Dominator/DOMINATOR.ISO/dos/utils/catabyss/catahint.txt

Text File | 1992-11-29 | 10.7 KB | 261 lines

                      HINTS FOR CATACOMBS OF THE ABYSS


BY

MARK FRANCIS
SYSOP
CARNAGE! BBS
[phone] [9600 MNP5 V.42BIS PCBoard 14.5A]
Official Apogee and EPIC Megagames Distribution Site (#718)



INTRODUCTION

From Gamer's Edge, this shareware, 16-color EGA graphics 3D adventure game at
first didn't really turn my head.  It looked like some kind of Castle
Wolfenstein clone, with sub-quality graphics, and poor mouse controls.  I
played it for a while, had all kinds of little problems, and gave up.

Something made me go back.  Perhaps it was because the project I was working on
started boring me to tears.  Whatever the reason, I went back, learned how to
play it, and can now safely say it's better than Castle Wolfenstein.  Just by
a pinch.

Better than Wolfenstein!?

It's better because there's more variety in scenery, more things to find, more
false walls, more varying opponents...  The graphics may be EGA, but they are
taken to the max, and prove, just as Wolfenstein did, that great graphics and
great games don't have to be high res.

Anyway, on to business...

This hint file is here to help you out.  I didn't spend hours making it, and
there could very well be a few mistakes in it.  Nor do I answer a lot of
questions or give very much away.  My goal here has been to help you along
by counting a few keys, giving you combat hints and a few warnings.

And you may not even need them.  My Wolfenstein experience helped me out here.
I played the entire game in one sitting (well, I took a few breaks) in about
four hours.  I missed very little that time through, and actually was more
conservative with my "ammo" then I needed to be.



THE GAME

You are a wizard with a penchant for "magick" missles.  You can shoot them

Ctrl - one at a time
Z    - a long stream of about 10 (Zappers)
X    - a devastating ring of fireballs (Xterminators)

You also have a neat ability to continuously scan the immediate area in and
out of view and detect the enemy (crystal globe).  You run around collecting
power globes to replace those fireballs you use up (you have an endless supply
of the single magick missiles, thank God), healing potions, scrolls and keys.
Your object is to battle through 16 levels (0-15) and fight the evil Nemesis to
the death.

Along the way you must fight zombies, bats, demon bats, skeletal warriors,
mages, trolls... It gets worse...

You'll need to keep an eye out for keys.  They open doors (duh...) that you
have to go through.

Aside from that, I'm not going to explain the controls.  The intro to the
actual game does a great job, and drops a few hints.



OVERALL HINTS

Use the keyboard.  Forget the mouse.  It doesn't give you the flexibility as
you can't do fast turns with it.  Use the keyboard, and master the fast turn
(TAB+cursor key).  Don't be lazy and think you can survive knowing half the
game's keystrokes.

Although the crystal globe is conceptually useful, I rarely used it.  I usually
found taking my eyes off the main screen deadly.  Like with Wolfenstein,
keeping my eyes open and my mind paranoid served me well.

Whenever possible, I backed off from the enemy, destroying them with normal
missiles as often as possible.  On later levels you will have a need for the
special weapons, so don't use them at first unless very necessary.

The Xterminator is the most powerful attack form you have.  The missiles
themselves are definitely more powerful, and go off in every direction.  They
rarely miss.

When under attack by many opponents, try to find a narrow hallway to back into.
Even when you're under attack by 10 opponents, only one can attack you at a
time that way, and you need only use your normal magick missiles to fight back.

DON'T shoot treasure because you're worried about your own hide!  You can
almost always run into a room full of opponents and collect the treasure
before firing a single shoot.  You will get hit, but the treasure almost always
has several healing potions.  It's worth getting hit over.  In many cases a
small army of opponents lie behind the treasure.  Move in, take what you can
and back out.  They will follow you.  Get them away from the treasure and bake
their butts.

Complete every level!  There's secret walls everywhere. (Look at the
description line on the screen.  Often it will say "weakened walls" or
something similar.)  When in doubt, shoot everything!  Though you will quickly
learn what a false wall looks like, this varies level to level, and there are a
few that hide well.  Blast everything.  If you look carefully, you will soon
have more Zappers and Xterminators then you will need (I did).

Though you can move forward in levels, you can't go back.  Finish the level you
are on when you're on it!

In combat, if you must fight close, never let anything get behind you!  Let
them pile up in front.  As long as you are hitting them while in close range,
you won't take much damage, if any.



THE MONSTERS

In order of appearance...

Zombies - watch out!  They rise out of the ground, especially when your back
is turned!  If you find an unguarded room with trasure in it, surprise!  It's
guarded all right.  Fortunately, they are slow and die easily.  Don't you dare
use Zappers or Xterminators on these.  You shouldn't have to!

Bats - pesky only because they come out of nowhere.  Enough of these coming at
you can actually be deadly.  Distance yourself and fire single shots quickly
in a fanning motion.  One shot is all it takes to kill these things.

Demon Bats - Same advice as with bats, except it takes a lot more hits (5 or
so) to kill one.

Skeleton Warriors - These guys are tough!  They always come in bunches and take
about 12 shots to kill.  Never let one get behind you.  Fortunately, they tend
to line up nice and straight if you run away down a corridor.  If there's
three or more, use a Zapper or two to mow them down, then finish them off with
single shots in rapid fire.

Mages - At first, I didn't think much of these guys, but at later levels when
there's 12 coming at you shooting fireballs...  They move fast and seem to
wink in and out of existence at times.  Five hits or so and they are dead, but
avoid the fireballs.  If there's a lot, move into the centre of them and use
one (1) Xterminator.  That will toast them.  Or, if there's a long hallway,
move down it backwards, straffing the area.

Umber Hulks - Well, that's what I call them...  These guys are tough, large
and can kick your butt in a flash.  I reccommend you don't spare the ammo if
there's two or more coming at you.  It takes 2-3 Zappers to kill one, but 2
Xterminators will kill any around you, usually.  Problem is, on higher levels
they are plentiful.  I run around and try to get all of them in a region to
chase me.  I them turn around (biting my lower lip) and run into the centre of
them all, my ichy fingers on the Xterminator button.

Water Trolls - You can see these guys approach you underwater by looking for
ripples on the surface.  There are about as tough as skeletons, but will get
behind you more often.  Avoid using the big ammo, but sometimes you just have
to.

Orcs - The joke of the game.  Tolkien is turning over in his grave.  They look
more like little brownies with pointy ears.  Don't take them too seriously.  I
blow a few away using a Zapper now and then just to be mean.  You don't need
to.  Just fan the area with single shots, and watch them explode in a mess of
blood.

Trolls - Ok. As I recall, they weren't as bad as umber hulks, but come at you a
lot faster (or was it just me?).  Take a few out with single shots, or use 2
Zappers and straff.  Next, run in the middle of them and Xterminate...

Worm Eyes - Well, that's what they look like.  They shoot blue lightning bolts.
Usually, you can dodge them, and shoot back with one Zapper and some single
shots and they're history.  If you can, just use single shots to do the job
economically.  They tend to hide in small alcoves.  Be careful.

Red Demons - Umber hulks painted red, really.  These guys take forever to kill.
Get yourself backed into a narrow passage and shoot, shoot, shoot.  If there's
a lot around, and no place to hide, this is the moment you've been waiting for!
Use those Zterminators and Zappers indiscriminately!  You'll die otherwise!

Nemesis - Two to three hits from this guy and you're dead!  When you fight him,
keep one finger on the space bar (healing potions).  I tended to shoot a
Zapper, heal myself, shoot an Xterminator then another Zapper, heal myself...
He isn't a hard fight, given what else you must do battle with first, but if
you don't keep healing yourself, you will lose because those flaming skulls
HURT!



WHAT TO FIND AND EXPECT


LEVEL         KEYS       GEMS         SCROLL    MONSTERS
-----         ----       ----         ------    --------

 0        3    Purple        1    Zombies, bats
 1        2                Zombies, demon bats
 2         2    Yellow            Skeletons, zombies
 3         1                Mages, Skeletons, Demon bats
 4         1            2        Same
 5         1                Skeletons, zombies
 6         0            3    Umber hulks, skeletons
 7         0       Blue            Water trolls
 8         3     Green        4    Orcs, skeletons
 9         2            5    Orcs, trolls
10         1                Umber hulks, skeletons
11         2            6    Trolls, umber hulks
12         2                Worm eyes, mages
13         4            7    Red demons, mages, skeletons
14         1      Red            Nemesis, red demons, mages
15                    8    Nothing



SCROLLS - WHAT THEY SAY

1 - The gravedigger keeps the key to the garden with his pet bats.
2 - The sacrificial altar holds the key to the region below the crypt.
3 - The Well of Souls plunges into the ancient aqueduct.
4 - Mine the treasures of the orcs and findthe passage to the troll's lair.
5 - Prepare yourself for the brutish troll and fear the demon's wrath that
    follows.
6 - The keys to your salvation lie in the grip of death.
7 - The evil Nemesis lies beyond the tangled web of the mages.
8 - Your victory to Nemesis shall be told to all...



THE END

Well, you learn a few things when you finish.  You are given a series of cheat
keystrokes (explained later) and access to some hard bonus levels filled with
teleporters, mages and worm eyes, fake walls galore...  I've played them all,
and I'll leave the bonus levels for you to figure out.




***************** WARNING!!!  WARNING!!!  WARNING!!! *************************


CHEAT KEYS

If you don't want the temptation of knowing how to give yourself more weapons,
how to make yourself invincible, how to hop levels and how to freeze time,
don't read this next part!


KEYSTROKE    EFFECT
---------    ------

F10-Z          Freeze time
F10-W          Warp to another level
F10-G          God mode (invincible)
F10-I          Free items



Caught you looking!