The Machines (e)

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                        The Machines / Universal Warrior

                                 STRATEGY GUIDE

                      by Christian Schmidt (cs216@gmx.net)



                    ########################################

                                 INTRODUCTION

                    ########################################


  Welcome  to the  strategy guide to  The Machines!  This is  my second in-depth
  strategy guide (the first having been on Contraptions, a puzzle game), next to
  a couple of small walkthroughs.  I hope you'll find what you're looking for in
  here.

  So, a strategy guide on a obscure,  utterly forgettable little game  that's so
  trivial,  you likely won't need guidance at all  -  why on earth would anybody
  write such a thing? Good question. I am well aware that  this guide will like-
  ly not be read by many people other than myself. I have spent weeks compiling,
  cross-checking and writing  down this information regardless. Because first, I
  have  an inexplicable  soft spot for The Machines;  and second, apparently, an
  alarming tendency towards masochism.




                    ########################################

                                   CONTENTS

                    ########################################


	 Introduction

	 About The Game

	 	Version Details
	 	Where To Get This Game
	 	How To Get It To Run
	 	Controls
	
	 About This Guide

	 Quick Hints
	 
	 Money Guide

	 	How To Make Money

			Betting
	 		Tokens
			Speed
			Selling Equipment

	 	How To Spend Money

			Buying Equipment
			Betting
			Insurance
			Repairs
			Saving
			Illegal Info

	 Equipment Guide

		Requirements
		The Shops
		Starting Equipment
		Weapons
			Missiles
		Drive Units
		Armour
		Force Fields
		Communications
		Shopping List

	 Gameplay Guide

		Enemies
		Map Elements
		Traps
		Time
		Score
		Damage
		Boosts
		Missiles
		General Strategy

	 Level Database

	 Credits



                    ########################################

                                 ABOUT THE GAME

                    ########################################


  The Machines is a  top-down arcade action game by Merit Studios,  published in
  1995. It  alternates between equipment management and the  actual in-level ac-
  tion,  in which  a remote-controlled  robot braves  maze-like maps  and fights
  mechanical enemies.  With the money earned in these sci-fi contests,  improved
  equipment can  be bought in five categories,  making the robot  more powerful,
  more manoeuvrable  and less easy to damage. The game's look  and feel is remi-
  niscent of Gauntlet or Alien Breed, with added economic elements.

  The game can be played solo,  competitively in two-player hotseat  mode or co-
  operatively in split-screen mode.

  The Machines features, for its time and the PC platform,  smooth scrolling and
  crisp controls;  together with the solid  basic gameplay idea,  this makes for
  likeably  light entertainment.  At the same time,  The Machines is graphically
  plain,  technically unimpressive and tiring over  time due to lack of variety.
  It  also suffers from  several bugs and bad balancing,  which makes for unfair
  situations and gives the overall impression of sloppy design.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ VERSION DETAILS

  The game was originally released for the Amiga by Zeppelin Games Ltd. in 1995,
  under the  name of Universal Warrior.  Merit Studios then ported it to the PC,
  where it was renamed to The Machines. The two versions differ greatly.

  Most  importantly,  the level design  is completely unique  for each platform.
  The Amiga version ends at level 40,  while the PC port features 60 levels. The
  Amiga levels  make much more use of the third dimension,  featuring climbs and
  canals.  The equipment differs in parts, and its availability is randomized on
  the Amiga, while the PC has a logical progression. 

  Here's a list of the most important differences between the Amiga original and
  the PC port:

                    AMIGA               |          	PC
         -----------------------------------------------------------------
         40 unique levels	        |  60 unique levels
         About 10 enemy types	        |  13 enemy types
         Some enemies spawn on the map	|  All enemies on the map from the 
                                        |     beginning
         Terrain height levels used     |  Terrain height levels used 
            frequently	                |     almost never
         Goal tokens required in some 	|  Goal tokens required in all 
            levels                      |      levels
         Variable time limit	        |  Fixed time limit (3:00 or 1:00)
         No Destruction Zone levels	|  10 Destruction Zone levels
         Less time bonus and cool bonus	|  More time bonus and cool bonus
         -------------------------------|---------------------------------
         About 45 equipment items, some |  49 equipment items, some unique
            unique                      |
         Randomized equipment in shops	|  Equipment becomes available 
                                        |     progressively
         2 chassis (=lives)	        |  4 chassis (=lives)
         Illegal info long and detailed	|  Illegal info short and mediocre
         -------------------------------|---------------------------------
         32 color graphics	        |  256 color graphics
         No intro sequence	        |  Short rendered intro sequence
         Digitized pics in shop screens	|  Crude drawings in shop screen


  The PC port improves on the Amiga original in many ways, most notably in level
  design,  fairness, equipment progression,  enemy variety and graphics.  It can
  thus be considered the better version, even though it is a lot more bug-ridden
  than the Amiga game.  The game is slightly easier on the PC, mainly because it
  is less unfair there.

  Note that  this strategy guide focuses  on the PC version ONLY.  While some of
  the general advice  and information appliy to the Amiga version,  too, much of
  it does not.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ WHERE TO GET THE GAME

  Two words: good luck! The Machines is out of shelves for a long, long time. To
  say that it wasn't  much of a success in its time would  be an understatement.
  Consequently, since nobody bought it, the game (at least in its PC version) is
  rare. This doesn't necessarily mean that it's valuable, only hard to find.

  Your best bet is Ebay, but bring lots of patience.

  Your second  best bet is visiting a game trading website  such as Game Trading
  Zone (www.gametz.com) and actively asking in the forums.

  If you're  looking for instant  gratification, try some of the  better-stocked
  Abandonware sites on the net.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ HOW TO GET IT TO RUN

  The Machines is a DOS game. It runs fine and with correct speed under all cur-
  rent Windows versions,  but without music  or sound.  You have to use  a work-
  around to solve this problem.

  Windows 95 and Windows 98 run DOS games in native DOS mode.  Exit windows with
  the "Quit to DOS" option and load The Machines from the prompt.

  Windows 2000,  ME and XP require  DOS emulation  software in order  to run The
  Machines with sound.  Both VDMSound (http://sourceforge.net/projects/vdmsound)
  and DOSBox (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net) work fine.  Both programs are free.
  VDMSound is significantly easier to use, so it's recommended for novices.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ CONTROLS

  The Machines can be controlled by joystick or keyboard.  The standard key con-
  figuration is:

                    Player 1	               Player 2


                       a                          '

                       ^                          ^
                       |                          |
                  x <-- --> c                , <-- --> .
                       |                          |
                       v                          v

                       z                          /

                 Fire:    Space           Fire:    R Shift
                 Missile: b               Missile: Enter
                 Boost:   w               Boost:   Backspace


  In addition, The Machines uses the following function keys:

                 F2:  Sound volume
                 F4:  Sound / joystick on / off
                 F5:  Save / Load game
                 F7:  Redefine keys
                 F8:  View control keys
                 F10: Quit to DOS
                 ESC: Restart game

  It  is strongly  recommended that  you customize  your keyboard controls (F7).

  To activate multiplayer mode, you have to select "Enter another player" on the
  screen where you customize your company logo.





                    ########################################

                                ABOUT THIS GUIDE

                    ########################################


  This guide is the most comprehensive collection of information on The Machines
  (i.e. the PC version of Universal Warrior).  It provides tipps and strategies,
  level data,  and equipment analysis and statistics. It's broken down into four
  sections:

	* How to make money and spend it wisely
	* How to select the right equipment
	* How to play the game successfully
	* What to know about every single level

  This guide is  mainly aimed at beginners and returning players,  who will find
  heaps of useful advice.  I doubt that there's anybody who'd call himself a The
  Machines veteran or even fan. It's not that kind of game.

  This guide in NOT a walkthrough. If you're stuck on one of the maps, you won't
  find specific help in here.  In fact you likely won't need it. The Machines is
  not a difficult game,  and there is lots of general  information in this docu-
  ment which will help you solve any problem you might encounter.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ A WORD ON LANGUAGE

  The Machines is a British game. This means that it uses British English. While
  my English  is mostly US-ish,  I am applying British  expressions whenever the
  game uses them (most notably "armour").

  I am not a native English speaker.  You may trip over word errors or grammati-
  cal mistakes. Sorry.  I am not to blame for the errors in the quotes taken di-
  rectly from  the game though (e.g. illegal info).  The game's English seems to
  be fishy at times, too.




                    ########################################

                                   QUICK HINTS

                    ########################################


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ REDEFINE KEYS

  The Machines'  control keys  are bound to the  AZ/XC/Space keys.  This is very
  awkward. You will want to change this to the arrow keys,  or any configuration
  of your liking, by pressing F7 once you're in the main menu (city screen). Un-
  fortunately,  the game resets  the keys at  every restart,  so you have  to go
  through  the start-up screen  with the AZ/XC combination  and re-configure the
  controls every time you play The Machines.

 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ YOU HAVE FIVE LIVES
  
  The Strength  stat measures the  integrity of your  robot's hull. It cannot be
  repaired.  If Strength drops to 0,  the robot is destroyed.  You have four re-
  placement  chassis (i.e. lives).  You cannot gain more.  If you lose  all five
  chassis, the game ends.

 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ SAVE AT EVERY LEVEL

  Save your game every time you successfully finish a level and didn't get dama-
  ged  too much.  If your robot  is a wreck,  reload and  retry. Else  spend the
  10,000  NuYen on a save.  For details  see the "Save" section  in the strategy
  guide below. 


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ SAVE & EXPLORE & LOAD & BET & DON'T GET DAMAGED

  The above  formula describes  the tried and true  standard procedure for every
  one of the 60 levels:

     1) Save your game. 
     2) Explore the level and figure out how to get through safe and quick. 
     3) Reload 
     4) place your bets. You should be able to tell easily which bets are safe. 
     5) Replay the level.
     6) If you receive too much damage,  miss too much money or bust bets,  loop
        from 3).
     7) Repair your robot.
     8) Save your game.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ SELL EQUIPMENT

  Remember that you can sell obsolete equipment.  This provides much-needed cash
  for new investments, bets or repairs, especially early in the game. DON'T sell
  the  L.A.G. Turboblast drive;  you will need it in some  levels even if you've
  already upgraded to a faster drive.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ DON'T INSURE

  Don't insure  your equipment.  You won't need it  since you'll either finish a
  level successfully or reload, but never die. 


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

  The maximum number of enemies in a level is 60. The time for each normal level
  is 3:00 minutes,  but you can take as much time as you want.  The time for De-
  struction Zone levels is 1:00  after you've picked up the goal token,  and the
  level will explode at 0:00.  You need to know these figures  to place sensible
  bets. The LEVEL DATABASE section of this strategy guide helps you bet safely.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ MISSILES ARE HEAVY

  You start  the game with three missiles,  each weighting 50 kgs.  This impacts
  your drive unit's  acceleration and deceleration values.  You can improve weak
  drives by firing missiles,  and improve hyper-sensitive drives by  stocking up
  on missiles. Missiles cannot be sold.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ MISSILES INCREASE ACCURACY

  Missile kills count as regular kills, but firing a missile does not count as a
  shot. This means that every time you destroy an enemy with a missile, your ac-
  curacy  rating improves.  You can have  an accuracy  above 100% if  your laser
  shots never miss  and you have a few missile  kills. More importantly, missile
  kills improve your ratings if you have accuracy bets running.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ COLLISIONS DON'T COUNT AS KILLS

  Force field kills do not count as kills.  If you have kill ratio bets running,
  don't  destroy enemies  by colliding with  them (i.e. damaging  them with your
  force field).





                    ########################################

                                  MONEY GUIDE

                    ########################################


  The Machines'  currency is the  NuYen. You  need NuYen  mainly to  upgrade and
  maintain  your robot.  In addition, you must spend  money to make more money -
  by betting it.

  The game's  flow of money is very  unbalanced. It depends  only in part on the
  player's skill,  via the time bonus and  the betting system. In addition, pla-
  yers gain money by collecting cash tokens within the levels. The amount earned
  in this  way differs greatly from level to level.  The average amount is about
  20,000 NuYen for the first ten levels,  significantly less in the 30s and 40s,
  and there's a 70.000 peak at level 3 already - that's more cash than in 90% of
  all following levels.  The excessive peak is at level 24 (of 60)  with 710,000
  NuYen - more than twice the amount of the next best level (#54, 328,000). This
  means you will earn huge amounts of NuYen at times, which have to last through
  the following levels, where money trickles at best.

  In general,  all but the most  inconsiderate players  will earn  enough to get
  through the game comfortably.  Careful players with some  insight into the me-
  chanisms detailed here will pile up more money than they'll ever need. This is
  especially true (and disappointing) since the game doesn't offer any new hard-
  ware to spend your money on throughout the last 20 levels.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ HOW TO MAKE MONEY

  There are four different ways to make money in The Machines. Each is important
  for your financial well-being. In addition to the four income sources, there's
  a fifth strategy  to be considered: don't waste money.  The HOW TO SPEND MONEY
  section covers this topic.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ BETTING                                                             MAKE MONEY

  Betting is a fairly steady and fairly reliable source of income;  in more than
  a few levels,  it will also be your biggest source.  While you can easily cope
  without betting in the later game, betting wins are indispensable early on.

  You wager your money at Tope, the local betting office.  Tope offers four dif-
  ferent bets for each level;  they are not randomized.  There are six things to
  bet on:

         __ SURVIVE LEVEL _____________________________________________

 	 You win if you finish the level successfully. This is ALWAYS a
         safe bet.



	 __ TIME LEFT (>0m, >1m) ______________________________________

	 You win if  you finish the level before the  timer falls below
         the indicated  time (either 1:00 or 0:00).  Every normal level
         starts with the timer at 3:00. Destruction zone have the clock
         disabled  until you pick up the goal token,  when the timer is
         set to 1:00. This means that  you CANNOT win a "Time Left >1m"
         bet in Destruction Zone levels. Time Left bets are usually mo-
	 derately to very difficult.



	 __ ACCURACY (>70%, >80%, >90%, =100%) ________________________

	 You win if your accuracy rating is above the indicated percen-
         tage when  you finish the level.  This means that you must not
         miss when you shoot.  Only hits on enemies count.  Some levels
         require that  you shoot  at blocks to  move them;  this lowers
         your accuracy.  You cannot win  "Accuracy=100%"  bets in these
         levels,  unless you  use the  missile  trick (see  QUICK HINTS
         above). Note that you will never  win any accuracy bet if  you
         use a weapon that fires multiple shots.  Accuracy bets are mo-
         derately to very difficult.



	 __ KILLS (>10, >30, >50) _____________________________________

	 You win if  you kill the indicated  number of enemies or more.
         This depends largely on how many enemies there actually are in
         a level. Tope occasionally offers bets which are impossible to
         win,  e.g. "Kills>30" in a level with 20 enemies.  The maximum
         number of  hostiles per level  is 60. Be aware  that collision
         (= force field)  kills do not count as kills.  Kill ratio bets
         are either safe or impossible.



	 __ EVEN KILLS / EVEN HITS ____________________________________

	 You win if  you have killed an  even number of enemies (2, 10,
         24 etc.) / if  you have scored an even  number of hits against
         enemies  when you finish the  level. To achieve  Even Kills is
         fairly easy

	      IF the total number of enemies on a map is even 
                 (see this guide's LEVEL DATABASE)

 				      AND

	      IF you do not kill enemies by colliding with them,
                 or if you do, quickly run into another one

				      AND

	      IF you kill all enemies in the level

         While you can try to keep  a mental record  of the kills while
         you play,  this is  distinctly more  difficult with hits. Both
         distracts you from playing efficiently.  These bets are essen-
         ti ally a 50/50 gamble.



	 __ NO KILLS __________________________________________________

	 You win if you do not shoot  a single enemy and finish the le-
         vel.  You may, however,  kill enemies  by crashing  into them.
         This damages your force field and,  to a lesser extent,  other
         systems.  This bet is virtually impossible  to win most of the
         time,  and never worth  it since the repair  costs will almost
         always exceed your winnings.


  Beware that winning some bets may be impossible. Tope occasionally poses chal-
  lenges that cannot be fulfilled. Most commonly,  it asks you to kill more ene-
  mies than  are present in the level,  or finish a level  within an  impossible
  timeframe. Essentially,  this means that you must  know what lies ahead before
  you wager your money.

  Whether you win bets or not depends strongly on your knowledge of the upcoming
  level and  its hazards and difficulties.  The basic betting strategy  is thus:
  Explore every level thoroughly,  then reload and place your bets.  To help you
  out, this strategy guide offers betting safety ratings for each mission in the
  LEVEL DATABASE section below. The ratings are:

	 Safe        - You will always win this bet.
	 Possible    - You will easily win this bet.
	 Challenging - You will win this bet if you play carefully.
                       One or two retries might be necessary.
	 Very Hard   - It is possible to win this bet, but only with
		       expertise and patience. Three or more retries
                       might be necessary.
	 Impossible  - This bet cannot be won.
	 Gamble      - There's a 50/50 chance you will win this bet.


  Tope lets you  place bets of any size  in 100 NuYen steps,  up to a maximum of
  5,000 NuYen. Always bet the maximum.  On top of the stake, you have to pay 10%
  sales tax.  If you place 5,000 NuYen, you will actually pay 5,500. If you lose
  your bet, the entire sum is lost. If you win, you get a multiple of your stake
  depending on the quota.

  The quota consists of two digit displayed behind the bet,  i.e. "Time Left >1m
  5-2".  The first digit is the  multiplier; the higher, the better.  The second
  digit is the divisor; the lower, the better. Your winnings are calculated like
  this:

	 	   Bet + ((Bet / Divisor) * Multiplier)

  For example,  if you bet 1,000 NuYen  on "Time Left >1m"  with a quota of 5-2,
  the winnings would be:

	 		1,000 + (1,000 / 2) * 5) =
	 		1,000 + 500 * 5 =
	 		1,000 + 2,500 =
	 		3,500

  Generally,  the earnings will be the better the lower the second digit is, and
  the greater the difference between the two numbers.

	 		1,000 with 3-2 = 2,500
	 		1,000 with 5-3 = 2,666
			1,000 with 4-1 = 5,000

  The best ratio in the game is 8-1. The worst ratio is 5-4.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ TOKENS                                                              MAKE MONEY

  The levels in  The Machines may contain two types of tokens which directly in-
  crease your wealth: Nuyen tokens and Cool Bonus tokens.

  NuYen tokens are bright yellow  text squares with a number followed by the Nu-
  Yen symbol. They are frequent, although their number  and value varies greatly
  from level to level. There are four values:

			100 NuYen
			500 NuYen
			1k  NuYen (=1,000)
			10k NuYen (=10,000)

  You should  strive to pick up all Nuyen tokens with a  value of 500 and above.
  The small 100 NuYen tokens may not be worth the trouble,  considering that you
  lose 200 NuYen per second in time bonus (see SPEED section below).  If there's
  a chance to finish the level with a good time,  it might be smarter to rush to
  the exit and maximize the time bonus rather than hunt after small fish.

  Cool Bonus tokens  are invisible. They  are hidden in  some levels, but not in
  all of them.  If your robot  runs over a Cool Bonus  square, the yellow "COOL"
  text will become visible.  Each uncovered Cool Bonus is worth 5,000 NuYen when
  you finish the level.

  One third of the  levels (20 of 60) contain  Cool Bonus squares.  They are not
  distributed evenly. 

  Chances are that you'll run over a Cool square by accident. This is a good in-
  dication that other  ones must be hidden  in the level.  With the exception of
  two levels, there are at least two Cool Bonuses around, usually three. The fi-
  nancial maximum is in level 36, where nine Cools net 45,000 NuYen. The numeri-
  cal maximum  is 16 in level 48,  but due to a calculation error (or other rea-
  sons), you get only 14,665 Nuyen.  The complete list of levels with Cool Bonus
  is:

		            LEVEL  |  COOLS  |  NUYEN
		          -----------------------------
			      2    |    7    |  35,000
		              7	   |    2    |  10,000
		              8	   |    2    |  10,000
		              9	   |    3    |  15,000
		          -----------------------------
		             11	   |    3    |  15,000
		             14	   |    3    |  15,000
		             16	   |    2    |  10,000
		             17	   |    3    |  15,000
		          -----------------------------
		             21    |    4    |  20,000
		             22    |    1    |   5,000
		             27    |    7    |  30,000
		          -----------------------------
		             30    |    2    |  10,000
		             36	   |    9    |  45,000
		          -----------------------------
		             42    |    2    |  10,000
		             44    |    2    |  10,000
		             46    |    1    |   5,000
		             48    |    1    |  14,465
		          -----------------------------
		             50	   |    4    |  20,000
		             51	   |    3    |  15,000
		             52	   |    8    |  40,000


  If you know that a level must contain multiple Cool squares,  it's worth sear-
  ching for them. The money bonus is ample.



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ SPEED                                                               MAKE MONEY

  You receive a  NuYen bonus depending  on the time left at  the end of a level.
  The quicker you reach the goal, the bigger the bonus. 

  You always  start with  3:00 minutes  on normal levels.  The exception are De-
  struction Zone levels,  where the timer starts  at 1:00 once you picked up the
  goal token.

  Each second is worth 200 NuYen. At 3:00,  the bonus is worth 37.000 NuYen. You
  lose 1.000 NuYen every 5 seconds.

			           TIME  |   NUYEN
		                   ---------------
				   3:00  |  37.000
				   2:00  |  25.000
				   1:00  |  13.000
				   0:10  |   3.000

  In practice, finishing times between 1:00 and 2:00 are good. More than 2:00 is
  possible  in one or two levels.  It's rarely worth it to  rush through  levels
  though,  since it's more likely that you get damaged (repairs eat up your time
  bonus) and that you miss NuYen tokens.

  As always,  the best strategy is to  learn the level by  heart in a  few trial
  runs,  and then try  to finish the level  quickly and efficiently  to maximize
  your time bonus while keeping damage low.



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ SELLING EQUIPMENT                                                   MAKE MONEY

  Selling obsolete equipment is a vital source of  income in the early stages of
  the game, where you will be buying new, increasingly expensive parts every few
  levels.

  When you  buy new,  advanced equipment,  current robot parts may  become obso-
  lete.  This is not always the case.  Some early drives may be useful in speci-
  fic  situations later in the game,  most notable the L.A.G. Turboblast,  which
  can cross directional arrows.  Some weapons may be more appropriate in certain
  situations than others.  For weight reasons,  it may also be prudent to keep a
  lighter armor  in case a level should require maximum speed.  However, you can
  always  sell outdated  force fields and  communications systems once  you have
  bought a more advanced model.

  You sell used equipment at Big Als Second-Hand Hardware.  Big Al pays 5/6th of
  the original  price for items in  mint condition (100%). For example,  a Maas-
  Neotek Sleek Talk MK3 communications unit worth 25,000 NuYen will bring 20,833
  Nuyen (25,000 / 1.2) when you sell it.  In practice,  this means that you lose
  1/6th of your money when you buy an item,  use it for a while and then sell it
  in perfect condition. That's a pretty good ratio.

  Used equipment  loses value based on its condition.  The loss follows a linear
  scale based  on the maximum selling price (i.e. the  original price reduced by
  1/6th): For each 1% of damage,  the selling price drops 1%. The Mass-Neotek at
  50% is thus worth 10,417 NuYen.

  Is it worth repairing damaged equipment before selling it?  Yes, provided that

	 1) The part is valuable (>20,000 NuYen)
	 2) The damage is considerable (>40%)
	 3) You use manual repair, not automatic

  This may earn you a couple 1,000 NuYen extra. Considering that you should have
  plenty of money by the time you've reached level 30, I'd say: don't bother.







 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ HOW TO SPEND MONEY

  Generally, money is short in the beginning and abundant towards the end of the
  game.  Early on you will spend most of your wealth on new equipment and saves.
  Later,  when new hardware becomes  scarce and expensive,  repair costs will be
  the biggest item on your balance by far. This requires most of your attention.
  There are  five other ways to spend money,  two of which are pretty much unne-
  cessary: insurance and illegal info. 


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ BUYING EQUIPMENT						     SPEND MONEY

  You need to upgrade your robot's hardware in order to survive the increasingly
  challenging levels. The equipment and specific purchasing  recommendations can
  be found in the EQUIPMENT section further below in this strategy guide. I sug-
  gest you follow the advice provided there,  since you need to buy only a frac-
  tion of the hardware available during the course of the game.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ BETTING							     SPEND MONEY

  You need  to spend money on bets  in order to win  sizeable sums.  The betting
  system is explained in detail in the BETTING section above. The maximum amount
  you can spend on bets  per level is 22,000 NuYen. In practice,  you will spend
  between  5,500 and 16,500 and  win between 7,500 and 45,000 NuYen  (stakes in-
  cluded).


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ INSURANCE							     SPEND MONEY

  Insurance replaces your robot's hardware in  case it is destroyed during a le-
  vel. If this should happen,  you will want to reload your savegame.  Insurance
  is thus pretty  much unnecessary.  Untick all options in  the upper list until
  the sum at the bottom right reads 0 NuYen. 

  For the sake of completeness, here is how insurance works.

  The list at the top of the deed contains the five hardware categories. You can
  tick or untick them to pick which to include in the insurance.  Unticked items
  will not be covered in case of destruction of your robot.

  The insurance fee is 2.5% of the corresponding hardware part's value.  For ex-
  ample, a Variplas Industries Heavy Plastic Armour at 9,800 NuYen costs 245 Nu-
  Yen to insure (9,800 / 40 = 245). 

  The four options  in the second half of the deed specify how comprehensive you
  want your policy to be.

	 New for Old:	All robot parts will be replaced with the same
			parts in perfect condition (100%)
	 Replace:	All robot parts will be replaced with the same
			parts in random condition (0-100%).  Consider-
			able repair costs might ensue.
	 3rd Party:	(unclear - can anyone help out?)
	 Comprehensive:	(unclear - Can anyone help out?)

  The sum of the insured parts in the  upper part of the deed is multiplied with
  a factor  based on the conditions  specified in the lower part  of the deed to
  calculate the final insurance fee.

	 	3rd Party, Replace 		Sum
	 	Comprehensive, Replace 		Sum x1.5
	 	3rd Party, New for Old 		Sum x1.5
	 	Comprehensive, New for Old 	Sum x2.25
			
  Remember that  your robot's chassis is  not covered by the insurance  and will
  not be replaced.  Since you have  four replacement  chassis, you may  only die
  four times until the game is over, regardless of insurance.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ REPAIRS							     SPEND MONEY

  When your robot's hardware  (armour, weapons etc.) gets damaged,  it will work
  less efficiently  (see DAMAGE in the GAME MECHANICS section below).  It has to
  be repaired,  unless you decide to  replace it with a better  model. Since the
  repair  costs are directly  proportional to the  item's value, repairing high-
  level hardware is  VERY  expensive.  The most important  advice is  therefore:
  Don't get damaged!

  Your should always start  into a new level with all your parts at 100%. To re-
  pair a system, visit Roy's Repairs.  Roy offers two options: Manual Repair and
  Auto Repair. Manual Repair lets you fix the item yourself in a mini-game with-
  in a limited timeframe.  Auto Repair works instantly, but is considerably more
  expensive.

	 AUTO REPAIR fixes damaged equipment in 1% increments. Each per-
	 cent of damage repaired costs 2.5% of the items original value.
	 Or,  in other words:  Auto-repairing  40% of any item  costs as
	 much as buying the item new. In fact,  the ratio is even worse,
	 since you have to pay sales tax on top of that.

	 For example, repairing 1% of a damaged  Specker & Rosch Lanzka-
	 none Lang (value: 150,000 NuYen) costs 3,750 NuYen. To bring it
	 from 80%  to 100% amounts to  75,000 NuYen. On top of that, Roy
	 demands a whopping 25% sales tax.  Repairing 20% of the Lanzka-
	 none ends up at 93,750 NuYen.


	 MANUAL REPAIR, on the other hand,  is five times less expensive
	 than Auto Repair. Instead of percents, you buy seconds, at 0.5%
	 of the  item's original price.  The 25% tax  applies here, too.
	 The purchased  seconds make up the  time you have in the repair
	 mini-game.

	 In the Manual  Repair mini-game,  the damaged part is displayed
	 as a  10x10 square board  with a three-color wire circuit. Each
	 square represents  1% of the item's condition.  Damaged squares
	 are misaligned  so that the colored  wires don't connect.  If a
	 part is damaged 15%,  then 15 of the 100 squares will be out of
	 sync.

	 Your task is to move the cursor  to a misaligned square and ro-
	 tate it with the action key until the colored wires are connec-
	 ted. You do this until either all tiles are aligned or the time
	 runs out. If the latter happens,  the item's condition improves
	 depending on how many tiles you aligned.

	 Your goal is to fix all the damaged squares while buying as few
	 seconds  as possible.  Depending on your  experience and skill,
	 Manual Repair is significantly less expensive than Auto Repair.
	 As a rule of thumb,...

		  ...1 second  per 1% damage is challenging
		  ...2 seconds per 1% damage is possible
		  ...3 seconds per 1% damage is safe

	 Even  if you buy  3 seconds  per 1% damage,  which is more than
	 enough time to repair all damage, Manual Repair still saves you
	 about  one third  of costs  compared to  Auto Repair  (1.5% vs.
	 2.5%).  Early in the game,  Manual Repair is thus  recommended.
	 Later on, when you have plenty of money,  Auto Repair turns out
	 to be much more convenient.

  Your chassis (the Strength value in the city screen) cannot be repaired.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ SAVING							     SPEND MONEY

  Saving your game  costs money in The Machines,  and quite a bit of money, too:
  10,000 NuYen  per save. Despite  the cost, saving  your game is indispensable.
  The question is not so much IF to save, but WHEN.

  To save or load your game,  press F5. You have three save slots.  The Machines
  gives no indication which slots are empty  and which are used, let alone basic
  info about  the savegames.  It doesn't  even let  you name your savegame. Each
  save deducts 10,000  NuYen from your account, unless you don't have this much,
  in which case saving is aborted.

  You will easily make up for the costs by using  the save game to maximize your
  profits from the current level.  As described above (see QUICK HINTS section),
  the  best The Machines strategy is to explore a level thoroughly, then reload,
  place safe bets and play through the level with best speed and minimal damage.
  This  strategy saves  you insurance  fees and repair  costs and earns good bet
  winnings and time bonuses.

  The strategy requires that you  reload your game at least once,  most likely a
  few times. To minimize the hassle of repeating actions, it's important to save
  your game AFTER you've done a few basic things. When you successfully finish a
  level and are content with the results, don't save at once. Instead:

		   1) Repair damaged equipment
		   2) Browse the shops for new equipment
		   3) Change equipment (if necessary)
		   4) Stock up on missiles (if necessary)

  Now save. If you have to reload your savegame now, all you have to do is place
  your Tope bets anew. After that, you can jump right into the mission again.

  By the way,  you can buy the illegal  info in Sid's Taverna  after saving (see
  below). Then reload.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ ILLEGAL INFO							     SPEND MONEY

  Sid of Sid's Taverna sells illegal information on each level. The price starts
  at 1,800 NuYen at level 1, increases by 200 NuYen per level and ends at 13,600
  NuYen at level 60.

  Buying the info is more or less a gamble.  Sid's info is rarely useful, but on
  some occasions, it's a lifesaver. The best strategy is to buy and read the in-
  fo right after you saved your game, and then reload. Alternatively, this stra-
  tegy guide's LEVEL DATABASE lists everything Sid has to say.






                    ########################################

                                 EQUIPMENT GUIDE

                    ########################################



  One of the key gameplay elements of  The Machines is to upgrade your robot, to
  improve its speed, maneuverability and destructive power.  Unfortunately, this
  part falls short of what one would expect. The arsenal in The Machines is com-
  paratively  small,  very unbalanced and in part incoherent.  Worst of all, the
  last third of the game doesn't see any new equipment at all.

  The bad balancing  and the uselessness  of a significant  amount of items make
  this  equipment section necessary  despite the moderate number of robot parts.
  In essence,  this section gives shopping advice.  In addition to comprehensive
  lists  of all items,  you'll also find some  amendments to and  corrections of
  specifications which are omitted in the game, or simply wrong.

  Your robot can mount one item at a time of each of the five categories.  Items
  can only be changed in the workshop, not while your robot is in a level.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ REQUIREMENTS							       EQUIPMENT

  In compliance with "ordinance 9 of the regulations",  some robot parts are re-
  quired to enter a level while others aren't. The requirements are:

		   Weapon		REQUIRED
		   Drive Unit		REQUIRED
		   Communications	REQUIRED

		   Armour		NOT REQUIRED
		   Force Field		NOT REQUIRED


  Defensive gear is thus optional.  It's highly unlikely that you'll enter a le-
  vel without it though, unless you're either desperate to save weight,  looking
  for a real challenge or completely broke.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ THE SHOPS							       EQUIPMENT

  Three shops in New Tokyo sell hardware for your robot. There's really not much
  difference  between the three,  apart from  the condition  at which they  sell
  their items.  Each shop has articles from all  five categories. New items will
  become  available as the  game progresses.  See the LEVEL DATABASE  section of
  this guide for info on when which item appears in which shop.


         __ METEOR ____________________________________________________

         Sells premium hardware.  Robot parts at Meteor are always new.
	 Good  selection throughout the game.  The only shop that sells
	 missiles.


         __ BIG AL's __________________________________________________
	
	 Second-hand store. Items bought here may not be at 100% condi-
	 tion and might need repairs.  Hardly anything early on, selec-
	 tion  grows in mid-game.  The only shop  that buys  back used
	 items.


         __ SID's TAVERNA _____________________________________________

	 Sells blackware. This means that the parts are more expensive,
	 but usually also more powerful.  Buying blackware has no nega-
	 tive consequences. Some items may have unknown specifications.
	 Items bought here may  not be at 100% condition and might need
	 repairs.  Sid gets new  items fairly regularily  until late in
	 the game.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ STARTING EQUIPMENT						       EQUIPMENT

  YOu start out with the following five items:

	 COMMUNICATIONS	  Nimrod Super Budget Droid Comms. System
	 WEAPON		  The Yamatomato Yazukukayama
	 FORCE FIELD	  Stallone Industries Sly Thumper
	 DRIVE UNIT	  Kwakasaki Motors Corona 7 Overdrive
	 ARMOUR		  Securetech (TM) Supertuf Alulite (LT. ALLOY)

  These  five combined  are worth  67.000 NuYen,  or 52.822 when  you sell them.
  Counting the sales price of your equipment on top of your starting money,  you
  actually start the game with roughly 152.000 NuYen.

  Your starting  equipment is solid.  In fact, you can  play for  quite a  while
  without urgent need to change anything.  This gives you the freedom to scruti-
  nize new equipment carefully before buying or installing it.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ WEAPONS								 WEAPONS

  Weapons are used  to shoot enemies and movable blocks.  There are 15 different
  weapons in The Machines. Apart from their price and mass, they differ in seven
  categories.

         __ POWER ____________________________________________________

	 The destructive energy of the  projectile / beam in kilowatts
	 (KW). If a weapon  fires more than one beam at the same time,
	 the Power value is multiplied. Depending on a weapon's power,
	 enemies may take one, two or several hits until they explode.
	 High-end  weapons can destroy most enemy  types with a single
	 shot.  However, if  multiplied with  the rate of fire, medium
	 power weapons may prove to be superior to their big brothers.


         __ RANGE ____________________________________________________
	
	 The distance  a weapon's projectile / beam  travels in meters
	 (m) until it disappears. Weapons always inflict maximum dama-
	 ge within their range.

	 The game gives the range in meters,  which is pretty useless,
	 since  there's no indication of  scale and proportion  in the
	 levels. On top of that,  the range values given for some wea-
	 pons  are  highly  inconsistent with  how  far  they actually
	 shoot.  For this guide, I have checked all  weapon ranges and
	 converted  meters into "tiles",  i.e. the squares  that every
	 level consists of.

	 The worst  range is 5 tiles,  which is roughly  one-fourth of
	 the visible horizontal area. In other words, your robot's be-
	 am, if fired from the center of the screen, will fizzle half-
	 way to the  edge of the screen.  This means that enemies will
	 come pretty close.

	 A range of 10 tiles means  that your robot can shoot from the
	 center of the screen to any of the borders.

	 The best ranged weapons  shoot their beams beyond the borders
	 of  the screen.  The game keeps track of the projectiles,  so
	 you can shoot enemies that you don't actually see.


         __ SPEED ____________________________________________________

	 The  projectile's  /  beam's velocity  in meters  per  second
	 (m/s).  Values go from 100 m/s to 256 m/s.  The faster a beam
	 travels,  the better the  chance to hit,  since the enemy has
	 less time to move away. Inexperienced players might find wea-
	 pons with high beam speeds easier to use.  For advanced play-
	 ers, this value is of secondary importance.


         __ RATE OF FIRE _____________________________________________

	 The number  of shots a weapon can  fire per second (shots/s).
	 The game gives only rough estimates (slow / moderate / fast /
	 very fast). This guide uses the correct and a lot more useful
	 shots/s values.

	 The rate of fire is the second most important value after the
	 raw power.  Multiplied, these two  values make up  a weapon's
	 real power. 

	 A slow rate  of fire means  that your own shots  mustn't miss
	 since  enemies get  more time to  hit you while  you wait for
	 your weapon to reload. A fast rate of fire means that you can
	 spray shots at enemies, but are more likely to ruin your acc-
	 uracy rating with misses (see the BETTING section above).

	 Slow weapons fire one shot per second. They are not recommen-
	 ded, since this will leave you struggling and evading in some
	 of the more crowded levels. The average rate of fire lies be-
	 tween 2 and 3 shots per second.


         __ NUMBER OF PROJECTILES ____________________________________

	 There are three weapons in the  game which fire more than one
	 shot at a time every time you pull the trigger. All projecti-
	 les fired are equally powerful. These additional beams go in-
	 to  different directions.  They either form  a fan or a cross
	 with the robot at the center.

	 Multi-shot weapons are generally not recommended. They have a
	 terrible rate of fire, and they make accuracy bets impossible
	 since most of the shots will inevitably be misses. 


         __ FIRING MODE ______________________________________________

	 There are three firing modes:  manual, semi-automatic and au-
	 tomatic.  "Manual" means  that you must  press the action key
	 every time you want to fire a shot. "Semi-automatic" and "au-
	 tomatic" mean that you can press and hold the key to make the
	 weapon fire continously at its maximum rate of fire. Apparen-
	 tly, there is no difference between semi and automatic.

	 In practise,  the mode of fire  is irrelevant on  two levels.
	 First,  only two weapons fire manually,  one of which is your
	 starting gun. You will likely use it for the first level only
	 and then trade  it for a better model.  Second, you will want
	 to fire  each shot manually anyway,  even with automatic wea-
	 pons, since this is the best way to maintain  a high accuracy
	 rating (see BETTING above).


         __ RECOIL ___________________________________________________

	 Recoil is not a measured weapon stat, but is has to be consi-
	 dered in conjunction with the drive you're using. In general,
	 the stronger a weapon,  the bigger its recoil (i.e. the force
	 with which it  pushes the robot backwards).  Contrary to what
	 one would expect,  the type of  drive unit  (ground-based vs.
	 hovering) doesn't seem to  have an influence on the recoil at
	 all. You have to take recoil into  acount when shooting while
	 moving though difficult  terrain (see HOLES and LEDGES in the
	 GAME MECHANISMS section below).


  Assessing a weapon's  usefullness is based on a combination of the above para-
  meters. Most important are power and rate of fire, followed by range.  In con-
  nexion with your drive unit, weight and recoil may play a role.

  In practice, most weapons have severe drawbacks which limits their usefulness.
  Only four of the  15 weapons are  clear recommendations  (see SHOPPING LIST at
  the end of the EQUIPMENT section).  Some others may be a viable choice, depen-
  ding on  your playing style.  The WEAPON COMPARISON list  below gives an over-
  view over the primary  statistics of each weapon and  helps you pick the right
  weaponry.

  It is usually not necessary to switch between weapons for specific levels. You
  can safely sell obsolete weaponry if you're content with the new one. But make
  a trial run with  the new weapon before you sell your old gun;  you might want
  to keep it.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ WEAPON COMPARION							 WEAPONS

  * In order of appearance
  * Names abbreviated
  * Secondary attributes omitted - see EQUIPMENT appendix
  * Attributes RANGE and RATE OF FIRE replaced with correct & useful values
  * "3x" and "4x" power values indicate multi-shot weapons
  * The asterix (*) marks recommended equipment

    Weapon                Cost     Power      Range     Speed   Rate of Fire
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Yazukukayama     |  18.000 |   30 KW |  9 tiles | 200 m/s | 2    shots/s
    Uzi 9mm SMG      |  27.500 |   10 KW |  8 tiles | 225 m/s | 4,5  shots/s
    Babcock MK27     |   2.000 |   20 KW |  5 tiles | 120 m/s | 1     shot/s
    Yazukukayama II  |  24.900 |   30 KW | 15 tiles | 200 m/s | 2,25 shots/s *
    Badd-Year 120-60 |   8.000 |   15 KW | 15 tiles | 200 m/s | 2,25 shots/s
    Copley & Grahan  |   7.900 |   35 KW |  6 tiles | 130 m/s | 2,5  shots/s
    Damage Inc. Mega |  30.000 | 3x40 KW | 10 tiles | 100 m/s | 1     shot/s
    Frantti JWC2LPE  |  34.900 | 4x50 KW |  6 tiles | 140 m/s | 1     shot/s
    Maas-Neotek PD 7 | 117.000 |   60 KW | 12 tiles | 250 m/s | 2,5  shots/s
    The Paterson MI  |  34.900 | 3x75 KW | 11 tiles | 192 m/s | 1     shot/s
    W&S Plasma Pro   |  20.000 |  150 KW |  7 tiles | 100 m/s | 1     shot/s *
    Zeiss - Armco    |  60.000 |   95 KW | 11 tiles | 256 m/s | 1,25 shots/s
    Specker & Rosch  | 150.000 |  100 KW | 15 tiles | 200 m/s | 2,25 shots/s *
    W&S Grenadier    |  26.000 |  180 KW | 14 tiles | 240 m/s | 1     shot/s
    Destruction Inc. | 280.000 |  120 KW | 14 tiles | 250 m/s | 3,5  shots/s *


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ MISSILES								 WEAPONS


  In addition to its primary weapon,  your robot can carry an variable amount of
  France & Lerman Shurikan  Missiles. You start out  with three missiles.  Their
  maximum number  is only limited by your drive unit's carrying  capacity. Every
  missile weights 50 kgs.

  Missiles cost 2,000 NuYen each. They cannot be sold.

  Shurikan missiles are  auto-targeting fire & forget projectiles  which home in
  on the target and destroy it with one hit.  The missiles have several advanta-
  ges and disadvantages.

	 PRO
	   + Homing
	   + Powerful
	   + Can shoot through walls
	   + Increase accuracy rating

	 CONTRA
	   - Expensive
	   - Slow
	   - Cannot pick specific target
	   - Can only fire one at a time
	   - Weight

  The biggest advantage of missiles is likely  their positive impact on your ac-
  curacy score  (see QUICK HINTS section at the top of this guide),  which makes
  accuracy bets easier to win.  The most severe drawback is  their tracking sys-
  tem. The missile will automatically  target the enemy which is closest to your
  robot at the time the missile is fired.  Since enemies move,  the missile will
  then circle around it for times often in excess of ten seconds until it final-
  ly hits.  You cannot launch  a second missile while  the first one is still in
  the air.

  This makes missiles useless for close  combat or time-critical situation where
  an enemy moves in on your robot. They are, however, useful to take the edge of
  critical  situations in  adjacent rooms which  you haven't entered yet,  since
  missiles can fly through (or rather over) walls.

  Apart from their combat usefulness, the most important consideration with mis-
  siles is the weight issue. Stocking up on missiles quickly amounts to a signi-
  ficant load.  The three missiles you start the game  with weight 150 kgs. This
  affects the acceleration and deceleration rates of your drive (see DRIVES sec-
  tion below). In short:  If you carry around many missiles,  your robot will be
  slower and less maneuverable.

  Actually, this can be employed to your advantage.  There are one or two hyper-
  sensitive  hoverdrives in the game  which are difficult to control.  By adding
  additional weight  in the form of missiles,  you can fine-tune the accel/decel
  values until they suit your playing style. 

  There is no other way to get rid of missiles than firing them.



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ DRIVE UNITS					 		     DRIVE UNITS

  Drive Units carry your robot through the levels. There are 15 different drives
  in The Machines. Apart from their price and mass,  they differ in five catego-
  ries.

         __ VELOCITY__________________________________________________

	 The drive's  top speed in meters per second (m/s).  The drive
	 will reach top speed more or less quickly based on its accel-
	 eration value.  The drive's velocity  is NOT affected  by the
	 overall load. It IS affected by  the drive's condition; dama-
	 ged drives  lose speed.  A high velocity  value may  indicate
	 that the  drive reacts  nervously and  could be  difficult to
	 control. Velocity ranges from 18 to 180 m/s.


         __ ACCELERATION _____________________________________________

	 The drive's increase in speed in meters per second per second
	 (m/s/s). The higher a drive's acceleration in relation to its
	 velocity,  the quicker it reaches top speed.  Two drives have
	 an acceleration that matches their velocity, which means that
	 they  move  at top speed  instantly  unless they  carry heavy
	 loads.

	 A high acceleration value is the key condition for maneuvera-
	 bility. Conversely,  a low value means that the robot's reac-
	 tion time increases and  spontaneous evasive maneuvers become
	 more difficult. 


         __ DECELERATION _____________________________________________

	 The drives braking capability in meters per second per second
	 (m/s/s). The higher a drive's deceleration in relation to its
	 velocity, the quicker it stops.  Again, two drives have a de-
	 celeration that matches their velocity, which means that they
	 stop instantly unless they carry heavy loads.

	 A high deceleration value means that the robot reaches stand-
	 still almost  instantly and is less  likely to slide into ob-
	 stacles, enemies or even holes. Conversely, a low value means
	 that your robot slides  for a considerable distance before it
	 stands still, increasing the risk of collision damage.


         __ MASS CAPACITY ____________________________________________

	 The amount  of mass your robot can carry  until its accelera-
	 tion and deceleration values drop.  The game gives only rough
	 estimates  (poor / moderate / good / very good).  This  guide
	 defines  mass capacity  by measuring  how much mass  in kilo-
	 grams a drive can carry until its accel/decel values decrease
	 by one meter per second (m/s). 

	 The impact of weight is different  for acceleration and dece-
	 leration.  Drives with a bad mass capacity lose  acceleration
	 with every 30 kgs load;  considering that decent weapons wei-
	 ght around  300 kgs on average alone,  the efficiency loss is
	 staggering.  In practice, some drives are unusable with heavy
	 equipment. One drive in particular,  the Digipillar Shadow MK
	 IV, cannot be used at all even  with the lightest load possi-
	 ble.  Drives with good mass capacity  can carry up to 300 kgs
	 until acceleration is affected.

	 The deceleration loss is less serious,  with double to triple
	 the mass allowed until the decel value drops. Bad drives lose
	 braking capabilities with every 60 kgs load,  good drives can
	 manage up to 600 kgs.


         __ TYPE _____________________________________________________

	 The Machines  has nine different names for drive types,  from
	 "Slow wheeled"  to "Jet Stream"  or  "Repulsor".  In essence,
	 there are two types of drives:  ground-based (wheeled, track-
	 ed) and hovering (stream, repulsor).  If one can say anything
	 about the differences, than probably that the hovering drives
	 are  potentially faster.  Basically though,  the fancy  types
	 mean  nothing.  Some hovering  drives can  carry considerably
	 more load than ground-based ones, some wheeled drives accele-
	 rate much more quickly. Neither drive type seems to be affec-
	 ted by friction,  so the effect  of weapon recoil  is more or
	 less the same.


  A drive unit's  efficiency is  strongly affected  by the load it  has to carry
  (i.e. the combined mass of the robot equipment). This makes  the mass capacity
  the primary parameter to consider when buying a new drive. The second most im-
  portant element is both acceleration and deceleration in relation to velocity;
  this defines the  "sliding range" of a drive.  Drives with little  sliding are
  very much preferred.

  This guide's  SHOPPING LIST  at the end  of this  section recommends  only two
  out of the 15 available drives.  This is not so much because  the other drives
  are bad,  but because they're  just not better than  the earlier ones.  Again,
  The Machines' balancing leaves much to wish for.

  Most notably,  there are two drives which cannot be used.  The Digipillar Sha-
  dow MK IV  has an acceleration  of 0 m/s no  matter how  light your load.  The
  Richardson R2 Megadrive looks like a nice enough drive in the shop, but if you
  buy it, it will not show up in your workshop. This is likely a bug.

  The DRIVE COMPARISON list below gives an  overview over the primary statistics
  of each drive and helps you pick the right one.

  Beware that it is  sometimes necessary  to switch between  drives to make some
  levels  easier or  even at  all finishable.  This  is usually  connected to  a
  drive's performance on ice or in levels heavy with acceleration arrows. All of
  these situations  can be solved using the L.A.G. Turboblast.  You need to hang
  on to this drive and switch to it whenever you need maximum control in a level
  rather than good velocity. 


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ DRIVE UNIT COMPARION						     DRIVE UNITS

  * In order of appearance
  * Names abbreviated
  * Secondary attributes omitted - see EQUIPMENT appendix
  * Attribute MASS CAPACITY replaced with actual accel/decel loss values
  * Two attributes corrected (IDTV   Decel  6 -> 10)
                             (Vosper Decel 15 -> 25)
  * The asterix (*) marks recommended equipment

                           
    Unit            Cost     Speed          Acceleration          Deceleration
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Kwakasaki  |  30.000 |  73 m/s | 28 m/s/s (-1/100kg) | 16 m/s/s (-1/200kg)
    Ludo GTL   |   5.000 |  31 m/s | 16 m/s/s (-1/110kg) | 12 m/s/s (-1/200kg)
    Dogipillar |  20.000 |  18 m/s |          -          | 26 m/s/s (-1/ 50kg)
    VER R-MI   |  27.500 |  32 m/s | 32 m/s/s (-1/125kg) | 32 m/s/s (-1/100kg)
    IDTV Super |  21.500 | 100 m/s | 16 m/s/s (-1/250kg) | 10 m/s/s (-1/500kg)
    L.A.G.     |  22.500 |  50 m/s | 64 m/s/s (-1/100kg) | 56 m/s/s (-1/200kg) *
    Pratt      |  40.000 | 180 m/s | 46 m/s/s (-1/ 45kg) |  8 m/s/s (-1/100kg)
    Toyotah    |  12.000 |  50 m/s | 18 m/s/s (-1/300kg) | 10 m/s/s (-1/600kg)
    Richardson |  25.500 |    -    |          -          |         -          
    Pheonix    |  24.900 |  70 m/s | 20 m/s/s (-1/ 30kg) | 10 m/s/s (-1/ 60kg)
    Victors    |  55.000 |  82 m/s | 32 m/s/s (-1/100kg) | 16 m/s/s (-1/200kg)
    Jaguar-Ford|  25.000 | 103 m/s | 30 m/s/s (-1/100kg) | 20 m/s/s (-1/200kg)
    Tyrell     |  32.000 | 130 m/s | 32 m/s/s (-1/ 40kg) | 20 m/s/s (-1/125kg)
    Rolls XII  |  30.000 | 140 m/s | 30 m/s/s (-1/ 80kg) | 30 m/s/s (-1/ 60kg)
    Vosper 9000| 110.000 | 150 m/s | 40 m/s/s (-1/200kg) | 25 m/s/s (-1/400kg) *



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ ARMOUR							 	  ARMOUR

  Armour protects your  robot's chassis and  its systems from damage.  There are
  seven different armours in The Machines,  each more powerful than the previous
  one.

  Armour is rather straight-forward.  Its power is determined by multiplying the
  two basic parameters, energy dissipation (in KW) and strength (in rounds). All
  armours are moderately heavy (100-300 kgs), with the exception of the best ar-
  mour, Steel, which weights a whopping 800 kgs.

  Armour does not absorb  the entire damage however.  With every hit,  there's a
  chance that other systems might get damaged as well.

  The exact specifications of the Mandalore armour are unknown. Judging from its
  performance on the battlefield,  its parameters lie pretty much midway between
  Heavy Plastic and Titanium. 

  Generally,  every armour is recommended buying.  There's no need to keep obso-
  lete armour unless you're really having an eye on mass.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ ARMOUR COMPARISON						 	  ARMOUR

  * In order of appearance
  * Abbreviated type names used

         Armour              Cost   Dissipation      Strength      Mass
         --------------------------------------------------------------
         Lt. Alloy     |    4.000 |       11 KW |   35 rounds |  100 kg
         Ultra-Flak    |   17.500 |       20 KW |  100 rounds |  150 kg
         Laminated     |   14.500 |       20 KW |  125 rounds |  195 kg
         Hvy Plas      |    9.800 |       20 KW |  150 rounds |  300 kg
         Mandalore     |   77.000 |     Unknown |     Unknown |  150 kg
         Titanium      |  120.000 |       50 KW |  120 rounds |  170 kg
         Steel         |   15.000 |       60 KW |  200 Rounds |  800 kg



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ FORCE FIELDS							    FORCE FIELDS

  Force Fields protect your robot's chassis from collision damage and at the sa-
  me time damage enemies on touch.  There are six force fields in  The Machines,
  each more powerful than the previous one.

  A force field's quality is governed by a single parameter, its power (in kilo-
  watts).  This value is directly comparable to a weapon's power. The best force
  field with 60  KWs is about one third as powerful as the best gun. In essence,
  this means  that destroying  an enemy  through collision  damage requires more
  hits than destroying an enemy with firepower.

  Bumping into foes is not recommended anyway,  since it inevitably damages your
  forcefield,  your armour and  likely other systems.  Repairing this  damage is
  costly. What is more, force field kills don't count towards  your kills rating
  (see QUICK HINTS and BETTING sections above).

  Force fields are moderately heavy.  Experienced (or patient) players  can save
  the weight and enter  levels without force fields if they're skilled at avoid-
  ing collisions. This is manageable with moderate effort in many levels.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ FORCE FIELD COMPARISON					    FORCE FIELDS

  * In order of appearance
  * Names abbreviated
                           
         Force Field                    Cost            Power      Mass
         --------------------------------------------------------------
         Stallone Sly Thumper     |   10.000 |          20 KW  | 150 kg
         Force Field Make Unknown |   22.400 | Unknown (25 KW) | 150 kg
         Kramdev, Force Field     |   15.000 |          30 KW  | 175 kg
         Refractor Model LSX989   |   20.000 |          35 KW  | 185 kg
         Maas-Neotek Expulsor V2  |   40.000 |          50 KW  | 225 kg
         Magnum Corp. Tiger 60    |   98.000 |          60 KW  | 300 kg


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ COMMUNICATIONS						  COMMUNICATIONS

  The communications unit is the link between you and your remote-controlled ro-
  bot.  There are five comm units  in The Machines,  each more powerful than the
  previous one.

  Frankly, I do not know what the effects of a comm units's power are. There se-
  ems to be no  noticeable difference;  your robot's controls function flawlessy
  no matter which comm unit is installed.

  When a comm unit has Anti-Jam capability,  there won't be any on-screen static
  any more whenever  your robot gets close to a radiation source  (i.e. a lamp).
  With comm  units without Anti-Jam,  the static increases the more  damaged the
  unit is.

  There is no need to switch back to older comm units once you've upgraded.  You
  can savely sell obsolete models.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ COMM UNIT COMPARISON						  COMMUNICATIONS

  * In order of appearance
  * Names abbreviated
                           
         Comm Unit                    Cost    Power   Anti-Jam     Mass
         --------------------------------------------------------------
         Nimrod Super Budget     |   5.000 |   50 W |       No | 150 kg
         Model 34 L 931 Miller	 |   9.000 |   50 W |       No |  50 kg
         Mitsusushi-Sinclair     |  22.000 |  100 W |       No | 120 kg
         Maas-Neotek Sleek Talk  |  25.000 |  140 W |      Yes | 220 kg
         Macaroni FM 97.3        |  12.000 |  110 W |      Yes | 150 kg



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ SHOPPING LIST						  	       EQUIPMENT

  This is a recommendation of which items to buy once they become available. The
  list ends at level 40 since there are no new items after this point. There are
  21 equipment items that are recommended buying.

  With armour, communications and force fields,  the next model is always better
  than the previous  one and can be bought without second thoughts  -  or almost
  without,  since you might want to consider weight in  relation to your drive's
  mass capacity.  If you follow the recommendations in the list,  you won't have
  any problems.

  Weapons and drives vary in more aspects than their power.  This recommendation
  is based on destructive  power plus rate of fire for weapons (single shot) and
  speed plus maneuverability for drives.  If you prefer multi-shot weapons,  you
  might want to consider switching to different models.


		 LVL | ITEM			| TYPE  |    COST
		----------------------------------------|--------
		  1  | Miller Light Com		| COMM  |   9.000
		  2  | Yazukayama Mark II	| GUN   |  24.900
		  3  |				|       |
		  4  | L.A.G. Turboblast	| DRIVE |  22.500
		  5  | FF Make Unknown	 	| FIELD |  22.400
		     | Imperial Armour	 	| ARMOR |  17.500
		  6  | Mitsusushi-Sinclair	| COMM  |  22.000
		  7  |				|       |
		  8  |				|       |
		  9  |				|       |
		 10  | Maas-Neotek Power-Drive  | GUN   | 117.000
		     | Metallica Orion 8.12	| ARMOR |  14.500
		     | Kramdev Force Field	| FIELD |  15.000
		 11  |				|       |
		 12  |				|       |
		 13  |				|       |
		 14  | W&S Plasma Projector II	| GUN   |  20.000
		 15  | Refractor Model LSX989	| FIELD |  20.000
		     | Macaroni FM 97.3		| COMM  |  12.000
		     | Plascrete Ultra VI	| ARMOR |   9.800
		     | Vosper Jupiter 9000	| DRIVE | 110.000
		 16  |				|       |
		 17  |				|       |
		 18  |				|       |
		 19  |				|       |
		 20  | Mandalorian Armour	| ARMOR |  77.000
		     | S&R Lanzkanone Lang	| GUN   | 150.000
		     | Maas-Neotek Expulsor V2	| FORCE |  40.000
		 21  |				|       |
		 22  |				|       |
		 23  |				|       |
		 24  |				|       |
		 25  | Magnum Corp. Tiger 60	| FIELD |  98.000
		 26  |				|       |
		 27  |				|       |
		 28  |				|       |
		 29  |				|       |
		 30  | Apollo Titanium Alloy	| ARMOR | 120.000
		     | Destruction Inc. Demon	| GUN	| 280.000
		 31  |				|       |
		 32  |				|       |
		 33  |				|       |
		 34  |				|       |
		 35  |				|       |
		 36  |				|       |
		 37  |				|       |
		 38  |				|       |
		 39  |				| 	|
		 40  | British Armour Steel     | ARMOR |  15.000









                    ########################################

                                 GAMEPLAY GUIDE

                    ########################################



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ ENEMIES					  		  GAMEPLAY GUIDE
	
  All 60 levels of  The Machines literally crawl  with enemy robots,  drones and
  installations. There are 13 different kinds of opponents in the game, of vary-
  ing sophistication.  In general,  all enemy types are pretty mindless and easy
  to destroy if you know their behavioral patterns.  They're only dangerous when
  they appear in masses,  or when the terrain is difficult (see MAP ELEMENTS be-
  low).

  All enemies are  confined to the  tiled level area,  exactly like  your robot.
  There are  no flying,  teleporting or  wall-walking opponents.  Enemies cannot
  open doors or  use teleporters.  Most foes  will simply home  in on you,  some
  shooting.

  All names with which I refer to the enemies in this strategy guide were coined
  by me. I do not know if there are official terms. Based on the description be-
  low, you should  have no problem recognizing and  distinguishing the opponents
  in the game.


         __ CANNON _____________________________________________________
		
	 Type:		Stationary one-directional gun
	 Tracking:	No
	 Damage:	Gunfire
	 
	 Frequency: 	Uncommon
	 Danger:	Low
	
	 Cannons are stationary guns 4x4 tiles in size which fire in one
	 direction in  regular intervals.  Cannons cannot move. They are
	 easy to destroy  from the side or by attacking them diagonally.
	 As they are sometimes  built into niches,  you have to learn to
	 move in between the cannon's shots, fire, then quickly move out
	 again.


         __ TURRET _____________________________________________________
	
	 Type:		Stationary multi-directional gun
	 Tracking:	No
	 Damage:	Gunfire

	 Frequency: 	very common
	 Danger:	Low

	 Turrets are small stationary guns which shoot in regular inter-
	 vals while  rotating clockwise  in 45 degree steps.  Turrets do
	 not target you directly, they rather cover the area around them
	 with their shots. When a turret fires in your direction, it ta-
	 kes seven steps  before it faces you again.  Since it's easy to
	 predict where a turret shoots next,  its projectiles are easily
	 avoided.  Turrets are weak and take few hits before they explo-
	 de. Beware: Sometimes there are multiple turrets stacked on top
	 of each other.


         __ BIG TURRET _________________________________________________
		
	 Type:		Stationary multi-directional gun
	 Tracking:	Yes
	 Damage:	Gunfire

	 Frequency: 	Common
	 Danger:	High

	 Big Turrets are the big brothers of turrets, 4x4 tiles in size.
	 Much  as turrets,  they are stationary  and can shoot  in eight
	 directions  in 45 degree steps.  However, the big turret tracks
	 your movement and fires in your direction.  Big turrets are of-
	 ten set next to each other so that they shoot at you simultane-
	 ously from  different directions.  This makes approaching  them
	 difficult. Try to use their size against them and hit their si-
	 des while not standing in their direct line of fire.


         __ MINE _______________________________________________________

	 Type:		Straight-moving explosive
	 Tracking:	Semi
	 Damage:	Collision
	
	 Frequency: 	Very common
	 Danger:	Moderate

	 Mines are  small green-black dishes that  quickly speed towards
	 you in a straight  line when you  get close to them. Mines move
	 in 90  degree angles only and do not change their  course while
	 moving.  They stop once they hit a wall,  or your robot. In the
	 latter case, they explode and deal collision damage. 

	 Mines are the single  most important reason why  you should ex-
	 plore unknown levels carefully and slowly.  Mines are dangerous
	 mainly due  to their speed.  They are  easily avoided  when you
	 know they're coming,  but more  often than not,  their approach
	 comes as  a surprise.  Mines are  easy to kill,  usually with a
	 single shot.  The best strategy is to face them and  shoot them
	 as they rush towards you.


         __ BIG MINE ___________________________________________________

	 Type:		Homing explosive
	 Tracking:	Yes
	 Damage:	Collision

	 Frequency: 	Rare
	 Danger:	High

	 Big mines are grey-yellow dishes 4x4 tiles in size.  Like their
	 small cousins, they explode on collision, dealing massive dama-
	 ge.  In addition,  they slowly home in on you until they are a-
	 ligned with you, then rush towards you in a straight line. 

	 Because of their  size and speed,  Big Mines  are very  hard to
	 evade. On the upside,  because of their size,  they are easy to
	 hit and sometimes get stuck on edges.  Your best bet is to face
	 and shoot them quickly before they hit.  Fortunately, Big Mines
	 are rare.


	 __ CRAWLER ____________________________________________________

	 Type:		Random mover
	 Tracking:	No
	 Damage:	Collision

	 Frequency: 	Very common
	 Danger:	Low

	 Crawlers  are  purple,  round,  bug-like  creatures that  crawl
	 through levels  at random  paths (though  in 45 degree  lines).
	 They do not track you, but can change their course at any time;
	 this makes  them hard to predict.  Crawlers are dangerous  only
	 when you let them come close, which shouldn't happen since they
	 are easily destroyed.


	 __ SEEKER _____________________________________________________

	 Type:		Homing mover
	 Tracking:	Yes
	 Damage:	Collision

	 Frequency: 	Uncommon
	 Danger:	Low

	 Seekers are sophisticated Crawlers,  turquise mechanical movers
	 that home in on your  robot on a collision course.  Easy to de-
	 stroy and only  dangerous when you let lots of them come close.


	 __ ROBOT ______________________________________________________

	 Type:		Homing mover
	 Tracking:	Yes
	 Damage:	Collision

	 Frequency: 	Rare
	 Danger:	Low


	 Robots are black-grey mechanical men that function exactly like
	 the Seekers,  i.e. they home in  on a collision course.  You'll
	 see only  a handful of  Robots in the game.  Easily avoided and
	 destroyed.


	 __ TANK _______________________________________________________

	 Type:		Homing shooter
	 Tracking:	Yes
	 Damage:	Gunfire

	 Frequency: 	Common
	 Danger:	Moderate

	 Tanks are  small green tracked  vehicles which  home in on your
	 robot while shooting in its direction.  Like all armed enemies,
	 tanks can only shoot in 45 degree angles,  but since they move,
	 they can hit you no matter where you stand. Tanks are moderate-
	 ly dangerous in every respect: They are moderately stong, mode-
	 ratly fast and moderatly armored.  The general strategy for ar-
	 med homing  enemies (see  GENERAL STRATEGY  section below)  ap-
	 plies.


	 __ BIG TANK ___________________________________________________

	 Type:		Homing shooter
	 Tracking:	Yes
	 Damage:	Gunfire

	 Frequency: 	Uncommon
	 Danger:	Moderate

	 Big tanks are exactly the same as normal tanks, only four times
	 the size. They are a little more dangerous since they fill more
	 space and make  evasion more difficult.  At the same time, they
	 are hard to miss when you shoot at them.


	 __ MINITANK ___________________________________________________

	 Type:		Homing shooter
	 Tracking:	Yes
	 Damage:	Gunfire

	 Frequency: 	Very common
	 Danger:	High

	 Minitanks are small,  grey, round vehicles with a gun.  They're
	 likely the most annoying enemies in the game,  and they're com-
	 mon at that.  There's no difference between Minitanks and other
	 homing shooters  (such as tanks) other than that  Minitanks can
	 really take a  lot until they explode.  Even with the best wea-
	 pons,  Minitanks will take two hits where  most other opponents
	 go down after one.  Always keep enough space for evasive maneu-
	 vers between you and them and shoot from a safe distance.



	 __ DROID ______________________________________________________

	 Type:		Homing shooter
	 Tracking:	Yes
	 Damage:	Gunfire

	 Frequency: 	Very common
	 Danger:	Moderate
 
	 Droids are  turquoise automatons who essentially  function like
	 all homing shooters. Common and moderately dangerous.


	 __ SOLDIER ____________________________________________________

	 Type:		Homing shooter
	 Tracking:	Yes
	 Damage:	Gunfire

	 Frequency: 	Very common
	 Danger:	Moderate

	 Soldiers  are  another  form of  homing  shooter,  though not as
	 strongly  armored  than their  mechanical counterparts.  They're
	 humanoid in form with a green uniform and red helmet. Common and
	 moderately dangerous.



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ MAP ELEMENTS							  GAMEPLAY GUIDE


  Apart from  floors and walls  (and enemies, of course),  there are a number of
  objects on The Machines maps which function as obstacles, hazards of even puz-
  zle elements.  You'll easily learn what all these do while playing,  but there
  may be more to it now and then.

	 __ DOORS ______________________________________________________
	 
	 * Doors come in two types: locked and unlocked.
	 * Locked doors are marked with a red number, which indicates
	   the corresponding key. 
	 * All doors open on touch (i.e. bump into them).
	 * Once opened, doors stay open. 
	 * Enemies cannot open doors. 
	 * Door areas are good places to funnel through enemies and
           finish them off one by one.


	 __ KEYS _______________________________________________________
	
	 * Keys are grey and marked with a yellow number next to them.
	 * The number refers to the door the key opens.
	 * There is a maximum of three keys per level.
	 * You pick up keys by moving over them. They appear in the
	   status bar at the top of the screen.
	 * Keys can only be used once. Rarely, there will be two doors
	   of the same number. You can only open one.


	 __ SWITCHES ___________________________________________________

	 * Switches are small square elevations in the center of a nor-
	   mal tile. They are sometimes hard to see.
	 * Switches are activated by moving over them. You hear a click-
	   ing sound.
	 * Switches can only be pressed once. They never reset.
	 * A switch is always linked to a wall or floor tile, which it
	   either creates or removes.
	 * Switches are always part of simple puzzles along the lines of
	   "remove an obstacle" or "create a path".


	 __ INVISIBLE TILES ____________________________________________

	 * Invisible tiles or walls look like void (i.e. the stuff you
	   fall into when you move over the border of the map), but are
	   in fact solid.
	 * They become visible once the robot moves onto them (floor
	   tiles) or bumps into them (walls).
	 * Usually, invisible tiles form a walkway over the void from
	   one room to another. It's not always apparent where they are,
	   especially if they form a curve. Typical case of trial and 
	   error.
	 * Fortunately, invisible tiles are rare.


	 __ VANISHING WALLS ____________________________________________

	 * Some walls are not solid, but pervious.
	 * They vanish on touch.
	 * If you're in an apparent dead-end and there seems to be no
	   alternative way, search for vanishing walls.
	 * Sometimes there are invisible floor tiles directly behind a
	   vanishing wall. Move carefully.
	 * The very last level (60) is full ov vanishing walls.


	 __ ARROWS _____________________________________________________
	
	 * Arrows accelerate your robot in the direction they point.
	 * They are essentially one-way streets.
	 * Drives with high acceleration values can slow, stop or even
	   reverse your movement on arrows. Having a light load helps.
	 * Arrows can be dangerous when they accelerate you towards ene-
	   mies or even ledges. Look ahead!
	 * Some arrows are invisible and will appear only when your ro-
	   bot moves over them. They are extremely dangerous.
	 * It is generally advisable to steer in the opposite direction
	   when on an arrow path. This will slow you down and give you
	   time to think.
	 * Never fight while moving on arrows, unless you have absolu-
	   tely no choice.
	 * In levels with lots of arrows, use the L.A.G. Turboblast
	   drive.


	 __ TUBES ______________________________________________________

	 * Tubes are essentially corridors with a roof. You can't look
	   into them.
	 * You do not see your robot while its in a tube. Its position
	   is usually near the center of the screen.
	 * Worse, you cannot see enemies while they are in tubes. This
	   makes it dangerous to rush into tubes head over heels.
	 * The best strategy is to shoot enemies before they have a
	   chance to enter a tube.
	 * The next best strategy is to stand in front of a tube and see
	   if shots come out of it (listen for shooting sounds, too).
	   Quickly dodge them, then fire back in the direction the
	   shots came from. If you hear an explosion, the enemy is de-
	   stroyed.
	 * Alternatively, wait until the enemy appears from the tube.


	 __ TRAPDOORS __________________________________________________

	 * Trapdoors are floor tiles that open and close in regular in-
	   tervals.
	 * Open trapdoors are deadly. Your robot falls into the void.
	 * Trapdoors are only deadly if they are open all the way. Your
	   robot can savely move over them while they open or close,
	   i.e. while the tile is animated.
	 * Rows of trapdoors usually open in a pattern. Watch them care-
	   fully and time your movement accordingly.
	 * Enemies move over trapdoors, but do not fall into them. How-
	   ever, they are stuck while the trapdoor is open and thus sit-
	   ting ducks.
	 * Trapdoors become very common in later levels. You need to
	   learn to deal with them.
	 * Be especially wary of trapdoors next to or within ice areas.
	   You need to steer slowly and carefully in order not to slide
	   into an open hole.
	 * A drive unit with a high velocity makes moving over rows of
	   trapdoors a lot easier.
	 * On the other hand, a slow drive with good deceleration makes
	   it much less likely to fall into a gaping hole by accident.
	 * Remember weapon recoil when fighting next to trapdoors. Your
	   robot mightbe pushed backwards and over the ledge.


	 __ LEDGES & PITS _______________________________________________

	 * The Machines levels are flat surfaces hovering over the void.
	   This void is deadly if your robot falls into it.
	 * Level borders are not always surrounded by walls. Sometimes
	   there are open ledges.
	 * In addition, there are often bigger or smaller holes in the
	   floor within the level.
	 * Ledges and pits call for careful maneuvering when you're close
	   to them. This is especially true in the rare cases where there
	   are small, open bridges over the void. Don't fall over.
	 * Remember weapon recoil when fighting next to trapdoors. Your
	   robot mightbe pushed backwards and over the ledge.


	 __ PONDS _______________________________________________________

	 * Ponds only appear in garden levels.
	 * They are a variation of the holes.
	 * Your robot will sink and be destroyed when it falls into a
	   pond.
	 * However, there are two kinds of ponds: bubbling ones and still
	   ones.
	 * Only the bubbling ponds are deadly. Your robot can move over
	   still water.


	 __ BLOCKS ______________________________________________________

	 * Blocks are square grey obstacles.
	 * Some blocks can be moved, some can't. There's no way to dis-
	   tinguish them other than shooting at them.
	 * When a block is hit by a shot, they will move in the direction
	   of the shot if the adjancent tile is solid and unoccupied.
	 * Some blocks move only in specific directions, even if all sur-
	   rounding tiles are empty. Try shooting at different sides.
	 * Blocks cannot be moved by bumping into them.
	 * Blocks will not move if they are hit by enemy projectiles.
	 * Blocks cannot be pushed into the void.
	 * Moving blocks is usually part of "clear the way" type puzzles.
		

	 __ TELEPORTS ___________________________________________________

	 * Teleport pads are yellow-red circles that look like targets.
	 * Stepping on a teleport pad moves the robot to a fixed location
	   somewhere else on the map.
	 * This can be extremely dangerous since teleports sometimes lead
	   to small rooms full of enemies. In this case, quickly look for
	   a escape route or a safe corner and try to hold the enemies
	   away from you.
	 * Teleports are essentially one-way. If there is another tele-
	   port pad at your destination, it usually leads back to where
	   you came from - but not always.
	 * Enemies cannot teleport. If in trouble, you can use the pads
	   as escape routes.


	 __ ICE TILES ___________________________________________________


	 * Ice tiles have reduced friction, which means that your robot
	   slides a long way.
	 * Maneuvering on ice is difficult. The chance to bump into
	   walls, enemies or dangerous obstacles is increased.
	 * Slow drives with good braking capabilities have a small advan-
	   tage on ice.
	 * Never accelerate to top speed while on ice, especially not
	   with fast drives. Press the movement keys in short increments
	   and try to keep a slow pace. If necessary, steer against the
	   direction of your slide to slow down.
	 * Move to your destination slowly and directly. Do not fight on
	   ice!


	 __ MONEY _______________________________________________________

	 * Money tokens are bright yellow text on normal floor tiles in-
	   dicating an amount of NuYen.
	 * There are four variants: 100 NuYen, 500 NuYen, 1k (= 1,000)
	   NuYen and 10k (= 10,000) NuYen.
	 * Collect them by moving over them. The stack will vanish as the
	   NuYen are added to your account.
	 * In some levels, there are fake stacks which don't give any mo-
	   ney and don't disappear.


	 __ POINTS ______________________________________________________

	 * Point tokens are complementary to NuYen tokens, only that they
	   raise your score.
	 * There are five token types: 100 PTS, 200 PTS, 500 PTS, 1k
	   (= 1,000) PTS and 10k (= 10,000) PTS.
	 * In some levels, the point tokens' face value and their actual
	   value don't match. 100 PTS tokens suddenly give 500 PTS, 500
	   PTS tokens even 10,000. Occasionally, PTS tokens don't add
	   points at all but NuYen. Not a bad thing either.


	 __ GOAL TOKEN __________________________________________________

	 * The goal token is the key to the goal.
	 * You have to collect the goal token before you enter the goal.
	   Otherwise, nothing will happen when you step on the goal.
	 * Collecting the goal token will start the destruction timer in
	   the Destuction Zone levels. You have one minute to find the
	   goal and escape.
	 * There may be fake goal tokens around which cannot be picked
	   up.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ TRAPS								  GAMEPLAY GUIDE


  Some levels contain traps. Traps are situations which either kill you instant-
  ly or lead you  to dead-ends with no escape.  In the latter case,  you have to
  abort the level manually with the  Escape key. There are essentially two types
  of traps:

	 Teleport trap: A one-way teleporter sends you to a dead-end with
			no return pad.

	 Arrow trap:    Directional arrows move you into abyss or into a
	 		dead-end.

  The worse variant of the arrow trap is  one where its arrows are initially in-
  visible (see ARROWS above).  They are rare and usually located  near ledges or
  pits.

  It's usually  hard to detect a  trap until it's  too late.  They are classical
  trail-and-error situations. If you're stuck in a trap, you have to restart the
  level, this time avoiding the critical area. Fortunately, traps are rare.

  Arrow traps can be negated by using the L.A.G. Turboblast, the only drive that
  can move across directional arrows. You're robot mustn't be too heavy though.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ TIME								  GAMEPLAY GUIDE
 
  Each normal The Machines level has a  finishing time of 3:00 minutes.  The fi-
  nishing time is not compulsory; you can take as long as you want.  The time is
  only relevant for the time bonus which you are awarded at the end of the level
  (see  SPEED in the  MONEY GUIDE section above for a  detailed explanation) and
  for time bets (see BETTING in the MONEY GUIDE section).

  There are  ten levels in the game where time is critical;  they are called De-
  struction Zones.  The timer is turned off  at the beginning of the level,  and
  starts counting backwards from 1:00 minute as soon as you pick up the goal to-
  ken.  When the clock reaches 0:00, the level explodes.  Your robot will be de-
  stroyed if it hasn't reached the goal in time.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ SCORE								  GAMEPLAY GUIDE

  The game keeps track of your score,  as a measure of your skill. Your score is
  not a gameplay element; you cannot spend score points. The score never decrea-
  ses. You collect score points on the maps only, in two ways:
		
	 * Collect point tokens (see above)
	 * Shoot enemies

  Shooting enemies increases your score depending on their size.  All small ene-
  mies are worth 2,000 points, all big enemies 5,000.  You score  points only if
  you shoot enemies; force field kills (collisions) don't count.

  Your score determines  your ranking  in the league;  you can access the league
  table  from the  city menu.  This is  only  useful  if you're  playing  with /
  against another human and want to compare scores.

  Good players should have a score of  over 8 million points at the end of level
  60.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ DAMAGE							  GAMEPLAY GUIDE

  Getting damaged  is what you want to avoid,  since damage always  means costly
  repairs. What is more, it also means an instant efficiency loss in the damaged
  equipment part, which can make finishing the level more difficult and even im-
  possible.

  There is no environmental damage in The Machines; all damage is always related
  to enemies. They damage your robot by either gunfire or collision.

  You robot is equipped with protective gear.  The force field absorbs collision
  damage,  the armour gunfire damage.  Both systems are not vital  for the func-
  tioning of your robot,  but they prevent the vital systems from taking damage.

  The protection through  force fields and armour is not perfect.  With each hit
  your robot takes,  other systems will also be damaged.  The extent of this da-
  mages depends on the force of  the hit in relation to the quality  of your ar-
  mour or force field.

  If your robot's armour is worn down to 0 percent, additional hits will direct-
  ly damage your robots chassis. If the chassis is down to 0 percent, your robot
  explodes, destroying all equipment on board. Chassis damage cannot be repaired
  between levels. You have a total of five chassis. They cannot be replaced.

  The three vital robot systems communications, weapons and drive unit will lose
  efficiency relative to their condition. The symptoms are:

	 Comm Unit	Progressively more on-screen static
	 Drive Unit	Loss of speed and maneuverability
	 Weapons	Loss of power; enemies take more hits


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ BOOSTS							  GAMEPLAY GUIDE

  Your robot can  activate a second-long  speed boost that propels it forward at
  high speed. The boost can be used to speed through dangerous areas (e.g. mine-
  fields), to escape  critical situations or to pass arrows.  The latter is pro-
  bably the most  useful use,  since it  is a possible  exit strategy  for arrow
  traps (see TRAPS).

  You begin the game with three boosts.

  Interestingly enough,  boosts do not  automatically reload,  and it is unclear
  whether they  can be reloaded manually.  At this time,  it seems that you have
  exactly three uses of boost for the entire game.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ MISSILES							  GAMEPLAY GUIDE

  Missiles are homing projectiles.  For a detailed description,  see MISSILES in
  the EQUIPMENT > WEAPONS section.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ GENERAL STRATEGY						  GAMEPLAY GUIDE

  Your general approach to the  game should follow the  "Save & Explore & Load &
  Bet & Don't get damaged"  strategy as described in the QUICK HINTS  section at
  the top of this document. 

  The Machines  is not  a difficult  game in  terms of  complexity and  required
  skill. The prime consoderations are:


	 __ LOOK AHEAD __________________________________________________

	 Enemies advance and fire in set patterns. You have to anticipate
	 were they move, when they fire and where the bolts go. That way,
	 it is easy to both dodge their attacks and avoid being cornered.
	 There are some situations where you can't look ahead, e.g. tele-
	 porters that  take you to  unknown rooms.  Be prepared to assess
	 the situation quickly and move away from the enemies into a safe
	 section of the room.

	 __ ADVANCE SLOWLY ______________________________________________

	 Don't rush into unknown territory or you will find yourself sur-
	 rounded. Always keep your back open and free of enemies. Be pre-
	 pared to retreat  to safe places.  Use doorways and small corri-
	 dors to funnel enemies through and take them out one by one.  Go
	 very slowly when close to ledge, holes, or on narrow bridges.

	 __ DODGE _______________________________________________________

	 Don't get hit. This means dodging shots and avoiding collisions.
	 Always have room to your sides and back to move to.  Don't stand
	 still if facing  moving enemies.  Move away from  them while fi-
	 ring. With stationary turrets,  find their blind spot  and shoot
	 from there, moving in and out their line of fire if necessary.

	 __ SHOOT ACCURATELY ____________________________________________

	 Don't spray shots. You will likely only get confused in the tur-
	 moil, you will have to wait for the next shot with slow weapons,
	 and you'll ruin your accuracy score if you bet money on it.  Try
	 to identify the most dangerous enemy instead,  focus on this one
	 and try to make every shot hit the mark.


  If you find it very difficult to beat a level, chances are that you're not ap-
  propriately equipped.  Refer to the  SHOPPING LIST and LEVEL DATABASE sections
  for advice.





                    ########################################

                                 LEVEL DATABASE

                    ########################################


  This section lists the 60 levels of  The Machines in chronological  order with
  basic information on new equipment and pre-level and in-level statistics.


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 1 - EASY AS PIE (3:00) ############################################# L01


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

    The Uzi 9mm Sub Machine Gun               Ludo Tamara GTL
    Weapon                27,500 NuYen        Drive Unit             5,000 NuYen

    Fance & Lerman Shurikan Missile           
    Missile                2,000 NuYen        


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Model 34 L 931 Miller Light Com           Time Left >0M   3-2           safe
    Comm Unit              9,900 NuYen        Survive Level   5-4           safe
                                              Accuracy >90%   2-1       possible
    Illegal Info           1,800 NuYen        Accuracy 100%   3-1    challenging
    "Place a bet and win some cash."


  RECOMMENDED: Model 34 L 931 Miller Light Com


  ENEMIES__________________________ 12      SPOILS________________________ 5,000

    6 Crawlers				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  5,000
    2 Mines                                   NuYen (Cool)     :  -
    2 Big Turrets
    2 Seekers				      ___________________________ 30,000
					      Points (Tokens)  :  -
					      Points (Enemies) : 30,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 2 - FOLLOW THE LEADER (3:00) ####################################### L02


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

                                              Babcock Brothers MK 27 Pea-Shooter
                                              Weapon                 2,000 NuYen

                                              Dogipillar Shadow MK IV
                                              Drive Unit            20,000 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    The Yamatomato Yazukayama Mark II         Time Left >0M   3-2           safe
    Weapon                24,900 NuYen        Accuracy >80%   5-3           safe
                                              No Kills        3-1      very hard
    Illegal Info           2,000 NuYen        Even Hits       5-4         gamble
    "Don't pay the Dogipillar drive
     unit."


  RECOMMENDED: The Yamatomato Yazukayama Mark II


  ENEMIES__________________________ 18      SPOILS_______________________ 38,000

    8 Crawlers				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  3,000
    2 Big Mines                               NuYen (Cool)     : 35,000 (x7)
    4 Soldiers
    4 Seekers				      ___________________________ 46,000
					      Points (Tokens)  :  4,000
					      Points (Enemies) : 42,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 3 - INFESTATION (3:00) ############################################# L03


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

                                              Badd-Year Rubber BulletType 120-60
                                              Weapon                 8,000 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    VER R-MI Panzers		              Survive Level   5-4 	    safe
    Drive Unit		  27,500 NuYen        Time Left >1m   3-1           safe
                                              Even Kills      3-2       possible
    IDTV Super 100       		      Accuracy >90%   2-1    challenging
    Drive Unit            21,000 NuYen

    Illegal Info           2,200 NuYen
    "Some blocks can be moved by being
     shot."


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 11      SPOILS_______________________ 70,000

    11 Crawlers				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 70,000
     		                              NuYen (Cool)     : -

					      ___________________________ 22,000
					      Points (Tokens)  : -
					      Points (Enemies) : 22,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 4 - A STROLL IN THE PARK (3:00) #################################### L04


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

                                              L.A.G. Robotics Turboblast
                                              Drive unit            22,500 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Pratt & Wibbley Jetstream	              Time Left >1m   5-2 	    safe
    Drive Unit		  40,000 NuYen        No Kills        3-1      very hard
                                              Even Hits       3-2         gamble
    Illegal Info           2,400 NuYen 	      Accuracy 100%   2-1    challenging
    "Go right."


  RECOMMENDED: L.A.G. Robotics Turboblast


  ENEMIES__________________________ 15      SPOILS________________________ 3,400

    6 Turrets				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  3,400
    3 Soldiers	                              NuYen (Cool)     : -
    6 Seekers
					      ___________________________ 30,000
					      Points (Tokens)  : -
					      Points (Enemies) : 30,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 5 - PIPE MANIA (3:00) ############################################## L05


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________



  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Copley and Grahan's SA80	              Survive Level   3-2 	    safe
    Weapon		   7,900 NuYen        Time Left >0m   2-1           safe
                                              Time Left >1m   4-1       possible
    Damage Inc. Mega-Blasta MK 5.08 	      Kills >10       2-1           safe
    Weapon		  30,000 NuYen

    Imperial Armour (Ultra-Flak)
    Armour		  17,500 NuYen

    Force Field Make Unknown
    Force Field		  22,400 NuYen

    Illegal Info           2,600 NuYen
    "You will find the goal tokens on 
     the left."


  RECOMMENDED: Force Field Make Unknown, Imperial Armour (Ultra-Flak)


  ENEMIES__________________________ 14      SPOILS________________________ 1,200

    14 Turrets				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  1,200
   	        	                      NuYen (Cool)     : -
    
					      ___________________________ 30,800
					      Points (Tokens)  :  2,800
					      Points (Enemies) : 28,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 6 - DESTRUCTION ZONE 1 (1:00) ###################################### L06


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

                                              Toyotah Carfona
                                              Drive unit            12,000 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Mitsusushi-Sinclair Uplink ZX-57          Time Left >0m   3-2 	    safe
    Comm Unit		  22,000 NuYen        No Kills        5-2      very hard
                                              Kills >30       4-1     impossible
    Illegal Info           2,800 NuYen 	      Accuracy >80%   5-3       possible
    "Find the GOAL before you collect 
     the token."


  RECOMMENDED: Mitsusushi-Sinclair Uplink Type ZX-57


  ENEMIES__________________________ 10      SPOILS_______________________ 10,500

    1 Turret				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 10,500
    1 Big Turret                              NuYen (Cool)     : -
    2 Robots
    2 Soldiers				      ___________________________ 43,000
    4 Mines				      Points (Tokens)  : 20,000
					      Points (Enemies) : 23,000	





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 7 - THE MAZE OF ARROWS (3:00) ###################################### L07


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

    Richardson R2 Megadrive                   
    Drive Unit		  25,500 NuYen        


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           3,000 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2    challenging
    "Buy the L.A.G. Turboblast drive          No Kills        5-4    challenging
     before attempting this level."           Accuracy >90%   3-2       possible
     	      				      Accuracy 100%   3-1    challenging


  RECOMMENDED: L.A.G Turboblast


  ENEMIES__________________________ 52      SPOILS_______________________ 30,000

    51 Turret				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  20,000
    1 Big Turret                              NuYen (Cool)     :  10,000 (x2)
    
    					      __________________________ 164,500
    					      Points (Tokens)  :  57,500
					      Points (Enemies) : 107,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 8 - GOING FOR GOAL (3:00) ########################################## L08


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________
    


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Frantti JWC2LP Experimental Weapon        Time Left >1m   5-2    challenging
    Weapon		  34,900 NuYen        Even Kills      5-4       possible
                                              Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
    Pheonix Repulsorlift	 	      Kills >30       7-2     impossible
    Drive Unit            24,900 NuYen

    Illegal Info           3,200 NuYen
    "Look very carefully for switches 
     on the floor."


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 29      SPOILS_______________________ 22,200

     1 Turret				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 12,200
     3 Big Turrets                            NuYen (Cool)     : 10,000 (x2)
    10 Seekers
     4 Soldiers				      ___________________________ 77,000
     7 Mines				      Points (Tokens)  : 12,000
     4 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 65,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 9 - DAISY CRISIS (3:00) ############################################ L09


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

    Maas-Neotek Comms Sleek Talk MK 3
    Comm Unit            25,000 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Victors Drives PLC Warrior XXV            Survive Level   3-2 	    safe
    Drive Unit		  55,000 NuYen        Time Left >0m   2-1           safe
                                              Time Left >1m   4-1       possible
    Illegal Info           3,400 NuYen 	      Kills >10       2-1           safe
    "Down, up, down, up, down, up, 
     from player one's point of view."


  RECOMMENDED: Maas-Neotek Comms Sleek Talk MK 3


  ENEMIES__________________________ 23      SPOILS_______________________ 18,500

    14 Turrets				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 13,500
     3 Big Turrets                            NuYen (Cool)     : 15,000 (x3)
     4 Seekers
     2 Cannons				      ___________________________ 74,600
    					      Points (Tokens)  : 13,600
					      Points (Enemies) : 61,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 10 - THE SEWER (3:00) ############################################## L10


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

    Maas-Neotek Power-Drive 7                 Kramdev, Device Force Field    
    Weapon		 117,000 NuYen        Force Field	    15,000 NuYen

    Jaguar-Ford Escort E-Type                 Metallica Orion 8.12 (LAMINATED)
    Drive Unit            25,000 NuYen	      Armour		    14,500 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           3,600 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2           safe
    "Buy the Powerdrive Weapon before         No Kills        5-2    challenging
     trying this level."         	      Kills >30       4-1     impossible
     	      				      Accuracy >70%   5-3           safe


  RECOMMENDED: Maas-Neotek Power-Drive 7
	       Metallica Orion 8.12 (LAMINATED)
	       Kramdev, Device Force Field


  ENEMIES__________________________ 12      SPOILS________________________ 7,000

    12 Crawlers				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  7,000
    		                              NuYen (Cool)     : -
    
    					      ___________________________ 24,500
    					      Points (Tokens)  : -
					      Points (Enemies) : 24,000	





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 11 - COSMOPOLIS (3:00) ############################################# L11


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

    				              Tyrell Corp Nebulon   
    					      Drive Unit	    32,000 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           3,800 NuYen        Time Left >1m   8-1      very hard
    "Use the teleport then be ready           Kills >50       6-1     impossible
     for a fight." 	        	      Accuracy >70%   3-1           safe
     	      				      Accuracy >90%   5-1    challenging


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 26      SPOILS_______________________ 31,000

    4 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   : 16,000
    9 Soldiers		                      NuYen (Cool)     : 15,000 (x3)
    5 Seekers
    2 Mines				      ___________________________ 68,800
    3 Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  :  4,800
    3 Minitanks				      Points (Enemies) : 64,000	





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 12 - DESTRUCTION ZONE 2 (1:00) ##################################### L12


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

    Rolls Aerospace Pegasus XII		       
    Drive Unit		  30,000 NuYen       


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    The Paterson MI Glentanner Special        Time Left >0m   5-2 	    safe
    Weapon		  34,900 NuYen        Kills > 50      8-1     impossible
                                              Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
    Illegal Info           4,000 NuYen 	      Kills > 40      7-2     impossible
    "Pick the mines off one at a time,
     then collect the money."


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 12      SPOILS_______________________ 14,000

    12 Mines				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 14,000
                		              NuYen (Cool)     : -
     
     					      ___________________________ 24,000
    					      Points (Tokens)  : -
					      Points (Enemies) : 24,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 13 - RUSH III (3:00) ############################################### L13


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________



  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           4,200 NuYen        Survive Level   3-2           safe
    "Go down blasting."			      Time Left >0m   2-1     	    safe
    		 	        	      Time Left >1m   4-1       possible
     	      				      Kills >10       2-1    	    safe

  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 36      SPOILS________________________ 6,300

    4 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :  6,300
    9 Turrets		                      NuYen (Cool)     : -
    2 Big Mines
    3 Mines				      ___________________________ 94,000
    13 Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  :  4,000
    3 Minitanks				      Points (Enemies) : 90,000	
    2 Soldiers




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 14 - FLOWER POWER (3:00) ########################################### L14


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

    				              West & Smithon Plasma Projector II
    					      Weapon		    20,000 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           4,400 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2           safe
    "Buy the Plasma Project 2          	      No Kills 5-2    4-2      very hard
     a.s.a.p." 	        	    	      Kills >30       4-1    challenging
     	      				      Accuracy >70%   5-3    	    safe


  RECOMMENDED: West & Smithon Plasma Projector II


  ENEMIES__________________________ 31      SPOILS_______________________ 24,000

    6 Cannons			     	      NuYen (Tokens)   :  9,000
    2 Big Turrets		              NuYen (Cool)     : 15,000 (x3)
    6 Tueerts
    7 Mines				      ___________________________ 90,500
    5 Minitanks				      Points (Tokens)  :  4,500
    5 Soldiers				      Points (Enemies) : 86,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 15 - THE PIE PIPER (3:00) ########################################## L15


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

			                      Macaroni FM 97.3
        				      Comm Unit             12,000 NuYen

           				      Variplas Ind. Plascrete Ultra VI
        				      Armour		     9.800 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Vosper Motors PLC Jupiter 9000            Time Left >1m   5-2       possible
    Drive unit           110,000 NuYen        No Kills 5-4    5-4      very hard
					      Accuracy >90%   3-2    challenging
    Refractor Force Field Model LSX989        Accuracy 100%   3-1      very hard
    Force Field           20.000 NuYen
                                              
    Illegal Info           4,600 NuYen
    "Beware the collapsing platform."


  RECOMMENDED: Refractor Force Field Model LSX989
	       Macaroni FM 97.3
	       Variplas Industries Plascrete Ultra VI (HVY PLAS)
	       Vosper Motors PLC Jupiter 9000


  ENEMIES__________________________ 29      SPOILS_______________________ 14,800

    3 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 14,800
    4 Big Turrets                             NuYen (Cool)     :  -
    7 Turrets
    3 Big Mines				      __________________________ 103,400
    1 Mine				      Points (Tokens)  : 15,400
    2 Minitanks				      Points (Enemies) : 88,000	
    6 Soldiers
    3 Seekers



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 16 - ULTRA FLAK ATTACK (3:00) ###################################### L16


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________



  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           4,800 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2    challenging
    "You don't need to go into room 2"        Even Kills      5-4    challenging
	 	        	    	      Accuracy >70%   3-1       possible
     	      				      Kills > 30      7-2     impossible


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 27      SPOILS_______________________ 20,500

    1 Big Mine			     	      NuYen (Tokens)   : 10,500
    1 Mine		              	      NuYen (Cool)     : 10,000 (x2)
    1 Big Turret
    6 Turrets				      ___________________________ 78,000
    2 Big Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  : 12,000
    2 Minitanks				      Points (Enemies) : 66,000	
    2 Soldiers
    8 Seekers
    4 Crawlers




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 17 - ROBOTS ATTACK (3:00) ########################################## L17


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________



  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           5,000 NuYen        Survive Level   3-2    	    safe
    "Once in the room with the GOAL           Time Left >0m   2-1    	    safe
     run down the arrows past the	      Time Left >1m   4-1       possible
     mines; do not try to shoot."	      Kills >10       2-1     	    safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 22      SPOILS_______________________ 21,500

    6 Mines			     	      NuYen (Tokens)   :  6,500
    3 Big Turrets		              NuYen (Cool)     : 15,000 (x3)
    2 Turrets
    4 Minitanks				      ___________________________ 55,500
    4 Soldiers				      Points (Tokens)  :  2,500
    2 Seekers				      Points (Enemies) : 53,000	
    1 Crawler




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 18 - DESTRUCTION ZONE 3 (1:00) ##################################### L18


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________



  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Zeiss - Armco Pulsed Laser MK 14          Time Left >0m   5-2           safe
    Weapon                60,000 NuYen        No Kills        5-4      very hard
					      Kills >30       3-2       possible
    Illegal Info           5,200 NuYen        Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
    "Find the GOAL killing enemies as
     you go, then collect the goal
     token."

  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 37      SPOILS_______________________ 11,900

    2  Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 11,900
    5  Big Turrets			      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
    5  Turrets
    6  Mines				      ___________________________ 98,600
    10 Minitanks			      Points (Tokens)  :  3,600
    9  Crawlers				      Points (Enemies) : 95,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 19 - MAD MECHANOIDS DISEASE (3:00) ################################# L19


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________



  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           5,400 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2       possible
    "Far right, then bottom right."           No Kills        5-4    challenging
	 	        	    	      Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
     	      				      Accuracy >90%   7-2       possible


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 18      SPOILS_______________________ 11,500

    2 Cannons			     	      NuYen (Tokens)   : 11,500
    5 Big Turret		              NuYen (Cool)     : -
    6 Turrets
    5 Minitanks				      ___________________________ 57,000
    					      Points (Tokens)  : -
    					      Points (Enemies) : 57,000	
    


 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 20 - TUBULAR WORLDS (3:00) ######################################### L20


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

   Maas-Neotek Expulsor V2
   Force Field     	  40.000 NuYen

   Specker & Rosch Lanzkanone Lang
   Weapon     		 150.000 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Mandalorian Battle Armour                 Time Left >1m   5-2       possible
    Armour           	  77,000 NuYen        Even Hits       5-4         gamble
					      Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
    Illegal Info           5,600 NuYen        Kills >30       7-2     impossible
    "Do not go into any of the rooms
     on the left."


  RECOMMENDED: Maas-Neotek Expulsor V2
	       Specker & Rosch Lanzkanone Lang
	       Mandalorian Battle Armour (MANDALORE)


  ENEMIES__________________________ 22      SPOILS____________________________ -

    13 Mines				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  -
    9  Tanks                    	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -

					      ___________________________ 55,400
					      Points (Tokens)  : 11,400
					      Points (Enemies) : 44,000	



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 21 - ROBOT RAIDERS (3:00) ########################################## L21


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________



  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           5,800 NuYen        Survive Level   5-2           safe
    "Use the L.A.G. Turboblast, search        Time Left >0m   3-1    challenging
     for a secret door."	 	      Time Left >1m   5-1      very hard
     	      				      Kills >10       3-1           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 59      SPOILS_______________________ 45,500

    7 Cannons			     	      NuYen (Tokens)   :  25,500
    8 Big Turret		              NuYen (Cool)     :  20,000 (x4)
    3 Turrets
    2 Big Mines				      __________________________ 214,600
    21 Mines				      Points (Tokens)  :  30,600
    6 Big Tanks				      Points (Enemies) : 184,000	
    3 Minitanks
    3 Seekers
    6 Crawlers




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 22 - DROID DRONE ZONE (3:00) ####################################### L22


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________



  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           6,000 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2       possible
    "Destroy turrets to reveal         	      No Kills        7-2      very hard
     switches."	 	      		      Kills >30       6-1     impossible
     	      				      Accuracy >80%   7-3       possible


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 22      SPOILS_______________________ 16,000

    16 Big Turret			      NuYen (Tokens)   : 11,000
     4 Mines		       		      NuYen (Cool)     :  5,000 (x1)
     2 Big Tanks
					      __________________________ 102,000
					      Points (Tokens)  :  4,000
					      Points (Enemies) : 98,000	





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 23 - CURSE OF THE CUBE (3:00) ###################################### L23


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________



  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           6,200 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2       possible
    "Get the West and Smithon          	      No Kills        5-4     impossible
     Grenadier and shoot mines long	      Accuracy >80%   3-2       possible
     distance."	      			      Accuracy >90%   3-1    challenging


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 41      SPOILS____________________________ ?

     2 Cannons			      	      NuYen (Tokens)   : ?
    10 Mines		       		      NuYen (Cool)     : -
     6 Big Turrets
     1 Turret				      ________________________________ ?
     1 Big Tank				      Points (Tokens)  : ?
     4 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 109,000	
     8 Soldiers
     4 Seekers
     5 Crawlers




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 24 - DESTRUCTION ZONE 4 (1:00) ##################################### L24


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________



  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           6,400 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2     impossible
    "Do not collect the goal token            Even Kills      5-4       possible
     until you have destroyed all 	      Accuracy >70%   3-2           safe
     enemies and taken all the money."	      Kills >30       7-2     impossible


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 27      SPOILS______________________ 710,000

    9 Mines			      	      NuYen (Tokens)   : 710,000
    4 Big Turrets		       	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
    6 Big Tanks
    3 Minitanks				      ___________________________ 84,000
    5 Soldiers				      Points (Tokens)  :  -
     			      		      Points (Enemies) :  84,000	
     
     
     

 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 25 - THE TUBE (3:00) ############################################### L25


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

   Magnum Corp. Tiger 60		      West and Smithon Grenadier
   Force Field     	  98.000 NuYen	      Weapon		    26.000 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           6,600 NuYen        Survive Level   3-2           safe
    "Shoot down tubes to destroy              Time Left >0m   2-1           safe
     wandering troops." 	      	      Time Left >1m   4-1       possible
     				      	      Kills >10       2-1           safe


  RECOMMENDED: Magnum Corp. Tiger 60


  ENEMIES__________________________ 14      SPOILS____________________________ -

    3 Big Mines				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  -
    1 Big Turret                    	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
    3 Big Tanks
    8 Soldiers				      ___________________________ 73,800
					      Points (Tokens)  : 22,800
					      Points (Enemies) : 51,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 26 - FULL METAL JACKET (3:00) ###################################### L26


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           6,800 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2       possible
    "Use the L.A.G. Turboblast for            No Kills        5-2      very hard
     this level."	 	      	      Kills >30       4-1       possible
     				      	      Accuracy >80%   5-2    challenging


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 32      SPOILS_______________________ 18,500

    13 Turrets				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 18,500
    16 Minitanks                    	      NuYen (Cool)     : -
    3 Crawlers
    					      ___________________________ 79,800
					      Points (Tokens)  : 15,800
					      Points (Enemies) : 64,000	





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 27 - DARE DEVILS (3:00) ############################################ L27


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           7,000 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2    challenging
    "Beware the arrows in the top             No Kills        5-4      very hard
     room."	 	      	      	      Accuracy >70%   3-2       possible
     				      	      Accuracy >90%   3-1    challenging


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 47      SPOILS_______________________ 38,000

     1 Cannon				      NuYen (Tokens)   :   8,000
     4 Big Turrets                    	      NuYen (Cool)     :  30,000 (x7)
     6 Turrets
     8 Mines				      __________________________ 127,000
     2 Big Tanks			      Points (Tokens)  :  12,000
     4 Tanks				      Points (Enemies) : 115,000	
     3 Seekers
    17 Crawlers
     2 Droids




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 28 - CYBER DROIDS (3:00) ########################################### L28


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           7,200 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2    challenging
    "Get down and collect the token."         Even Kills      5-4         gamble
     		 	      	      	      Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
     				      	      Kills >30       7-2           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 49      SPOILS_______________________ 39,500

    11 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :  39,500
     7 Turrets                    	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
     4 Mines
     2 Big Tanks			      __________________________ 215,900
    13 Minitanks			      Points (Tokens)  :  78,900
     3 Seekers				      Points (Enemies) : 137,000	
     9 Crawlers





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 29 - THE GRASSY KNOLL (3:00) ####################################### L29


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           7,400 NuYen        Survive Level   3-2           safe
    "Kill then collect."	              Time Left >0m   2-1           safe
     		 	      	      	      Time Left >1m   4-1           safe
     				      	      Kills >10       2-1           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 12      SPOILS_______________________ 70,000

    12 Tanks				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 70,000
                    		     	      NuYen (Cool)     : -
     
     					      ___________________________ 24,000
    					      Points (Tokens)  : -
     					      Points (Enemies) : 24,000	
     




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 30 - DESTRUCTION ZONE 5 (1:00) ##################################### L30


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

   Destruction Inc. Demon VI
   Weapon     	  280.000


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Apollo Armour Titanium Alloy              Time Left >0m   5-2           safe
    Armour           	 120.000 NuYen        No Kills        5-4      very hard
					      Kills >30       3-2       possible
    Illegal Info           7,600 NuYen        Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
    "Step on switches to reach your
     goal token."


  RECOMMENDED: Destruction Inc. Demon VI
	       Apollo Armour Titanium Alloy (TITANIUM)


  ENEMIES__________________________ 39      SPOILS_______________________ 26,500

    12 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :  16,500
    11 Turrets                    	      NuYen (Cool)     :  10,000 (x2)
    2 Mines
    9 Minitanks				      __________________________ 122,000
    2 Soldiers				      Points (Tokens)  :   8,000
    3 Seekers				      Points (Enemies) : 114,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 31 - TOTAL DESTRUCTION (3:00) ###################################### L31


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           7,800 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2    challenging
    "Level 1 but much harder."	              No Kills        5-4      very hard
     		 	      	      	      Accuracy >90%   3-2    challenging
     				      	      Accuracy 100%   3-1      very hard


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 41      SPOILS_______________________ 18,000

     2 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   : 18,000
    17 Mines           		     	      NuYen (Cool)     : -
     6 Tanks
     6 Minitanks			      ___________________________ 88,000
     3 Soldiers				      Points (Tokens)  : -
     7 Seekers				      Points (Enemies) : 88,000	





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 32 - DIE HARD DROID (3:00) ######################################### L32


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           8,000 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2    challenging
    "A wise man kills his enemies in a	      Even Kills      5-4       possible
     room of arrows before he takes   	      Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
     his reward."		      	      Kills >30       7-2           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 46      SPOILS_______________________ 16,000

     4 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  16,000
     1 Big Turret   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
     5 Turrets
    21 Mines				      __________________________ 137,000
     2 Big Tanks			      Points (Tokens)  :  24,000
     4 Tanks				      Points (Enemies) : 113,000	
     7 Soldiers
     2 Seekers




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 33 - DANGER ZONE (3:00) ############################################ L33


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           8,200 NuYen        Survive Level   3-2           safe
    "Find a secret door to get the	      Time Left >0m   2-1       possible
     goal token."   			      Time Left >1m   4-1    challenging
     		   		   	      Kills >10       2-1           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 48      SPOILS________________________ 3,900

    4 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   :   3,900
    2 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :   -
    8 Turrets
    9 Mines				      __________________________ 140,500
    4 Big Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  :  14,500
    7 Minitanks				      Points (Enemies) : 126,000	
    3 Seekers
    9 Crawlers
    2 Droids




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 34 - MUDDY WATERS (3:00) ########################################### L34


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           8,400 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2       possible
    "Beware. Drinking muddy water can	      No Kills        5-2      very hard
     be fatal."   			      Kills >30       4-1       possible
     		   		   	      Accuracy >80%   5-3       possible


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 35      SPOILS________________________ 8,500

     4 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :  8,500
     7 Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
     1 Big Mine
    10 Mines				      ___________________________ 98,000
     3 Big Tanks			      Points (Tokens)  :  4,000
    10 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 94,000	
    





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 35 - TUBULAR TROUBLES (3:00) ####################################### L35


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           8,600 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2      challenge
    "Buy Titanium armour a.s.a.p."	      No Kills        5-4      very hard
     		   			      Accuracy >90%   3-2      challenge
     		   		   	      Accuracy 100%   3-1      very hard


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 32      SPOILS________________________ 9,500

     5 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :  9,500
     2 Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
     6 Mines
     3 Big Tanks			      ___________________________ 95,800
     6 Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  :  7,800
    10 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 88,000	
    



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 36 - DESTRUCTION ZONE 6 (1:00) ##################################### L36


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           8,800 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2     impossible
    "Clear your path before collecting	      Even Hits       5-4         gamble
     the token."   			      Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
     		   		   	      Kills >50       7-1     impossible


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 29      SPOILS_______________________ 64,000

    4 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 19,000
    3 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     : 45,000 (x9)
    6 Turrets
    2 Mines				      ___________________________ 99,800
    3 Big Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  : 11,800
    2 Minitanks				      Points (Enemies) : 88,000	
    2 Soldiers
    2 Seekers
    4 Crawlers
    1 Droid




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 37 - DIE HARDER DROID (3:00) ####################################### L37


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           9,000 NuYen        Survive Level   3-2     	    safe
    "To get key 3 move diagonally."	      Time Left >0m   2-1       possible
        			  	      Time Left >1m   4-1      challenge
     		   		   	      Kills >10       2-1     	    safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 56      SPOILS________________________ 2,000

     3 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   :   2,000
     3 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :   -
    10 Turrets
    16 Mines				      __________________________ 151,000
     3 Big Tanks			      Points (Tokens)  :  12,000
     3 Tanks				      Points (Enemies) : 139,000	
     3 Minitanks
     6 Soldiers
     5 Seekers
     4 Crawlers




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 38 - RAIDERS OF THE LOST ZARK (3:00) ############################### L38


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           9,200 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2     	possible
    "You need the Jupiter 9000 or	      No Kills        5-2      very hard
     L.A.G. Turboblast drive to do 	      Kills >40       4-1       possible
     this level." 		   	      Accuracy >80%   5-3     	possible


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 56      SPOILS________________________ 5,500

    10 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :   5,500
    17 Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :   -
     2 Big Mines
     3 Big Tanks			      __________________________ 152,500
     8 Crawlers				      Points (Tokens)  :   4,500
     2 Droids				      Points (Enemies) : 148,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 39 - GARDEN WORLD (3:00) ########################################### L39


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           9,400 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2     	possible
    "You can get to goal tokens by	      No Kills        5-4      very hard
     holding and tapping."		      Accuracy >90%   3-2    challenging
     		 		   	      Accuracy 100%   3-1      very hard


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 13      SPOILS________________________ 4,000

    2 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :  4,000
    1 Big Mine   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
    3 Mines
    4 Big Tanks				      ___________________________ 61,000
    1 Minitank				      Points (Tokens)  : 14,000
    2 Seekers				      Points (Enemies) : 47,000	





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 40 - TECHNO TUBES (3:00) ########################################### L40


  METEOR______________________________      BIG AL'S____________________________

    British Armour Inc. 20mm Steel
    Armour                15.000 NuYen


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           9,600 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2     	possible
    "To get a token take the third 	      Even Kills      5-4    challenging
     blue turret on the left."		      Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
     		 		   	      Kills >30       7-2     impossible


  RECOMMENDED: British Armour Inc. Chobham 20mm Steel (STEEL)


  ENEMIES__________________________ 29      SPOILS____________________________ -

    3 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  -
    6 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
    7 Turrets
    1 Big Mine				      __________________________ 105,100
    2 Mines				      Points (Tokens)  : 11,100
    2 Big Tanks				      Points (Enemies) : 94,000	
    3 Tanks
    3 Soldiers
    2 Droids



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 41 - REMEMBERANCE (3:00) ########################################### L41


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info           9,800 NuYen        Survive Level   5-2     	    safe
    "Buy steel armour a.s.a.p." 	      Time Left >0m   3-1    challenging
     					      Time Left >1m   5-1      very hard
     		 		   	      Kills >10       3-1           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS_______________________ 29,500

     4 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  29,500
     8 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
    16 Turrets
     2 Mines				      __________________________ 159,000
     1 Big Tank				      Points (Tokens)  : -
    11 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 159,000	
     4 Soldiers
     4 Seekers
     6 Crawlers
     4 Droids




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 42 - DESTRUCTION ZONE 7 (1:00) ##################################### L42


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          10,000 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2     	    safe
    "Use the L.A.G. Turboblast to make 	      No Kills        7-2      very hard
     this level easier."		      Kills >30       6-1           safe
     		 		   	      Accuracy >80%   7-3    challenging


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS_______________________ 37,500

     5 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  27,500
    14 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  10,000 (x2)
     6 Turrets
    13 Mines				      __________________________ 191,000
     1 Big Tank				      Points (Tokens)  :  11,000
     6 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 180,000	
     7 Seekers
     7 Crawlers
     1 Droid





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 43 - TANK HANGAR (3:00) ############################################ L43


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          10,200 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2      very hard
    "Beware hidden arrows." 		      No Kills        5-4      very hard
     					      Accuracy >80%   3-2    challenging
     		 		   	      Accuracy >90%   3-1    challenging


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS____________________________ -

     1 Cannon				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  -
     6 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
    12 Turrets
    18 Mines				      __________________________ 306,000
     3 Big Tanks			      Points (Tokens)  : 156,000
    13 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 150,000	
     3 Seekers
     4 Droids



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 44 - ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN (3:00) ################################# L44


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          10,400 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2    challenging
    "Go cautiously." 	  		      Even Kills      5-4       possible
     					      Accuracy >70%   3-1       possible
     		 		   	      Kills >30       7-2           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS_______________________ 67,200

     3 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :  57,200
     4 Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  10,000 (x2)
    12 Mines
     1 Big Tank				      __________________________ 132,000
    12 Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  : -
     4 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 132,000	
    16 Soldiers
     8 Crawlers




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 45 - LOOK UP LOOK DOWN (3:00) ###################################### L45


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          10,600 NuYen        Survive Level   3-2           safe
    "Use a fast drive to avoid mines."	      Time Left >0m   2-1       possible
     					      Time Left >1m   4-1       possible
     		 		   	      Kills >10       2-1           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 35      SPOILS__________________________ 400

     6 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :    400
    20 Mines   			     	      NuYen (Cool)     : -
     3 Big Tanks
     6 Soldiers				      __________________________ 149,900
    					      Points (Tokens)  : 52,900
   		  			      Points (Enemies) : 97,000	
    
     



 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 46 - RUN AROUND (3:00) ############################################# L46


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          10,800 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2       possible
    "Use the L.A.G. Turboblast on this	      No Kills        5-2      very hard
    level."				      Kills >30       4-1     impossible
     		 		   	      Accuracy >80%   5-3    challenging


  RECOMMENDED: L.A.G. Turboblast


  ENEMIES__________________________ 22      SPOILS_______________________ 27,000

     1 Cannon				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 22,000
     2 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  5,000 (x1)
     3 Turrets
     3 Mines				      ___________________________ 55,000
    12 Crawlers				      Points (Tokens)  :  2,000
     1 Droid				      Points (Enemies) : 53,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 47 - TRAGIC TELEPORTERS (3:00) ##################################### L47


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          11,000 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2    challenging
    "A hole is not always a hole."	      No Kills        5-4     impossible
     					      Accuracy >70%   3-2       possible
     		 		   	      Accuracy >90%   3-1    challenging


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS_______________________ 22,500

     2 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  22,500
     2 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     : -
    10 Turrets
     5 Mines				      __________________________ 128,000
     6 Minitanks			      Points (Tokens)  : -
    19 Soldiers				      Points (Enemies) : 128,000	
    12 Crawlers
     4 Robots




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 48 - DESTRUCTION ZONE 8 (1:00) ##################################### L48


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          11,200 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2     impossible
    "Collect the goal token then run	      Even Hits       5-4         gamble
     right for the goal."		      Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
     		 		   	      Kills >30       7-2           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS_______________________ 64,465

     3 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  50,000
     4 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  14,465 (x16)
    19 Turrets
     1 Big Tank				      __________________________ 151,800
    10 Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  :   7,800
     7 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 144,000	
     4 Soldiers
    12 Crawlers




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 49 - THERE AND BACK AGAIN (3:00) ################################### L49


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          11,400 NuYen        Survive Level   3-2           safe
    "Work out where all the tele-	      Time Left >0m   2-1    challenging
     porters take you."			      Time Left >1m   4-1      very hard
     		 		   	      Kills >10       2-1           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 57      SPOILS_______________________ 44,000

     2 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  44,000
     3 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
     8 Turrets
    10 Mines				      __________________________ 219,000
    10 Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  :  90,000
     4 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 129,000	
     2 Soldiers
     4 Crawlers
     8 Seekers
     6 Droids




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 50 - 11 DEAD DROIDS (3:00) ######################################### L50


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          11,600 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2    challenging
    "Kill turrets along tunnels before	      No Kills        5-2     impossible
     they kill you."			      Kills >30       4-1           safe
     		 		   	      Accuracy >80%   5-3       possible


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS______________________ 137,400

     7 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   : 117,400
    18 Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  20,000 (x4)
     4 Mines
     3 Soldiers				      __________________________ 141,000
     6 Crawlers				      Points (Tokens)  : -
    22 Droids				      Points (Enemies) : 141,000	




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 51 - TURRET TROUBLE (3:00) ######################################### L51


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          11,800 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2     impossible
    "Find switches to reveal your 	      No Kills        5-4     impossible
     exit."				      Accuracy >90%   3-2    challenging
     		 		   	      Accuracy 100%   3-1    challenging


  RECOMMENDED: L.A.G. Turboblast


  ENEMIES__________________________ 23      SPOILS_______________________ 41,000

    6 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 27,000
    4 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     : 15,000 (x3)
    1 Turret
    2 Mines				      ___________________________ 93,400
    2 Big Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  : 11,400
    4 Minitanks				      Points (Enemies) : 82,000	
    2 Crawlers
    2 Seekers




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 52 - MINES OF MADNESS (3:00) ####################################### L52


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          12,000 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2      very hard
    "Don't follow the arrows to the	      Even Kills      5-4         gamble
     end."				      Accuracy >80%   3-1       possible
     		 		   	      Kills >30       7-2           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS_______________________ 58,000

     3 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :  18,000
     6 Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  40,000 (x8)
     2 Big Mines
    15 Mines				      __________________________ 135,000
     5 Minitanks			      Points (Tokens)  : -
    10 Soldiers				      Points (Enemies) : 135,000	
     8 Crawler
     4 Seeker
     7 Droids




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 53 - ROGUE TROOPER (3:00) ########################################## L53


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          12,200 NuYen        Survive Level   3-2           safe
    "Shoot blocks on arrows to obtain	      Time Left >0m   2-1      very hard
     entrance to the goal token room."	      Time Left >1m   4-1     impossible
     		 		   	      Kills >10       2-1           safe


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS_______________________ 58,000

     1 Big Turret			      NuYen (Tokens)   :  58,000
     9 Mines   			     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
     9 Big Tanks
    12 Minitanks			      __________________________ 160,000
    26 Soldiers				      Points (Tokens)  :  10,000
     3 Droids				      Points (Enemies) : 150,000	





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 54 - DESTRUCTION ZONE 9 (1:00) ##################################### L54


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          12,400 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2           safe
    "Room 3 could make your fortune."	      No Kills        5-2     impossible
    					      Kills >30       4-1           safe
     		 		   	      Accuracy >80%   5-3    impossible*

					      (*very hard with several missiles)
  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS______________________ 328,000

     4 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   : 328,000
     8 Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     : -
     2 Mines
     1 Big Tank				      __________________________ 186,000
     6 Tanks				      Points (Tokens)  :  51,000
     6 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 135,000	
    21 Soldiers
     3 Crawlers
     4 Seekers
     5 Droids




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 55 - PIPE DREAM (3:00) ############################################# L55


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          12,600 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2     impossible
    "Beware some 10k pieces are fake."	      No Kills        5-4     impossible
    					      Accuracy >90%   3-2    impossible*
     		 		   	      Accuracy 100%   3-1     impossible

					      (*very hard with several missiles)
  RECOMMENDED: L.A.G. Turboblast


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS_______________________ 86,000

     4 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   :  86,000
    10 Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     : -
     5 Mines
     5 Minitanks			      __________________________ 128,000
     4 Soldiers				      Points (Tokens)  : -
     8 Crawlers				      Points (Enemies) : 128,000	
     2 Seekers
    22 Droids





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 56 - ICING ON THE CAKE (3:00) ###################################### L56


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          12,800 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2     impossible
    "You will need a very fast drive 	      Even Hits       5-4         gamble
     for this level."			      Accuracy >80%   3-2    challenging
     		 		   	      Kills >50       3-1       possible


  RECOMMENDED: vosper Jupiter 9000


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS____________________________ -

     2 Cannons				      NuYen (Tokens)   : -
     2 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     : -
    11 Turret
    20 Mines				      __________________________ 132,000
    10 Minitanks			      Points (Tokens)  : -
     2 Soldiers				      Points (Enemies) : 132,000	
     6 Crawler
     6 Droids




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 57 - CLIFF HANGER (3:00) ########################################### L57


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          13,000 NuYen        Survive Level   3-2           safe
    "Switches could be the key to your	      Time Left >0m   2-1    challenging
     success."				      Time Left >1m   4-1     impossible
     		 		   	      Kills >10       2-1           safe

  RECOMMENDED: L.A.G. Turboblast


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS______________________ 117,000

     1 Big Turrets			      NuYen (Tokens)   : 117,000
    14 Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     : -
     1 Big Mines
     8 Mines				      __________________________ 135,000
     3 Big Tanks			      Points (Tokens)  : -
    11 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 135,000	
     8 Soldiers
    14 Droids





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 58 - TELEPORT TRAP (3:00) ########################################## L58


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          13,200 NuYen        Time Left >0m   3-2      very hard
    "There is more than one goal in	      No Kills        2-1     impossible
     this level but only one is real."	      Kills >40       4-1           safe
     		 		   	      Accuracy >80%   2-1      challenge

  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS______________________ 213,500

    60 Minitanks			      NuYen (Tokens)   : 213,500*
      				     	      NuYen (Cool)     : -
    	
    					      __________________________ 182,000
    					      Points (Tokens)  :  62,000
    					      Points (Enemies) : 120,000	
					
					                    (* +120,000 in trap)




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 59 - TANK ATTACK (3:00) ############################################ L59


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          13,400 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2    challenging
    "Collect as much money as 		      No Kills        5-4     impossible
     possible, you will need it."	      Accuracy >90%   3-2    challenging
     		 		   	      Accuracy 100%   3-1      very hard


  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 49      SPOILS_______________________ 27,300

     1 Cannon				      NuYen (Tokens)   :  27,300
     5 Big Turrets   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
    21 Turret
     3 Mines				      __________________________ 136,500
     1 Big Tank				      Points (Tokens)  :  17,500
     2 Minitanks			      Points (Enemies) : 119,000	
    16 Seekers




 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ LEVEL 60 - DEATH TRAP (1:00) ############################################# L60


  SID'S TAVERNA_______________________      T.O.P.E.____________________________

    Illegal Info          13,600 NuYen        Time Left >1m   5-2     impossible
    "Buy the best equipment you can,	      Even Kills      5-4         gamble
     save the game and say a prayer."	      Accuracy >80%   3-1    challenging
     		 		   	      Kills >30       7-2           safe

  RECOMMENDED: -


  ENEMIES__________________________ 60      SPOILS______________________ 180,000

     1 Cannon				      NuYen (Tokens)   : 180,000
     1 Big Turret   		     	      NuYen (Cool)     :  -
     1 Big Mine
    18 Mines				      __________________________ 129,000
    12 Minitanks			      Points (Tokens)  :  -
    14 Soldiers				      Points (Enemies) : 129,000	
    13 Droids

					               (* +270,000 in two traps)





 _______________________________________________________________________________
/ CREDITS

    Created by Christian Schmidt
    Munich, Germany
    September 2006

    This document  may be distributed freely.  You may change whatever you like,
    though I'd appreciate it if you'd contact me if you're planning to do so. ;)
    Comments and additions are welcome: cs216@gmx.net

_______________________________________________________________________________/