Ami Cheat's Page - DAMOCLES: MERCENARY II

FUN

On Midas reference 577-341 you can find a pyramid which contains a magic crystal. To use it, you'll need the book from the trader at Eris capital city (13-5). Reading the book while in possession of the crystal will allow one wish to be granted. Try some of the following wishes:

I WISH I HAD A CHEESE SANDWICH
I WISH I HAD MORE TIME
I WISH I COULD RECIEVE 1,000,000 CREDITS
I WISH THE UNIVERSE WAS MORE COLOURFUL
I WISH I KNOW HOW TO USE AUTHOR'S COMPUTER
I WISH I HAD MERCENARY 3 NOW

Once you've figured out how to destroy a planet, try the technique on various planets. Especially Gaea, Dion, and Eris.

Blast the lock off the door of the Author's House and steal his computer and his chair. They both have actual uses, and do quite interesting things.

Blow up the Author's Computer with an explosive. Then get well clear... that is, well clear of EVERYTHING.

Each planet and/or moon has some information and history associated with it. Benson (your computer) doesn't always present it upon your visit to said world. Keep trying until you do get it.

Try to land on the sun (Dialis).

Crash your spaceship in the ocean.

Land on the roof of a building, get out, then stroll over the edge...

Get yourself locked into the jail on Metis.

There are lots of nice vantage points to watch Eris's destruction from. Vesta is quite decent. The best place, of course, is on Eris itself. If you're on the right part of the planet, you'll get to see the comet plunging through the atmosphere directly towards you.

Watch the control towers at spaceports; they change color to warn you when your ship gets near.

Lots of the stuff in Damocles is quite closely related to British politics, although the passage of time since its release has obsoleted some of the jokes. For example, the Lawson Banks are named after Nigel Lawson, the chancellor of the Exchequer at the time Damocles was being written (although by the time it actually came out, he wasn't any more...) You can find the Prime Minister's proposal for the poll tax in the basement of the Hall of Government on Vesta; she predicts it will be well-received...

The Novagen offices are full of inside jokes and hints on the game. You will find the keys in a pub on Dion East.

Noticed the road signs near the Novagen building on Dion? Novagen's real offices are on Alcester Road, Birmingham, England, and the one in the game bears an intentional physical resemblance to the real one. The same goes for the Author's House.

THE 5 WINNING WAYS

1. Find all eight explosives and the timed detonator. Go to Damocles. Drop seven explosives and set the eighth to detonate. Depart posthaste and collect reward: $10,000,000. Note that you can bargain the State President o $25,000,000 by turning down her first offers.
2. Ditto, but blow up Icarus instead before Damocles passes it. Without Icarus's gravitational pull, Damocles's course is altered so it misses Eris by a good margin. Collect $10,000,000 from the State President and $25,000,000 from Lloyds' for solving the problem without destroying Damocles.
3. Using the Nova Bomb instead of explosives, repeat #1 or #2 above.
4. Use the Magic Wishing Crystal on Midas and wish that Eris (or both Eris and Damocles) would be saved. (the "Wishes Solution")
5. Using the Author's Computer, blow up Damocles (planet #29.)

GAMMA SYSTEM GUIDE

ICARUS (first planet)

~152/417 = MINING COMPLEX
02/01 = HQ: Red Herring (worth nothing special)

ACHERON (moon of Midas)

~836/324 = ACHERON RETREAT
One of the four "hidden" pyramids contains a communications console.
* The key to the Acheron/Midas puzzle is in either sphynx. Go in the hidden side door at the sphynx's knee. On the front wall is a pyramid number, but you can only read it if you're carrying the reading glasses from Lucan. Translate it into planetary coordinates:

1. Divide by 4096 and drop the fraction. Call this PX.
2. Get the remainder from step 1. Call this PY. The pyramids are arranged in a large square, 4096 pyramids on a side. PX and PY locate the pyramid in this grid.
3. Divide PX by 4.096 and drop the fraction to get the planetary X coord.
4. Divide PY by 4.096, drop the fraction and add 250. This is the planetary Y coordinate. Now go to Midas.

MIDAS (second planet): THE MIDAS PROJECT (16 million identical pyramids)

* Pyramid 68-09-20-33 located at 577,341 contains the Magic Wishing Crystal. You can wish for anything in the Wishful Thinking of a Mercenary book: while holding the crystal, show the wish in the little message window, then hit * and it shall be granted. Note that a lot of stuff in here you can also do for free by fiddling with the Author's Computer.

DION (third planet)

~793/574 = BIRMINGHAM ISLAND
03/14 = Dion Verdant Party HQ. Parked outside: Targ Tourer (car) 1: Teleport Cube 2
9: Door Key "E"
00/07 = Lawson-8 Bank
02/12 = GUM Department Store. 1: Rug
01/11 = Bank of Gaea branch
00/10 = Office Building. G: Bed, Table, Notepad (stating that Prof. Hantzen's new address is Ur City 07/01)
02/11 = Novagen Offices (requires Door Key "D" for entry)
G: Rubbish Bin (filled with Damocles release dates)
1: Novagen Files (with random remarks), Table, Ansafone (noting that everyone's on holiday, and you can buy a Blue Beacon Detector at 02/01 Mentor), Novagen Safe (blast open with explosive set to 0, and then read various clues)
02/02 = GUM Department Store: Washing Machine
09/00 = GUM Department Store: Bath, Towel Rail
09/14 = Trading Post: ACME Universal Suit ($25,000)
* The ACME Universal protects against heat, cold, and vacuum.
01/05 = "E" Building
14/13 = Author's House (requires Door Key "A")
Author's Chair, Desk, Computer
* The Chair is a spaceship in disguise, and to operate the computer you must be sitting in it. Computer settings: 0 - changes the colors of the Universe. 1 - changes the colors of your control panel. 2 - changes the amount of perspective. 3 - changes the speed at which time passes. 4 - allows you to delete any planet from the system.
Destroy the computer and the entire solar system comes apart.
~807/586 = DION NORTH
00/03 = Windmill: 1 Box Explosives
01/04 = Trading Post: Hammer
04/01 = Empty Trading Post
06/00 = Annie's Bar: Chair/Table
~810/566 = DION EAST
06/00 = Annie's Bar: Chair/Table, Door Key "D"
04/01, 01/04 = Empty Trading Posts
00/03 = Greenhouse: Greenhouse Effect (worth $24,000)

CLOTHO (moon of Dion)

~596/322 = CLOTHO NEW TOWN
01/00 = Lloyds Group 4 Investments. 2: Table, Chair, Lottery Ticket
* The "4" points to:
04/00 = Secret Storage. B: Bathroom Scale
01/01 = Nuclear Power Plant: Fireplace, Chair, Table
02/01 = Active Marketing
G: Bench, Table
2: Fridge
3: Bed
4: Settee, Coffee Table, Table Lamp, Sunglasses

ATROPOS (moon of Dion)

~009/304 = CITY
02/02 = Spaceport
01/02 = Bank of Gaea Branch
01/01 = GUM Department Store. 1: Shopping Bag
02/01 = Radar Station

LACHESIS (moon of Dion)

~612/506 = Abandoned Pulvin Mines, tractors

GAEA (fourth planet)

~125/687 = UR CITY
07/01 = Prof. Hantzen's House (req. Door Key B) Parked outside: '99 Chevy Inside: Teleport Cube 0, Sideboard (really NOVA TRIGGER 1), Table, Fax (mentioning storage location of expensive piano, and that the power of the Nova Bomb equals 8 maxset explosives)
09/02 = Storage Center. B: Piano (worth $18,000), NOVA BOMB
09/03 = Trading Post: Stove
05/02 = Industrial Co-Op HSE2
B: 1 Box Explosive
G: Table/Chair
00/01 = Spaceport "E"
03/00 = Empty Storage Center
01/03 = GUM Department Store: Shower
01/02 = Industrial Co-Op HSE1
B: 1 Box Explosive
G: Chair/Desk
~065/440 = CHALDEA METROPOLIS
07/14 = Spaceport
06/06 = Bank of Gaea Building
G: Desk, Settee, Chair, Receipt (describing how the package from Prof. Hantzen was sold locally)
B: Gold (worth $45,000)
04/01 = Marillion Apartments
G: Sink, Wall Clock (hinting towards Icarus solution), Wardrobe
1: Cooker
03/00 = Empty Storage
06/08 = Real Estate Offices (lose money to buy house 02/05 Eris Capital)
05/06 = Trading Post: Stereo (really NOVA TRIGGER 3)
08/08 = Trade Center: Teleport cube 6, key to '22 CV (parked outside)
~751/314 = VULCAN ISLAND
Volcano, Blue Beacon, 1 Box Explosives

CRONUS (moon of Gaea)

~626/463 = Mercenary I Museum. 05/05: Museum Guide

CYCLOPES (moon of Gaea)

~851/602 = IDI CAMP COMPLEX
02/02 = IDI Palace of Fun: Amplifier (lottery being held) * The ticket is in the Lloyds Group 4 building on Clotho.

ERIS (5th Planet)

~016/283 = CAPITAL CITY
07/08 = Spaceport: VIP Limo, VIP Limo Key [ YOU START HERE ]
09/09 = Moorby School of Flying: Electric Fire, Eagle-9SE Spaceship
09/08 = State President's Office
B: Eagle-9SE Key
G: Damocles File (describing Damocles), Coffee Table
1: Air Conditioner
2: Bench, Settee
11/08 = "E" Building. B: Teleport Cube 5
01/01 = Exchequer District A (lose all cash to pay back taxes)
04/04 = Statue
04/10, 14/03, 13/03, 12/03 = Empty Trading Posts
04/11 = GUM Department Store: King-Size Spanner
09/02 = Playtester Stores (Red Beacon) B: Antigrav
* Antigrav allows you to pick up vehicles and teleport cubes.
15/03 = Trading Post: Pressure Suit (permitting excursions in vacuum)
08/14 = Trading Post: Key to Bestcupand (parked outside)
12/04 = Open Area: Sunshade
14/05 = Eris Power Generation: Heat Resist Suit
??/?? = Trading Post: _The Wishful Thinking of a Mercenary_ book
* This is somewhere near the nuclear power plant and the 08/14 T.P. The book is part of the "wishes" solution.
02/01 = Post Office: Table
01/04 = Another "E"
15/12 = Lawson Bank HQ. B: Vault (open with Key C) - 25 million ECUs
* note that you can't seem to actually GET $25 mil for this...
12/14 = Eris Post Office HQ -- A to Z computer
* Carry the computer and activate it. It shows your location, and names the building if you're near someplace special. Note that the phone message in the NIC on Mentor does NOT have the correct location! Argh!
02/01 = Airport: Table
~375/438 = VELOS
03/07 = Trading Post: TV Controller
04/06 = Empty Trading Post
04/05 = EKMPV S Ad Agency. 1: Coffee Table, Settee, Standard Lamp
04/01 = Eris TV Studios
1: Settee, Desk, Chair
2: Table, Video Player
9: TV (use TV Controller to watch), Chair, Table
~750/375 = BARE ISLAND
05/05 = "E" Building
06/06 = GUM Department Store. 1: Thermal Undies
06/05 = Professor Hantzen's Labs
B: Door Key B
3: 3 Boxes of Explosives
4: Top Secret File (describing the Nova Bomb), Table, Memo Pad (describing how the four triggers have been lost by the Post Office Sorting Branch, Snow Island), Processor's Desk and Chair
02/04 = Hantzen Airport
07/04 = Hantzen Admin. 9: Table, Chair, Geiger Counter
* The Geiger Counter clicks when you get near the Novabomb, and clicks faster and faster as you get closer to it.
06/02 = Low Office Building
B: Timed Detonator (sets off explosives)
G: Teleport Cube 1
1: '99 Chevy Key
~007/507 = SNOW ISLAND
07/04 = Landing Strip
06/04 = Wine Bar: Table, Chair, Bottle
03/00 = Post Office Sorting Branch: Table, Clipboard (describing where the four triggers may have gotten to), Storage Boxes, Cupboard (in reality NOVA TRIGGER 2)
~626/126 = KEY WEST
02/01 = Spaceport
01/04 = "E" building
07/10, 08/08, 04/00 = Empty Trading Posts
09/08 = Lawson-8 Bank: Antique Clock (worth $799.90)
07/07 = Newton Ltd. Research. B: Anti-Grav (worth $100,000)
00/07 = Spaceport

METIS (moon of Eris)

~616/511 = JUDICIARY COMPLEX
00/06 = Office Building (lose all cash to lawsuit) 9: Processor's Desk & Chair, Filofax (describing various trivial stuff), Teleport Cube #?
02/00 = Spaceport with Beacon
01/03 = Lawson-8 bank: Door Key "C"
02/06 = Jail (do not enter -- you get locked up 'till Mercenary III is released...)
05/06 = Nixon Interstellar Court of Justice (NIC) Inside: Table, Wall Phone (mentioning that the A-Z Computer at Eris Post Office at 14/11 could be most useful) Through secret door at back: something which is actually NOVA TRIGGER #?

VESTA (moon of Eris)

~264/326 = POLITBURO CITY
04/06 = Government Hall (requires Door Key E for entry/exit)
B: Teleport Cube 4
G: Bench
1: Key to Targ Tourer, Processor's Desk and Chair
2: Scroll (describing trivial proposed new legislation), Table
3: Briefcase (increasing number of things you can carry)
05/03, 06/03 = Empty Trading Posts
06/04 = Lawson-8 Bank
05/04 = Lloyd's Group 4 Building. From 4th floor the four becomes an arrow, pointing to:
04/04 = Traffic Circle with Red Beacon Locator
03/07 = GUM Department Store. (be 2nd customer, win $10,000)
2: Table, Cash Register (worth $1,555)
03/01 = Bank of Gaea Branch (?)

LUCAN (moon of Eris)

~???/??? = ONE OF A RING OF 12 ISLANDS
00/07 = Red Beacon, Reading Glasses
* The huge glyphs on the islands are actually the 12 signs of the zodiac. The beacon is located in the "eye" of Leo. The glasses are required to solve the Midas puzzle.

SOLON (moon of Eris)

~969/596 = PENN SCHOOL OF LITERATURE
??/?? = Blue Beacon, Mazelike Underground Complex
Nesbitt Library: Table, Stool, Bookcase; Gold (worth $75,000)

THEON (moon of Eris)

~???/??? = INTERSTELLAR COMMUNICATIONS LINK
02/03 = Radar: 1 Box Explosives
01/02 = Landing Strip, Blue Beacon
03/01 = Radar: Communications Console, Chair
Assorted communications towers outside the central complex

LOGOS (sixth planet)

~316/896 = CITY
04/02 = Bridge Office Building
3: Photocopier (mentions teleport cubes can be flown through)
4: Teleport Cube 6
06/03 = Charlene's Disco: Ghetto Blaster (providing loud, irritating music)
06/00 = Spaceport
07/00, 08/00, 06/02, 08/03, 07/03 = Empty Trading Posts
* You get the best prices for found equipment at "Frank's Bargain TP."

PAN (moon of Triton)

~102/688 = HADES LABOR CAMP
04/00 = Spaceport, Red Beacon
04/01 = Offices. 1: Key to Bullet spaceship
Numerous jails and (immobile) tractors

THALIA (moon of Triton)

~487/042 = MILITARY BASE
06/03 = Spaceport: Red Beacon, Bullet spaceship

PERSEUS (moon of Juno)

~940/456 = ALKANE BASE
04/06 = Emergency Facility. B: Bed, Life-Support
05/02 = Research Lab: Battery, Davey Jones' Locker

TOLOSA (moon of Juno)

~667/633 = ERISIAN CURRENCY REPOSITORY (defended)
* It's not real difficult to destroy the drone ship: go to a low altitude and keep moving at low speed so you won't be hit. Keep turning around and fire whenever you see something moving. A direct hit is NOT required...
??/?? = Currency Repository (requiring Door Key "H" to enter): Gold

BACCHUS (moon of Juno)

~405/638 = CITY
02/08 = Spaceport: Concorde III plane, Transporter Cube 8
01/03 = Casino: Table, Phone Message (asking why you're in the fleshpots of Bacchus when there's work to be done) Bet all your money, double or nothing
01/02 = GUM Department Store: Fishtank
00/03 = Dance Hall

MENTOR (ninth planet)

~689/316 = SETTLEMENT
09/07 = Spaceport: Teleport Cube #9, Concorde III Key
02/01 = Trading Post: Blue Beacon Detector (costs $100,000)
06/05 = Trading Post: Antique Sextant
04/03 = Trading Post: CB Rig
Numerous other trading posts

Planets not mentioned in this guide are probably void.

DOOR KEYS

• found ??? unlocks Author's House, 14/13 Birmingham Island, Dion
• found Hantzen Labs, 06/05 Bare Island, Eris; unlocks Hantzen's House, 07/01 Ur City, Gaea
• found in Lawson Bank, 01/03 Metis; unlocks vault in basement, Lawson Bank HQ, 15/12 Capital City, Eris
• found in bar, 06/00 Dion East, Dion; unlocks Novagen Offices, 02/11 Birmingham Island, Dion
• found in Dion Verdant Party HQ, 03/14 Birmingham Island, Dion; unlocks Government Hall, 04/06 Vesta
• found in a Lawson Bank, second floor -- unlocks ?
• ???
• found ??? unlocks Eris Currency Repository ??/?? Tolosa

NOTE: Yyou can get through locked doors another way: set an explosive to 0, drop it next to the door, and back off. The explosive will blast the lock off the door.

VEHICLES AND KEYS

VIP Limo (car):

Capital City Spaceport, 07/08 Capital City, Eris; key inside building

Eagle-9SE (spaceship):

Moorby School of Flying, 09/09 Capital City, Eris; key in basement of State President's Office at 09/08

Bestcupand (spaceship):

Trading post, 08/14 Capital City, Eris; key inside trading post

'99 Chevy (car):

Hantzen's House, 07/01 Ur City, Gaea; key inside 06/02 office, Bare Island, Eris

Targ Tourer (car):

Dion Verdant Party HQ, 03/14 Birmingham Island, Dion; key on 1st floor, Government Hall, 04/06 Vesta

Free Ship:

Spaceport, 00/07 Key West, Eris

Concorde III (plane):

Spaceport 02/08 Bacchus; key inside spaceport, 09/07 Mentor

'22 CV (car):

Office, 08/08 Chaldea Metropolis, Gaea key inside building

Bullet (military spaceship):

Spaceport 06/03 Thalia; key in offices, 04/01 Pan

TRANSPORTER CUBES

0: Hantzen's House, 07/01 Ur City, Gaea
1: G, 06/02 Bare Island, Eris
2: 1, Dion Verdant Party HQ, 03/14 Birmingham Island, Dion
4: B, Government Hall, 04/06 Vesta
5: B, 11/08 Capital City, Eris
6: 4, 04/02 Logos
?: Offices 08/08 Chaldea Metropolis, Dion
8: Outside 02/08 Bacchus
9: Outside 09/07 Mentor
?: 9, 00/06 Metis