Flimbo's Quest
for C=64
FAQ written by
TurboKiller F.K.Į.
at
2002. XI. 01
e-mail: g_borisz@freemail.hu
AIM: turbokillerfka
html: evilboris.sonic-cult.org
.------------------------------------------------------------.
| NOTE: Theres an album that has one of the music from this |
| game remixed. It's called "Reyn Ouwehands Nexus 6581". |
| (Also known as "Nexus 6581 - Commodore 64 Classics) |
| Catalog number of the album: PP001 |
| |
| If you have this album, contact me ASAP. |
’------------------------------------------------------------’
now, on to the FAQ....
* update: 2004. ?
- ???
- hints and tips added
- random stuff here and there, mostly comments.
* update: 2003. X. 25.
- misc info, a few more about the secret locations.
* update: 2003. VII. 11.
- added stuff about the secret locations. thx to Ciaran Hogan.
===========================================================
*** Copyright notice
This FAQ is written by and Copyright of TurboKiller F.K.Į.
Distribute freely, but DO NOT MODIFY.
C64, aka Commodore 64 and the C= logo is a Trademark of
Commodore Business Machines (CBM)
Flimbo's Quest was made by System 3
===========================================================
Flimbo's Quest is an old game for the C64, one of my
favorites, and the only platform game I was never able
to play through without cheats. Since many people still
play on the C64, I thought I write a guide to those who
are in trouble with the game.
One note: Yes, I still play the C64, since I love the
games on it. I don't care if there are perfectly
realistic games for the X-Box, if I could play the
newest Mario Sunshine on the Gamecube, I still choose
this game. You know why? It has something that the new
games don't. Stunning Gameplay. Who cares about the
100,000,000+ Poligons on the screen per second?? I don't.
As long as I can have fun with a game, be it Atari Pong,
Flimbo's Quest for the C64, Sonic 2 on the Sega Megadrive,
or Dead or Alive 3 on the X-Box, the graphics doesn't
matter. I tell this to people who go around on retro
game shrines, and post stuff like "you still play this
old crap?". Yes, I still play these old games, because
some of them are far better then some of the new games.
=============
* The story *
Not really interesting... Mad Doctor Fransz Dandruff
develops a device that will transport the life force of
one man to another, the one that gets the life force will
become young again, the other one will die.
Pearly, the Beauty Queen of Dewdropland is a perfect victim,
cause she has a lot of life force, and she is easy to
kidnap. So Fransz kidnaps Pearly, and starts the machine.
But the machine needs time to charge up, so the boyfriend
of Pearly, the Dewdroplandian-Super-Hero, Flimbo goes
to save her. On his way, he will face vicious monsters
trained by Fransz to guard his Estate.
Very original, isn't it?
Anyway, A greedy wizard, Dazz Bazian helps Flimbo to get
past all of the 7 levels. You need to find Parchments to
get the Magic Word, so Dazz can transport you to the
next level. You also get bonus points at the end of each
level.
============
* Controls *
Plug a Joystick to the 2nd Control Port to play the game.
- To move Flimbo to the left, press LEFT.
- To move Flimbo to the right, press RIGHT.
- To make Flimbo jump, press UP.
You can move to the left or right while jumping.
(damn, you would think that moving while jumping isn't
anything special, but it WAS at the time of this game.
Kinda fun to see how shooting games evolved from the
likes of this game to the likes of Metal Slug...)
- To make Flimbo jump down from a platform, press DOWN.
- To make Flimbo shoot, press FIRE.
- To make Flimbo duck, press and hold FIRE and DOWN
simultaneously. Release either of them to stop it.
- To enter the Money Rooms, or Dazz' shop, press UP.
- You will lose one life if you touch a monster, or fall in
a pit. You start with 3 lives. The amount of lives you have
is shown in the status bar, on the left side.
An extra life is awarded if you get 5 different coloured
Hearts.
Or if you get 20,000 ; 50,000 ; 100,000 (?) points.
- The amount of money you have is shown on the right side of
the status bar, increase it by collecting money.
- The amount of time Pearly has is shown on the right side
of the status bar. When it reaches 00:30, it will start
flashing, and it will warn you with a sound at every second.
If it reaches zero, the game is over.
- On the main menu, where the image of the first world, and
the highscore list scrolls, and the credits are shown, you
can press FIRE on the Control pad plugged to Port 1 to turn
of the music. I don't recommend doing this, since the game
has very good music.
===========================
* Items found in the game *
You can only have one of the following items with yourself:
Parchment, Super-Parchment, Hearts.
If you carry one of them, and pick up another, it will
replace the one you had with the new item.
You can pick these up whenever you want:
Invulnerability, Longshoot, Hourglass, Money
- Parchment
Collect or buy. Contains one letter of the mistery word.
The monster that contains the next parchment has a gold
flash around itself. It also appears on the status bar.
After Level 4, parchments will be tied to a propeller
that will make them slowly rise out of the screen.
Appears in every level
- Super-Parchment
Collect or buy. Contains the whole mistery word.
They will rise out of the screen, like the hearts.
Appears randomly in monsters. INCREDIBLY rare.
Last time I got one from a monster was sometime at 1994 (no joke).
- Invulnerability
Collect or buy. It will make Flimbo invulnerable to
damage for a limited period. Flimbos head will turn
green while he is invulnerable, and it will flash when
your time is running out.
Appears on Level 1, 5, and 7.
- Longshot
Collect or buy. It will give Flimbo extra firepower and
range. The firepower gets about 3 times as big, the
range will be the whole screen.
Appears on Level 4
- Hourglass
Collect or buy. It will extend Pearly's life by 2
minutes.
Appears on Level 6
- Hearts
Collect on the playfield. They can have 5 different
colours, shoot them to change their colour. Bring all
five of them to Dazz to recieve an extra life.
Appears in every level
- Money
Collect on the playfield, or in the Money rooms.
3 types of money can be found:
- Red coins: Monsters leave this after they are killed,
worths 20 £
- Moneybags: Monsters leave this from Level 3,
worths 20 £
- Green coins: can be found inside the Money rooms,
worths 5 £
======================
* Dazz Bazian's shop *
Dazz' shop is the place where you start the level.
It's usually a door in the wall. You have to bring the
parchments here, so he can cast a spell that transports
you to the next level. You can also bring the different
coloured hearts to him, if you get all 5 different hearts,
Dazz will give you an extra life. You can also buy itmes
here, for the money you find on the playfield. Most of the
items appear on the playfield too, some of them are very
rare though.
- To enter Dazz' shop, go to the door on the playfield
and press UP on your joystick
- To buy an item, move the cursor to the desired item
and press the Fire button. You can only buy an item
if you have enough money for it. The amount of money
needed appears on the top of the shop.
- To return to the playfield, move the cursor to the 3
little arrows, and press the Fire button.
Super-Parchment: 2500 £
Parchment: 400 £
Hourglass: 300 £
Longshot: 350 £
Invulnerability: 250 £
note: don't buy Super-parchments, since they cost 100 £ more
then the 6 normal Parchments it takes to get all letters.
====================
* Secret locations *
Each level has 1-2 secret spots, where if you duck you can
get powerups. All that indicates this is a little blink in
the status bar. These are all one-shot bonuses, once you
pick them up, they are gone forever, so use them wisely.
I listed them seperatly, in the levels section. If you
found any of them that I haven't listed, contact me ASAP.
These secrets can make some levels horribly easy.
Some of these locations are damn obvious, some of them are
hidden in completely pointless locations.
ALSO, not that if you carry a parchment, and you use one of
the locations for a single parchment, it will upgrade it
into a Super-parchment. This trick probably works with the
other type of powerups, but I haven't tested it.
Thanks to Ciaran Hogan for the info for this.
==============
* The levels *
Every name for the levels and the monsters were thought up
by me.
Use your imagination to indentify them.
Monsters section:
Shots: amount of normal shots it takes to kill the monster
Longshots: amount of Longshots it takes to kill the monster
---------------
Level 1, Desert
Magic word: SEI
===============
Money rooms: 2
- one to the far right
- one to the far left
Monsters:
---------
- Bug
Shots: 3
Longshots: 1
- Snail shell
Shots: 1
Longshots: 1
turns into a Snail when hit
- Snail
Shots: 3
Longshots: 1
- Dinosaur
Shots: 4?
Longshots: 2
kills itself when reaches a pit
- Butterfly
Shots: 2
Longshots: 2
- Dragonfly
Shots: 2
Longshots: 2
Secrets:
--------
- On the platform right above Dazz' shop.
It will kill every on-screen enemy. Quite pointless.
- At the left side of the screen, on the top of the ladder.
It will give you a single Parchment.
-----------------
Level 2, Abyss
Magic word: LDNMI
=================
Money rooms: 2
- one to the far left
- one to the far right
Monsters:
---------
- Snail
Shots: 3
Longshots: 1
- Dinosaur
Shots: 4?
Longshots: 2
kills itself when reaches a pit
- Fish
Shots: 2?
Longshots: 1
- Bird
Shots: 3?
Longshots: 1
- Coral Creature
Shots: 4?
Longshots: 2
comes out of the holes in the walls
Secrets:
--------
- On the middle of the rightmost platform of the level.
This one gives you a Super-Parchment!
(thx to Ciaran Hogan on this one)
- Below the left bridge of the level, on the platform
that has a fish jumping over it. Invulnerability.
---------------------
Level 3, Ancient land
Magic Word: STIRQ
=====================
Money Rooms: 2
- one is above Dazz' shop
- the other is not far to the right
Monsters:
---------
- Native
Shots: 4?
Longshots: 2
This dude runs very fast, watch out.
- Coral Creature
Shots: 5?
Longshots: 2
- Coconut
Shots: 4?
Longshots: 2
doesn't move, but kills you if you touch it
- Fox
Shots: 4?
Longshots: 2
kills itself when reaches a pit
- Dragonfly
Shots: ?
Longshots: 1?
- GIANT BIGASS TURTLE (think of like the size of Motaro in MK3)
Shots: ???
Longshots: 7
kills itself when reaches a pit
2nd biggest monster in the game
very rare, only to be found at the right part of the level.
Try going to the rightmost corner then walk back to the left
then back to the right, etc. to see one.
Secrets:
--------
- At the left side of the level, at the leftmost cave entrance
on the ground. A longshot.
- At the rightmost part of the level, around at the spot where
the wall breaks up and shows the background.
Got no idea what it gives.
------------------
Level 4, Swamp
Magic word: CLIRTS
==================
Money rooms: 1
- the only one can be found on the far right side of the level
Monsters:
---------
- Dragonfly
Shots: ?
Longshots: 1?
- Giraffe
Shots: 5?
Longshots: 2
- Monkey
Shots: 4?
Longshots: 2
- Sparrow
Shots: 2?
Longshots: 1
flies or jumps, it usually lands somewhere after flying
dies when falls in a pit
- Bat
Shots: 4?
Longshots: 2?
Secrets:
--------
- On the platform right above Dazz' shop. A Parchment.
(thy to Ciaran Hogan on this one)
- At the rightmost part of the level, theres a hard-to-reach
platform on the top right corner. An extra life is hidden there!
------------------
Level 5, Forest
Magic Word: NMIDEC
==================
Money rooms: 1
- Go right from Dazz' shop
Monsters:
---------
- Turtle shell
Shots: 1
Longshots: 1
turns into a turtle when shot
- Turtle
Shots: 5?
Longshots: 2
kills itself when reaches a pit
The hugeass giant turtle on the 3rd level is a biiiiig
version of this guy by the way. Without the turtle shell.
- Worm -> Butterfly
Shots: 4?
Longshots: 2
usually starts as a worm, and changes into a
butterfly when you are close to it
it will NOT regain its strength when it morphs
- Snail
Shots: 4?
Longshots: 2
- Running man
Shots: 3?
Longshots: 1
runs very fast, jumps above pits to follow you
sometimes it falls in a pit, which kills him
- Dragon
Shots: ???
Longshots: 4
flies from the left to the right
slowly manoeuvres up and down to follow you
Secrets:
--------
- Somewhere at the left part of the level... I forgot
where it is exactly. Its around the platform where
the snail is wandering around, IIRC.
I also forgot what exactly is hidden there.
------------------
Level 6, Graveyard
Magic Word: YPOCLC
==================
Money rooms: 1
- at the far left side of the level
Monsters:
---------
- Dragon
Shots: ???
Longshots: 4
flies from the left to the right
slowly manoeuvres up and down to follow you
- Running man
Shots: 3?
Longshots: 1
runs very fast, but doesn't jump on this level
- Ghost
Shots: ???
Longshots: 2
Sometimes comes out from behind a wall
- Bat
Shots: ???
Longshots: 2
- Cowled man
Shots: ???
Longshots: 3
VERY fast!!
Secrets:
--------
- At the rightmost cross of the level, an hourglass
is hidden.
- According to Lewy-G, theres a cross somewhere at the
right part, which will kill every enemy on screen.
I haven't found anything there personally.
------------------
Level 7, Castle
Magic Word: N?????
==================
Money rooms: 1
- at the far left side of the level
Monsters:
---------
- Ghost
Shots: ???
Longshots: 2
Sometimes comes out from behind a wall
Slowly manoeuvres up and down to follow you
- Sparrow
Shots: 3?
Longshots: 1
flies or jumps, it usually lands somewhere after flying
dies when falls in a pit
- Claw
Shots: ???
Longshots: 4
Only appears and moves on the blue rail tracks
the claw can move up and down
- Hunchback
Shots: ???
Longshots: 4
kills himself when he reaches a pit
- Demon
Shots: probably way too many
Longshots: 7
kills itself when it reaches a pit
appears in only one place, to the far left
Moves very fast, biggest monster in the whole game
Secrets:
--------
- At the rightmost part, in the corner (I think). A Parchment.
(thx to Ciaran Hogan again)
- Theres a platform high on the upper right part of the money
room. Extra time lies there.
=================
* Tips & Tricks *
- Don't forget about the hidden locations! They can save you
money, get you extra lives, or even complete the whole
stage in a blink of an eye.
- Every monster has a pattern for where it appears. Learn
about them so you know what to expect and from where.
- This goes double time for the monsters you have to shoot
down. Most of the time there are 2 locations where to
find them, one at the left and one at the right part.
- While learning the monsters movement and hunt pattern,
also learn the level layout so you can develop the most
effective route to complete each level. This, of course,
isn't a foolproof way, as the monsters to hunt are
usually picked in a random order. But not always.
- There seem to be a certian pattern on what monsters the
computer picks for you to hunt - for example, most of
the time I start Level 4 with Dragonfly to shoot, or on
level 2 where I almost always get a Snail on the platform
across the bridge, on the platform above the "house" of
the Coral Creature, and after that I almost always get a
Coral Creature that comes out from the wall at the same
place. These things can help you a lot in effective
hunting.
- Always make sure you have enough time when you know you
have to go very far from Dazz' shop. Aside from Level 6,
Dazz' shop is the only place to get extra time.
- Don't spend money in Dazz' shop if you don't have to!
Some bonus items are easy to get from monsters too,
and most monsters are easy to hunt down so you don't
need to buy too many parchments from there either.
- On the other hand, some monsters are so impossibly hard
to kill that it will save you a lot of time and lives if
you just buy the parchments in the shop. You will be
hande
d a new target after getting a parchment either way.
- Also, starting from level 4 (but also true to level 3),
the monsters get so fast and powerful that it's literally
suicide to play without a Longshot.
- You get to see the whole level scrolling from left to
right once after you lose your last life on it. (High
Score screen.) If you like this music and want to listen
to it more, just make sure you have enough points to get
into the high score. Then do not enter your name, just
let the game running. This is useful if you want to
listen to the music on a real C64, on a PC you can just
load the SID dump of the music into a SID player. They
have frightenly accurate sound emulation.
- The music of this game really-really rocks. Especially
the coral level's music and the highscore screen.
- While we are talking about emulation, the best SID player
is Sidplay2 and Foobar 2000. The Sidplay2 is a SID-only
player, while Foobar 2000 is, in short, the most powerful
audio player in virtually every technical aspect.
Do not use the Winamp plugin (called SidAmp) as it has
horrible sound emulation.
- Another thing about emulation, the best C64 emulator I
tried is WinVICE. (version 1.12 currently (?))
But you will need a fast CPU for it to run at full speed.
- Back to the game, avoid being stuck between two monsters.
That usually means you will die.
- When you shoot down a monster, wait a split sec before you
move over it. I might contain an item which appears only
a bit after the creature dies. Especially if you carry
a parchment or the like, so you don't accidentaly walk
over a heart.
- Speaking of the hearts, if you decide to collect them,
get the different color ones first. (remember, shoot to
change their color.) It's easier to get them that way -
shoot on them if you have time, just pick 'em up if you
are surrounded by monsters.
- If you have an invulnerability, you should still use your
regular weapon. That way you can kill a monster in front
of you faster and don't have to wait for the item to
appear after it is killed, you will only have to walk
straight in one direction. This saves precious time.
- Don't take risks. You'll lose them. The game is very hard.
- Don't get careless either. The game is VERY VERY hard.
- Sometimes you can just jump above monsters. Hard to
perform, but it might save your ass one or two times.
- Remember that you can freely change movement while being
in the air!
- Turn off all kind of phones, and make sure it is
impossible to disturb you in ANY way while playing. You
will need absolute concentration over the game, and it
can ruin life-long friendships if someone shows up in a
critical moment. This is true for almost every other C64
game as well btw. You have been warned ;)
- Try to get a timeout gameover in a money room =)
------------------------------------------------------------
Written by TurboKiller F.K.Į.
greetz go out to the hungarian C64 scene
(mer én is magyar vagyok vazze)
------------------------------------------------------------
-eof
