PC PowerPlay 11

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Text File | 1994-11-25 | 41.0 KB | 983 lines

_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/_/ F A Q ^~^~^ & ^ S T R A T E G Y G U I D E ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~~^~^~^~^~^ Revision 1.3 /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ C O N T E N T S ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ (1) Introduction. (2) FAQ. (3) Strategy (a) Defence (b) Offence (c) General (d) Specific Mission Strategy (4) House Strategy (a) Atreides (b) Ordos (c) Harkonnen (5) Known Bugs (and solutions) (6) Manual Cheats (7) Related file locations /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (1) INTRODUCTION : ******************* This document is being compiled due to the fairly large number of requests for the same information going through the comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic. As an avid player of this game myself, it took me a while to work out various aspects of the game. I have found that the manual, in general, doesn't explain a large proportion of the game, and obviously there are others whos experience is the same. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ All the information contained herein is collated from my personal experience, and those of others on the net. I don't vouch for the correctness of any of it Special thanx go to : Charles Cruden : for extensive info / hints / error correction! Morten Fimland : for the collection of 3 months postings to NN. Wolverine : for a pre-posting copy of his new editor (See Section 7). /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (2) FAQ : ********** ~~~~ Q1. When I try to create a vehicle I get the message "Unable to create more". ~~~~ A1. This is due to the fact that, using production facilities, you can't create more than 25 vehicles. There are a few solutions to this one : (i) Cheat :-) {See Section (6)} (ii) Build a Starport. This lets you many many more vehicles (until they sell out!), but only of certain types. E.g. you can't buy your special house weapons from there etc. (iii) Send your lower class vehicles (e.g. if you have tanks, get rid of quads & trikes etc.) to map out the enemies structures, and in the process, get destroyed. Then use the freed up vehicle slots to create stronger units. ~~~~ Q2. When I try to create a structure I get the message "Unable to create more". ~~~~ A2. This is due to the fact that there can only be a total of 75 structures on the whole map. This message generally only occurs in the last mission, as there will be three opposing forces all building against you. When you get this message you can either : (a) Destroy one of your old buildings, and create the new one. This is not advised, as with the Death Hand opposing you, you will have enough touble keeping your structures standing. It can, however, be good to destroy your rocket turrets and move them forward to let your defences "roll" forward as you expand. (b) The better method is to send a series of vehicles to destroy a few outlying ememy structures. Don't worry about defending the vehicles, just destroy one structure, and pull back. As soon as the structure falls, start to build. If you wait too long, the computer will rebuild and you will have lost your opportunity. How big a building you can build afterwards depends on the size of the building you destroyed. E.g. If you destroyed one Rocket Turret, don't expect to be able to build a Palace. ~~~~ Q3. How do I stop the computer from rebuilding the rocket turrets that I just destroyed ? ~~~~ A3. First destroy enough space on the same rock section as the enemy to build a Construction Yard. Then use that yard to place concrete up to the enemy turret, and use your vehicles to destroy the turret. As soon as it is destroyed, build a turret of your own and place it in the exact same square as the enemy one was. The computer never seems to have any origionality and build the turret elsewhere. This is also useful as the turret immediately targets enemy units as they are produced. The problem with this method is the fact that sometimes the Turret will change sides and become the computer's. Beware of this :-( ~~~~ Q4. How do I give orders to my Carryalls and Ornithopters ? ~~~~ A4. You can't. Ornithopters automatically attack the enemy base, and Carryalls do whatever is judged most appropriate by the computer (Pick up harvesters, pickup damaged vehicles etc.) Carryalls can be influenced by putting damaged vehicles on Guard, instead of Move or Attack, as Carryalls seem to give preference to Guarding vehicles. ~~~~ Q5. What can I get a Carryall to do ? ~~~~ A5. A Carryall can be used to transport Harvesters to and from the spice fields, and can be used to carry damaged vehicles to and from the repair facility. ~~~~ Q6. Why does my Carryall not return the harvester to the field, after picking it up & dropping it in the refinery ? ~~~~ A6. The Carryalls must "learn" where the harvester was harvesting, and then it will be returned there after unloading harvested spice. Two things will disrupt this : (a) If you have less Carryalls than harvesters, and two need to be taken back at once, one will be returned and the other will be deployed next to the Refinery. You must send the deployed one back to the spice fields manually. (b) If the place where it was harvesting has no spice left, it will be deployed next to the Refinery, and you must set it harvesting manually. ~~~~ Q7. How do I defend against Death Hand Missiles ? ~~~~ A7. Anyway, there are a few ways of getting around the problem of a destroyed base. (i) Cheat :-) - Save frequently (about every 2-3 minutes). If your base gets hit, reload the game. Make sure you save before the message "Missile Approaching!" comes up, as by this time the missiles target point has already been calculated. (ii) The _REAL_ way - (a) Spread your base out. That way, if a missile hits, it won't destroy two many buildings at once. (b) Build / Buy a MCV to replace your Construction Yard if it gets destroyed. (c) If you don't let Harkonnen units get within sight of your base, the missiles' hit chance is much lower. To achieve this, build rocket turrets well away from your base, in the direction of the Harkonnen, and defend them with Tanks. (d) Build another Construction Yard as far away as possible from your first one. That way, if the main one gets destroyed, the missiles will start to be targeted on the newly built one, and this will get you some breathing room to rebuild. (e) Send a large contingent of vehicles to take out the palace as quickly as possible. (f) Build a palace as far away from your main base as possible. This will then become the target for Death Hand Missiles. ~~~~ Q8. What use is the IX ? ~~~~ A8. The IX is only useful when you have built a Heavy Vehicle Factory. It allows you to build the House weapons (Devestator, Sonic Tank, Deviator.) It also allows you to build Ornithopters in the High Tech Factory (Atreidedes or Ordos only) ~~~~ Q9. How can I defend against Ornithopters ? ~~~~ A9. Build Rocket Turrets as soon as you can. Firstly because they provide an excellent defence against enemy vehicles, and secondly because they are the only unit with any chance of destryoing an Ornithopter. Don't worry if it seems to take a long time to destroy the Ornithopter - remember it is moving very fast and so it takes quite a few shots to get a hit. All it takes is one hit to destroy it however, so be patient and repair whatever it is attacking. Also don't worry if some of your missiles miss, and hit your own buildings - just repair the damage quickly. Before you can build Rocket Turrets, you must build a Radar Outpost and upgrade your Construction Yard twice. ~~~~ Q10. Is it worth trying to steal spice ? ~~~~ A10. In general, it is fairly pointless. Once the Silo is damaged "into the red" so that you can send a set of soldiers in to capture it, it will generally be attacked immediately by the surrounding enemies, and destroyed in a short space of time. ~~~~ Q11. How many Refineries should I generally create ? ~~~~ A11. Don't over do it. In most games it is best to build 1 (maybe 2) refineries, buy an extra harvester or two, and build Silos instead. There are a few good reasons for this : they take up less space, they cost less, they hold only 100 units less of spice, and they use less power. ~~~~ Q12. How many Heavy Vehicle Factories should I build ? ~~~~ A12. Generally, one is enough, but occasionally 2 may be useful. The thing to remember is that you can only _CREATE_ 25 units, so once that limit is reached, you must buy units from the Spaceport. This means if you want a large number of vehicles in a hurry at the start, then two HVFs are good, but in the long term your money and building space is better used for other things. ~~~~ Q13. How can I get repaired units to be transported back to where they were picked up from ? ~~~~ A13. Build your repair centre in a position that ensures that buildings can be placed all around it. i.e. ........... ...OOOOO... O = other building ...ORRRO... R = Repair Centre ...ORRRO... . = any other stuff ...OOOOO... ........... (The "O" positions can also be taken up by vehicles, but this is pretty pointles, as a wall is cheaper even than a trike) This means that the only way a vehicle can get to the Repair Centre is using a Carryall, so make sure you have some already made. When the Repair Centre is completely surrounded, and a damaged vehicle is brought in, it is repaired, and then, instead of just being deployed next to the Centre, a Carryall comes and takes it back to the spot where it was origionally picked up from. A thing to be aware of is that if you only have one Carryall, and it gets destroyed or is doing something else when you have a vehicle ready to be returned to the field, the vehicle will eventually smash it's way out of the Repair Centre, destroying a building if necessary. ~~~~ Q14. Is the amount of spice on each mission limited ? ~~~~ A14. Yes. Once it is gone, it can't be replaced. The only thing you can do then is to steal it from the enemy, which is pretty hard. This is a great incentive not to go overboard building unnecessary buildings (e.g. 5 Heavy Factories !) ~~~~ Q15. What buildings are worth trying to steal ? ~~~~ A15. Heavy Vehicle Factories : produce House Weapons (Sonic Tank, Devestator, Deviator). Construction Yards : produce Rocket Turrets in the middle of enemy buildings to take out vehicles without losing your own vehicles. Windtraps : easier than building your own. The negative points of capturing buildings are : (a) The soldiers take forever to get there. (b) The soldiers often get killed before getting to the building. (c) It's very hard to keep a building in the red without destroying it. ~~~~ Q16. How do you bypass the opening intro ? ~~~~ A16. After you have watched it once, a file called "ONETIME.CFG" is created in the directory, with 0 bytes in it. After this the intro may be skipped by pressing the space bar. ~~~~ Q17. How do I aim the Death Hand Missile correctly ? ~~~~ A17. Either SAVE/RELOAD until you get a correct hit, or put up with the inaccuracy. If it always hit where you aimed it, Harkonnen would have no trouble winning every time on level 8 & 9! ~~~~ Q18. Which has a longer range, Sonic Tanks or Missile Launchers ? ~~~~ A18. With the bug relating Sonic Tank range to Game speed: at Slow/Slowest - Sonic Tanks have a much shorter range at Normal - About equal range. Effectiveness depends on the target size - Launchers are better against larger targets, Sonic Tanks are better against smaller ones (e.g. Rocket Turrets!) at Fast/Fastest - Sonic Tanks have a greater range and quickly dispose of Rocket Turrets without themselves suffering damage. They are obviously most effective at this speed ~~~~ Q19. What new technologies do I get on each mission ? ~~~~ A19. This varies between the houses, but a basic list is : Level 1, 2, 3 - Light Factory, Barracks Level 4 - Heavy Vehicle Factory, WOR Level 5 - Gun Turrets, Rocket Tanks (not Ordos) Level 6 - Rocket Turrets, Starport, High Tech, Siege Tanks Level 7 - House of IX Level 8 - Palace Level 9 - <nothing new> ~~~~ Q20. When can the Ordos get Missile Launchers ? ~~~~ A20. The Ordos can never build Missile Launchers, but they may buy them from the Starport, when available. If they capture an enemy Heavy Vehicle Factory, they will be able to use that to produce them also. ~~~~ Q21. How can I capture a building ? ~~~~ A21. Damage the building until it is in the "red" damage sector, then move an infantry unit in to take it over. If the damage is not in the red, then the unit is destroyed, and the building is damaged. ~~~~ Q22. Why can't I build Ground Vehicles, but I can build Carryalls ? ~~~~ A22. This is due to the fact that there is a separate count for the total number of Carryalls & Ornithopters owned by everyone, just like the building quota. If the computer has too many, shoot them down as they are picking up a damaged vehicle. ~~~~ Q23. How do I tell a Harvester which Refinery to return to ? ~~~~ A23. Harvesters generally return to the last Refinery they unloaded at. If you want it to go to a different one, you have to instruct it to Move there, and after that it should return to that one, if possible. ~~~~ Q24. How is the score calculated ? ~~~~ A24. The score doesn't depend on time at all, despite what it looks like. The only things that factor in to it are amount of spice harvested, number of enemy units destroyed and number of enemy buildings destroyed. Buildings that are taken over don't count as buildings destroyed. To maximise your score, take time at the end, before destroying the last building, to harvest all available spice. Even better, let the last building left be a Refinery, and harvest spice while destroying the continual supply of Harvesters the computer will get. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (3)(a) STRATEGY - DEFENCE : **************************** ~~~~ T1. Use your harvesters to run over approaching enemy troops before you get hit by them. ~~~~ T2. Once you can get tanks, use them to run over troops; it is much quicker than shooting them. ~~~~ T3. As soon as you start a new level, use the vehicles that you are given to explore in all directions to find : (a) Spice, and those little "bumps" in the sand that often have spice under them. (b) The approximate location of the enemies base. Once you have done this, RESTART THE LEVEL, and start building! ~~~~ T4. Don't explore too far until you have built a good defence up. The computer at the start works on a strategy of "If you can't see him, he can't see you!" ~~~~ T5. As soon as you can build Rocket Turrets, build about 3 and put them in a line, facing in the direction of his base, about 3 squares apart. Make sure that you have "explored" at least 2 squares greater than the radius of the Turret. This allows the turret to get a lock on approaching vehicles/soldiers, and attack them before they can hit the base. ~~~~ T6. Build about 5-7 of your heaviest direct combat vehicle (i.e. Tank), and set them up in a flat U, with Missile Launchers (if you have them) on the sides i.e. LX XL X X X {L : Launcher; X : Tank} The most important point is that the left and right "horns" should be far enough away from the centre to not be attacked. Then, when the enemy vehicles (Y) arrive : Y Y LX Y XL X X X Wait for the enemy to get past the "horns" and start being attacked by the front tanks. Then move the horns inward to attack from the side/rear, using the launchers from a distance. Above all, do not let your front line break. keep a few vehicles as backups, and move them up if part of the line is taking a beating. ~~~~ T7. Defend Missile Launchers well, as they are devastating from a distance, but easily destroyed from close up. ~~~~ T8. Make sure you leave a few units at the rear of your buildings, to defend against the enemy units that will be dropped by Carryalls. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (3)(b) STRATEGY - OFFENCE : **************************** ~~~~ T1. Destroy his harvester when it gets too far from his base. It will explode, releasing however much spice it had harvested. Make sure you destroy it while it is on sand, as if it is destroyed over rock then the spice is lost. ~~~~ T2. Don't use soldiers or troopers to attack harvesters - the harvester turns and runs over the attackers. The only time you should do this is if the Foot unit is standing on a mountain range - the only units that can go over mountains are the foot units. They still can be attacked while on the mountain, just not run over. ~~~~ T3. Concentrate your attack on one structure at a time. If the computer is pumping money into repairing while you are attacking, you won't be able to keep pace unless you have a concentrated attack. ~~~~ T4. When attacking buildings, use the Missile Launchers to attack the Rocket Turrets first (moving the tanks behind the launchers to defend them from vehicle attacks). Remember that the radius of detection of a launcher is one greater than that of a turret. That is : X T X X X <- radius of the turret (T) X X X X X X XXX XXX XX XX LXL <- best position for the launcher (you don't get hit!) After the turrets are down, use the tanks to destroy the buildings. Remember that, if you are using the patched version, the computer will rebuild his Turrets (in the same place), so don't hang around - move in and destroy quickly. It is often useful to leave a couple of strong vehicles in the squares directly around the turret, so if it is rebuilt, they will immediately attack it again while the turret can't use it's missiles due to their closeness. Hence the turret can only fire back with normal guns which do much less damage. ~~~~ T5. Before attacking the enemy in force, use some kamikaze units to scout the base and locate the Construction Yard. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (3)(c) STRATEGY - GENERAL : **************************** ~~~~ T1. Create a Repair facility as soon as you can. It is a lot cheaper and faster to repair, rather than build. ~~~~ T2. Build one Carryall for each harvester you have, as well as 1-3 to use for transporting damaged units. ~~~~ T3. Don't bother building 4 Refineries. It is much more efficient to build about two, along with an extra harvester (total of 3), and to use Carryalls for transportation. ~~~~ T4. Build a Starport early on, as that is the only way you can get more than 25 vehicles. Watch the prices carefully, as there is a lot of fluctuation. It is often better not to build a High-Tech factory, as Carryalls can be bought from there, often for cheaper than the 800 they cost to make (plus the 800 for the Factory). The cheapest prices I have seen are : Rocket launchers: 180 Siege tanks: 240 Combat tanks: 150 Harvesters: 150 MCVs: 360 Carryalls: 320 ~~~~ T5. After Level 4, build two refineries and a few Silos to increase your cash for the more expensive units. ~~~~ T6. Sand Worms remain dormant until a unit (yours or the computers) comes within a couple of squares of it, or it is fired on. If all the vehicles on the map (computer's & your's) are over rock, then the Sand Worm will just stay still until it is reduced to half damage, or until a vehicle goes on to the sand. ~~~~ T7. Sand Worms will disappear when they have been reduced to half damage, or have eaten 3 units. If you are in a hurry to get rid of one, send a Trike towards it, and lead it towards the enemy base. When you are just about to be fired on, let the enemy vehicles get drawn onto the sand, then let the Sand Worm eat the Trike and then watch it eat the fleeing enemy :-). ~~~~ T8. Deviated units that are sent to attack another house's units (other than their own) will continue to do so, even after their allegiance has reverted. ~~~~ T9. When you choose the region to attack in Mission 8, remember that the house controlling the region will have a palace, where as the other house doesn't. Hence attack, in order of preference : Ordos, Atreides, Harkonnen. ~~~~ T10. Deviated Harvesters set to return should continue to return, even after they have reverted. This lets you get a nice amount of spice from the remains after it has run into your Rocket Turrets! Some people have said this doesn't work (on the IBM), but it seems to work for me. ~~~~ T11. You can't order more than 10 of any one vehicle, at one time, from the Spaceport. The Spaceport does replenish 'Sold Out' stock over time though. ~~~~ T12. Damaged building produce slower than undamaged ones. There is not much difference while in the green, but below that the production rate is noticeably lower. Rocket Turrets also fire less often when damaged. ~~~~ T13. Damaged units fire less frequently. If a unit is down to below green, they fire at half the rate. ~~~~ T14. Palaces don't cost anything to repair, so keep them in top condition all the time. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (3)(d) STRATEGY - Specific Mission Strategy: ********************************************* ~~~~ Level 3. ~~~~ After building a windtrap and refinery, build a radar outpost as soon as you have the cash - this will help you keep track of what vehicles are around. Once you have these basic buildings, build more Windtraps and a Light Factory. Then build your heaviest units and place them at the front of your base, facing in the direction of the enemy, to defend the buildings. It is now time to build another Refinery to build up some credits. Make sure you leave a couple of units at the rear/sides of your base to defend against units brought in by the computer's Carryalls. After you have set up this defence, build as many offensive units as possible, until the "Unable to create" message comes up. Then send a series of raiding groups of 3-4 units out to scout the enemy base, and locate the Construction Yard. Don't worry if these units are destroyed - just build some more as quickly as possible. Once you have found the main enemy buildings, try doing a flank attack with a large group of units to destroy the Construction Yard first, as this will stop the enemy from creating more structures as you destroy them. Once the Construction Yard is destroyed, go for the offensive buildings i.e. Light Vehicle Factory, WOR, Barracks. If you start losing vehicles, call off the building attack and use the remaining vehicles to take out as many enemy vehicles as possible before they die. Then re-build your forces as quickly as possible, as the computer will often counter attack when you have just retreated - don't leave your base undefended. ~~~~ Level 7. ~~~~ At the start of this level, no matter what house you are, you must build a couple of Rocket Turrets as soon as possible. On this level, the computer will always send a series of Ornithopters against you, and unless you have the Turrets, your buildings will soon be destroyed. ~~~~ Level 9. Charles Cruden's Level 9 Establishing plan (Thanx Charles!) ~~~~ In case you haven't noticed, the layout for this level never changes. Only the colour of the various bases do. You will be facing two death hand missiles (unless you are the Harkonnen) and an attack wave which lasts around 15 to 20 minutes. Once you've overcome these obstacles, it's a matter of destroying the enemy bases, much as before. Overcoming the DHM is mostly luck. Either you get hit or you don't. It is possible (not even especially difficult) to get through this battle _WITHOUT_ using the 'save/restore' game cheat. It mostly depends on whether or not the first two missiles hit you construction yard or not. Most of the time, they won't. To ensure you don't need to worry about them again, you need to build a starport. Basically, this is what I have found is the best method. Start exploring, to find the spice reserves. There are lots of them around, so you won't run out of money if you harvest quickly. You start out with 1000 credits (or 1500 if you're the Ordos). This is just enough money to build concrete over to the left, as far as you can go (in a straight line), then a power centre and a spice facility. When your harverster returns, keep building to the left and build a spice facility and a radar station. When these harvesters return, build more windtraps, and build your starport. By this time, the enemy should have found your base. Note that the DHMs will not be launched until units from the respective houses (Sardaukar and Harkonnen) have actually found your base. By this time though, you should have enough money to buy an MCV. If your yard gets hit, deploy it (on another rock usually... they won't always find it the second time) and rebuild, if it doesn't, move it to the rock to the right of your base and wait. You now have a construction yard in reserve. The DHMs will mostly fire at the construction yard. So long as you build buildings a reasonable distance away, they won't get hit. This is one obstacle down. The other obstacle is an attack wave from all three opposing houses that lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. The best defense here is six or seven rocket turrets on the rock just above your construction yard (they tend to get hit by DHMs, but are easy to rebuild), and two or three on the northern most part of the rock you're on (towards the top left). This will defend against all three houses. ~~~~ Level 9. Charles Cruden's Level 9 Winning plan (Thanx Charles!) ~~~~ Your first target should be the house on the far right. Despite what you think, once you are well established, and have two or three harvesters out and about, DHMs are not that serious. Thus, getting the palaces that make them isn't that important. The house on the far right (generally the Atreides, in one game, the Ordos) has only one construction yard, and a poorly defended one. This is how you can make good your attacks. Approach from the bottom of the screen straight up. You should be about 7 or 8 squares from the right edge of the screen. If your aim is good, you will find a rocket turret out from the base, and behind it either a refinery or a light vehicle factory. Destroy this turret and advance quicly to destroy the structure behind it. Behind that is the construction yard for this house. Be careful... you can usually expect to be attacked by a number of siege tanks and rocket launchers, both from this house and from the emperor's. Once the construction yard here has been destroyed, you can take apart the rest of the base at your leisure, but it should be destroyed as much as possible before moving on to the next. Your next target will always be the emperor's base. He has two construction yards, one far in the top right hand corner of the screen (which can be quickly destroyed after taking out the first base), and another heavily guarded behind his palace. Use one or two rocket launchers defended by siege tanks to advance through his base via the top, making sure to take out any offending rocket turrets below with other rocket launchers. The units below should be larger in number as they will be facing the brunt of the emperor's forces. Try to advance as quickly as possible: the computer rebuilds buildings roughly in the order in which they were destroyed, though it rarely rebuilds a construction yard if it has another. Don't let it have the time to rebuild enough to build the other construction yard. Eventually, your units on the top will reach the edge of the emperor's palace. Just above it will be the second construction yard. Be careful though... the construction yard is close enough to the palace to be well within range of the excellent defense the emperor's palace has. (Six rocket turrets, 3 launchers and a lot of concrete wall can really ruin your day.) The palace is easy enough to destroy before or after taking out the construction yard. Let the first target be based on how badly DHMs are taking out your base. Once the emperor's palace is done, only the base on the left remains. (Ususally the Harkonen, occasionally the Ordos.) This base, like the emperor's, has two construction yards, but here they are placed close together. To get to them, you must go through most of the base, but given enough rocket launchers, this is not a big problem. Advance as before, taking out the rocket turrets first, then the palace and heavy vehicle factory you will find just behind the first turret you meet. (Attack from the right.) It should not be hard then to destroy the rest of his base from the top inwards. Move right and you will find two construction yards next to each other behind a few windtraps. Take these out and the game is basically over. The only thing you should watch for is in sending more troops for support - this base has a number of small 'arms' which jut out from it and have four rocket turrets for fingers. Nasty things for unsuspecting vehicles to wander by on their way to the slaughter at the top of the screen. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (4)(a) HOUSE STRATEGY - ATREIDES : *********************************** ~~~~ Q1. How are the Fremen best used ? ~~~~ A1. Build as many palaces as you can afford, generate Fremen as often as possible, and overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers of them. They are very useful for mapping out the enemy base, but as you can't control their movement, it makes the mapping somewhat erratic. In the unpatched version, Rocket Turrets don't fire on them, only vehicles that are being attacked. In the patched version they are fired upon ~~~~ Q2. How are Sonic Tanks best used ? ~~~~ A2. They are most effective against foot units, which they can destroy in two hits. They are also very useful against Rocket Turrets, provided you put the Game Speed to Fast/Fastest, as this is a bug which increases their range. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (4)(b) HOUSE STRATEGY - ORDOS : ******************************** ~~~~ Q1. How are the Deviators best used ? ~~~~ A1. The Deviator is the best weapon you can use for indirect offensive purposes, and the best time is close to the opposing forces' buildings. Aim the Deviator at the strongest vehicle you can find, and get it to attack it's own structures. The defences of the enemy won't recognize that it is an enemy, and let it destroy the structure. Once it has destroyed a structure, it's allegiance will revert, but it can easily be re-Deviated! The problem comes if you use it to attack vehicles, as they will return fire, and the vehicle will revert to it's origional allegiance. They are also very effective against defending Devestators - deviate them and destruct them! If you have deviated unit selected when it reverts, you will be able to give it one last order (with it's allegiance set to the enemy). This allows it to attack it's own buildings without being attacked. Beware of the fact that Deviators have a significantly shorter range than Missile Launchers. ~~~~ Q2. How are the Raider Trikes best used ? ~~~~ A2. The most important thing is to keep them moving. Due to their speed, they can outrun anything, and a missile launcher is pretty useless against them if you get up close. They should be used to map out the enemy base, as their speed should keep them out of most trouble. As an offensive weapon they aren't much good unless you are continually moving them. ~~~~ Q3. Are the Saboteurs any good ? ~~~~ A3. The simple answer is no, as they are highly unlikely to break through a solid defence. In general, save your money, don't build a palace, and buy other units instead. If you do want to use them, it is best to send them both (you get two at a time) against the same target, generally a turret. The first one will hopefully destroy the turret and the second one should destroy the building behind it. Even better, try to get them to destroy the opposing palaces. Be sure that you always leave a direct path from the palace to the target - they will destruct on the first building they come to, yours or the enemy's. ~~~~ T1. More than any other house, it is of paramount importance for the Ordos to build a Starport and to buy Missile Launchers. ~~~~ T2. Early in the game, when the other houses have Siege tanks and you don't, you must split up attacking Siege tanks, and attack them with 3-4 combat tanks each. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (4)(c) HOUSE STRATEGY - HARKONNEN : ************************************ ~~~~ Q1. How are Devestators best used ? ~~~~ A1. A group of them is a formidable offensive / defensive force, but make sure you have a Repair Centre surrounded with walls, as well as a couple of Carryalls. This way, they can attack, do what damage they can, get repaired, and start attacking again. If one is about to be destroyed, it is better to destruct it than to let it explode as it does more damage on Self-Destruct. ~~~~ Q2. How are Death Hand missiles best used ? ~~~~ A2. Launch them and target them in a group of buildings - if you're lucky they might hit the target! What you aim for and what you hit are generally two very different things, but their power is undeniable! /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (5) KNOWN BUGS (AND SOLUTIONS) : ******************************** ~~~~ B1. The Starport bug : Starport gets stuck... no units arrive. Displays 'Frigate arrival in t-0 seconds ~~~~ S1. Get the upgrade patch to v1.07 {See section (7)} OR Build another starport. This solution only works some of the time, and even then the second starport may freeze. Generally, any units on order from the 1st starport will be delivered to the new one. I strongly advise getting the upgrade patch, as many things are fixed, and the game is quite a bit harder. ~~~~ B2. The computer has unlimited money. You can destroy all Refineries and Silos, but the computer can always rebuild them. ~~~~ S2. This is still to be fixed. ~~~~ B3. At the start of a scenario, there will be a set of units guarding each ememy construction centre. When they are destroyed, they aren't replaced. ~~~~ S3. Exploit this to the fullest :-) Take these units out early, then attack the construction centre. ~~~~ B4. The computer attacks only on one front, and doesn't look for weaknesses in your defensive belt. ~~~~ S4. Exploit this to the fullest :-) Don't bother building defensive structures on the other fronts as it is just a waste of money and space. ~~~~ B5. You should be able to buy Ornithopters from the Starport. ~~~~ S5. Look in the file SCENARIO.PAK and you will find the word "Thopters" in the [CHAOM] definition blocks. This is a typo, and as such is a _VERY_ bad error to have left in. All you should do is change the word to "'Thopters" i.e. add a single quote, and you can buy them from the Starport like you should be able to. You will have to restart the current mission for it to take effect. ~~~~ B6. Depending on how fast the game is running (i.e. the "SPEED" setting in the Game Controls menu), sonics tanks have a different range. ~~~~ S6. If you are Atreides, use this by putting up the speed to "Fast" and setting the Sonic tanks against the enemy structures. If you aren't Atreides, as soon as you see a Sonic tank put the speed to slow, and use Missile Lanuchers to take them out. ~~~~ B7. Rocket Turrets start to blink, and won't fire on anything. ~~~~ S7. The Turrets just blink like they do when first created, before they start to attack. The solution seems to be to either reload the game, or quit and restart the game. This only occurs in the upgraded version and is very rare. ~~~~ B8. (REPORTED) The Deviator Tank can't deviate the Emperor's forces. ~~~~ S8. This may be deliberate (The Emperors forces are impervious to Nerve Gas), but it is more likely a bug. It may have been fixed in the upgrade. ***** THIS BUG DOESN'T EXIST ***** ~~~~ B9. (REPORTED) A square that contained a building that was destroyed by a Sabateur can't be rebuilt on for quite some time. ~~~~ S9. I'm not sure if this is a bug, or if it is what's supposed to happen. If it is correct, this make the Sabateur much more useful, provided you knock out the rocket turrets before you send in the Sabateurs. ~~~~ B10. A harvester, when full and showing the "Awaiting pickup" message, will sometimes take a very long time before it is picked up. ~~~~ S10. The answer isn't, as might be expected, to build more Carryalls. The problem here is that your system is too close to the minimum required memory. Try exiting and running from a boot disk with no TSRs loaded. ~~~~ B11. Fremen will sometimes get "stuck" off screen, but will still be able to attack your base, and you can't target them. ~~~~ S11. The solution is to fire at the ground as close to the Fremen as you can get. After a while, they will move forward and attack the vehicle instead, which will bring them onto the screen for you to attack. ~~~~ B12. The "group movement" doesn't work as it says in the manual. ~~~~ S12. In the manual it says that to get one unit to follow another, click on the second one and tell it to move to where the "leader" is. Then when you move the leader, any followers will move with it, unless given other instructions. This doesn't happen like this at all. The way it is supposedly done is to click on the "Leader" and command him to move. After it starts moving, click on the "Follower" and command him to move, with the "Leader" as the destination. ~~~~ B13. Rocket Turrets don't fire on Fremen. ~~~~ S12. Get the upgrade patch to v1.07 {See section (7)} ~~~~ B14. Various buildings start to flash. Turrets & Refineries don't work. ~~~~ S14. See Bug 7 - This is a simmilar bug, and the solution is the same. i.e. saving and reloading should correct the problem. ~~~~ B15. When the computer rebuilds buildings, they can be placed over your units, destroying them. ~~~~ S15. This only occurs in the upgraded version, and can't be fixed. The simple solution is don't leave vehicles in a destroyed building's old space if at all possible. ~~~~ B16. Spice Refineries hold 1100 spice unit, not 1000 ~~~~ S16. There is no solution for this. Besides, I can't imagine anyone complaining :-) ~~~~ B17. The maximum amount of spice allowed to be stored is 32000 credits. After this spending is reversed (Harvesters decrease money, building increases money) ~~~~ S17. Spend some of that stockpiled cash :-) You don't need that much anyway! ~~~~ B18. The computer can build buildings unconnected to it's base. ~~~~ S18. Don't begrude the poor stupid computer it's small advantage - it needs to cheat any way it can to win! Besides it's the computer, and is running the game, so it can do whatever it pleases :-) There is no solution to this problem ~~~~ B19. If there is a lot happening on the screen (by way of sounds), you can hear the "Missile Warning" after the missile is hit. ~~~~ S19. This has not been fixed. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\ (6) MANUAL CHEATS : ******************* ~~~~ O1. I want more than 25 units! ~~~~ C1. Use a hex editor to edit the SCENARIO.PAK file, find a line containing : "Brain=Human, Maxunit=25, Credit=1500". Edit the number after the Maxunit to 99.