ADVENTURES IN THE GALAXY OF FANTABULOUS WONDERMENT SOLUTION It will be assumed at many points in this solution that the reader always has enough money to continue. If not, make some from trading, hunting, salvaging or any of the other odd jobs (see Sidequests). As a general suggestion, save the game, then warp to as many sectors with trading posts as possible (those marked on the maps with yellow crosses) and request market reports, making a note of which posts sell what resources cheapest and which buy them dearest. Then reload the game (thus saving on fuel) and exploit your most convenient trade route until you have money. Remember to routinely fill your fuel tank at spaceports and replenish shields after a battle. The first time you attempt a warp journey with not enough fuel you'll be rescued, but don't try it a second time. Also, remember to upgrade your ship at Frumious Prime whenever you can, because monsters and pirates become stronger the more of them you kill. If you try selling Armaments or Porn in the Protected Zone you'll bring the Police down on you, so be prepared. You can trade in anything in the Free Zone but the Culthorpe will occasionally stop you mid-warp and demand tribute, which is always one quarter of your current Credits. For this reason, when warping in the Free Zone try to keep the amount of money you carry low, investing as much as possible in cargo and assets to sell when you reach your destination. The Culthorpe will not bother you at all if you have less than 40 credits. Remember that, when you're controlling a Redshirt on a planet or station, you won't be able to return to the ship until he gets killed. There are always opportunities for this, so look around. MAIN QUEST After the intro, you'll be on Tarabis 6. The objective is to get past the guard in the casino and deliver the package to Quim Gymkhana. - Take brick - Use brick on window - Go inside - Go east - Take sachet of relish from barrel - Go back outside - Keep going in and out until the urchin boy appears - Ask him to distract the guard - Give him the relish - Go back inside and use the elevator doors. As soon as you get into the captain's chair, you'll need to make enough money to visit the Bloody Towel in the centre of the Free Zone. Buy pornography and take it to nearby Cary 7, then buy baconburgers and sell them the other way. When you have at least 75 credits (should probably spend some time making a bit more than that for future purposes), then go to the Bloody Towel. Your next objective is to get to the Protected Zone. Warp to the wormhole, pay the toll to get to the Lifeless Zone, then warp across to the other wormhole (you might want to stop off for refuelling and replenishing at Itegen 5 on the way in case you get attacked) and pay the toll there. You'll now be in the Protected Zone. Trade for a while to make a fair bit of money, steering clear of illegal goods (moving Baconburgers from Frumious Prime to Quorn 8 is a lucrative route), then go to Frumious Prime and buy some Redshirts from Redshirt Security, and some upgrades if you can afford it (you MUST get a tractor beam fitted at some point). When you have the redshirts and at least 700-1000 credits to spare make your way back to the Free Zone and the Bloody Towel, then ask Eric to beam down a Redshirt. Talk to Whistler (the guy in black) about everything, buying the handheld scanner when he offers, and particularly ask him whether he knows about the disappearances. Then talk to Billy until he mentions a bottle of whiskey. Buy it for 500 credits. This done, go west into the toilets and operate the cubicles. Whistler will arrive and whisper you some hints. To kill the Redshirt and get back to the ship, either complete the little man's three dance challenges or walk east twice. Back in orbit, Whistler told you to visit Thermus 8, so make your way back to the Protected Zone (trading, hunting or salvaging to pay your way) and to Thermus 8, the red planet near the bottom middle of the zone. Ensure your ship is upgraded a little (might want to save, actually), beam down a redshirt and follow the directions on the piece of paper (go south three times, east twice and south some more). You'll find a sealed mine entrance. Use the tractor beam (remember I said you'd need it) and beam it away. Go down. SUBGAME 1: Stealthing This isn't too hard. Move your redshirt only when the various pirates' backs are turned. By ducking into alcoves or stairwells, the patrolling pirates won't notice you. You can make three mistakes. When the Redshirt reaches the bottom, the action will cut back to the Elaborate Gesture just as a Culthorpe ship attacks. Use the tractor beam to disable it as much as you can - you only need to hang on for six or seven rounds. After that, you will be rescued by a mysterious figure who gives you a new assignment - steal the Reman Time Drive from the museum. To do this you will need the bottle of whiskey from the Bloody Towel and a length of rope from the casino room on Tarabis 6. If you don't have those, get them now (if you need to kill your redshirt on Tarabis 6, just walk east or west from the street). Now go to Remus 3 and beam a redshirt down. Try to open the museum doors, and Eric will appear, bravely going into the vents. SUBGAME 2: Platforms in the dark Blunder around the dark to find your way around. There are exits on all four sides of the screen to different rooms. Going down will take you to the Reman Time Drive, going right to the Blake Lazar room, and going up isn't important right now (see Sidequests). First go to the Reman Time Drive room and remember the colour of the lasers. Then go to the Blake Lazar room and operate the panel in the east wall. Keep operating the wires until the jetpack is unguarded, then take it. Operate the wires some more until the laser matching the ones in the RTD room are turned off, then go back to that very same room. Now the RTD is unguarded, use the whiskey on the jetpack, the jetpack on the RTD, and the rope on the RTD/jetpack. Now just operate the device and away it goes. Back in orbit, make your way to the Black Hole Gerald at the top of the Lifeless Zone. You'll first have to fight a pesky critter (you are upgrading regularly, right?), then another visit from your mysterious friend will tell you that you need a cloaking device. Whistler has one, but he won't let it go for less than three grand, so make the money from your preferred method. Once you have the cloak, go back to Thermus 8. Hole will be beamed down this time, since his invisibility protects him from security systems. In the underground room, you'll note that there are two levers controlling the force fields. Pull the right-hand one and a Culthorpe will appear. Interact with him as he goes past to pick his pocket. Use the necklace you acquire on the left-hand lever, then pull the right-hand one again. Go east. When the cutscenes are over, return to the Black Hole Gerald and some more storyline will occur, ending with the intention to go back to Earth in the Protected Zone. Do so, experience some more storyline, and now the next job is to decipher the weird symbol you witnessed earlier. If you haven't read the Protected Zone bulletin board, do so now. Go to Remus 3 and talk to Grimbace University about mathematics and symbology, and they will direct you to the Necronox Asteroid Belt. Go there and beam down a redshirt (yes, they can survive there for a while). Follow the directions the scholar gave you (they'll be on the piece of paper) to reach the dig and talk to the Reman. Ask him if this is the Necurosian dig, then tell him you recognise the Necurosian symbol, and finally that you are a fellow scholar, and he'll let you into the cave. The idea behind this next bit is to put gemstones into the three statues in accordance with the dimensions of the mysterious brick in the centre. So, take any path into the caverns and wander around picking up gems until you have 2 greens, 3 blues and 5 reds. DO NOT enter a cave if you see yellow eyes flashing inside. Eventually you will return to the centre chamber. Put the gems into the statues that match their shape, and if you insert the correct numbers of gems, a walkway will open. Follow it and more plot will occur. Your next task is to find the three remaining Think Tanks, which can be done in any order. Here are the solutions for each Tank: 1. Quorn 8 Follow the directions on the paper and you'll reach a bog. Pick up the bucket, then attempt to walk on the bog. Dan and Eric will beam down, and Eric will end up on an island. Move onto the discoloured circle of sand and you'll land in an underground river. SUBGAME 3 - Swimming Use the arrow keys to swim around, but you aren't strong enough to swim against the currents. If you stop dead, you're in a calm spot - move around a little and you'll soon get back into the current. When you approach a turning you wish to take, push towards it until the alternative current grabs you. If you don't do anything, the current will take you to the first cavern. On a wall here is a map of the route you must take to get to the second cavern. Go back through the passage back to the river, then follow the route. In this second cavern, get some chalk from the gap in the wall and make your way back through the river to the first cavern. Use the chalk on the strange pad. First draw a triangle with the top two diagonals and the centre line, then press the button. Repeat the process, but this time erase the triangle and draw a square with the four outer lines. Finally, erase the square and draw a diamond with the four diagonals and the centre line, and the door will open. 2. Warhol 3 Follow the directions and you'll reach a coastline with two tour guides. One will charge you 2000 for a trip. Go with him if you have the money. If you'd rather not blow the cash and have a hand-held scanner, talk to the old man until he mentions a license, then ask the other guide for his license, then scan it with the hand scanner and give it back. Give the copied license to the old man, and he'll take you to the sunken city free of charge. Once in the city, use the bucket (from Quorn 8) on the well, then go west twice. Press the button on the plaque then grab the corpse's hand as it appears (be quick!). Go east twice, place the hand in the bucket, then turn the handle twice. Operate the bucket. Now go west and operate the small switch in the side of the monument. Enter the passage. Now use the hand on the palm-print scanner and head down the stairs to find the second Think Tank. 3. The Choking Nebula Ensure your ship is upgraded considerably and that your shields and missiles are fine, then enter the Nebula. If you can use your cloaking device (see Sidequests) you can use it now to evade the battles, but otherwise you'll have to fight two badass Sparkle Crabs. Finally, you'll reach a Culthorpe ship, and Hole will be beamed down. Explore the blue level until you find an elevator door, then use it to go to the red level. Interact with the Culthorpe here to acquire a keycard. Go back down to the blue level and walk around until you find a security computer, then use keycard on same. Go back up to red level and the Culthorpe will spot you, so now you'll have to shoot your way around. SUBGAME 4: Shooting Simply enough, just keep clicking until the Culthorpe comes out from behind cover and gets shot. Keep heading in one direction until you find a security door, then use it. With security disabled it will open right up. Now you've found all the Think Tanks, your enemies appear to you and show you an interactive flashback to learn the sad story of Necronox 2. When you are controlling Jerro Necron, simply enter the right-hand building, then when the conversation options come up, select the one that mentions Pi. You'll next be controlling Necron Veroth. Go into the same building as before and talk to Necron Baliel. Go back outside and head northwest. SUBGAME 5: The Chalkworm You can use the catapults to try and hit the Chalkworm, but he'll keep getting out of the way. Instead, wait for a mine cart to appear in the top-left and use the leftmost catapult to dislodge it. Now, force the Chalkworm into the centre position. Fire the centre catapult, then quickly fire the rightmost one before the centre missile lands. The chalkworm will be knocked out for the count. Return to the temple and watch the cutscene. Now, finally, you're controlling Necron Kaleb a few hundred years later. Nothing much to do here except watch, then select 'Four' when asked for the tenth digit of Pi. That's the end of the Necurosians. Once the long cutscene is over, you'll be back on the Culthorpe station as Dan. Keep heading in one direction and operate each of the consoles as you find them. When all four are operated, you'll be transported back to the Gesture. Some exposition at this point will reveal that you must now go back and un-do what you did, except this time with a time limit. When you are controlling Hole, operate the conduit, then switch to Dan and locate the console of the same colour. Operate it. Switch back to Hole, then keep following the corridor in either direction (killing Culthorpe as you go) until you find another conduit, then operate it. Switch to Dan again and move in the same direction Hole went and you'll find the console of the same colour. Operate that, too. Continue the process until all four consoles have been interacted with, and that will be the end of that... ...except now you're in some weird waiting room and don't know how you got there. Taking tickets from the machine is no help because they're all blank. There's no ink in the printer. Take the bucket of black paint. When the Dan-clone behind the desk is cleaning his glasses, quickly operate the door behind him, operate the printer, pour in the black paint and operate the printer again. You may have to do some of this when the Anti-Dan is cleaning his specs for the second time. Now grab a ticket. Look at it to determine what number you are, then use the ticket on Anti-Dan when your number comes up. And that, but for one rather important decision at the end of the next cutscene, is the end of the game... SIDEQUESTS 1. Fishing You can make money by catching fish from the oceans of Slovac 6 and selling them to Le Jardin restaurant on Bergman Prime, assuming you've seen the bulletin board message on the subject. To do this, you'll first need redshirts and a tractor beam. Beam a redshirt down to Begurath 3 and walk him around until he finds a guy in a boat. Talk to him and choose the last option to get rid of him. Now use the tractor beam to steal the boat. Keep walking from room to room and eventually the Redshirt will die. Take the boat to Slovac 6 and beam down a redshirt. The objective now is to fire harpoons downwards to snag the little swimming fish while avoiding at all costs the big sharks. You can fire around 15 harpoons before your session is forcibly ended. Beam down more redshirts to keep fishing if you want. Go to Bergman Prime in the Free Zone and talk to the maitre d' to sell the fish, which go for around 30 credits each. If you bring him 50 fish, he will give you a nice (and handy) surprise: the Singularity Generator, which allows you to teleport instantly to the centre of any of the three zones, free of charge, although it costs 10 units of fuel. I'm sure you'll find it very useful. 2. The Krun Scepters Look at the bulletin board, then talk to Bernard Tospott at Begurath 3, and you'll learn of three Krun Scepters - bronze, silver and gold. You must bring all three to Tospott and he will give you a handy new gadget that may be very useful. Bronze: Go to the Bloody Towel and complete the Boogie Boogie Uprising quests set for you when you talk to the little man. He'll tell you that the bronze scepter is on Itegen 5, and give you directions. Follow those directions and you'll find the scepter. Silver: Simply enough, follow the Fishing mission above until you can fish on Slovac 6. You'll see something on the sea bed towards the left of the screen. Fire a harpoon at it and you'll get yourself a silver scepter. Gold: At any point during or after the theft of the RTD, you can steal the Golden Scepter in a similar manner to how you stole the Drive. On the platform game get to the top of the screen, and you'll find yourself in another room with the Krun Scepter. It is also guarded by lasers, so again make a note of the colour and head to the Blake Lazar room to deactivate the appropriate lasers. After you give him all 3 scepters, Bernard Tospott will give you a shield regenerator, which slowly rebuilds your shields all the time. Should you become close to destruction in battle, just wait a while and you'll feel all better soon. 3. Restoring Bromide's Mind Bromide returns to the crew about mid-way through the game with no memory. If you can restore it, she can be of (a little) assistance to the quest. Easily enough, just go to Tarabis 6 and click on her. Then go to the Bloody Towel and do the same thing. Lastly, make one last clicking motion while orbiting Thermus 8, and she'll be her old self again. You'll now be able to use the cloaking device again. While activated, you will not receive any random encounters, so bear that in mind if you make money from hunting, and you'll also bypass the two Sparkle Crab battles in the Choking Nebula. 4. The Encyclopaedia of Remus Consult the bulletin board in the Protected Zone and you'll learn that Grimbace University on Remus 3 needs researchers. Talk to them and they'll give you the basics. You'll need an external scanner (from Dirty Laura's) and a hand-held scanner (from Whistler). There are a total of 40 places, people and things in the game that, when scanned with either of these gadgets, will add an entry to your database. For each new entry you bring to Remus 3, you will earn 50 creds. First of all, warp to every location in every zone (including wormholes and other non-planets) and get Hole to scan each one. Then scan each of the following: - Culthorpe soldier OR Culthorpe ship in battle - Sparkle/Glitter/Jingle crab in battle - Rogue trader in battle - Innocuous trader in battle (hunt for them in the Protected or Lifeless zones) - Anomalous Thingy in battle (only one opportunity, though) - Galactic Police in battle - Casino sign OR portrait on Tarabis 6 - Bodyguard on Tarabis 6 - Fridge on Tarabis 6 - Dead creature on Tarabis 6 - Whistler on Bloody Towel - Billy on Bloody Towel - Strange Little Man on Bloody Towel - Arcade machine on Bloody Towel - Salvage crate on any planet - Krun Scepter in inventory - Interesting book on Remus 3 - Reman Time Drive on Remus 3 - Any Blake Lazar artefact on Remus 3 - Necurosian symbol on Necronox Belt OR Monument on Warhol 3 - Old sailor on Warhol 3 - Salesman on Warhol 3 Once you have all 42 database entries (including the two you start with) and given them to Grimbace University, you'll earn yourself a fat bonus, although by this time it'll probably be late in the game and you may not have much of a use for it. THE FINAL SCORE At the very end of the credits you'll be given a percentage depending on how much of the game you completed. To get a perfect score of 100%, you'll need to do all of the following: - Complete the main storyline - Restore Bromide's memory - Catch 50 fish for Le Jardin Restaurant - Find the three Krun Scepters - Find all 42 database entries