IT CAME FROM THE DESERT HELP & SOLUTION Notes of note: * Pause game with Left Mouse Button. * Game Starts on MONDAY June 1, 1951 - 10:00 AM Places close up on weekends, (but the ants don't!). * Call the Weather Station at least every other day for update. Do evidence gathering and drop-offs on cold & rainy days and hot days. * Ants aren't above ground at night. You might find them in the mines if you enter the Ore Plant before dark. * Sunrise is 5:00 am , Sundown is 7:00 pm. * Check the pub if you're desperate for news. * Places you can call from: 1. Pub if Dusty is present. 2. University Lab if Dr. Wells is present. 3. Elmer's Service Station if Elmer is present. 4. Hilber Field if not under attack. 5. Home if not under attack. * Careless handling of RED ROCKS will put you in hot water. But might be the ticket for finding the flame thrower. * Somewhere there is a Flame Thrower. * Elmer supplies fuel for your Flame Thrower, he also likes to take long hikes Southwest of town, see elmer run! * Imprecise directions to the Ant Hole: It's off the South edge of the main map near the South West corner. You can't get there via button click. * Precise Directions to the Ant Hole: Fly, drive tank or walk, (via Ore Plant), to Mine No.1... 1. From verticle center line of building, go due South, (about one screen), to second cresent shaped rock, (it will be directly in your path). 2. Immediately East of this rock, is a small green clump. (bush?). 3. Visually draw a verticle line South to a large tear-drop rock, (about 3"). 4. About 1/3 South, (call it an inch), between these two points, and a bit East, is a large green tree. Immediately South East of tree is a very small stone. The next object South and a little East is a medium size stone. 5. Draw a horizontal line West from this stone. 6. The intersection of these two lines exactly marks the Ant Hole, There is no hill or other distinguishing features nearby. When closed on cold days, it will look like normal desert texture. It opens when the ants are going in or out, and closes immediatly. Sometimes it remains open, (? Glitch, Hi-Temp ?), not sure why. If you're going to call an Air Strike on it, it's a good idea to mark it with a nice juicy dead ant. Hey! I know that took all night long! But if I had said; 'it's near the tree', you probably would've walked right over the sucker and got yourself bitten on the ass! * You'll need to get 7 hrs. sleep at least every 48 hrs. or you'll have auto accidents, heed the warnings or you'll be ogleing Nurse Judy's cleavage again. * More evidence of ants delivered to Dr. Wells yields more ant info. from Wells. * Our buddy, Mr. Billy Bob Morse, has grand plans for the ants, (his daughter told me in an intimate moment). He isn't on our side. * Buy Geeze a drink and he'll tell you where he found the rock samples. AIRPLANE AERIOBATICS: CONTROLS - Get in, Stick forward increases speed, Stick back decreases speed, Stick L/R makes quarter turns. Four quick flicks will do a one-eighty on a dime. Fire button: In air - releases bug bomb. (2 addtn'l ea. day) On ground - exits plane. ALTITUDE - Once in the air, Stick forward/backward controls speed and thus altitude... some rocks and fences are higher than others, a tough lesson to learn. Fuel is limited, but at the right speed you can circumnavigate the entire map with a single tiger in your tank. Bear with me... 1. The seperation of plane and its shadow is the only indication of altitude... till you hit something! 2. IF, while in the air, AND flying at a right angle to screen, ( that's ORTHOGONAL in techie talk ), you can see any ground color between wing edge and shadow. Then you're flying TOO HIGH and TOO FAST, ie; wasting fuel. 3. Slow down enough to make wing edge and shadow touch or overlap by one pixel and you'll clear everything on the ground, AND conserve fuel. You can land/takeoff and exit the airplane anywhere you can fly it, but, return to the airport or exchange winks with Nurse Judy. Desert landings are possible with heroic manuvering between the rocks and trees. CAST of CHARACTORS: (alphabetized) Bert Lamont - Reporter......Pushy career mercenary. Ben - Neighbor......Camper Biff - Assistant.....College kid. Billy Bob Morse - Evangelist....Slimeball, Neptune-iac. Brother Harlan - Deacon........At Neptune Hall. Mr. Cook - Stud Farmer...Pratteling old codger. Dr. H. G. Wells - Collaborator..Great source of info, but political wimp. Dusty - Girl Friend...Very jealous. Elmer - Attendant.....Dumb but h-h-helpful. Ida - Fortune Teller G. Springs Foreman - Busy fella. Geeze - Prospector....Salt of the Earth, even if imprecise. Ice Morgan - Punk..........Teenage mutant jerk. J. D. - Farmer........Red-Neck inferioriety complex. Jackie Monroe - Surviver......Morse's Daughter, Love 'em & leave 'em. Louie La Rue - Pilot.........An aircraft fixation. McWilliams - Dairy Farmer..Subject to histerics. Festus Bartlett - Mayor.........Myopic self-serving futz. Gertrude - Spooky Mule Nurse Judy - ..............A royal pain in the ass. Norma - Secretary.....Lizard Star Ore Plant Foreman - ..............Solid Joe. Rafe Johnson - Police Chief..Well meaning but slave to the Mayor. Pump Station Guys - ..............Never arround when you need 'em. Quarry Guys - ..............Laurel & Hardy,(couldn't say it better! ). Seargent FC. - Nat'l Guard...Not a friendly guy. Suzi (?) - Victim....... Jackie's friend. Willey Jeeters - Moonshiner....Meteorite collector. LOCATIONS (alphabetized) and OPENING & CLOSEING SCHEDULES: LOCATION OPEN CLOSE BEST TIME COMMENTS Beverly's Drive-in 6:00 pm 1:00 am Cook's Stud Farm 9-11 am Elmer's Service Station 8:00 am Fortune Teller 9:00 am When in her body. Godfrey's Hot Springs Hilber's Field 8:00 am 2:00 pm Home Sweet Home anytime J.D's Farm 9-11 am Jacob Minerals 8:00 am 8:00 pm 12 & 5 pm Shift Changes at Mines: 12:00 pm 5:00 pm K-BUG Radio Station 8:00 am Lizard Breath Police 7:00 am 7:00 pm If not out. Lizard Breath Star Mac William's Dairy 8:00 am 9-11 am Main Street anytime am Mayor's Office 10:00 am 4:00 pm Melvile Memorial Hospital anytime you screw up Out 9:00 - 9:30 am National Guard Armory Neptune Hall O'Riordan's Pub Platt University Lab 9:00 am 5:00 pm 10am - 1pm Pump Station No.1 Pump Station No.2 Pump Station No.3 Quarry 9:00 am 5:00 pm Volcano - N. 5:00 am 7:00 pm Volcano - N.E. 5:00 am 7:00 pm Volcano - S.W. 5:00 am 7:00 pm WEAPONS: KNIFE FIGHTS.........Ice - Lunge and press fire when shoulders squared. Billy Bob - ??? (he's a mean steet fighter). PISTOL...............Move L/R/U/D, fire button, six shots. TIP: Put sights of gun 2-3 pixels below mouth parts weither facing front or side. WEAPONS MENU GENERAL USE - Hold fire button, Move stick L/R to select. - Grenades and Dynomite will always be avaliable Tanks and Planes only after the Mayor has declared an alert. GRENADE & DYNOMITE...Face & Press fire. Will auto select when out of one. TANK.................Move - Move stick forward/back RELETIVE to tank. Turn - Move stick 90deg. RELETIVE to tank. Rotate Turrent Gun - With fire button down, move stick 90deg. RELETIVE to turrent position. NOTE: Once tank is entered there is no exit till end of sceneario. This means NO air strikes as weapons menu is not accessable. AIR STRIKE...........While Selected From Weapons Menu: 1. Press fire once for cursor to appear. 2. Move stick to position cursor. 3. Press fire to call planes. 4. Press fire again to drop bombs. NOTE: usually best to just hold fire from steps 3 to 4. NOTE: you can run immediately after strike, but can't throw grenades 'til reslected. SITUATION MAP NOTES - Get to Situation Map from Police Station. - Townfolk will not defend airport. - Tanks are avaliable where ever people are stationed. - Number of tanks dependant on number of people stationed at site. CHICKEN AUTO DUEL - Move your truck to center of road. - Press fire button when Ice's car is less that 1/4" away from your hood and you continue on your way with mere insults ringing in your ears. - Chicken out too soon and you wind up back home much latter in the day. - Collision puts you in the hospital, where Nurse Judy will take VERY good care of you. ANTS: ANTENNAS - No hit = Lose round & fast trip to hospital. 1 hit = Draw. 2 hit = Win & Go to ground sequence. NOTE: A win in the Mine Tunnel just puts you above ground back at the Ore Plant. TIPS: 1. If you didn't get 'em before head is off screen, move gun extreme left at correct height and blaze away. 2. If you still didn't get 'em, move gun into position before screen goes black. You'll have time for 3 fast shots in the close-up. You can get both antennas if you're quick enough and still call it a win. 3. Aim about half way up antenna, hits at base don't work. 4. Shots from side are easier, Both antennas can be clipped off with a single lucky shot. NEST - Located due South of Mine No.1, about one screen. That's off the main map, but you can fly over it or drive tank to it and even walk to it from Mine No.1. - Entrance will remain open under certain circumstances could be when ants are running rampant or when temperature is above 90deg. Either way it's not a good sign. WEATHER - Ants like mild weather. Count on them showing above ground if temperature is 70 - 80deg. and no rain or high winds. If temp. is higher or lower they can still be found in the mines. GROUND SEQUENCE - Direction(s) ants come from when attacking indicate positions of map that have already overrun. - Move as little as possiable, try to draw ants into a column. - Shots up/down screen are 1/3 longer that L/R. - Learn to shoot on diagonals and you'll clean house! - Beaware of barriers & escape routes, you can out run 'em but it takes a lot of room. - Fences, rocks and other barriers are indestructable - Buildings can be blown up. GENERAL ALERT - Declared by the Mayor - Command your own army from the situation map. - Army: 99, Police: 40, Construction: 60, Townfolk: 80. - Don't forget the Mine Tunnel, M1 & M2. - Air Strike & Tanks become avaliable. SAVE GAME: - Save game to disk labeled - DSAVE: ~~~~~~~~~~ NOTE: One game per disk, use several as the game can turn suddenly at any time. HOSPITAL ANTICS: Before giveing it all away I need to say that the Hospital Escape segment is one of the cleverest and *FRUSTRATING* arcade bits I've ever experienced in a computer game. My hat is off to Cinemaware for dreaming up this little taste of insanity! Here is how it is done... Mistake No.1 - You've selected 'Escape Hospital' as your next move. Forget it, your're nabed & jabbed already! But you're gonna go anyway, because the alternative is watching your little guy stare at the ceiling all night, (REAL TIME!). Mistake No.2 - Yer watchin' the traffic. OK! Looks good! Pop the fire button and yer outta the sack, (Hey! what a cute little hospital johnny you're wearing!). FAIR WARNING: You are now certified !RAW MEAT! for anything else that is moving! Whooops... Here comes a Candy Striper from off screen. Will she open my door? [ Bubba. If she's on the same planet she's gonna open your door.] No sweat, back to the bed, slap the button, and yer in and covered, chuckeling up your non-existant sleeve while she checks your chart. Now she's gone, lets break for the hallway, Hmm, nice automatic doors in this 50's hospital. [ (trumpets) TA! TATATATATATA! TATATATATATATATATA! ] Jesus! What is this!? Chariots of Fire? I'm tryin' to SNEAK outta this place an' I get a fanfair like it's the second comming! Oh well, at least it's motivating. Lets go! OK, Swingin' down the hall, I'm goin' for the stairwell and elevator I spotted last time. And this time I AM gonna make it! Around this next corner and cut to the middle of this floor. Coast looks clear. Go for it! Damm! Here comes one of thoes green ball busters yellin' "There he is... Get 'em!". And to top it off he's between me and the elevator. Wait a sec', there's room right here and I'm right next to the door. Shoot in and hide out till he passes, No, I tried that before and he just waits at the door for me. Lets try jumpin' into bed with the blond. SHIT! she's screamin' her ass off. OK, there's an empty right here, try that bed. *click* and covered. Hehee! He came in and didn't spot me. This is p-r-r-r-e-t-t-y slick. Alright. Back out in the hall, elevators in range... "There he goes...", Loud mouth bitch! Didn't see her turn the corner... No wait, here's an office, pop the door, it closes. Yeah but what if she comes in!? What's this... a desk? Lets see... *click* My ass hung out from under that johnny I'm wearin', but I skinned right under that desk, (this place is full of suprises), Yep, she checked out the room, but left anyway, YEAAAH! Got it knocked now baby! Shoot for the moon! [ Ding! Ding! ], Elevator sweet elevator! Go-ing down... First floor you-are-soo-beautiful! Alright now, remember you can cut the corners an' out run 'em on the diagonal. Just don't let 'em touch ya or get right behind ya for too long. Missed me! Nanaah! Just as I thought there's the front door... right between... those two guys... in the... grey suits.. !!! NUTS !!! Caught in a squeeze play by the two guerrillas watchin' the door. Aah, well. Take me Nurse Judy, I'm just putty in your hands. But NEXT time I'm takin' a ride on the green < WHEEL CHAIR > I glimpsed upstairs! Mistake No.3 - Back in the hospital again after a hard day down at the ant farm. Call the Weather Station - "Warm tommorrow, high in the 70's" Jeeeze! The whole country side will be crawling with ants... I gotta get outa here.. *click* 'Escape Hospital' Ooo-Kaay, Traffic is light and if I remember correctly that wheel chair was right... over... here... OH! NOO!! They moved it on me! Don't panic! Keep it together now.. if you can out run giant ants outside you sure as hell can deal with this bunch of bozos in here. Lets try another corner... Heaah! There it is! That nurse is gaining on me... better think fast. What do I need to do to fire-up this chair. Watch out! Dodge right... Wheeeeee! Hey, all I needed to do was jump on the sucker. Eat my dust turkeys! Got them clowns following me around like Key-Stone Cops. I can even stop and wait for 'em to catch up... then peel rubber! Thoes goons downstairs are gonna be a piece-o-cake this time! Alright, reality check here, obviously the stairs are out, an' I gotta be sure somebody doesn't follow me into the elevator, so I'll get a big lead & shoot the curl... [ Ding! Ding! ] Made it! First Floor: Socks, Lingerie aaand tickets home! Mama! Around the corners, Whooup! Lets backtrack a little... Keep 'em streatched out and wait for a break... Yeah! there it is! This Wheelin' Demon is headin' for wide open road! Dodge left... right... one fer the grey monkey... two fer the grey goon... Check it out! the front doors are o-p-e-n-i-n-g... *! BAM !* ... What!!!? They got me!? I was half way out the door, and they STILL got me! What is this Catch 22...? some kinda Monty Python movie...? I think I want my ticket money back... Wait-a-minnit... Just before the screen went black as Nurse Judy's soul, while the doors were open there for a second... were thoes... did I see... < STEPS > right outside the door? Sonafa-Gun! they were steps... O.K. I got your number now... NEXT time I'm gonna JUMP OUTTA the wheel chair when the doors open up! Mistake No.4 - Whew! I was ready for this trip in the meat wagon. Those grenades will blow up ants and buildings, but wouldn't even touch that stinkin' little piece of rail fence they had me up against. Gotta remember to stay out of the corners. At least I've got the Hospital routine worked out, I'm ready, I be bad! I'll be back on the streets in a flash!!! A-Second Floor... it's al-right! A-Wheel Chair... it's awl-right! A-Elevator... it's awl-right! Shut 'em down, Shut 'em down, Baby gonna Shut 'em down!! Well Awl-Right! The slide for home base at the front doors realy did the trick... Now I'm out and feelin' mean and rowdy. Lets check the time... Oh no! it's after sundown! All that fancy foot work shot the rest of the day right in the butt! Guess I might as well head on home and get a good nights rest... Hmmmmmm, I could have done that right here in the Hospital! With Nurse Judy holding my hand allll night long! The dammable part of the Hospital Escape is that it is completely unnecessary... But the challenge is irresistable. Fact is that if time is so critical that you must get out, then your game is shot-to-hell anyway, But that's another mistake altogether! SOLUTION WHO DO YOU TRUST Generally speaking, Nobody. People who you can always rely on are Geez, Dusty (usually), Professor Wells and Biff. Don't trust Bert, the two men at the quarry or Billy Bob and his daughter. TIMES & PLACES Don't try and beat the Mutants by rushing out all over the place. On of the best ways to do your detective work is to stay at home. Make sure your home to answer the door or phone at these times; JUNE 1 (Start) Geez calls round. Ask him about his Donkey for a rough guide to the location of the ants nest. JUNE 1 (10am) There's a phone call from Bert. JUNE 3 (9am-12pm) Billy Bobs daughter calls round. Your next door neighbour calls round at random. There aren't many times when your requested to phone people up, but Dusty is usually available between 10am and 7pm for the odd bit of info. Weather reports are helpful for predicting the ants movements. WHERE TO FIND ANTS Ants can usually be found in and around the SW volcano (although they can oftern be found near the NE volcano also). This is their main hideout. You can find them wandering near mine one or JDs farm. Ida can sometimes tell you where the nest is but her information is not always accurate. Its best to talk to as many people as possible and compare what they say and what you already know. That way you can sort out who's telling the truth. EVIDENCE You need to collect four pieces of evidence to convince the mayor of the ants exists. If you don't he will still call a general alert but it'll be too late. Take each bit of evidence to the lab for analysis and collect it the next day. After analysing four pieces of evidence, take them to the mayor. ANT FLUIDS - can either be found at the car accident (June 3), at Neptune hall (June 7) or at the quarry (June 7-9). ANT TRACKS - Probably the hardest to find. The old codger at Cooks Stud Farm will often let you take a cast (June 7-8) or try searching around one of the volcanoes. TISSUE SAMPLES - Can be picked after a battle with the ants. Sometimes your next door neighbour pops around with an ant leg. TAPE RECORDING OF ANT SOUNDS - The best time to get a tape recording is to wait until Louis turns up all excited after having one of his planes fitted with a tape recorder (usually around 4-5), save the game here. Now take a flight and try to find some ants. You know you've found some when you hear a strange whirring noise. Spray a few ants with the insecticide. Then make your way back to the airstrip with your tape recording. THE ARCADE GAMES FIRE-FIGHTING - This sequence will only appear if you say to Biff 'hand me the red one' when you are looking at Geez's rock samples. The best way to deal with the fire is to go for the biggest flames first. Always aim just below the flames for the best results. CHICKEN - Easy. Accelerate as normal and hold your ground. Ice will veer off at the last moment. KNIFE FIGHTS - Easier than the fights in Rocket Ranger. When fighting Ice or Bert you can use the swipe and stab movements and hardly ever need to block. Try to use the continuous swipes. When fighting Billy Bob you must when he attempts to stab you. HOSPITAL ESCAPE - Time is precious so escape quickly. Wait until there are no guards or nurses in the room then nip out. Now go and find a wheelchair, they can usually be found in the corners of the hospital. Once you've found one get in and go to the lift (hit the man in traction on the way, just for a laugh). Make sure no-one gets in the lift with you. When on the ground floor, approach the grey guards from thrir left and make them follow you. Take them around the building, until they are far away from the main door. Accelerate away and go to the right side of the main doors, the guards shouldn't be there. Make your exit from the hospital. ANT ATTACK (Face to face) When the ant appears aim your gun about halfway down its body, at its front legs. When you fire the gun you should blast off one of its antennae (you need some practice). When the ant has calmed down, repeat the procedure, and blow off its other antennae. ANT ATTACK (Overhead) It dosen't matter which weapon you use in this sequence, they both have a similar range. Shoot ants when there around one and a half body lengths away. The shot should land nicely on its abdomen, leaving a sticky mess which can be used as evidence. FLYING Use the North runway for the best takeoff. Once airbourne head SW to JDs farm (ants can usually be found around here). Fly low to conserve fuel. BOMBING Position the crosshairs where you think the ants are heading for. Start bombing just before the army flies in. This is great for destroying large groups of ants. The queens nest - before you attempt to kill the queen in its lair, it is a good idea to equip yourself with a flame thrower and some fuel (available from the gasstation). The ants nest is somewhere around the mine shack. By about day 7 this area will be crawling with ants. Go to the source and you will see holes appearing in the ground as the ants emerge from the nest. Kill an ant as it climbs out, and run for the hole. The flame thrower iss useful for despatching attacking ants, but it is often easier to outrun them. Follow the maps to the queen and touch her body. This will set the timed explosives. Make your way back to the enterance to level two of the nest, don't rush, you have plenty of time. You have now completed the game.