The Hitchhiker's Guide to D A M O C L E S : M e r c e n a r y I I (Version 1.0) by Mark Sachs -- E-mail: mbs110@psuvm.psu.edu [thanks to Adrian Hurt for info on Novagen and Mercenary III] DAMOCLES was written by Paul Woakes and a bunch of other people too. (C) 1990 Novagen Software and all that. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction: A Guide to the Guide II. First Things First: The Five Ways to Win III. A Mercenary's Guide to the Gamma System: An Exhaustive Almanac IV. Getting In to Where You Shouldn't Be: Keys and Locked Doors Located V. Getting Around in the Gamma System 1: Vehicles VI. Getting Around in the Gamma System 2: Hantzen Teleport Cubes VII. Rules Were Made to be Broken: For Your Amusement VIII. Build Your Own Virtual Reality: How It Was Done IX. As If One Solar System Wasn't Enough: Mission Disks and MIII I. INTRODUCTION Basically, this file tells you everything I've found out about Damocles in nearly a year of exhaustive playing: coordinates of every interesting building, how to solve all the puzzles, where to find the keys -- everything. So, tread lightly if you don't want to be massively spoiled. And with that, we begin with the biggest spoiler of all... II. THE FIVE WAYS TO WIN 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 up to $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.) III. A MERCENARY'S GUIDE TO THE GAMMA SYSTEM 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 travelogue are almost certainly void. But if they aren't, be nice and let me know... IV. DOOR KEYS A: found ??? unlocks Author's House, 14/13 Birmingham Island, Dion B: found Hantzen Labs, 06/05 Bare Island, Eris; unlocks Hantzen's House, 07/01 Ur City, Gaea C: found in Lawson Bank, 01/03 Metis; unlocks vault in basement, Lawson Bank HQ, 15/12 Capital City, Eris D: found in bar, 06/00 Dion East, Dion; unlocks Novagen Offices, 02/11 Birmingham Island, Dion E: found in Dion Verdant Party HQ, 03/14 Birmingham Island, Dion; unlocks Government Hall, 04/06 Vesta F: found in a Lawson Bank, second floor -- unlocks ? G: ??? H: found ??? unlocks Eris Currency Repository ??/?? Tolosa Note that you 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. V. 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 VI. 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 VI. FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT - 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. VIII. HOW WAS IT DONE? This bit is basically my guesses on the broad outlines of Damocles's programming. It doesn't contain any spoilers, but read it if you think you might find it amusing (or you know better and want to chuckle at how far off I am...) The really clever thing about Damocles is the way it does more with less. The basic idea is to keep as much stuff off-stage as possible, so that only the smallest amount of actual 3-d drawing is done -- but, on the other hand, through clever tricks the player is convinced that exactly the opposite is true. For example, you get the impression of large, crowded metropolises and populated suburbs, but in fact, the cities are carefully designed so that you never see more than one building or house at once! Of course, you can see the entire street grid from high altitude, but lines are cheap to draw, and this gives the impression of a large city for very little expense. Between buildings in the cities, the roads are lined with easy-to-draw streetlights, trees, and road signs to make them look less sparse. As well, the area of land in Damocles that is populated, or even detailed, is extremely small compared to the empty areas, but you are carefully led from one city to the next to belie this impression. Other goodies such as the tiny islands and huge oceans on major worlds and the descriptions of settlements as "small bases" on the moons help "misdirect" the player as well. And, of course, once you've actually landed in a settlement, the scale turns out to be quite big -- try walking from one building to its neighbor to see what I mean -- and the settlements "feel" satisfactorily large. Once a way of keeping time-consuming drawing to a minimum is found, the rest of the game is (relatively) easy to work out: settlements are located on a world's major (1000x1000) grid, and one building and/or road tile is tied to each minor grid point in each settlement. Thus, large maps can be stored with relatively little expense, especially if object definitions of buildings are re-used as extensively as they are. The hidden-surface routine I am almost certain was used is the (in)famous Painter's Algorithm. This relies on the fact that when you draw a filled polygon (or an entire object), it covers up whatever was behind. Thus, all you have to do is order the polygons or objects to be drawn according to how far they are from the observer, and then put them on the screen in that order. Glitches are possible with the Painter's Algorithm (try parking a spaceship between the wings of an L-shaped building, then seeing it "through" the building) but on the whole this is a speedy and generally accurate algorithm. IX. THE MISSION DISKS, AND A LOOK FORWARD AT MERCENARY III Two "Mission Disks" for Damocles have apparently been released, each with five "missions" (saved games set up such that you have an additional task to perform as well as stopping the comet.) Disk 2 includes, as one of its saves, a guide to executing the "wishes solution," and also a series of "silly saves" which the producers found amusing. And, despite the sincere lack of optimism about Mercenary III that abounded all through Damocles, MIII is in fact in the final stages of production. It is a straight sequel, still set in the Gamma System, called _Mercenary III: The Dion Crisis_. The major difference: you are no longer alone -- there are other people in the game! They "talk" to you using the one-line display previously used only by Benson. The control panel and general graphic style seem no different, but rumor has it that the A-to-Z Computer might be permanently installed in it. (yay!) The plot concerns the tranquil planet of Dion in the Gamma system, formerly a verdant green paradise, now being destroyed by polluting heavy industries. Presumably you have to do something about this. When is it coming out? "Mid-1992"...