
leave a trail of bodies, it works exactly like the trail of cards, but it's
harder and more dangerous to do since Cooper is SLOW when he carries bodies.
- If the guy is alone and well away from other ennemies, just fire a
shot in the air
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Demo Tricks : Those Difficult Places
Most ennemies on the map can be dispatched by ambushing them, but there
are a few hard places, or at least the gave me trouble the first times. You
have 3 places to go to complete the level : The Belltower, the Saloon and the
Prison. You should obviously do the Belltower first, but after that it's your
choice, you can do either the prison or the saloon first, both ways are OK.
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a) The Left Bridge
This is your entrance to town (the other bridge is WAY too guarded to be
of any use). You can safely knife the peon who's looking up (don't even bother
to hide his corpse, nobody sees it), but it's a bit tricky to kill the 2 guys
patrolling near there (if you are a beginner that is). What i did is : crawl to
the fence. when the cowboy from the right side comes, wait untill he watches
the rodeo. I think he will stay there as long as the guy doesn't fall off the
horse, but I'm not sure. Anyway, run like hell on the bridge (having stored a
quick knife throw of course) and let the knife fly whenever possible. Now, check
if the other patroller is around. If so, run back to where you were (he won't
see the dead body because of the wall). When he's gone, crawl to the dead body,
pick up the knife, and hide in the Drygoods store. Store either a running punch
or walking stab at the patrolling guard as a quick action and wait. Don't go
out as soon as he passes the door, or else he will hear you and that'll be
instant death. Instead, wait until he stops between the two houses. now you can
go out, kill him, grab his body and hide it in the store. Make sure the other
patroller (the one who gets out the same house as the one who watched the rodeo
and who goes up and down) is not around, I'm not sure if he can see you, but
don't take too many risks. The other guards of the area are easy to deal with.
Note that the one on the balcony is unreachable for now : there are
reinforcements in his building, so you'll get killed if you get in. If you
sound the alarm by shooting an unsilenced gun (the sniper rifle is silent) from
the top of the belltower you can shoot him and the reinforcements if you shoot
well (most of the times the reinforcements will dash for the church back door,
and you just have to wait until they reach the top, to just drop them dead,
they won't have time to draw if you are prepared and already aiming the hatch.
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b) The Belltower
First, dispatch all the ennemies on the left and back of the church.
then have Cooper quickload a knife stab on the sniper on top of the tower, and
enter by the back door. get ready to hit space, then get out on top of the
tower, and quickly stab the man. get back inside the church. Have Doc come in,
put him up the tower, and drop a gaz bottle when the guy who patrols the
cemetery comes back to the front porch. The 4 men should be unconscious. Have
Cooper rush out, stab them all, then carry them inside. And now, for some
sniping. Shoot every ennemy on the rooftops you think you won't be able to get
by other means, such as the guy that shot the bounty hunter in the intro, the
guard on top of the saloon (the one who is awake, the sleeping one is dealt
easilly if you're the creeper kind). Just make sure you keep 2 sniper bullets,
they will come in handy later. Just in case you need them, there are sniper
bullets on top of the tower, in front of the church porch and in the prison.
Then as I said, you can raid either the saloon or the prison. I'd say it's
easier to start with the prison, but if you start with the saloon you get to
use Kate.
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c) The Prison
Deal with the surrounding guards (you can do without killing everybody
in the main street though, just wack the ones in the back). Now, there are 2
ways to see the inside of the prison : walking near the front door (BAD idea)
or walking near the back door (Not that bad, but tough still). Throw a knife at
the guy who's dozing in front of the back door. Creep, get the knife back.
There are 3 guards inside the prison. I can give you some ways of killing them :
1) If the main street is clear, you can have Cooper ready 3 shots, 1 bullet per
guard, and rush in all guns blazing. Down they go, but be careful, some
reinforcments might come out the other side of the street.
2)ready a quick knife throw at the big bellied guard who patrols near the cells,
then go back silently to the courtyard behind the prison. When you are ready,
run around a little until the guy you targetted hears you and runs for you.
Quickly hide in the building north of the prison before he can see you. When he
isn't looking, or when he passes near a door of this buiding, get out and let
the knife fly. get it back. Now go back silently to the prison's back door. If
the alarm has not yet been risen, you should see 2 men, including one sleeping.
ready a quick knife throw at the awake one, stand up, and walk in WITHOUT
RUNNING. quickly let the knife fly. If you're fast enough, the other one
should'nt wake up. Punch him, grab you knife, and steak him. Prison clear.
3) If you have Kate with you you can lure them out one at a time by blinding
them with the mirror
4)I tried to have Doc toss a gas grenade through the door, but it doesn't seem
to work though, at least I couldn't do it
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d) The Saloon
Here's the hard part. the goal here is to dispose of the 3 guards
without making a sound, and without killing Dillon (as any gunshot will wake up
three or four guards who hide in the backroom. As I said, tough part. You can
reveal the inside of the saloon in 3 ways : you can walk up the front door (I
managed ONCE to do it without getting killed instantly), crawl up the stairs
to the balcony (another bad solution : the guy patroling the balcony will
quickly see you) or by walking on the roof. You won't get detected that way.
Now, on with those guards. I assume you have cleared the area before revealing
the saloon.
Again, you have a few solutions here :
1) Put Doc up the Belltower. Have Cooper walk on the roof to reveal the saloon.
Store a quick sniper shot at the balcony guard. Hide cooper in the stable right
of the saloon (that small shady place). When the guy patrolling in front of
the door turns around, get out and throw him the knife. Switch to Doc, and make
a NORMAL sniper shot at the big boy in the main street (not the one you've
targeted with the quick action). Quickly kill the other guard with the quick
action (You DID save those 2 sniper bullet didn't you ?). If everything goes
well, nobody should raise the alarm (a few civilians might run around, but it's
no big deal) and you have Dillon and Kate alone in the saloon. Use the Action3
key to have Kate do her moves, and make Dillon follow you in the upstairs room
(who the hell does he think Kate is ? As if she was some easy girl ;), and have
Cooper creep up behind him and knock him down with a solid punch. I suggest
doing so after opening the prison, because otherwise Dillon might wake up
earlier than predicted and make your life a living hell. Now, all you have to
do to end the mission is to carry his unconscious body to the prison. Don't
worry though, he should stay out for some time (5 dancing stars...I told you
Cooper had a mean punch).
2) Put Doc in front of the saloon (not directly in front, in fact, as far as you
can on the right side), and store a gas grenade toss at the front door in a
quick action. Walk Cooper up the roof. Now, you must be FAST. When the 2
civilians go out, launch the quick action. If timed well, the only one conscious
should be the balcony guard. Have Doc run like hell to one of the right
buildings and hide. Swotch to Cooper, quickly store a knife throw at the guard
in a quick action, and kill him at the first opportunity. Get the knife back,
run to the saloon, and quickly stab the 2 other of Dillon's bodyguards (save
just before doing so, as you might kill Dillon by accident). Punch Dillon just
to make sure he won't get up so fast, and bring him to the jail.
3) This one is for those who wish to use Kate as soon as possible. Clear the
zones near the Belltower, and to the right of the saloon. Hide one of your
characters somewhere, and have the other one walk up to the roof, then crwal.
Now, Kate will be shot on sight as soon as she leaves the saloon, so don't go
out the front door. Dillon won't shoot you, so all you have to do is bring
Kate to the roof via the ladder and voila, you can use her for the rest of the
mission (she can really come in handy to clear the prison silently). To dispose
of Dillon afterwards, you can either kill the outside guards using method 1)
or use Kate's mirror to have them go far from the saloon and kill them there.
Be careful though : Dillon is a quick shooter and he reacts fast. Also, after
Kate leaves the saloon he will shoot her should she come back in, so be careful.
A good tactic would be to bring Doc to the first floor via the roof and gas him
(He's not looking up there).
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5) End Notes
Hopefully you have beaten the demo by now. If, like me, you can't wait
to get your hands on the real thing, try to play itagain using different
approaches or styles. If I forgot something, or if you have a strategy you
want to add to this FAQ, orif you just want to tell me how much this FAQ helped
you (well, you never know...), feel free to send me a mail, I'll be happy to
answer it if I find some time. Also, there are a few things I couldn't do in
the demo, that were shown in the manual that runs before the actual game starts
: roll around, fire from a hiding, move Kate silently...I don't know if it is
because these actions are not implemented in the demo or if it's just because
i'm stone dumb. If you know how to do such moves, pray tell me.
I would like to thank all the people on the official Desperados forum,
because they have been of great help (and also because some of what is in this
FAQ comes directly from them too...). I would particularly like to thank
Wrangler and Sharp-Shooter. If you posted something on the forum that appears
in the FAQ and I didn't mention your name, please send me a mail ASAP so that
I can correct the mistake.
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6) Last Quote
"When they do you in...just hope it's somebody who knows where to shoot."
Cheyenne
in "Once Upon a Time in the West"
Desperados DEMO FAQ
-------------------
Version 0.2
by
Kobal2 (Kobal@multimania.com)
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0. INDEX
1. Version History
2. Introduction
3. The Basic Gameplay
a) Basic Stuff
b) Characters
4. Strategies, Tips and Tricks
a) The Bridge
b) The Belltower
c) The Prison
d) The Saloon
5. End Notes
6. Last Quote
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1) Version History
Version 0.1 : the one that started it all, with a few basic gameplay
tips, and some solutions for the more tricky parts of the level.
Version 0.2 : added a few tricks found either by myself or browsing
through forums. Some "*" surround the new parts.
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2) Introduction
You know it all...i'm not related in any way with the devellopers or
editors or coders or whoever made this awesome game. You can copy parts or all
this FAQ on your website if you don't say you made it etc...
This is my first FAQ ever, so if you have suggestions/comments, feel
free to send me a mail (remember to put "Desperados FAQ" as topic though)
Oh and, forgive my not-so-good english, I'm french. Feel free to laugh
about that too.
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3) The Basic Gameplay
Quite the same as good old Commandos, with a few twists.
a) Basic Stuff
You select a character by clicking on his portrait, or by pressing his
quick key (by default : 1 for Cooper, 3 for Doc and 4 for Kate, a for All). You
move a character by clicking somewhere on the map while he is selected. You
can run by double--clicking, but it makes much more noise (ie : the ennemies
will hear you if you run within approx. 5cm from them). You can crawl by
pressing the C key or clicking on the crawling icon, it's really slow, but you
can enter the ennemies cones of vision much more safely this way.
You can display the cone of vision of one ennemy at a time by pressing
the ALT key, then moving the mouse pointer over him (no need to click). It
doesn't really works the same way as in Commandos : in commandos the ennemy
had 2 types of LOS : bright and dark, you could safely creep in the dark area,
but you would be spotted immediately if standing there. Here, there is only
one zone, which will turn from green to yellow and narrow according to what the
ennemy sees : if you crawl, it will slowly change, but don't stay there for
too long, because after some time the ennemy WILL see you. It's just a matter
of time. I guess they did so to prevent the old trick with consisted in "crawl
within field of view, stand, the ennemy sees me, crawl back and hide, the
ennemy runs to me to find me...alone :/"
If you press ALT then click, a spinning "?" will appear, and if you
do so in a crowded area, you will soon see numbers at the bottom of the screen.
These numbers show you the number of people (ennemies AND neutrals) who had
the "?" in their field of vision since you placed it. Quite useful if you want
to find a safe place to hide.
You can mount/unmount horses by clicking on them, though i haven't
found any real use for it, apart from looking damn cool.
* If you're in a REAL hurry to go away, you can move your horse while
you're still mounting it. Cool to see, not really usefull. Nice touch though.*
* You can "park" horses by walking them near a parkable zone (ie.
those bars in front of buildings. If a zone turns yellow when your horse goes
over it, it means it's a park space. If you unmount a horse on a park space,
the horse won't wander aimlessly.*
* Sometimes, when an ennemy sees an unparked horse, he will go to it,
mount it and go park it somewhere. I've only seen this done once, and the
guy was in search of me, maybe it's a factor for such an attitude.*
* You can jump from a window onto your saddle, movie style, though
once again, i haven't found any usefullness to it, apart from the style. To
do so, park your horse in front of a building, go to the 2nd floor, and click
on your horse. The selected character will do a long jump, twisting in the
air to face the right way, and land right on the saddle, ready to go. As far
as I know, every character can do so.*
* Untested : seems a character on a horse can lead another horse by
the reins. I haven't tried that yet, so I cannot tell you how it's done. Just
know it can be done :) *
The map is also a usefull tool : you bring it up/down by pressing the
M key. red dots are ennemies, blue dots are civilians, yellow dots are items
you can pick up. The items can only be picked up by the character who can use
them (in the demo, all the items are for Doc)
A new concept is the Quick Action, and it's definitely useful. by
pressing the Q key (or by clicking on the watch... again you should REALLY use
those quick keys) you can store an action for each character, and toggle it
with the spacebar. Let me re-peat myself : you can store ONE action. That is,
you can't program something like "when i press space, Cooper dashs out of the
building, fire 3 shots, then rushes back in". You can store "Cooper dashs out"
OR "Cooper fires" OR "Coopers runs for safety". Yeah, I know, it's kinda
weird, but it's still very useful, and you can really do some neat stuff with
it. I'm not so good at aiming, so usually when i plan a shot, i store a shot
in the quick action, then fire a shot by myself. If the bad one is still
alive, I launch the quick action while he runs for me, then escape as fast
as I can. Another thing you can do is store a contact attack (like Cooper's
knife), then make the approach yourself,so that you don't have to fiddle with
the quick keys in the middle of the action.
The buildings work differently than in Commandos : if a building has
two or more entrances, you can use any of them one you entered the building
(ie. go in through the back door, get out by the front one). You can also hide
bodies in the buildings. When an alert is up, ennemies won't check inside
buildings unless they saw you run inside, so you can use them to lay low till
things get back to normal. Sometimes there are doors BEHIND the scenery, you
can display doors by pressing the special action key, which will highlight all
usable doors in blue. Desperados brings another new thing : civilians. Man
could they use a punch in the face. Basically, they won't do a thing if they
see you unarmed, walking the street like any other cowboy out there. But if
they see dead bodies or stuff like that, they'll freak out and scream,
sometimes alerting nearby guards. If they SEE you killing people, hauling bodies
around, they'll get nasty : if an alarm is raised and they know where you're
hiding, they'll give the bad guys directions and such. Oh, and of course you
can't kill them, you're supposed to be the good guy after all. You can punch
them though, if you feel like it or if one threaten to blow your silent
approach.
Reloading : this is the wild west son, ain't no semi automatic pistols
round these parts. Each gun has a number of available shots before you have to
reload. You reload by pressing the gun button twice. It takes quite some time.
You can of course reload even if you haven't fired all your bullets. My advice
would be to reload after each firefight ASAP, at least if there's nobody
rushing right for you. You'll look as dumb as I did if, after planning a Clint
Eastwood style triple shot you end up rushing out and making three "plink"
sounds. :)
* Every characters main gun has unlimited ammo, but it doesn't mean you
can shoot all the time. First there is the reloading problem, described above.
But you also have to care about your gun's heat : the faster you shoot, the
hotter you colt gets. You can gauge your gun's temperature by looking at the
ammunition button : if it turns red, it means you gun is heating. If it is red
all the way, you have to wait for some time before you can shoot again.*
Every character has 5 (well, 4 in the demo) actions he/she can perform.
I strongly suggest you learn the quick keys for those, because using them via
the screen buttons takes WAY too much time. They are described in the characters
section.
* Let's talk about the "Hold Action" key. I've just discovered it, and
it's really usefull : you can ready a basic action (gun, fist, knife etc...),
then, when your press and hold the Hold Action key, your character will revert
to "no action selected" mode for the time you hold the key. As soon as you
release the key, the action will be selected again. Nifty hu ? No ? Imagine
this : Cooper readies his gun /Hold Key/ runs to an ennemy, /release key/ fires,
/hold key/ runs like hell, /release key/ turns around and finishes his pursuers.
I told you, this game IS a movie :) *
* You can tell wether a building is empty/full of bad guys without
having to save and try : when you hover the pointer over a door, you'll see it
changing to a keyhole, and an eye looks through it. If the eye is green, the
building is empty. If it's blue, there are civilians inside. If its red, BEWARE,
ennemy inside. If there are ennemies inside, the cursor will also display how
many they are. *
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b) Characters
John Cooper
He's your average John Wayne : tough guy, with leather pants and a stetson, fire
faster than his shadow. He's also the leader of the group. If you must, you can
consider him as the Green Beret, only much cooler.
Here are his specific talents :
* He is the only one who can carry unconscious/dead bodies
* He can fire FAST : you can store up to 3 shots in a Quick Action, so
that when you press the space bar you have 3 bodies to haul around. Think of
the duel between Harmonica and the 3 dusters in the first scene of "Once Upon a
Time in the West", only Cooper doesn't get shot. NOTE : you can dispatch those
shots any way you want (ie. you can put three bullets in one guy, ore one
bullet in 3 guys)
* His gun is your average western colt : six bullets,
and you have to reload after shooting them. Medium range and much damadge at
close range, though it lacks real punch at long range.Unlimited ammo
* He has a strong punch : his second action is a punch that stuns the
ennemy for some time, and deals 10 damage, in addition to send them flying for
a few meters. Useful to capture people (Dillon, for instance), to stop civilians
from alerting the bad guys (you can't shoot them...to bad...), or to dispose of
someone quickly : it fires faster than the knife.
But be careful, the ennemy wakes up after some time, and I guess he is pissed
and starts a search (I have yet to try this...I usually butcher the down men).
You can see how long ennemies will stay stunned by the number of stars around
their heads.
* He carries a mean knife, which he can use it in 2 ways : you can
either stab with it (silent, and more importantly SURE kill), or you can throw
it, for a silent, sure AND distant kill, but if you throw it from too far, it
won't deal so much damage. Oh, and of course, if you throw the knife, you can't
use it until you have recovered it from its target cold body.
** He can sabotage horse saddles : to do so, use the knife on a horse,
and Cooper will hack the reins. Next time anyone tries to ride the horse
the saddle will fall (I think it would have been much more usefull if the horse
bucked, and the ennemy flew to the ground, getting knocked down in the process
(like those guys trying a little rodeo). Oh well, it stills slows them down.
Cooper is the only character who is able to re-saddle a horse.*
* (Not in the demo) : Golden Watch : kinda like the radio of the
Commando's Green Beret i guess, a remote decoy of some kind.
Doc MacCoy
He's a doctor and a bounty hunter. He looks like the "old mentor with a drinking
problem" type. He's of course the doctor of the group, but also the sniper and
in some way the grenadier. He wears a large black hat and a long black duster,
and carries his doctor bag.
Here are is specific talents
* He can pick locks
* His gun is a long barreled pistol, with 6 bullets. It has a better
range than Cooper's one, but either is Doc not so accurate or something, but it
doesn't seem to do much damage at longe range most of the time. Sometimes you
will do as much as 50, and next time 12...it really varies at long range. At
close range, it's a sure kill. Doc doesn't fire as fast as Cooper though, and
takes more time to draw/hide. Unlimited ammo.
* He can mount a sniper scope on his gun (press Action 1 then Action 2).
Works like in commandos : the mouse cursor becomes a magnifying glass. When you
move it it becomes blurry and you must wait until it gets clear again to shoot
(I told you about the drinking problem right ? :). It's more silent than his
normal gun, and kills instantly. One good tactic with it when you have 2 close
ennemies to dispatch fast is to save a sniper shot in your quick action, then
aim at the other one, shoot and immediately fire the quick action. If the two
guys are close enough, the rifle won't have time to de-focus. Limited ammo,
you can find more on the field though
* Doc carries around a number of sleeping gas bottles. When he throws
one, all ennemies within range (a circle of approx. 3 centimeters) are knocked
inconscious as if punched, but don't take any damage. Since the throw is kind
of a lob, you can toss the bottles over walls, but the throw range is poor.
* By pressing (Action 3 then Action 2), Doc attaches a hot air balloon
to the bottle. When you then fire it, it goes straight up, then in the wind's
direction (in the demo : East North East). You can shoot the balloon at any
time to make the bottle drop.Kinda useless IMHO, since firing at the balloon
makes noise, while the point of the gas bottle is NOT to make any noise.
* Of course, Doc can cure the group members, including himself, by
pressing Action 4.
*(Not in Demo) Build a Scarecrow : Doc puts his duster on a scarecrow
so that ennemies shoot it/think it's him.
Kate
she is the group's sex bomb and poker ace/professional cheater. Not really the
one for blazing actions, she has quite a few tricks in her sack though.
Here are her specific talents
* Her gun is a purse-sized Derringer with 3 bullets. The kind of thing
that in real life is as dangerous to you as it is to your opponent. I haven't
used it yet, but i guess it has a low range/low power. Unlimited ammo
* She can toss poker cards around. When an ennemy sees one, he goes to
check it, and she has 10 of those. You can also set up a trail of cards the
ennemies will follow until the last one, where I trust you have an ambush
already set up. Use it like the cigarette pack in commandos.
* She can seduce an ennemy by playing with her garter belt in his line
of vision. As long as the ennemy sees her, he will follow her. I haven't tried
to use it outside of the saloon, since ennemies shoot Kate on sight outside,
so I don't know if it works on anyone but Dillon. I think in the real game she
works kind of like the Commando spy, ie nobody will shoot her unless she is
seen doing something wrong.
* If Kate is in a sunlit area she can use her
mirror to blind ennemies at really long range. THIS is her ultimate weapon.
When ennemies are blinded, their line of sight becomes null for a few seconds
(which you can use for a little run'n stab action), then they run to Kate's
position, where you can set up nice little ambush. Remember to have Kate run
for cover though, for she doesn't stand a chance in a firefight.
* (Not in Demo) Kick : i guess it's like Cooper's punch.
* (Not in Demo) Change Dress : like i said, I think she works like the
spy in commandos, so this would be the "put uniform back on" equivalent.
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4) Strategies, Tips and Tricks
Ambushing 101 :
Let's face it, the odds are against you. you're fighting 2 to 60, and
you'll presumably die in seconds should you start a major firefight. The
solution lies in guerilla tactics : hit, run, hide, repeat. Here are a few
basic tricks.
Have Doc and Cooper put 4 quickaction shots in one bad guy, then hide
Cooper. Have Doc (with his long range gun) shoot the same bad guy once, then
run for the same cover. When the ennemy rushes in, fill him of lead. Easy but
noisy.
The following ambushes have 1 common basis : Cooper ambushed somewhere
with a quick knife-throw (or a quick 3shots if Cooper's hiding place is away
from other ennemies) stored. The goal is to have 1 bad guy rushing to the point
where Cooper is ambushed.
Here are a few solutions to do so :
- Easiest one : hide Cooper in a building near the target's usual path,
get out when he is in range and doesn't see you
- Have Doc stand in the guys LOS. Dangerous, because the ennemy might
have the time to fire a shot or raising the alarm
- Have Cooper drop a dead body in the ennemy's LOS (that is, somewhere
he will look during his path, NOT while he is watching of course). He will
usually rush to see what's the deal, and that's when you strike.
- Have Kate stand somewhere near Cooper's hiding place, and blind the
ennemy until he rushes. Have Kate run someplace safe though
- Have Kate drop a trail of cards, starting where Cooper is and
progressively going near the ennemy's path. Be careful to drop them when he
isn't watching.
- Have Cooper drop a dead body in the ennemy's LOS (that is, somewhere
he will look during his path, NOT while he is watching of course). He will
usually rush to see what's the deal, and that's when you strike. You can also
leave a trail of bodies, it works exactly like the trail of cards, but it's
harder and more dangerous to do since Cooper is SLOW when he carries bodies.
- If the guy is alone and well away from other ennemies, just fire a
shot in the air
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Demo Tricks : Those Difficult Places
Most ennemies on the map can be dispatched by ambushing them, but there
are a few hard places, or at least the gave me trouble the first times. You
have 3 places to go to complete the level : The Belltower, the Saloon and the
Prison. You should obviously do the Belltower first, but after that it's your
choice, you can do either the prison or the saloon first, both ways are OK.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a) The Left Bridge
This is your entrance to town (the other bridge is WAY too guarded to be
of any use). You can safely knife the peon who's looking up (don't even bother
to hide his corpse, nobody sees it), but it's a bit tricky to kill the 2 guys
patrolling near there (if you are a beginner that is). What i did is : crawl to
the fence. when the cowboy from the right side comes, wait untill he watches
the rodeo. I think he will stay there as long as the guy doesn't fall off the
horse, but I'm not sure. Anyway, run like hell on the bridge (having stored a
quick knife throw of course) and let the knife fly whenever possible. Now, check
if the other patroller is around. If so, run back to where you were (he won't
see the dead body because of the wall). When he's gone, crawl to the dead body,
pick up the knife, and hide in the Drygoods store. Store either a running punch
or walking stab at the patrolling guard as a quick action and wait. Don't go
out as soon as he passes the door, or else he will hear you and that'll be
instant death. Instead, wait until he stops between the two houses. now you can
go out, kill him, grab his body and hide it in the store. Make sure the other
patroller (the one who gets out the same house as the one who watched the rodeo
and who goes up and down) is not around, I'm not sure if he can see you, but
don't take too many risks. The other guards of the area are easy to deal with.
Note that the one on the balcony is unreachable for now : there are
reinforcements in his building, so you'll get killed if you get in. If you
sound the alarm by shooting an unsilenced gun (the sniper rifle is silent) from
the top of the belltower you can shoot him and the reinforcements if you shoot
well (most of the times the reinforcements will dash for the church back door,
and you just have to wait until they reach the top, to just drop them dead,
they won't have time to draw if you are prepared and already aiming the hatch.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b) The Belltower
First, dispatch all the ennemies on the left and back of the church.
then have Cooper quickload a knife stab on the sniper on top of the tower, and
enter by the back door. get ready to hit space, then get out on top of the
tower, and quickly stab the man. get back inside the church. Have Doc come in,
put him up the tower, and drop a gaz bottle when the guy who patrols the
cemetery comes back to the front porch. The 4 men should be unconscious. Have
Cooper rush out, stab them all, then carry them inside. And now, for some
sniping. Shoot every ennemy on the rooftops you think you won't be able to get
by other means, such as the guy that shot the bounty hunter in the intro, the
guard on top of the saloon (the one who is awake, the sleeping one is dealt
easilly if you're the creeper kind). Just make sure you keep 2 sniper bullets,
they will come in handy later. Just in case you need them, there are sniper
bullets on top of the tower, in front of the church porch and in the prison.
Then as I said, you can raid either the saloon or the prison. I'd say it's
easier to start with the prison, but if you start with the saloon you get to
use Kate.
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c) The Prison
Deal with the surrounding guards (you can do without killing everybody
in the main street though, just wack the ones in the back). Now, there are 2
ways to see the inside of the prison : walking near the front door (BAD idea)
or walking near the back door (Not that bad, but tough still). Throw a knife at
the guy who's dozing in front of the back door. Creep, get the knife back.
There are 3 guards inside the prison. I can give you some ways of killing them :
1) If the main street is clear, you can have Cooper ready 3 shots, 1 bullet per
guard, and rush in all guns blazing. Down they go, but be careful, some
reinforcments might come out the other side of the street.
2)ready a quick knife throw at the big bellied guard who patrols near the cells,
then go back silently to the courtyard behind the prison. When you are ready,
run around a little until the guy you targetted hears you and runs for you.
Quickly hide in the building north of the prison before he can see you. When he
isn't looking, or when he passes near a door of this buiding, get out and let
the knife fly. get it back. Now go back silently to the prison's back door. If
the alarm has not yet been risen, you should see 2 men, including one sleeping.
ready a quick knife throw at the awake one, stand up, and walk in WITHOUT
RUNNING. quickly let the knife fly. If you're fast enough, the other one
should'nt wake up. Punch him, grab you knife, and steak him. Prison clear.
3) If you have Kate with you you can lure them out one at a time by blinding
them with the mirror
4)I tried to have Doc toss a gas grenade through the door, but it doesn't seem
to work though, at least I couldn't do it
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d) The Saloon
Here's the hard part. the goal here is to dispose of the 3 guards
without making a sound, and without killing Dillon (as any gunshot will wake up
three or four guards who hide in the backroom. As I said, tough part. You can
reveal the inside of the saloon in 3 ways : you can walk up the front door (I
managed ONCE to do it without getting killed instantly), crawl up the stairs
to the balcony (another bad solution : the guy patroling the balcony will
quickly see you) or by walking on the roof. You won't get detected that way.
Now, on with those guards. I assume you have cleared the area before revealing
the saloon.
Again, you have a few solutions here :
1) Put Doc up the Belltower. Have Cooper walk on the roof to reveal the saloon.
Store a quick sniper shot at the balcony guard. Hide cooper in the stable right
of the saloon (that small shady place). When the guy patrolling in front of
the door turns around, get out and throw him the knife. Switch to Doc, and make
a NORMAL sniper shot at the big boy in the main street (not the one you've
targeted with the quick action). Quickly kill the other guard with the quick
action (You DID save those 2 sniper bullet didn't you ?). If everything goes
well, nobody should raise the alarm (a few civilians might run around, but it's
no big deal) and you have Dillon and Kate alone in the saloon. Use the Action3
key to have Kate do her moves, and make Dillon follow you in the upstairs room
(who the hell does he think Kate is ? As if she was some easy girl ;), and have
Cooper creep up behind him and knock him down with a solid punch. I suggest
doing so after opening the prison, because otherwise Dillon might wake up
earlier than predicted and make your life a living hell. Now, all you have to
do to end the mission is to carry his unconscious body to the prison. Don't
worry though, he should stay out for some time (5 dancing stars...I told you
Cooper had a mean punch).
2) Put Doc in front of the saloon (not directly in front, in fact, as far as you
can on the right side), and store a gas grenade toss at the front door in a
quick action. Walk Cooper up the roof. Now, you must be FAST. When the 2
civilians go out, launch the quick action. If timed well, the only one conscious
should be the balcony guard. Have Doc run like hell to one of the right
buildings and hide. Swotch to Cooper, quickly store a knife throw at the guard
in a quick action, and kill him at the first opportunity. Get the knife back,
run to the saloon, and quickly stab the 2 other of Dillon's bodyguards (save
just before doing so, as you might kill Dillon by accident). Punch Dillon just
to make sure he won't get up so fast, and bring him to the jail.
3) This one is for those who wish to use Kate as soon as possible. Clear the
zones near the Belltower, and to the right of the saloon. Hide one of your
characters somewhere, and have the other one walk up to the roof, then crwal.
Now, Kate will be shot on sight as soon as she leaves the saloon, so don't go
out the front door. Dillon won't shoot you, so all you have to do is bring
Kate to the roof via the ladder and voila, you can use her for the rest of the
mission (she can really come in handy to clear the prison silently). To dispose
of Dillon afterwards, you can either kill the outside guards using method 1)
or use Kate's mirror to have them go far from the saloon and kill them there.
Be careful though : Dillon is a quick shooter and he reacts fast. Also, after
Kate leaves the saloon he will shoot her should she come back in, so be careful.
A good tactic would be to bring Doc to the first floor via the roof and gas him
(He's not looking up there).
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5) End Notes
Hopefully you have beaten the demo by now. If, like me, you can't wait
to get your hands on the real thing, try to play itagain using different
approaches or styles. If I forgot something, or if you have a strategy you
want to add to this FAQ, orif you just want to tell me how much this FAQ helped
you (well, you never know...), feel free to send me a mail, I'll be happy to
answer it if I find some time. Also, there are a few things I couldn't do in
the demo, that were shown in the manual that runs before the actual game starts
: roll around, fire from a hiding, move Kate silently...I don't know if it is
because these actions are not implemented in the demo or if it's just because
i'm stone dumb. If you know how to do such moves, pray tell me.
I would like to thank all the people on the official Desperados forum,
because they have been of great help (and also because some of what is in this
FAQ comes directly from them too...). I would particularly like to thank
Wrangler and Sharp-Shooter. If you posted something on the forum that appears
in the FAQ and I didn't mention your name, please send me a mail ASAP so that
I can correct the mistake.
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6) Last Quote
"When they do you in...just hope it's somebody who knows where to shoot."
Cheyenne
in "Once Upon a Time in the West"