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[Gearhead] a few noob questions...

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Anonymous
May 7, 2005 9:43:05 PM

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.misc (More info?)

Hi,

just played a few hours into gearhead v0.907, and still
have a few questions. Sorry if just missed the
answers in the docs :-)

<spoiler alert on>
What happened til now:
Started in Hogye, got a buggy, went to snake hill,
saved some farm, visited all the towns, got my mechs
destroyed two times by some guy who wasn't happy with
me saving that farm, awakened some anti-mech bioweapon
that again shredded my mech, bought a flying mecha,
killed some underground giant biomonster on an island,
saved some notes from Fluffy, saved a princess, got
nice gem, got princess killed in a steamy place, made some
illegal money, got a few cyber upgrades, lost a few
other mechas, and have no clue what to do next...
<spoiler alert off>

1) Character death seems to be pretty non-permanent
(unless at really nasty places like the ziggurath).
Mecha deaths unfortunately seem to be a much more
permanent loss on the other hand, and i tend to
lose my mechas much much much much more often than
my life... is there something like a "mecha insurance"
perhaps? Its really hard to re-build a nice mecha once
your opponent had a lucky critical hit on your legs...

2) Money. How is one supposed to earn 46.395.079 credits
for that CYB-13 Monstrous? Biggest money i got was
arround 500.000 from a certain gem, 15.000 from one
gift mechas i got, 33.000 from several wallets, up
to 45.000 from melee fights and 3.000 or so from mecha
arena fights...

3) Party. Are you supposed to play this game with
a party? I had that princess following me a while
(without the mecha she had in our first encounter...
grmbl...), but died as i had to retreat from a
nasty dungeon. No other candidates yet.

4) Mecha equipment. What i've seen in shops are
basically sensors, targeting computers and
thrusters. No weapons. Missed the right shop? Or do
i have to buy whole mechas and ripp their guns?
(I know theres a part salvage skill, but the
mechas i can beat usually don't have interesting
equipment...)

5) Plot. I'm an orphan, any chance to find my
parents? I got some email about the info trail
starting in Snake lake, but found no trail
there...
Has this game a "goal"? If yes, do i need
both mecha and melee combat to solve it?

6) Screen layout. Finally found how to switch
the game to 80x50, but... i'd really like to
have more messages instead of more map. Any
way to do that?

7) EMail. I got the impression that it works
without carrying any telephone or computer.
Are they neccessary or not?

8) Depression. My char constantly is in a bad
mood or depressed (not to speak of my body
rejecting my implants). What causes this?
Died quite some times, lost lots of mechas,
and a princess. Any way to permanently
treat this? (yes, i know massages and hot
springs work temporarily).

Ok, enough questions for now.
Thanks for any answers :-)

Andreas

More about : gearhead noob questions

Anonymous
May 8, 2005 5:57:55 PM

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.misc (More info?)

Little update. No one else here plays Gearhead?

> 2) Money. How is one supposed to earn 46.395.079 credits
> for that CYB-13 Monstrous?
Found out i could have sold a quest item for 990.000
instead of giving it away for 2.000 or so xp ... well,
too bad i'm nice ;-)

> 4) Mecha equipment. What i've seen in shops are
> basically sensors, targeting computers and
> thrusters. No weapons. Missed the right shop?
Found a few shops with weapons in the meantime.
Anonymous
May 9, 2005 3:10:28 AM

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.misc (More info?)

Andreas Koch <mail@kochandreas.com> wrote in news:D 5kus2$51v$01$1@news.t-
online.com:
> Little update. No one else here plays Gearhead?

The big money is in capturing mechs. Work on your Intimidation skill and
try to immobileize them without acutally destroying them and the pilot
should, hopefully, eject, and you have a mecha you can sell for good money,
or take apart for parts. This is also the best way to get weapons. In fact,
due the the way Gearhead's data structure works, this or buying the mech in
a shop is the _only_ way to get certain weapons. Check for missions that
allow salavage, and check out the arena in, I think, Gyori. The Tech
Vulture talent is alsot moderately useful for this, since you can salvage
parts of destoryed mecha with it, but the big money is in complete mecha.
Intimidation, or killing hte pilot are the way to go. (Check the mecha
design files to figure out where the cockpit is. If it's in the head,
shooting that works well, but if it's in the body, you're better off
shooting off the legs and hoping that's enough to stop it.)
Related resources
Anonymous
May 9, 2005 3:27:42 PM

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.misc (More info?)

Andreas Koch wrote:
> Hi,
>
> just played a few hours into gearhead v0.907, and still
> have a few questions. Sorry if just missed the
> answers in the docs :-)
>
> <spoiler alert on>
> What happened til now:
> Started in Hogye, got a buggy, went to snake hill,
> saved some farm,

good, this is your personal story that will lead you to the final fight.

> visited all the towns, got my mechs
> destroyed two times by some guy who wasn't happy with
> me saving that farm,

good (kind of); that guy knocked me out of my suit quite a few times.

> awakened some anti-mech bioweapon
> that again shredded my mech,

Is it still alive? And if not, were you able to kill it without nukes?

> bought a flying mecha,
> killed some underground giant biomonster on an island,
> saved some notes from Fluffy, saved a princess, got
> nice gem, got princess killed in a steamy place, made some
> illegal money, got a few cyber upgrades, lost a few
> other mechas, and have no clue what to do next...
> <spoiler alert off>

Get yourself a better mecha :-) To this end, fight in the Arenas (the
final price is a vastly upgraded Savin), collect the stuff other Mechas
drop (that Longman's laser rifle and that Gigas's nuke help alot), and
kill other Mechas (especially Ovaknights) with headshots.

> 1) Character death seems to be pretty non-permanent
> (unless at really nasty places like the ziggurath).

Unfotunately, yes. Btw you can revive fallen lancemates with First Aid
skill.

> Mecha deaths unfortunately seem to be a much more
> permanent loss on the other hand, and i tend to
> lose my mechas much much much much more often than
> my life... is there something like a "mecha insurance"
> perhaps?

No.

>Its really hard to re-build a nice mecha once
> your opponent had a lucky critical hit on your legs...

Legs are no problem (unless you get damage overflow to the torso), just
activate your hoverjets.

> 2) Money. How is one supposed to earn 46.395.079 credits
> for that CYB-13 Monstrous?

You don't want that Monstrous. They are sitting ducks. The only thing
they're good for is ripping out the nuke, sensors and comp.

> Biggest money i got was
> arround 500.000 from a certain gem, 15.000 from one
> gift mechas i got, 33.000 from several wallets, up
> to 45.000 from melee fights and 3.000 or so from mecha
> arena fights...

Also you can get 1M for the mecha blueprints in the abandoned factory
(the village with the raiders), sell captured mechas (intimidation skill
and headshots help), get prize mechas after the 10th fight in each
arena, and quite some money from corporate fights.

> 3) Party. Are you supposed to play this game with
> a party? I had that princess following me a while
> (without the mecha she had in our first encounter...
> grmbl...), but died as i had to retreat from a
> nasty dungeon. No other candidates yet.

Quite a few pilots (the one in the first mecha arena comes to mind) are
willing to follow you, but you might have to match their world-view
(chaotics won't follow lawfuls etc.) Even better, with a high robotics
skill you can bild yourself some teammates (those flying,
laser-rifle-wielding drones are quite efficient).

> 4) Mecha equipment. What i've seen in shops are
> basically sensors, targeting computers and
> thrusters. No weapons. Missed the right shop?

Yes.

> Or do
> i have to buy whole mechas and ripp their guns?
> (I know theres a part salvage skill, but the
> mechas i can beat usually don't have interesting
> equipment...)

Hmm, no Longmans, no Savins, not even BuruBurus?

> 5) Plot. I'm an orphan, any chance to find my
> parents?

IIRC it has to do wit the farm.

> I got some email about the info trail
> starting in Snake lake, but found no trail
> there...

The trail starts from the zoo.

> Has this game a "goal"? If yes, do i need
> both mecha and melee combat to solve it?

Yes, in the end you will have to kill just another anti-mecha bioweapon.
And, IIRC more mecha than melee, but that may depend on your personal
history.

> 7) EMail. I got the impression that it works
> without carrying any telephone or computer.
> Are they neccessary or not?

yommunicators come in different sizes, memo, pager, phone, computer.
Looks like you still had some kind of pager (maybe included into your
helmet).

> 8) Depression. My char constantly is in a bad
> mood or depressed (not to speak of my body
> rejecting my implants). What causes this?

Bad morale. Every time you lose a fight your mood goes down. Winning
fights, good food and massages help. For the implants you might need
biotech skill; broken implants can also make you depressed.

> Died quite some times, lost lots of mechas,
> and a princess. Any way to permanently
> treat this? (yes, i know massages and hot
> springs work temporarily).

Short answer: don't die, don't lose teammates, win some fights.

Lars
Anonymous
May 9, 2005 11:33:40 PM

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.misc (More info?)

Thanks for the answers!

>> What happened til now:
>> Started in Hogye, got a buggy, went to snake hill,
>> saved some farm,
>
> good, this is your personal story that will lead you to the final fight.

Oh, well. Didn't hear anything from the farm after that. The farm
devastator guy killed two of my mechs, and didn't show up for
"ages" after that (well, day 28 now ;-) ). Too bad, now i have
better gear >:) 

>> awakened some anti-mech bioweapon
>> that again shredded my mech,
>
> Is it still alive? And if not, were you able to kill it without nukes?

Cetus is still alive and happily razing towns. Military thinks
about how to solve the problem. Unfortunately, i don't meet the
think near the attacked towns, and get no missions on it either.

But i'm in no fraction anyways - the guardians don't like me
selling wallets, and the clans think i'm not qualified enough.

> Get yourself a better mecha :-)

Currently have a 34 t Aranos PV 855.467 (displayed in town) or
PV 3.917.561 (in fights). I thought PV is the value of
your mecha equipment? Shouldn't that be the same in town and
fight?

The scourge cannon and two repeater cannons are quite
good for taking all those little Strongarms and the occasional
Buru Buru ... class 8 sensor, class 9 targeting computer,
class 6 ecm, plus a few small weapons.

> To this end, fight in the Arenas
I'm in this. Too bad its just one fight per day...

>> 1) Character death seems to be pretty non-permanent
>> (unless at really nasty places like the ziggurath).
>
> Unfotunately, yes.
Hey, that saves me from savegame scamming or implementing
a cheat menu :-)

> Btw you can revive fallen lancemates with First Aid
> skill.
Well, if you don't have to run for your own life that
is ;-)

>> Its really hard to re-build a nice mecha once
>> your opponent had a lucky critical hit on your legs...
>
> Legs are no problem (unless you get damage overflow to the torso), just
> activate your hoverjets.

As far as i remember, the last leg hit got me crashed which
gave the enemies about 20 instant free shots which was
more than enough...


> Also you can get 1M for the mecha blueprints in the abandoned factory
> (the village with the raiders), sell captured mechas (intimidation skill
> and headshots help), get prize mechas after the 10th fight in each
> arena, and quite some money from corporate fights.
So i finally learned what intimidation is good for >:}
I noticed you can sell quest items quite well - for example the
primal genome.

> Quite a few pilots (the one in the first mecha arena comes to mind) are
> willing to follow you, but you might have to match their world-view
> (chaotics won't follow lawfuls etc.)
I only got the question for the girl in the start town that gave
me the first intro, and the mars princess.

> Even better, with a high robotics
> skill you can bild yourself some teammates (those flying,
> laser-rifle-wielding drones are quite efficient).
Good, now i know what robotics is for ...

>> i have to buy whole mechas and ripp their guns?
>> (I know theres a part salvage skill, but the
>> mechas i can beat usually don't have interesting
>> equipment...)
>
> Hmm, no Longmans, no Savins, not even BuruBurus?

Got 2 or 3 "kill a rat on the scrapyard to get a
Buru Buru" quests. Lost all the buruburus early.

>> 5) Plot. I'm an orphan, any chance to find my
>> parents?
>
> IIRC it has to do wit the farm.

Mh... so i either have to find that farm
woman again, or wait for the farm devastator
to attack me again...


>> I got some email about the info trail
>> starting in Snake lake, but found no trail
>> there...
>
> The trail starts from the zoo.

Allready followed the trail - seems to be just
another dungeon-to-a-shrine. I think shrines
are just good for some XP if you have Mysticism
skill? Unfortunately i haven't, and allready
24/24 skills...

>> Has this game a "goal"? If yes, do i need
>> both mecha and melee combat to solve it?
>
> Yes, in the end you will have to kill just another anti-mecha bioweapon.
Ah cool, thanks.

>> 7) EMail. I got the impression that it works
>> without carrying any telephone or computer.
>> Are they neccessary or not?
>
> yommunicators come in different sizes, memo, pager, phone, computer.
> Looks like you still had some kind of pager (maybe included into your
> helmet).

Ouch. Maximus helmet. Just found it in the mecha parts browser
which goes down to pilot parts ;-)

> Bad morale. Every time you lose a fight your mood goes down. Winning
> fights, good food and massages help. For the implants you might need
> biotech skill; broken implants can also make you depressed.

Assumed something like this. Is there some ingame-way to learn
more about your current morale?


> Short answer: don't die, don't lose teammates, win some fights.

Thanks, thats a clear mission :-)
Anonymous
May 10, 2005 7:01:10 PM

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.misc (More info?)

Andreas Koch wrote:
> Thanks for the answers!

>>> awakened some anti-mech bioweapon
>>> that again shredded my mech,
>>
>> Is it still alive? And if not, were you able to kill it without nukes?
>
> Cetus is still alive and happily razing towns. Military thinks
> about how to solve the problem. Unfortunately, i don't meet the
> think near the attacked towns, and get no missions on it either.

IIRC you have to be in town when it attacks and Cetus picks anouter town
randomly every N hours.

> But i'm in no fraction anyways - the guardians don't like me
> selling wallets, and the clans think i'm not qualified enough.

Each faction wants a different profile. IIRC you need high pragmatism
for BioCorp, high spirituality for the monks etc (sorrry, don't have the
source in front of me).

>> Get yourself a better mecha :-)
>
> Currently have a 34 t Aranos PV 855.467 (displayed in town) or
> PV 3.917.561 (in fights). I thought PV is the value of
> your mecha equipment? Shouldn't that be the same in town and
> fight?

In a fight the pilot's value is added to the mecha's.

> The scourge cannon and two repeater cannons are quite
> good for taking all those little Strongarms and the occasional
> Buru Buru ... class 8 sensor, class 9 targeting computer,
> class 6 ecm, plus a few small weapons.

sounds fine.

>> To this end, fight in the Arenas
>
> I'm in this. Too bad its just one fight per day...

move around, there are 3 arenas (plus the flesh pit) that accept you
right away.

>> Btw you can revive fallen lancemates with First Aid skill.
>
> Well, if you don't have to run for your own life that
> is ;-)

Yes, Ziggurat and the hot springs are quite deadly.

>> Legs are no problem (unless you get damage overflow to the torso),
>> just activate your hoverjets.
>
> As far as i remember, the last leg hit got me crashed which
> gave the enemies about 20 instant free shots which was
> more than enough...

O.K. So make that "activate those hoverjets ASAP unless you want to use
stealth".

> I noticed you can sell quest items quite well - for example the
> primal genome.

But this will ruin your reputation, giving you less quests from lawfuls.

>> Quite a few pilots (the one in the first mecha arena comes to mind)
>> are willing to follow you, but you might have to match their
>> world-view (chaotics won't follow lawfuls etc.)
>
> I only got the question for the girl in the start town that gave
> me the first intro, and the mars princess.

Check pirate's cove.

>>> I got some email about the info trail
>>> starting in Snake lake, but found no trail
>>> there...
>>
>>
>> The trail starts from the zoo.
>
> Allready followed the trail - seems to be just
> another dungeon-to-a-shrine.

It is. But the email said you should meet somebody there.

> I think shrines
> are just good for some XP if you have Mysticism
> skill?

Yes, and more. If you applied your mysticism at all 5 shrines,
re-visiting them will improve your stats (IIRC +2 to two stats once for
each shrine).

> Unfortunately i haven't, and allready
> 24/24 skills...

Get your learning up, live with the penalty or ignore the shrines
(mysticism and implants don't mix anyway).

>> Bad morale. Every time you lose a fight your mood goes down. Winning
>> fights, good food and massages help. For the implants you might need
>> biotech skill; broken implants can also make you depressed.
>
> Assumed something like this. Is there some ingame-way to learn
> more about your current morale?

there is a smal + or - in your stat window, the greener the better, the
redder the worse.

Lars
!