This file contains a walk-through of the opening level of Chaos Strikes Back, so don't read it if you're one of those picky people who like to do things for yourselves. These notes are from about four hours of mapping this level and should be the most efficient way to run it -- remember, we're on a time limit. Where to begin? How about in the dark, menaced by three golden worms. If the darkness bothers you, turn left and put your hand down at the lower left of the screen and pick up the torch lying there. Put it in somebody's hand. Now, if you have some hale characters, stand your ground and fireball the worms to death. About three mon-level each should do it. Afterward, pick up anything within reach -- particularly the coins and iron key they drop. Get the worm slices for snacks later. Make a note of where you are and never step into that square again! Take a step away and look back. You'll see one of the stones in the floor is kind of octagonal-shaped. It's a button. Each time you step on it, two more worms appear nearby. It LOOKS like you need to use that door to exit, but don't be fooled. Walk around the room, pick up the gold Gor coins. You will have enough to purchase items from three of the rooms hidden behind blue force fields. Get all but the red and green vials (fire and poison bombs). You need the compas and rope especially. There are many confusing passages and a zillion trap doors. After this, go to the east wall. Above, you'll notice a bunch of trap doors (indicating a floor above). Two "paces" north from the coin slot in the southeast corner is a space between two trap doors. Walk through the wall and into a small alcove with a full suit of chain mail. Distribute it amongst your characters. Better than ragged pants? After this, take one of the many torches and go to the west wall and put it in the torch holder. A wall just opened at the northwest corner. Walk into it, noticing wall says "Run and Jump." Using the cursor keys, hit the up arrow seven times rapidly (don't wait to move, just hit the keys). You will trip a button causing the trapdoor you see near the end to close just as you pass over it and onto a trip plate that seals the trap and opens up a section of wall northwest. Some flying creatures may buzz out of this wall, but you should be able to deal with them. Turn to face the way you came. Hit the up cursor and right cursor so you turn the corner. Notice the trap doesn't stay closed for long, so you must not pause while on it. (You would fall two stories to "The Junction of the Ways," which is ahead of where you should be. Walk south down this twisty corridor 'til you come to the pressure plate. Notice it closes the trap in front of you -- like 99 percent of the traps, it doesn't stay closed long. Get the timing down on this trap, then when you're ready, face east, trip the plate, sidestep south twice so that you're between the traps, pick up the flask in front of you and sidestep to the south twice again. The hallway you just passed is the one you avoided by not opening the door to the first room. I haven't seen a need to use this room yet, but you can get back to it by the plate at the end of "Run and Jump." Walk around the corner and go west until you come to a grate and a staircase. The flying monsters mentioned earlier live behind the grate. Go downstairs. You'll be standing between two pits. Walk one square forward to the writing that says "To the Junction of the Ways." DO NOT MOVE EAST OR WEST ONTO THE PLATES. Face west. Take EVERYTHING off your characters and throw it west. You'll get it back in a minute. Make sure your characters are rested, then walk east. The plate turns on a transporter mist that takes whatever is there to the Junction. Don't step into it. Instead, turn south and walk into the hole! You'll hit ground two stories later in a one-room cubicle with the phrase, "Surrender Your Possessions." If you're truly nude (no clothes, no items), a wall will open to the south. Otherwise, you will have to drop everything into nowheresville (losing it more than likely forever). Go south, pick up the iron key on the floor and step into the transporter. You are now back on the level with the pit you walked into, only you are to the west and standing near a Medusa fountain amidst all the possessions you flung there moments ago. Take your flask and drink up. Pick up everything, then wander around the room to the west and pick up the two keys and chest of food. The stairs lead to a dead end. Go back to the plates and transporter near the stairs. (Don't drop down the other pit -- there's no other key down there.) Use a key to turn off the mist then go back upstairs. Use a key to open the grate. Walk inside, watching for flying creatures. Stop around the corner when you see a bow in a shelf in front and a trapdoor open to the left. THIS IS A ROOM YOU WILL WANT TO SAVE IN OFTEN. You will frequently fall down traps. It's better to kill yourself downstairs and restore than to use up your keys. Almost all the floor spaces here are traps. This is the back door to the "Supplies for the Quick" room. Each time you step on a square, a trap door will open underneath you in a half-second or so. In other words, to get anything out of this room, you can't dilly-dally. I recommend using your cursor keys to move and the mouse to grab one thing per trip. There are some nice weapons here, including a mace and a Staff of Illya, which increases your mana by 10 points when in a player's active hand. The important thing about this room is that the pillar in the middle is between the two exits. Off to the east is a corridor. It ends with a solid piece of floor next to a keyhole and a trapdoor. This trap is below another one and leads to the trap we walked into downstairs -- in other words it's a four-story drop. Use a key to shut this trap door. I suspect that the game ends on the floor above and you will rather drop one floor instead of four. Save. Face south. Dance right and grab the things from the shelf one at a time, dancing left to safety. Face the keyhole, take your last key in the mouse-hand and place it at keyhole level. Don't put it in the lock! We are merely positioning the hand. Use left hand on cursor keys to face south and sidestep left; push the mouse button with your right hand to put the key in the lock and then get out of the room or step back onto the trap door that closed when you used the key. You now have another solid piece of floor and more prevention from falling four stories later. Save again. Practice going through the room picking things up. Save when successful, restore when you fall through the floor. At some point, you need to go to the actual entrance to the room to the north. Beyond it is a small open area with a staircase going up. It leads to a heavy-duty metal door that I haven't been able to open. Back at the small open area, if you go to the east, you'll come to the pressure plate at the end of "Run and Jump." At this point, you suspect there is more dungeon to the north but can't get to it. Same with me -- what a coincidence! At this point, my walk-through of the opening level ends. The next step I've found is the Junction, which you can reach by dropping through the "R&J" pit or by going back downstairs, tripping the transporter and stepping into it. The Junction is pretty tricky. Each way you face, a wall opens up showing an Altar of Vi and an object inside it. What lies beyond them appears to be a random selection of different mazes. Stepping to the Altar closes the wall behind you. If you pick up the object and put it back before walking too far away, the wall will reopen. As you walk down the corridor past the altar, at some point an iron key should appear in the altar. Go back and get it. You'll be getting into some serious monsters soon, with some good things like more keys, etc. One room has about six giant spiders and lots of screamers. Luckily, it has a button door entrance so you can use it as a weapon on the spiders. Be careful of hidden trapdoors in this part of the dungeon. You can tell them by outlines on the floor (as opposed to "Supplies," which had no outlines). Beyond this is a room where every step generates a weak monster from a pit in the floor. I advise casting a poison cloud over it and going to the end of the room, where there's a staircase up. If you go down the pit, you'll be in a room of infinite weak creatures that will eventually kill you. If you go up the stairs, you'll find a room with four ... well, you'll find out. You need to use the mummies that appear, so don't kill them. If you need a hint, save and consult the oracle. Ripped OFF 12-21-90 by The Fallout Shelter 203.327.4884 9600 and up only !!