1,000 Games (Collectors Edition) - Disc 2/1000GamesDisc2.iso/solution/text/colony.pt1

Text File | 1995-09-21 | 29.8 KB | 529 lines

 THE COLONY Walkthru

 PROLOGUE: THE SHIP

 When you come to, you find yourself in the control room of your DAS cruiser.
You've crash-landed. Get up and approach the console. Hit the left button
to turn on the lights. (Note: "Approach" in this walkthru means to move
toward the object in question until its bit-mapped (two-dimensional) image
appears.) Avoid the right button: It's instant death. You'll find out why
later. Try the throttle: zip. By checking the console's readout, and the
power indicator on the right side, you realize the ship's pretty much
useless as is. So, in addition to your original assignment (finding out
what happened to the inhabitants of 5-Delta-5; still a little groggy from
the crash, are we?), you also need to repair your cruiser before you can
get off this Godforsaken little planet.

 Maybe you should have taken that desk job back at the Space Academy, huh?

 Exploring the cruiser will help you get your sea legs back and acquaint you
with some principles that'll come in handy once you've found the colony
itself. (You may want to consult the deck plan in your briefing manual.)
You'll notice, for instance, that except for some humorous sound effects,
the bathroom here is pretty much useless. However, the johns in the colony
itself, though they contain nothing more useful in the way of hardware, can
be sources of energy (see "Level 1" below). Check them out, even if Nature
isn't calling.

 In every room, investigate all the drawers, desk tops, and monitors. (The
one exception is the cigarette in the lounge across from the john here;
avoid it, or at least save the game before you pick it up: David Alan Smith,
the creator of THE COLONY, is obviously not a smoker.) You'll discover it's
worth sifting through the shirts in the bureaus (jot down the model number
on that reactor manual); doff your space cap in the direction of George
Lucas as you polish your marshall's badge. In the desk in your living
quarters, the four squares in the third drawer on your right are the
clearance code for the ship's reactor. Click on the squares and translate
the resulting symbols with your decoder. Write the number down. (Note: This
number is randomly generated, so if you start a new game, be sure to stop
by here and do this again.)

 At the far end of the upper level, go through the door, turn on the polygon
fill (if it isn't already; see your installation instructions), and make a
mental note of the way that flashing column -- the top of the reactor --
looks. Then step into any of the four square pits on either side of the
reactor top (the black squares on your deck plan), and you'll be shunted
directly to the reactor core on the lower level. Be advised, you can only
do this once; try the pits again and it's bad death.

 But you've always got the stairs.

 (Note: As a rule, I found the no-fill mode better for traveling from place
to place and taking those all-important first glances around new
environments -- it's not only faster, but you can actually see through
objects this way -- and the fill mode more satisfying for detailed
exploration of a given space. But this may vary with your configuration.)

 You now face the ship's reactor core. Approach the console, enter that
clearance code you found in your desk, and watch the core descend. Send it
up and down a couple of times: This will be a crucial operation later on.
Check out -- on your map or by exploration -- the two bays on either side
of the core room. Leave the core in its lowered position and move out into
the hall.

 The first door on the right is a holding cell. There's a deadly radioactive
security shield just inside the door, a phenomenon you're going to
encounter in the colony as well. Learn to deal with it now. First, save the
game. Then approach the door, click on the switch, click the entryway after
the door has opened, and _immediately_ position your cursor near the top
center of the screen. As you enter the room, you'll be catapulted toward
the far wall, which is just what you want to happen: if you loiter near the
threshold -- note the grid marks on your map -- you'll hear an ominous buzz
and get the life force sucked out of you like a fifty-cent Slurpee on a hot
afternoon. Leaving is the same deal: _Rush_ for the exit. You're only safe
when the bit-mapped door kicks in. Load your saved game and do it again
until you get the hang of it.

 Proceed down the hall and check out the cargo rooms -- one with boxes, one
large and empty -- and the hydroponics garden. Bypass the airlock console
for now and approach the suit installer. It doesn't matter which power
level you specify, you'll still get the same amount: an effect of the
power-down state of your reactor. Then go upstairs and check yourself out
in the bedroom mirror. At least your alter ego's got a unisex look now,
which should please the women players of the game. It was, after all,
Sigourney Weaver who first blazed this trail. (And while we're on the
subject, watching "Aliens" is a great way to psych yourself up for THE
COLONY.)

 Time to get over to the settlement and see what all the fuss is about.
Approach the airlock console and decode the symbols it gives you. Then go
through the airlock door itself. Close the door behind you (it's an airlock,
remember?), save the game, take a deep breath, and proceed outside.

 You've exited the cruiser on the port side. You're in danger immediately:
The place is crawling -- literally -- with missile-shooting larvae (Latin
for "malevolent spirits," by the way). Don't try to fight these bustards:
You haven't got the fire power. Turn right and hustle around the nose of
the ship so you can make a north-by-northeast charge (compass needle at one
or two o'clock) toward the mountains, dodging bugs, missiles, and pyramids,
as needed. If you've kept your wits about you, you should see a bunker on
the horizon before long: The entrance to the colony. Go for it.

 LEVEL 1

 Once inside, don't forget to close the airlock door. Pause for a moment to
lick your wounds and congratulate yourself on making it this far. Rest
assured, though, this is only the beginning. From this point on, alien
encounters are possible at any time, and the times -- and places -- are
entirely unpredictable (there might even be something in the airlock now).
If you see inert geometric shapes lying around, they're eggs -- energy
capsules. Run over them and you'll absorb their strength. If you see a
hovering alien, shoot it, but shoot conservatively until you've built up
more power. If the alien looks like a bee, it'll vaporize when you nail it.
But if it's a diamond-, pyramid-, inverted pyramid- or eyeball-shaped beast,
a direct hit will usually reduce it to egg form, allowing you to absorb and
neutralize it. And the more of these little SOBs you absorb, I'm here to
tell ya, the better you're gonna feel.

 (Note: Study automatic tracking vs. manual targeting in your briefing
manual, and be sure you understand both. As you might suspect, your
effectiveness in combat is directly related to your ability to handle your
laser.)

 You're ready now to begin exploring the first level. As in the ship,
examine _all_ desks and bureaus and any paraphernalia you find near them:
PCs, TVs, diaries, notes, etc. In order to survive, you're going to have to
get to know this place like the back of your hand. I strongly advise using
graph paper to make scaled maps as you go along.

 (Note: There are several sets of maps already available in Library 2 of
CompuServe's Gamers' Forum: in .MAC format, by Pat Gratton; transcribed
versions of the above in ASCII text, by Ms Wiz; and .TIF and .PCX files by
yours truly, which can be viewed with many of the popular paint, desktop
publishing, and word processing programs for IBM (or with one of the viewer
files available in the Picture Support Forum). I've got to tell you, a lot
of the fun I had solving this great game was in the making of the maps for
myself, watching the logic of the place unfold as I progressed. Still, it's
nice to know they're out there, if you need them.)

 Let's go to work. Keep your head down, your eyes open, one hand on your
laser and the other on your back...and follow me.

 The first room beyond the airlock is the reception area. Terminate aliens
and scoop up eggs as they're available. Check the computer and the desk
drawers. On the basis of what you find there, it's probably safe to assume
that all the adults on 5-Delta-5...are dead.

 But there may be some children, suspended by their desperate parents in a
cryogenic limbo.

 And it may be possible to save them.

 Try to pass through the recessed doorway on the east wall. You'll get a
"something's blocking your passage" notice. Any other time you see this
message, it means there's a moving alien on the other side either trying to
get through or just killing time: You'll have to wait for it to make a move
before you can pass. But in this case, you can keep trying that door until
the next Big Bang and you won't move a millimeter. For now, just make a
note of it. And head for the stairs.

 You're in a long hallway. Scour for bugs, hug the west wall, and move north.
There's a john on your right as the corridor narrows; check it for eggs.
The first door you come to as you continue north is Randall Radmer's office.
Decode the number in his desk and make a note of it. (This number too is
unique to the current game, so if you start again, you gotta come back.)
From Radmer's monitor and papers you discover that the _entire planet_ must
be destroyed if the plague is to be contained (are we having fun yet?). You
also learn how to implode the reactor if this ends up being a suicide
mission.

 We'll try to avoid that, won't we?

 As you emerge from Radmer's office, continue north, then east. The double
doors on your left lead to the cafeteria, and it's thick with creatures
(probably cruising for tuna melts). Clean the place out. Then hit the
accountant's office across the hall and spend a moment contemplating
Nostradamus. East as you emerge, then south to the slide room. The tutorial
here on the aliens is invaluable (click on the speaker to get the text for
each slide). Just let me add that there's only one way to avoid the energy-
depleting attacks of the Snoopers, and that's to do just that: Avoid them.
Run around pillars, duck through doors, _whatever_, but try to keep them
from nipping you. Also, pay close attention to what the tutorial says about
aliens over eggs.

 And remember, the theory about the death of the Prime Queen being the death
of the rest of the horde is just that: a theory.

 Turn right as you leave the slide room, and right again (south) through the
door. You're in a hallway with a door at either end: Both lead to the
conference room. Not much here, but you might want to try the double doors
in the southwest corner. They take you back to that first long corridor --
the one with the exit sign -- and hence to the reception room and the
airlock. Now, go back through either of the conference room's north doors,
and continue north to the lobby (big Level 1 sign). The center columns are
elevators through which you can access the lower levels, and every level
has a lobby more or less like this one, with its number clearly marked.

 The elevators will be one of your most valuable tools. But for now,
continue getting the lay of things on this floor. Assuming you're near the
"Level 1" wall and facing south, pass between the first and second columns
and move south as far as you can, then east and north past the sofa. Turn
west as soon as possible after the sofa and you'll see, on your left, the
office of the adjutant commander Captain Nett: the hammerhead we've
apparently got to thank for this mess. Emerging from his office, curse him
softly while moving west again into the cul-de-sac. The door on your left
leads to Security headquarters, but there's an entryway on the other side
that's a security shield deathtrap. Check your bearings so you can find
this place again, and move on. I can almost guarantee that if you try to
crack it now, you'll bounce off the walls 'til you drop...

 ...like a bluebottle in a killing jar.

 Coming out of the cul-de-sac, head north as far as you can and then east.
You'll find stairs that can take you to the other levels in case you've got
a morbid fear of elevators (or if there should be, say, a blackout). The
door next to the stairs leads to a funny little T-shaped room with a
central pillar. Check it for eggs, then exit via the south or west door and
zigzag southeast 'til you start to see another sofa. In the office on your
immediate right, you'll learn that the colony's reactor code is linked to
Radmer's decoder. Remember that number you found in his office? Still got
it? Good work.

 The next office contains your first solid lead to the whereabouts of one of
the children. He's apparently in Edwards's apartment. Wherever that is.

 Moving south, you'll find the library. The computers here aren't real
helpful, but there are a lot of bugs, and you need to increase both your
energy level and your combat prowess. You're probably thinking the aliens
so far have been somewhat less than formidable, and you're right. But don't
get too cocky: The nightmare is young.

 After you've completed your research, exit the library and head east, then
south again. Turn to your right (west): There's a corridor and, just south
of it, a door. Go down the corridor and roast some more bug carcass, and
then come back to the door. Move west through the two studies and you'll
find the stock room. Work your way over to the computer, then south and
east to that little alcove. You won't be able to get in for now because of
the boxes. But remember this place.

 And now, on your own, find your way back to the elevators.

 Watch out for Snoopers.

 LEVEL 2

 Take either elevator in the Level 1 lobby down to Level 2. (The sequence
is: Click on the call button; click on the opening; click on the floor you
want; and click on the opening again when the elevator has stopped.) Level
2 consists of five sets of living quarters and a school. When you leave the
elevator, turn around and move south between the third and fourth columns.
Pass through the double doors on the west wall and you'll be in the school.
Move south and east to the playroom and scorch the place. Backtrack and
check the teachers' lounge on the north wall; then continue west and north
up the corridor (the classrooms should be on your left). By the time you
hit the first apartment (number 21), you'll be in the northwest corner of
this level. You're going to check each apartment in turn, moving clockwise
around the complex; Apartment 25, the last, is in the southwest corner of
the floor.

 Just when you're starting to think these apartment searches are a waste of
time, you hit Radmer's quarters (number 23). You learn he has twin
daughters, both of whom have been frozen; that there are, in addition, two
boys named Eric and Asher; that Radmer's girls have been hidden, or so he
believes, in Laboratory 5 on Level 4, and in "one of the 3x3 rooms" on
Level 5; that the rooms have been "modified" by the creatures (sounds
ominous); and that, perhaps most importantly, the cryogenics chambers were
moved with a forklift that's kept in the storage area. Later, in Apartment
24, you hear for the first time about the existence of teleporters in the
colony. A little sun peeping through the clouds, perhaps?

 Back to the elevators. You don't have to go all the way around. From the
door to Apartment 24, head north and take the first left. You can't miss it.

 LEVEL 3

 Level 3's layout is similar to the one above it. The apartments -- there
are six -- start in the northwest corner again and move clockwise to the
southwest corner. In place of the school, you have the hospital, and
instead of the playroom, there's a dormitory. That's about it. So turn and
face the elevators and move south from between the third and fourth columns.
The double doors on your right lead to the hospital, but for now go
straight, into the dorm. Check the bureaus and the computer room, mopping
up as you go. You'll discover that the reactor on 5-Delta-5 is the same
model that's on your ship (the 11-AXC from Scapem Industries), and there's
mention of a child on Level 5 (Radmer's daughter, or another one?).

 Before you leave the dorm, save the game and step into that last walk-in
closet (the rightmost one as you stand facing the bureaus in the south dorm
area). When you try to walk out, you find a door where there was only a
threshold. Open it. You've been transported to the conference room on Level
1. It's only a one-way ride, but I still found it useful once while being
pursued by a particularly relentless Snooper. Now, reload your saved game
or, better still, boost your confidence in your topographical expertise by
finding your way back to the elevators and Level 3.

 Back to the dorm entrance and into the hospital, where there's usually an
abundance of eggs. Be sure to examine Doctor Lee's office: The PC reveals
the name and possible location of his son on Level 4. A prescription for
sleeping pills. You could probably use a couple yourself.

 At the north end of the hospital, you hit the living quarters. Work your
way through them just like you did on Level 2. ESCAPE FROM ALPHA CENTAURI
seems to be the book of the month here. In Apartment 32, you'll find notes
on a phenomenon you've no doubt witnessed: the aliens' ability to warp
space. The PC in Apartment 33 -- Captain Edwards's apartment -- informs you
that each teleporter has but one destination; a note in the desk reveals
the name of another child -- Rachel -- who was taken to Level 5; and a
diary in the bedroom indicates that the reactor core can be moved with the
forklift. Leaving the bedroom, pass through the door on the opposite
(north) wall and follow the corridor. You'll find your first cryo chamber,
which holds little Eric Wisznia. Approach it and his ID will appear. Tell
him everything's going to be all right, and that you'll be back for him
soon.

 In Apartment 34 you get your first clue as to the origin of this whole
tragedy: The teleporter experiments themselves. Ironic, because the
teleporters may well prove to be your -- and the children's -- salvation.

 The Alexanders occupied Apartment 36. More info here on the ability of the
creatures to warp space; something ominous about the teleporters' being
less than perfect (great); and the news that the Alexanders' little boy was
placed in Security. Update your notes and head for the elevators (from the
door to Apartment 34, north, the first left, and north again).

 Congratulations. You now know where two of the children are; you're fairly
well powered-up; and you're becoming a formidable marksman.

 Just in time for things to start getting hairy.

 LEVEL 4: THE TELEPORTERS

 Step out of the elevator on Level 4 and just stand there for a minute
(assuming the aliens give you the opportunity). Look around. Feels
different, doesn't it? You're getting closer to the marrow of the nightmare.
And the creatures are getting stronger.

 And smarter.

 Check the office between the first and second columns. The door on the west
wall leads to the mazerium; stay away from it. Exit the office the way you
came in (the right door; the other one is an elevator shaft). Now hug the
west wall of the lobby and move south, then turn right. The door marked
with the arrow is another entrance to the mazerium; avoid it too for now.
Avoid permanently the door on your right -- or at least save before you try
it. It leads to the IFRDs -- Infinite Tunnels of Radiation Death -- and
they'll cause you nothing but grief. So, turn right again and head north to
Lab 6. Nothing here but a couple of PCs, but there's info about the
teleportation of that first creature, and details on alien reproductive
activities (not as exciting as it sounds). Also some mention of a Security
Lab A.

 Exit, turn left, and stop. The doorway a few meters ahead of you, the
dogleg to the left just in front of that door, and the corridor on your
immediate left: All lead to Lab 5. Do a little exploration and pick up as
many eggs as you can, but ultimately you want to be at the door to Lab 5 in
the northeast corner of this floor (Lab 6 -- the one you just left -- is in
the north_west_ corner). Entering Lab 5, you behold your first teleporter.
Beautiful isn't it? Don't go near it: It's a deathtrap. (Remember that
reference in the Alexanders' apartment to some bugs -- no pun intended --
in the TP mechanisms?) Check the computer. Now you know why there wasn't
much happening in Lab 6. And K. Allen was apparently the "accident" Captain
Nett was referring to back on Level 1. I hope old Nett died slowly, don't
you?

 Professor Sherry thinks the creature the teleporter brought here --
originally, I urge you to remember, the _only_ creature -- may have gone to
the reactor.

 (Okay, before you leave, save the game and go ahead and use the teleporter.
Everyone should experience fourth-dimensional death at least once in his or
her lifetime.)

 Now move south to Lab 4. This teleporter's no better than the last one, so
don't be tempted. On the desk, another reference to the mysterious Lab A,
and a tunnel. Lab 3: ditto the teleporter, ditto the ref. to Lab A. Square
roots of negative numbers: How did these bozos ever get a grant? Lab 2's
teleporter, in spite of the optimistic note over the desk, is just as
lethal as its predecessors. Maybe you should've checked the closets....

 Oh, well, too late now; we're going down to Level 5.

 That's right, Level 5. What? What about Lab 1 you say? Well, go there if
you want, but save the game first. And don't say I didn't warn you. I'll
wait for you here.

 Back already? Okay, head north and take the first left to the elevators.

 And save. You're not gonna hang out on Level 5 any longer than you have to,
discretion definitely being the better part of valor at this point. But
there are a couple of things you've got to do there if you're ever going to
get those kids out alive. So go on, get in the elevator and push the button.
And stay close, for Pete's sake.

 As soon as you step out onto Level 5, turn around and hustle between the
first and second columns. The aliens are meaner here, and if you run into
any -- and you will -- you're just going to have to hack your way through.
Remember, the silver lining in all this is that where there are bugs, there
are eggs; and like the guy in the old joke whose wife thought she was a
chicken, you need the eggs. Go through the door in front of you and check
the PC and the desk. The forklift's due for maintenance in two weeks. Great.
Let's just hope it doesn't break down while you're trying to get out of
here.

 When you exit this room, turn left (west) and go through the next door you
come to on your left. This is the office of David Alan Smith, so you might
want to take a moment to tip your helmet or torch the place, depending on
how you're feeling at this point. Do _not_ go through the door on the west
wall. Exit the way you came in and turn left (west) once more.

 By the way, you'll be pleased to know you just scanned your last monitor
and ransacked your last desk drawer. From now on, it's guts and glory all
the way.

 Head west, south (dogleg), and west again. South of here are the fabled 3x3
rooms, which you're not equipped to deal with yet. On your right is a door
marked "1"; check it out. There are nine such rooms on this floor, most of
them used for storage. For you, now, they're important because they're a
potential source of eggs. Pick up what you can in Room 1, and then move
west to 2. From there, west again (ignore the door on the south wall), and
north and east to Room 3. East again to 4. (Rooms 1 and 4 are actually
connected, but you can't take advantage of the fact because those damn
boxes are in the way.) And east once more to 5.

 Yes, it's the forklift. And this thing _is_ beautiful. Approach it and wait
for the bit-mapped image. Then click on the rear hatch, give it a second to
open, and click on the opening. You're inside now, and your field of vision
has altered slightly since you're looking out through the windshield (note
the readout to help you remember what you're carrying). All you want to do
now is steer this baby to the elevators, going back the way you came. The
catch is -- are you sitting down? (No, I'm in the forklift, ya damn fool) -
- you can't fire your laser when you're in the forklift. So if you run into
any bugs on the way back, try to evade them; because if you can't, you're
gonna have to climb out of the lift (make sure you've got enough room
around you to park it), fry them, get back in, and continue on your
way. C'mon Tiger, let's go.

 Out the door, west as far as you can, south (four doglegs), east when you
come to that door I warned you about, and north to the lobby. Good work.
Back to Level 4.

 Now with the forklift, go back to Lab 2. As you've probably noticed, you
can't absorb eggs in the lift either; but your power levels should be high
enough so this won't be a problem for a while. Once in the lab, pop through
that doorway in the southeast corner, find the door in the closet, and move
north. Proceed to the mouth of the tunnel. You're on your way to Security
Lab A.

 As soon as the robo-tunnel deposits you in the lab, get out of the forklift
and work your way east, to the slide room. I don't know what's so secure
about Security Lab A, because there are few places on 5-D-5 that are so
heavily infested. Cauterize the place with your laser, then operate the
projector for a tutorial on teleporters. The thing to remember is that each
TP only has one destination, which is determined by its sequence number. In
other words, TP-1 will take you to TP-2, 2 to 3, and so on. Since there are
only four TPs in the lab, 3 will take you to 4, but 4 will take you
straight to hell, because it's the last one in the series. Conversely, the
only way to get to 1 is to climb into it, because it's the first in the
series.

 Is it just me, or is it getting warm in here?

 Get back into the forklift and move west to the teleporters. Bypass TP-1
and continue west to TP-2, abandoning the forklift to chop bugs as
necessity dictates. Then grab TP-2 and head for the tunnel. If aliens get
in your way, torching them with something in the lift is a multi-stage,
many-splendored process. First you have to unload the cargo; then wriggle
out of the lift; shoot; grab some eggs (optional); slip back into the lift;
hoist your cargo; and haul. The punch line is, you can't do any of
this if there isn't enough room in the immediate vicinity for you, the lift,
and the cargo to coexist side by side.

 Yeah, my head hurts, too.

 Jet through the tunnel and go to the lobby. Take the elevator up to Level 1
and find your way back to the stock room. Dump the teleporter in the
northeast corner near the table. Now, cruise over to that little alcove
room you discovered earlier and grab the first box that gets in your way.
Take it to the north side of the computer desk and ditch it. Return to the
alcove and turn south; there's a threshold there you couldn't see before.
Hoist the box that's in your way now and pass through the threshold. You're
back in...

 ...the reception area! Now you know why you couldn't get through here when
you first arrived. And before you ask, the reason you didn't just bring the
forklift around the other way is because it can go down stairs but not up
them, so that little flight of steps by the 5-Delta-5 sign would've stopped
you dead in your tracks. So, dump the box you're carrying near the
reception desk, go get the teleporter, and meet me back here. We're going
back to the ship.

 LEVEL 4: ERIC AND ASHER

 You're in the forklift, and you've got the second teleporter, check? Check.
Save the game and move into the airlock. Close the door behind you (I'm
starting to sound like your mother). Pass through the outer door, turn
south by southwest (compass needle at seven o'clock), and make a beeline
for the ship. You'll be approaching it starboard, remember, so you'll have
to overshoot slightly and then turn and hit the entrance portside. Welcome
back. Don't forget to close the -- okay, you're way ahead of me. Go to the
reactor room and deposit the teleporter in that empty bay on your left.
Remember: This is TP-2.

 You're about to experience teleportation for the first time. Save the game.
What you've got to understand here is that if you approach a teleporter
with the forklift empty, the forklift and the TP are both going to think
you want to pick it -- the TP -- up. So, go to the cargo room with the
boxes and grab one (single or double, it doesn't matter). Approach the
teleporter. Click to open the door, click to enter, click to close the door.
Closing the door automatically activates the teleportation mechanism. A
flash of 4-D vapors, and when you open the door again you're...

 ...back in Lab A, scrambling out of Teleporter 3, surrounded by aliens.
Drop the box, grab your socks, and head for TP-4. Pick it up and dive into
TP-1. Before you can say "Eat laser, Bug Breath!" you're back on the ship.
Ain't technology grand?

 (Note: It, uh, may not work quite this neatly. Bugs can block passageways
between TPs, or just plain gang up on you. Holding down the Option key (on
the Macintosh) or Control key (IBM) will disable activation of the bit-
mapped graphics and give you a little more freedom when you're jammin'
tight like this. If worse comes to worse, strip down to your F-21s and give
'em hell; then pick up where you left off.)

 When you're back on the ship, deposit TP-4 in the empty reactor bay and
grab another box. Teleport -- in TP-2 remember -- back to Lab A. Lose the
box and grab TP-1, and take the tunnel to the Level 4 lobby. Unload TP-1
here, but stay in the forklift. Save the game.