
Hints
An AI Called Wanda has some puzzles that are a bit different or a bit harder than
the standard scenario. It tries to do some different things, while
hopefully remaining fun. It's more fun if you can solve the puzzles
yourself, but it's frustrating when you're stuck for a long time.
This page was made to provide hints and solutions to the places
that most frequently get people stuck. And if you've run into
a dead end, don't worry, others have probably been stuck there
too. So read on and have fun! As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions.
As a general hint for the entire scenario, I suggest that people
use their map. Switches for locked doors, etc. are generally (though
not always) very close to the doors themselves. Sometimes laterally,
sometimes above or below. Personally, I don't like scenarios where
switches are nowhere near to what they activate -- it doesn't
make much sense from an architectural or practical point of view.
Destructible wires, on the other hand, may affect things farther
away.
Chapter 1: Revival
Level 1: Revival
No hints necessary.
Level 2: Seeds of Destruction
No hints necessary.
Level 3: Pfhorget About It!
General Hint: Pfhor security systems often require the presence
of two Pfhor personnel to activate or deactivate safety-critical
systems.
- Q: How do I get past the locked doors on the lowest level?
- A: You need to destroy all the wires in the engine rooms. If you're
wondering, "what wires?", see the General Hint. The two switches
in each engine room are in a master-slave configuration. Activate
the master, and the slave switch is enabled briefly. You must
hit the slave switch while it's enabled. (Use a weapon).
- Q: How do I release the engine coolant on the lowest level?
- A: The pillar switches are another master-slave configuration. It's
easiest to stand near the unlit slave switch, shoot the master
switch, and quickly hit the slave switch (ONLY ONCE!).
- Q: OK, I dumped the engine coolant, but I can't get out, and I die
in the flood. What gives?
- A: A safety door comes down to prevent the remainder of the level
from flooding. If you've destroyed the 3 safety circuits (wires)
on the level, the door will reopen after a short period, allowing
you to exit. Run to the elevator.
Chapter 2: The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall
Level 4: Freudian Slip
General Hint: You must repair all 4 plasma conduit circuits with
the repair chips before you attempt to repair the reactor core.
Otherwise, you'll be stuck on the level.
- Q: I'm having a hard time exiting the plasma (lava) conduits? I
keep falling off the elevator and dying.
- A: Watch the wall textures as you near the elevator. Light from
above lightens the walls next to the elevator. Just be sure you
stay in that space once you reach it, so you don't fall off.
Level 5: One Damn Mess
General Hint: There aren't many tricky puzzles here. You just
need to be persistent and observant. When you open the dam, there's
a tube you can go up once the area has filled with water.
- Q: I can't seem to find the insertion slot to activate the pumping
station. Where is it?
- A: The slot is behind a locked narrow blue door in the underground
maintenance corridors. Downstairs from the door is a switch. Hit
the switch and look behind you. Now look at the map. See the connection?
- Q: There's a pit which has some items in it, but there's no way
out. Is it possible to get those items?
- A: There's a switch directly below the pit that you can activate
once the dam has been opened. The switch will flood the pit, allowing
you to get the items and get out.
Level 6: Napalm in the Morning
General Hint: Switches for the large doors on the main level are
located near to the doors themselves (laterally, or perhaps a
level down or up vertically). Kill everything to exit the level.
- Q: How do I get through the SE door on the main level.
- A: The switch is on a lower level, directly below the door. There
is another switche on the lower level that needs to be thrown
to have access to it.
Chapter 3: Into the Fire
Level 7: Hey, Whose Side Are You On?
- Q: This is hard! I can't tell who is on my side.
- A: That's the idea. Examine the shirt colors for regular BoBs and
vacuBoBs. Of course, for the green BoBs, you'll have to listen
to them or shoot them to tell whether they're assimilated.
- Q: I can't solve the platform puzzle in the east.
- A: You need to observe which platforms are affected by each switch.
As Freud tries to tell you, you don't need to shoot any switches
to solve the puzzle.
Level 8: Into the Fire
- Q: There's a room I can't get to over the lava.
- A: The answer lies in two small rooms, each with a switch that controls
one section of platform needed to cross the lava. Observe the
miniature replica of the puzzle when you hit the switch.
Level 9: Station Alpha
- Q: OK, I've drained the sludge, found the chip, and opened the bay
doors. Why can't I exit the level?
- A: You need to find a security card also (which shows up in your
inventory as a Spht Card Key). One of the terminals on the upper
level near the pumping center (the faucets) gives a hint as to
where the card is located. It's a good thing you drained the sludge,
otherwise you would have had a hard time finding it...
Level 10: Station Alpha (The Sequel)
- Q: I can't get the last chip. How do I get to it?
- A: When the station was exposed to vacuum, many of the doors near
the area shut permanently to try to contain the vacuum. So, you'll
have to leap the gap in the station. And you'll need to give yourself
some upward momentum. The double shotguns should do the trick
-- point them at your feet and fire them both off as you run over
the gap. Make sure you cross at the narrowest point.
- Q: OK, I have inserted all 4 chips, but I can't turn on
the reactor because the darned switch hasn't activated.
- A: This is a rare bug that occurs in map version 1.0.5
(appeared on MacAddict CD-ROM) and earlier. The switch should
activate almost immediately after inserting the 4th chip
(and always did during testing). However, it can
sometimes take a very looong time to activate. Try running around
the reactor chamber a bit or around the station once and see if it
activates. If it still hasn't activated, you can write down your
ammo, and start at the next level (using command-option-Begin New
Game). Start at level 11 and get to the save terminal in the
west. Use a cheater program to give you your ammo back.
Alternatively, I have released a patch to map version 1.0.6
which fixes the problem by changing the puzzle slightly. Get it as
MacBinary or
Binhex. If
you don't have a save game from a previous level, you might
also want to grab this saved game
at the beginning of Level 10 with map version 1.0.6.
Chapter 4: In Deep S'pht
Level 11: All Pfhor One
This level is fairly straightforward. You just need to find those
chips and plug them in to get access to the base.
Level 12: Showdown
This level places more emphasis on carnage than puzzles. It's
reasonably straightforward. Destroy Wanda! There is
one tricky part, however:
- Q: I can't get the chip in that cage. How do I get to it?
- A: The answer lies within Hobbes
comments at the start of the level. The
ship's propulsion system (the rift drive)
folds space. Well, there is a bit of
folded space inside the rift drive. You
can teleport into the drive from the pad
opposite the cage. Then you need to notice
there are 2 sets of 3 spokes within the
drive. These sets are disconnected but
seem to overlap in the center in folded
space. One spoke center teleports you
back where you came from, the other
teleports you into the cage.
I hope you enjoyed the scenario. Feel free to email me if you
have any questions concerning the scenario: jhancock@ri.cmu.edu
John Hancock, The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
jhancock@ri.cmu.edu
Last modified: Sun Jan 3 09:51:06 EST 1999