============================ === THE ELECTRONIC GAMER === ============================ BAD BLOOD WALKTHRU GENERAL In BAD BLOOD, you have the choice of playing the game as one of three characters: Dekker (a normal male human) armed with a knife; Jakka (a female mutant who looks human), who has an eyeblast; or Varigg (a huge, green-skinned mutant), who possesses incredible strength. BAD BLOOD is rich with its own vocabulary (described in the game's documentation), and the playing area is huge. Game play is linear, but interaction with non-player characters (NPCs) is required, as well as some mapping, especially in the endgame sequence. Three saved-game positions and two difficulty levels are available for use. Game play is identical for all three players, except for one sequence when playing as Varigg, which I will mention at a later point. TROUBLESHOOTING There are some problems I (and others) have encountered. The following should be helpful if you run into any of them: 1. Not enough memory: Get rid of all your memory-resident programs, and/or use a DOS version lower than 4.01. 2. Games not saved: Usually, this occurs after you pick a game-save position, but do not rename it. If you do rename it, the problem is solved. 3. Character won't move: I have noticed that sometimes if a game is saved with an NPC in the room with me, and I restart the game, my character cannot move. Simply save your games well away from NPCs. PARTING WORDS The other human city, Xantinium, is found at 768/146 by crossing the river at 762/310. Unfortunately, I was never able to enter the city, but it's probably a red herring. A CD player (!) can be found at 528/504 by killing the lupuses keeping an old man in a building (I was never able to find a use for the CD player). The ammo cave full of goodies is found at 462/34. Just for your information, mutant villages are found at the following locations: Mardok, 751/398; Nivvik, 339/189; Okkarn, 329/424; and Kitrum, 540/751. STARTING OUT Talk to any NPC who will listen about all the topics you can. Hit points can be restored by eating fresh or dried "turkel" hearts; fresh hearts restore all your hit points, and dried ones only restore half of them. Weapons can be obtained by killing the bad guys who attack you. Human slavers and Kejek snakemen will always attack you, so be ready to fight! Explore as much of the landscape as you can: Caches of ammunition can also be found scattered about, and there is an ammunition cave northwest of Mardok near lake Acrus. Food is gathered by killing the mutant creatures that inhabit the landscape. RESCUING THE SHAMAN After the introductory sequence has played (where the story background is given) and you have chosen a character to play as, the game begins in Mardok. You should enter every building and pick up whatever is available for the taking. Make sure you go upstairs in buildings with more than one floor. The villagers don't seem to mind you taking their belongings, but they _do_ mind you killing them, or even hurting them. If you hit them accidentally, they will attack you. If you kill someone, everyone in the village will attack you until you leave and come back the next day. This is similar to the situations in other Origin games (e.g., TIMES OF LORE, ULTIMA VI, etc.). My suggestion is to be careful! In Mardok (and in every village you visit), talk to the Himmuk, the Shaman, and the Firetender. The Himmuk in Mardok suggests that you visit the Oracle, who can tell you how to stop the impending war. He doesn't know where the Oracle is, but he suggests that you find the Shaman in Nivvik who does. Get all you can in Mardok, then it's off to Nivvik to talk to the Shaman there. When you get to Nivvik, you find out from the Himmuk that the Shaman has been kidnapped by Kejeks. While to are in Nivvik, make sure you pick up the satscan, which will give you map coordinates when you use it. As usual, get everything you can grab, and move south to Okkarn. Okkarn isn't a very friendly place, and it will become downright unfriendly later on. Grab what you can now, especially the vibrablade. "Ammunition" for the vibrablade (batteries) is hard to come by, except in the human cities, so don't use it unless you have to. Don't free the prisoner yet; you will have to kill the guards to do it. Continue south to Kitrum and get what you can. Cross the river at 233/406 or 265/696, and proceed to the Kejek village at 62/970. The Shaman is in the south hut, but since you have to kill the guards to rescue him, it's better to get as much as you can while you are here. Use a shotgun or a bow and arrows to do the job. Talk to the Shaman of Nivvik. He tells you that the Oracle is across the lake and can be reached only by boat. The fisherman at Nivvik can lend you one. VISITING THE ORACLE There is no way to tell you exactly how to find the Oracle. There are many false trails, and you will have to backtrack several times. Start at the trail that opens near the point where you can't go south on the west shore of the lake. The Oracle's cave is found at 34/118. The Oracle will insist you prove your worthiness by bringing him an example of the Ancients' technology. What might that be, you ask? Why, an Apple, of course! Go to Zero Town and get the Apple at 840/896. Be ready to fight the cultists when you do. They use knives and eyeblasts as their weapons. While you are here, get the bazooka from the merchant at 961/746. Then, head back to the Oracle. After you return to the Oracle and give him the Apple, he will tell you of a prisoner in Okkarn to whom you must talk. Now, it's off to Okkarn to free Artis. Artis can be freed by killing his guards. I used the vibrablade here with excellent results, but make sure you don't kill Artis accidentally! Talk to Artis to learn about Lord Dominix's plan and the kidnapping of Equitus. At this point you may return to the Oracle once more. He suggests that you enter the city of Yrvium. He also tells you about a collar which you can learn more about from the ex-slave who is now a hunter in Kitrum (talk to the villagers to locate him). It is not necessary to do this, but you may want to play this part through in order to enrich the storyline. If you want to bypass this part, you may proceed directly to the city of Yrvium. YRVIUM AND FREEING BESSEK Yrvium is located at 78/626. You may cross the river at 233/406, 265/696, or use your boat. If you are playing as Varigg, you must first get a slave collar. Obtain a collar from the group of slavers who are to the east of Yrvium in the afternoon. The time of day is important: after noon, and before evening. Be ready to fight with your bow and arrow because there is a large group of slavers with shotguns. One of them that you kill should drop a slave collar. Varigg should get the collar and use it to disguise himself as a slave so the guards will let him in the city. Dekker or Jakka can simply walk in (and out). Be advised that while playing as Varigg, the human residents of Yrvium do not like mutants, and they will throw things at you while you are there. Your first stop should be the building to the left of the gate. This is the slave quarters, and in here is a blue female blarg who will tell you of Bessek, the mutant prisoner. Bessek is being held in the middle cage (with the guard) in the arena in the northeast corner of the city. Kill the guard and enter the cage to speak with Bessek. Bessek will tell you an amazing thing about Lord Dominix; also make sure you ask him about Equitus. He tells you to go and find the Subs, and gives you a password. If you are playing as Varigg, there is one more thing you must do before you can leave the city. Although humans (like Dekker and Jakka) are allowed free passage in and out of Yrvium, mutants are allowed out only to gather food and water. Find a mutant slave wandering around the city and talk to him. He should tell you about gathering water. Talk to the guards at the gate about water, and they should let you out of the gate. THE SUBS AND KILLING THE URSE It's back to Zero Town again, this time to find the Subs. Before you go, though, make sure you have found three tokens. The entrance to the Subs is 930/887. Give the guards the password, hit the red button on the wall to reveal the ladder, and climb down. Although it looks like a maze, the Subway isn't: It's got only one false trail (to the north). Go south from the ladder, and use a token to go through the turnstiles. Continue south, and use a second token. The railway tunnels are all blocked off. Your goal is to locate the Himmuk of the Subs (found at the southwest corner), who will tell you of the city below, and Theodus, Dominix's captain. While you are here, make sure that you pick up a fourth token; you will need it to get out. The Urse (a _huge_ mutant bear) can be found wandering the landscape south of Kitrum. I used four or five bazooka shots to kill the Urse, but I think anything would work if you can shoot it from a distance. The Urse's cave is found at 357/903. Inside, you will find a handy weapon, but it is not critical to finish the game. Now head back to Yrvium for the endgame. THE CITY BELOW AND THE ENDGAME In Yrvium, there are just a few more people to talk to before you head down below. You may speak with the teacher (midwest of the city) and the wellkeeper (top middle), who will tell you a bit about the city below. The person you really want to talk to is the rogue, Philo, who will tell you how to get to the city below, and who will sell you a means of getting there. He hangs out in the tavern in the afternoon and evening. The tavernkeeper is also an important fellow -- he provides food for Theodus -- and will ask you to take Theodus's dinner to him if you talk to him about Theodus. Theodus's quarters are just to the left of the guards' barracks. Tell the guard at the door about his dinner. You must kill Theodus to get his keys. Now, head for the well (everyone will want your blood again). Use the rope to enter the city below, but watch out for the rats! From this point to the endgame you must negotiate a maze. I am planning to upload a map to The Gamers' Forum's CRPGs Library, but I will try to describe what must be done. You must press buttons to open the doors to get from one place to the next. Go to the northeast corner of the room, where it is blocked by lasers. Hit the button on the wall to turn them off. Continue along the wall and press the button on the right. This will open the door in the southeast corner of the room through which you just came. Go through this door and hit the button on the left. Go south, then east, and hit both buttons. Backtrack and hit the button on the right (if the door is closed). Backtrack some more, and you will return to the room with the rope. In the south of this room should be an open door. Go south, west, and north through another open door. Turn right, and you will find another set of lasers, and two buttons which you should push. Go through a long east corridor and hit the button at the little dogleg to open the third set of lasers a little farther on. At the corner, hit the button to open the door to the south, and go on through. Directly around the corner, hit the button to bring up the elevator. Eventually, you will need to go through the door to the south, but you must go to a different part of the maze to open it. The door directly to the north should already be open (from a previous button); go through the door, and east. Hit the button on the north wall of the room you enter. Go through the door to the south, go around the corner, and press the button. Backtrack, enter the corridor to the west (the beams should be off), and hit the button there. Now, go east, south, then around the corner again to find that the high voltage has been turned off. Continue south to a four-way intersection. Take the corridor to the west and hit both buttons. Head back east, then take the south corridor (the door should be open). This corridor turns east (hit the button here), then cross over the elevator (it should be closed). Press the button just around the corner to open that door I described at the beginning of this paragraph. Now, backtrack up to that door on the south wall of the big room. The door in the south wall of the big room should now be open, and the elevator should be closed. Go to the west after passing the elevator, and press both buttons on the north wall. Go south, then west after you enter the big room. Take the north corridor (the door should be open), then take the west corridor. Hit this button and the high voltage in the northbound corridor will turn off, as will the lasers in the southwest corner of the big room. Since you are here, visit the hermit in the room to the north (you won't need a key), because he adds to the flavor of the story. After you talk to the hermit, head south again, and enter the corridor in the southwest corner of the big room. You are almost done! Proceed west through a long hallway (the lasers should be off), and go to the north wall of the room you enter. Hit the button there to turn off the lasers in the big room you were in before, then backtrack to that room. This time, enter the corridor in the southeast corner of the room. Press the button on the wall next to where the lasers are off, follow this hallway east, then south, through the open doors, and around to where you will see some barbed wire. Whip out your vibrablade, cut the wire, and enter the gaps. Kill the guards in the hallway, then use your key to enter the third door from the east. Here you will find Equitus, and the endgame sequence will take over. Congratulations! BAD BLOOD is published and distributed by Origin Systems. This walkthru is copyright (c) 1990 by Ed (the Sped/Buzzard) Reedy and THE ELECTRONIC GAMER (tm). All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.