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Mars Saga/Mines of Titan FAQ version 1.1.3
(snappy title don't ya think?)
I. Introduction
II. In the beginning
A. Who to pick
B. What to look for (stats)
1. Strength
2. Endurance
3. Agility
4. Wisdom
5. Education
6. Charisma
--Conclusion
C. Battling
1. Choosing when to fight
2. Auto combat
3. Tactical combat
a. Move
b. Computer Move
c. Use Item
d. Orders
e. Next character
f. Repeat orders
g. Begin Combat
h. Flee
4. Battle strategy
a. Ducks in a row
b. Strategic fleeing
c. The meat system
d. Guarding the weaklings
III. Moving right along
A. Armor
B. Programming
C. Weapons
1. The war games room
2. Arc Gun
3. Cudgel
4. Blade
5. Handgun
6. Rifle
7. Auto
8. Throwing
D. Skills
1. Admin
2. Arc Gun
3. Auto
4. Blade
5. Bttlarm
6. Cudgel
7. Electric
8. Gambling
9. Golum
10. Handgun
11. Language
12. Medical
13. Mechanic
14. Melee
15. Mining
16. Program
17. Rifle
18. Strategy
19. Street
20. Tactics
21. Throwing
E. A review of stats
F. Option menu
1. Continue adventuring
2. Inspect a character
3. Use an item
4. Preferences
a. Sound
b. Combat order
c. Combat speed
d. Autosave game
e. Save maps
f. List group items
5. View map
6. Examine this area
7. Transfer items
a. Items
b. Credits
c. Pool credits
d. Distribute credits
8. Save a game
9. Load a game
G. IMPORTANT Leftovers
1. My formula for a long and healthy life
2. The gun lady, this one's for early in the game
3. Why not to go to the police station yet
4. Save!
5. To reiterate on health
6. Med centers, in case you hadn't figured it out
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. INTRODUCTION-------------------------------------------------------------
I've been playing Mars Saga off and on for most of my life beginning with the
C64 version. When all my C64s died, I moved to the IBM compatible Mines of
Titan which is, by the way, the exact same game with the word "Titan"
substituted in for "Mars" and with some annoying little copy protection that
is more trouble than it's worth now that MoT is abandonware.
That "copy protection", by the way, is that whenever you want to train a
character in weaponry skills and such the game asks you silly questions
about little pixilated pictures of weapons like "What is the barrel length
of this weapon?" The answers to those questions are in the manual which you
may be able to find in the wild world of the internet, or if you don't feel
like it, I can get you a .txt of it. e-mail me. Oops, hold on, scratch that,
I can't violate the copyright of even an abandonware program. Anyway, I guess
you have to own the game. continuing:
As yet I have not finished that game. Perhaps that's not a great review,
especially considering that it's not because of difficulty, I was instead
repeatedly distracted. I assure you that I did not get bored. Mars Saga is a
very interesting, if simple game. When I had a computer with Mars Saga or
Mines of Titan actively working on it, I played 4-6 hours a day, you can
imagine what that did for my homework. Rather than finishing any game, I
would play Mars Saga 6 hours a day for a while until I have to stop, then I
would go 3 months without any. I then re-discover that wonder of Mars and
begin again at the beginning of the game with a new team.
This FAQ is almost a walkthrough, but as not everything is in chronological
order, I'd rather not call it that. Also, I think that walkthroughs take the
fun out of the game. I have mini walkthroughs and help, rather than a game
breaker. I consider this is more of a strategy guide.
NOTE: When I say "Mars Saga" I mean either game.
another NOTE: Most of the detailed stuff in this FAQ is for Mines of Titan
because of the deaths of my C64's. If you Commodore owners find something
that is definitely different in Mars Saga from this game, or if you can fill
in any of the forgotten information please do. I have a feeling that Mines of
Titan might just be more different from Mars Saga than I thought.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. IN THE BEGINNING---------------------------------------------------------
A. WHO TO PICK---------------------------------------------------------
You begin with Some guy on a mission to get off of Mars (and for Mines of
Titan, just do as the game does and insert the name of your chosen celestial
body). That's fine and dandy, but preppy man isn't all that good a character.
Begin by looking for party members in the bar you find yourself in. I suggest
you enlist a police person as a traveling companion.
The police have a great advantage in that they can wear all the types of
armor, while, if I understand correctly, any other character can not get golum
armor (the strongest armor in the game).
B. WHAT TO LOOK FOR----------------------------------------------------
When you begin looking for that traveling companion to spend the game with,
look for good, strong, well rounded skills. View your applicant's summary.
On the left of the screen is a column of the six stats: strength, endurance,
agility, wisdom, education, and charisma.
1. STRENGTH------------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure what strength does. I assume it has something to do with the
potency of attacks with blades and cudgels, but I cannot assume it has
anything to do with ranged weapons. The only other advantage of high strength
that I have found is that it is another buffer for damage taken before your
character's agility is touched. Do not worry too much about strength at
first, but as it usually comes with the more important endurance and agility,
you should be fine.
2. ENDURANCE------------------------------------------------------
Endurance is moderately important. It serves as a buffer to strength and
more importantly, to agility. A character with high endurance will be able
to take larger amounts of damage without any reduction in strength or all
important agility. Endurance usually comes with the package of high strength
and agility, and it is beneficial, so keep it in mind.
3. AGILITY--------------------------------------------------------
In my travels in the underground world of mars, I have found agility to be
that most useful stat in my characters. Agility determines how many shots can
be taken in one turn or how far a character will be able to move in a turn.
Having high agility will allow your characters to do many times the damage,
and will give them the edge when they need to escape around the corner for the
moment.
That does not, however, mean that you must get a character with the highest
agility possible. All the stats can be raised later when you want to. A
character with low endurance and strength will lose their advantage of high
agility as soon as they are hit and will require less damage to be killed.
Get a well rounded character and be sure to max out agility eventually, but
don't worry about it immediately.
4. WISDOM---------------------------------------------------------
Wisdom is another stat that I'm not too sure about. This time I have no real
idea, although I have a feeling it has to do with the maximum amount of
education your character can attain or that it limits the level of some
skills, as education does. Anyway, just don't worry about it and as long as
your wisdom isn't too low, you shouldn't have to find out what it affects.
5. EDUCATION------------------------------------------------------
Education is a stat that really only affects that acquisition of certain
skills such as medical and perhaps programming. It seems that your medical
skill cannot go past your education level, so if you plan to have a master
doctor, keep that in mind.
6. CHARISMA------------------------------------------------------
Charisma affects how much you can buy and sell items for. The affect doesn't
seem to be very great, and you'll have no money worries if you follow my guide
for success, but you may want to keep it in mind. Charisma may also have
something to do with the maximum levels of some skills (administration?).
--CONCLUSION-------------------------------------------------------
There seems to be some sort of total maximum on the skills a character can
have to begin with, as there is for the total skills.
Once you can look for another person to join your team, you will be allowed to
look at as many people as you want. Don't be afraid to go through the
summaries of many applicants to get an idea of the maximum stats that will be
available to you.
People who have high stats to begin with tend to have fewer skills. Don't
worry about that too much as the skills are easier to raise than the stats.
As long as your person has a good ranged weapon skill, you'll be fine. In
Mars Saga, the only way for a person to increase his/her skills or stats is to
kill. there is no secondary experience earning system as in other games. so
if you want a medical specialist on your team, don't get the person with the
highest beginning medical skill as that person will almost certainly have
horrible physical stats, making them extra vulnerable everything. Even if you
protect them, they will never be able to gain the experience to increase their
medical skill. The same goes with programming. don't worry about
specialists. They don't pay.
C. BATTLING------------------------------------------------------------
First, a note, you will not be able to transfer credits or items from a team
member until they have gained experience with you in a battle. That means
that if you plan on dumping the main character and continuing with your police
officer, you need to get in a battle first. But before you dump Jetland,
remember that if you have another body around, there will be only half the
chance that your important member will be hit, and you will be able to carry
twice the amount of loot. However you will also be attacked be more
dangerous foes. I suggest to use only your first police officer to begin with
and to dump Jetland when you get the chance. you can get some more target
practice later, when you've built up your main (and by main I mean useful, not
story) character.
1. CHOOSING WHEN TO FIGHT-----------------------------------------
As soon as you exit the bar with your new found team mate, you will be
vulnerable to attacks. First, as in many games and for that matter in life,
pick your battles. It is likely that one of your first "battles" will be a
meeting with citizens. In Mars Saga, many of the people you will meet won't
have it in for you. If you don't want to battle, or don't want to get in
trouble with the police yet (which by the way, you don't) avoid battles that
you don't need to get in. you'll find out pretty fast, and its pretty obvious
anyway, who will attack you, and who you can pass by.
There are three ways to choose your battles.
First, you will notice that in the top left window of your divided screen
there is a view of the world in front of your team. Sometimes, but not all
the time, you can avoid a battle by watching the screen and not moving forward
to meat the blue guy that sometimes walks in front of you at the mouth of a
hallway. Have no idea what I mean? Pay attention and you'll see.
The next way is to choose who you wish to attack. When you do meet someone,
either in an random encounter or in the slightly less random 'watch out for
the blue man', you will get a message that goes something like "A citizen and
friends approach you. Do you wish to attack?". That message is accompanied
by a picture in the upper right of said citizen, looking rather worried. It
doesn't take much to figure out that if you don't attack the citizen, they
won't attack you. In other cases, perhaps that of a "Thug and friends" you
will get in a fight weather or not you attack, unless you can avoid it with a
skill, etc., but that's for later.
The last way to avoid a battle is to flee. Although I seem to have some sort
of honor code in most games that prevents me from fleeing from mere minion
battles, I don't feel bad when I turn tail in Mars Saga. If you know that
you'll want to flee from an opponent that attacks you, remember to "engage in
tactical combat". If you let the computer do the work, you will fight a
round before you get the chance to run away, and in Mars Saga, a round can
easily spell doom for your team. In tactical combat, to flee you select flee
(wow) and if you can't flee that turn, shucks, that stinks for you. If
you've followed my advice and have only one or two members in your team, you
shouldn't get into fights that you can't handle (With the exception of aliens
if you're on the surface too early, or hunters if you're careless enough to
attack them when you're not strong enough, you rarely if ever will.). If you
can't flee one round, move away from the enemy and flee, flee again in the
next round.
If you're really as predictable as your friends say you are, than you'll be
wondering "How do I know when I need to run away anyway oh learned one?".
well grasshopper, I'll tell you. In the beginning, you may get massages that
you have encountered "a thug". That means that there is only one baddie, but
"a thug and friends" of course means that there is more than one nasty guy for
you to pulverize. The strongest attacker will not always be the one named,
but you can know who to expect as enemies come in predictable groups. If
there is a thug and friends in front of you, you know there will be no
policemen, or surface monsters with him, at this point, those nasties each
have their own groups that you can expect them in. You'll either figure it
out for yourself, or I'll tell you later. moving on.
2. AUTO COMBAT----------------------------------------------------
When you get into a battle, you are asked if you wish to engage in tactical
combat. If you select yes, you are put in full control of all your team's
actions. If you choose no, the computer takes control of everything, and your
only role is to watch, or if you choose not to view the combat (which I don't
suggest) need only wait a second.
If you let the computer control the combat, it gives your team the same AI as
the enemy. That AI works reasonably well in simple situations. It will get
as many of your people shooting as many of the enemies as possible, and will
use healing items as necessary to keep you healthy. However, if the
situation is more complicated than that; perhaps you want to protect a
certain healer from attacks, or you want to conserve items, or you want to
simply wait for the enemy to walk single file around the corner to their
execution (as the AI has a habit of doing, see ducks in a row in battle
strategies) you will be less than happy.
Of course, you needn't worry too much as you can interrupt the combat by
pressing the spacebar. Although combat does stop, it doesn't do so until
the end of the current turn, which can be a long time indeed. If you
were planning on executing a complex strategy or saving a wandering companion,
it will likely be too late. When you finally do get the combat stopped, you
are given the option to repeat all orders or to change orders. If you repeat
all, the combat will continue under computer control, pausing each turn to
ask your permission to continue the battle with the AI. If you choose to
change orders however, you will be sent to the normal tactical combat screen.
You'll probably want to use auto combat for the first few battles or until you
want to move on to tactical, but move on as soon as you're comfortable.
3. TACTICAL COMBAT------------------------------------------------
If you're comfortable with combat now or you just feel like a wimp using auto,
tactical is next. Of course, don't feel bad using auto sometimes. The minions
are annoying and it works fine under most conditions as long as you follow my
recipe for success, but use Tactical whenever you can until you're totally
comfortable with it because you'll need to use it sometimes.
When you're using tactical combat, keep in mind that if you are not careful,
attacks from your team can hurt, or kill other members on your team just as
easily as they can hurt enemies. so PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU'RE SHOOTING.
Auto combat has another advantage. When the computer is controlling your
team, it only shoots enemies that are still alive. handy eh? when you use
tactical combat, you can choose to attack anybody who is alive at the
beginning of the turn as many times as you want, but keep in mind how many
shots it takes to kill any specific enemy and how often you hit because when
you kill the target, the character will continue shooting the spot where the
enemy last was and you do not want to be shooting empty space. at least not
usually.
the tactical combat screen is divided into the top and bottom portions. In
the top is the overhead view if the action, and in the bottom is a menu of 8
numbered commands:
1 Move 2 Computer Move
3 Use Item 4 Orders
5 Next character 6 Repeat orders
7 Begin Combat 8 Flee
a. MOVE------------------------------------------------------
The Move command commands the character with the box around him to move on
the battlefield. To use it, you select Move and move the box that was around
the character to wherever you wish him to go. If you want to cancel the
move, press enter with the box over the character.
If you tell a character to move farthur than the character's agility will
allow them to in one turn, you are given the option to try anyway. If you
choose that, the character will move as far as they can in that turn towards
their goal. You will then get the option when the turn is over to let that
character continue moving. I suggest that if you think the character will get
to his goal in theat turn you choose no. If you let him continue moving, and
he gets to his goal halfway through the turn, he will just sit there, having
been given no attack orders, but if you give him a new move command, you may
still be able to give him attack commands.
Finally, remember that team members will take the shortest path from point A
to point B. If that takes them across the line of fire, they will not
hesitate. So be careful of where you're walking.
b. COMPUTER MOVE---------------------------------------------
The computer move option allows you to let the computer control one character
at a time for a turn. They will act according to the normal AI and will avoid
death and heal and attack as provided for by the AI.
If you set all your characters to computer move, you will be given the option
to repeat all commands at each turn. if you accept, the computer will
continue controlling combat just as if you had pressed spacebar from auto.
c. USE ITEM--------------------------------------------------
Use item is the most commonly used command in normal battles. Using it gives
you a list of that character's items from which you can pick something to use.
If you use a healing item, you will be asked which ally to use it on. If you
pick a normal attack item, you will be given the option of which enemy to use
it on. And if you pick an arc gun, you will be given the option of which of
eight directions to use it in (careful, its easy to hurt team members with).
If you pick certain other weapons, such as explosives, you will be given the
choice of throwing at an enemy or at a specific space. And if you pick an
item that you cannot use in battle, such as armor (always in use), you will be
told so.
You will be able to use several items or one item several times in a turn,
depending on your agility. Keep trying to use items until you can or don't
want to use any more in that turn. An idol team member is a dead team member.
d. ORDERS----------------------------------------------------
Selecting "Orders" gives you a list of the orders your character has been
given so far. If you're fine with them you can pick "Orders ok" and you'll be
returned to the main combat screen. If you want to delete the last order, do
so. And if you don't like the orders at all and want to make totally new
ones, select "New orders" and you'll be returned to the combat screen.
e. NEXT CHARACTER-------------------------------------------
When you're happy with the orders for this character and are ready to move on
to ordering around someone else, you can pick next character. Don't worry,
you can always come back if you forgot something.
f. REPEAT ORDERS---------------------------------------------
If you want that character to repeat the orders he was given last turn, pick
repeat orders before you touch any of the other orders commands. Keep in mind
what the character was doing and that if you have any orders to attack an
enemy that is now dead, your character will attack where he was last standing.
g. BEGIN COMBAT----------------------------------------------
If all the characters have good orders and you're ready to start, pick "begin
combat" and the combat will start. Once it has begun, it will not stop until
the end of the turn.
h. FLEE------------------------------------------------------
the flee command allows your entire team to run away. If you can, you will
flee as soon as the command is selected, not during battle like any other
commands. If you cannot flee, you will be clearly told so and will have to go
through with the round, trying to be hurt as little as possible before you
will get another chance to get away.
4. BATTLE STRATEGY------------------------------------------------
What follows is a list of several battle strategies that I have found useful
in my stint on Mars.
a. DUCKS IN A ROW--------------------------------------------
One of the nicest situations you can be in is to have a wall between you and
your enemies. When you get that the AI will often squeeze them out into a
line randomly looking for you along the wall. If that happens you have plenty
of time to get comfortable waiting for them and lining up an attack.
_____________________________________________
EXHIBIT A |
|
friend = O |
enemy = X |
|
moving-----> |
XX__XX_XXX <---| |
| | | |
| | | |
| | aimed at the end enemy |
________| |OOOO____ |
|
_____________________________________________|
wait for the enemies to come around the corner and concentrate all your fire
power on one at a time as you can. If the enemies are no more powerful than
you are, you should be able to kill them without any damage to your team.
_____________________________________________
EXHIBIT B |
|
friend = 1, 2, 3, 4 |
enemy = X, A, B |
|
moving-----> |
X X A |
X_XXXX_XB |
| | |
| | |
| | |
________| |1234____ |
|
_____________________________________________|
If the enemies come in a more lumpy fashion, aim your attacks at the first
couple to come around the corner (A and B) then after they are dead, simply
have your team repeat their orders, thereby killing anything that steps into
either of those spaces. For maximum efficiency, remember to aim the people
on your team at the spaces that they can hit. 4 will be able to kill enemies
that 1 cannot, so don't aim 4 at anything that 1 can hit unless you need to.
What ever you do, don't let the computer control mess up this great of a
situation. The computer will not see the strategy and will just go blindly
around the corner just as the enemy does, so always use tactical combat in
this situation!
b. STRATEGIC FLEEING-----------------------------------------
Don't fear fleeing. it's a useful strategy hen you don't feel like fighting.
Early in the game, you want to get in as many fights as possible to get
experience and money. Later in the game, however, if you follow my advice,
that won't be a problem, so you may want to flee quite often to avoid annoying
and acidic situations. In the mines below the city especially, there are
annoying nasties that are easy to kill, but attack on site (no reasoning with
them no mater what your administration skill) and tend to do a great deal of
annoying chemical damage to you in the mean time. Just run if you don't want
to fight.
But, again, early in the game, don't flee unless you have to. You want to get
that experience so you can improve.
c. THE MEAT SYSTEM-------------------------------------------
As I have said before, begin your campaign with one character. That way you
can concentrate all your money and experience towards making one person a
great fighter. You'll probably want that person to have very rounded stats so
that they can learn programming, medical, a weaponry skill, battle armor, and
administration reasonably well. (You do NOT need to START with any of those
skills.)
When you get tired of the enemies concentrating all their fire on your one
character, get a second from one of the restaurants/bars/lounges/barracks.
What you're looking for here is someone who is strong, has great endurance,
and is pretty agile. Don't worry about the mental skills. You just want a
hulk. And don't worry about teaching him a weaponry skill, just give him the
extra gear your main character can't carry and put him equally as close to the
action as your main character so he will absorb about half of your enemies
attacks.
Don't worry if he gets killed, just carry the body, with your gear on it,
around until you can get to a bar and transfer all that stuff to your main
character dump the dead guy, and get fresh meat.
Eventually your main character will have exhausted his/her ability to improve
his stats. Make sure you improve only the skills you need. You have ability
to be maximally proficient in around half of the skills (more than half in
MoT as there 5 fewer overall). When your main character is as strong as
he/she will become, you may want to go back to the bar and replace your
current meat with someone somewhat more rounded. Look for the best mix of
stats for what you need. Perhaps your main character isn't smart enough to
get as good a medical skill as you want. If so, look for someone with decent
education etc.
Whatever you do, never make a person specialize in only medical or
programming. Be sure to make your character best at fighting. Medical and
programming can easily be added on later. You'll want a character with full
programming skill eventually, and a character with a very good, if not full
medical skill. You'll also want a character with full administration skill
(governed by charisma I believe) eventually because it is helpful for picking
your battles.
d. GUARDING THE WEAKLINGS------------------------------------
If you didn't follow my advice at all, and have a dedicated programmer or
doctor, well, that was stupid of you. Now you're in for a much harder time.
Those extra people will attract more difficult enemies. The larger the group,
the more difficult the enemies will attack you.
Anyway, you'll need to do all your battles with tactical combat as the
computer has no idea how to protect people.
Now that you're doing each battle by hand, it's about to get even more
tedious. You have to keep the weak one in the back where they will not be
hurt, making everyone else in more danger than ever. you'll likely lose a
character every once in a while, don't worry about it. Just raise another.
Those dedicated people in the back will never get any experience and will
never get any better in their chosen profession so that what at first seemed
like an easier way to go through the game is now your downfall.
III. MOVING RIGHT ALONG-------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations you now know how to fight. Now that you have some experience
and some money, you probably want to know what to do eh? Well, that's what
I'm here for. You first want to be sure that everyone on your team has at
least a flack jacket.
I do not like cheating so I don't. some other FAQ's encourage cheating as the
main strategy for beating the game but I blow my nose at them. With my
strategy, there is more than enough money to go around with no foul play. At
this point in my game of MoT, I have several hundred thousand credits which I
did not need to try for at all, except for at the very beginning. Don't use
the gambling cheat and don't use a hex editor, just enjoy the game the way
you're supposed to.
This section is not exactly in chronological order as Mars Saga does not lend
itself well to walkthroughs.
Also, DON'T GO TO THE POLICE STATION YET. I explain why in the leftovers.
A. ARMOR---------------------------------------------------------------
Having more than one armor does not make you any less vulnerable, so just keep
one suit per person at all times. Armor is very important in Mars Saga.
without it, or with too weak a suit of it, you'll be dead before you can
demonstrate those mad fighting skillz.
As a general rule, keep your people in the strongest armor you can afford.
That does not mean that you should buy the newest fanciest armor as soon as
you can. That money would be better spent on raising skills or getting
weapons. Also, armor, more than anything else, is best gotten by scavenging
it off the corpses of your slain enemies. You'll be able to kill a rookie,
if not rookies pretty early. When you can, you'll have reflective, a very
nice armor early in the game. Eventually you'll be getting mesh armor from
agents, and golum from policemen. But that requires some special work.
To use mesh armor or golum, you'll need to hack into the computer system. To
do that you'll need a programmer.
B. PROGRAMMING---------------------------------------------------------
Pretty early in the game, but not immediatly, you'll want to have somebody
that has maximum skill in programming. To train in programming, go to the
north-west part of Primus, into the building marked with a book icon. Train
your character as high as you can in programming (under the 'specialized
disciplines' subset or something). When you can go no higher and are given a
message that says something like "Your natural abilities do not allow you to
get any better at that skill, try raising your abilities", try raising your
education slowly. if that doesn't work try wisdom. I'm not sure which
governs programming. Just be sure you save before you try either so you can
get back without wasting abilities and to tell me when you find out.
Once you've gotten a maximum programming skill, go to one of the many, many
terminals scattered around the city. It costs 40 credits or so to use a
computer terminal, so you might as well make use of it. With a maximum
programming skill, you're pretty much, but not quite invincible. While you're
in there, read the public notices for your own information, and the private
mail 'cause it's interesting. Now go into the system. In the system, try
every choice. You'll clear your police file, get a war games room pass, a
rail pass (to go to the other cities), the mining pass (or something like
that) so you can go into the mines, and on the bottom, the "tuner" which
allows you to use golum armor. Unfortunately, only the person who is doing the
hacking will be able to use the golum. If you want more people with golum
skill, you need to teach them enough programming to get to the tuner.
If your hacking wasn't quite good enough, you may get a message about a
'flurry of activity'. if that happens, exit the terminal and log back in to
clear your police record again. It's no big deal.
C. WEAPONS-------------------------------------------------------------
The next thing, or rather, the first think you'll want to do, as soon as
you've got your flack jacket, is to get some weapon skillz.
The weapon skills are as follows: Arc Gun, Auto, Blade, Cudgel, Handgun,
Rifle, and Throwing. In MoT, I think there is Missile Launcher or something,
but as I have found it useless I'll ignore it.
when you're buying weapons, the system is simple. The cheaper a weapon in a
group is, the less powerful it is, and vice versa. A person will only be able
to buy a weapon that he/she can use, so even those with less charisma will
need to buy stuff every once in a while. Don't worry, the cost isn't that
much different.
1. THE WAR GAMES ROOM---------------------------------------------
Once you've gotten the programming skill and have broken into the system and
done all that you can, you will have a pass to the war games room on the
western side of Primus.
In the war games room, you can train in several disciplines for free. There
is battle armor, arc gun, auto, etc. those three are the ones worth
mentioning.
When you can train in the War games room, do so. The training is free, and
the battle armor and auto skills are very handy. I also like having an arc
gun around just in case.
Most importantly, fill up on auto skill. it's pretty much completely the best
weaponry skill for most situations and it's free to learn.
2. ARC GUN--------------------------------------------------------
The first in my alphabetical list of weapons is the arc gun.
The arc gun can be very useful in the right situations, unfortunately, that
situation never really presents itself. Arc guns fire nasty stuff out in a
spray that goes out to a certain distance, lasts a little while, and hurts
stuff that's in the cloud. Think of it as aerosol people-a-cide.
Just like any other weapon, it will hurt members of your team if they get in
the way. The arc gun isn't super easy to control for that reason, and its
easier to just use regular weapons in most cases.
The situation in which the Arc gun would be useful is when enemies are
attacking you with non-ranged weapons so that they have to run through the
poison cloud to get to your team, weakening the attackers of course.
In my game, I have one character that carries around full arc gun skill and
a stun gun (the best arc gun available in Primus) just in case. I guess it's
a good idea. After all, you never know when that situation might present its
self.
The Arc Gun skill can be trained for in the war games room only. to get
there, you need th have hacked and gotten access (see programming section).
3. CUDGEL----------------------------------------------------------
Cudgel is not at all useful for your characters. It is the skill of hitting
things with blunt objects. In order to hit said things with said objects, one
must be near enough to one's target to reach said target. That means moving
forward in battle into the line of fire of both teams, severely endangering
the cudgel user, and therefore the rest of the team. They may be nifty, but
they're useless.
4. BLADE----------------------------------------------------------
Even niftier are the blades. Blades are another weapon that you need to be up
close to use. For that reason they are similarly useless. I think that being
a blademaster is fun and I will occasionally train a character in the blade
skill just to be able to get the fancy swords, but it is really useless. Save
your money for ranged weapons.
5. HANDGUN--------------------------------------------------------
The handgun is a reasonably useful weapon. It is a common beginning skill,
and is therefore likely to be that weapon with which you will make your first
kills, but it is not as good as the rifle or auto. when you're training in a
first weaponry skill, feel free to train handgun. The handgun skill is
cheaper to get than the rifle and will work just as well for the time you
need it too. Soon you'll be in the war games room with the ability to train
in Auto weapons for free.
6. RIFLE----------------------------------------------------------
Rifle skill can be compared well with handgun. The weapons have similar
powers, although rifle is stronger, and the rifle skill is more expensive to
train in. Both are eclipsed my the auto weapons and therefore it really
doesn't matter which you train in the beginning because you'll be using auto
as soon as you get into the war room.
7. AUTO-----------------------------------------------------------
Auto is the best weapon specialization in most of the game. To train in auto
guns you need to have gotten into the war games room with hacking skills
(covered earlier). Once you have auto skill, you can buy one of the best
weapons there is, and the best that is easy to get.
8. THROWING-------------------------------------------------------
Throwing weapons are pretty useless. They really don't even deserve a
section. Some weak enemies use them and you don't. Why? because there's no
reason to.
D. SKILLS--------------------------------------------------------------
1. ADMIN----------------------------------------------------------
Admin skill is the proportion of fights that you choose not to attack in
in which you will also not be attacked when you normally would be. It's a
simple ratio. If you have no admin skill you'll get out of none, if you have
some skill you'll get out of some, and if you have full skill, you'll get out
of all fights that you choose not to attack in.
The admin skill only works for fights that occur within a city however. if
you are attacked outside a city, you're really attacked, and you have to
either fight or flee.
2. ARC GUN--------------------------------------------------------
See weapons section
3. AUTO-----------------------------------------------------------
See weapons section
4. BLADE----------------------------------------------------------
See weapons section
5. BTTLARM--------------------------------------------------------
Battle armor is one's proficiency with battle armor. It is trained for in the
war games room. The better the skill, the more protection battle armor will
provide. This is a useful skill I think and it's free. I always train in it.
6. CUDGEL---------------------------------------------------------
See weapons section
7. ELECTRIC-------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, this skill is only in Mars Saga, and not Mines of Titan. As I
have been separated from my C64s, I do not know what if any use this skill is.
Please e-mail me if you do. (
[email protected])
8. GAMBLING-------------------------------------------------------
Gambling is useless and does not deserve my time. Don't bother with it unless
you really like the mini-games.
9. GOLUM----------------------------------------------------------
(see programming section for info on how to get it)
Golum is one's proficiency with golum armor. The higher it is, the better
protection you'll have. Actually, as I have never figured out how to raise
the stat above the minimum so I only assume this. I only really know that
without any skill, you can not use Golum, and with the skill, you can.
It's a very worthwhile skill, and if you figure out how to raise it above the
minimum, please tell me.
10. HANDGUN--------------------------------------------------------
See weapons section
11. LANGUAGE-------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, this skill is only in Mars Saga, and not Mines of Titan. As I
have been separated from my C64s, I do not know what if any use this skill is.
Please e-mail me if you do. (
[email protected])
12. MEDICAL--------------------------------------------------------
Medical skill is trained for at any hospital. It costs alot to get, but is
worth it. you really need to have someone with good medical skill (as covered
in this guide).
It's governed by education, do a undereducated person will not be able to get
very high in the medical field. The medical skill bar will mnever be more
full then the education bar.
Only a person skilled in medical will be able to buy good healing items, just
like the system with weapons. You will want to get a single med kit of the
highest letter possible whenever you can. More than one will not help. The
med kit will heal your team automatically when outside of battles. Compresses
are also handy for emergencies while in a battle so also keep a few of them
round per person.
13. MECHANIC-------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, this skill is only in Mars Saga, and not Mines of Titan. As I
have been separated from my C64s, I do not know what if any use this skill is.
Please e-mail me if you do. (
[email protected])
14. MELEE----------------------------------------------------------
Melee is another useless close up attack skill, this time using only the fists.
it's even less useful than the other close attacks.
15. MINING---------------------------------------------------------
You need mining skill, which can be trained for at the university (go figure)
only to use the mining laser (covered in the gun lady section in the
leftovers).
don't bother getting a miner, just train somebody in mining on your team a
little. it doesn't take much.
16. PROGRAM--------------------------------------------------------
See the programming section
17. RIFLE----------------------------------------------------------
See weapons section
18. STRATEGY-------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, this skill is only in Mars Saga, and not Mines of Titan. As I
have been separated from my C64s, I do not know what if any use this skill is.
Please e-mail me if you do. (
[email protected]))
19. STREET---------------------------------------------------------
This skill is only in Mars Saga, and not Mines of Titan. As I have been
separated from my C64s, I do not know for certain, but if I remember
correctly, it did essentially what admin does. It allows one to get out of
fights.
20. TACTICS--------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, this skill is only in Mars Saga, and not Mines of Titan. As I
have been separated from my C64s, I do not know what if any use this skill is.
Please e-mail me if you do. (
[email protected])
21. THROWING-------------------------------------------------------
See weapons section
E. A REVIEW OF STATS---------------------------------------------------
Back to stats my little friend. Now that you're out in the wide world, you
may want to know what stats to improve.
First, AGILITY. agility is now the most important single skill to master.
don't just go mad and train in only agility, but concentrate on it.
Next, you need to look at what your character needs. Are you training in
Medical? if so get better at education. I'm not sure past there, but I
believe that charisma affects administration and that wisdom affects
programming, but neither as much as education and medical.
Next, pay attention to your stamina. If its too low, you need to get it
higher or you'll die in 1.35 shakes of a lamb's tail.
Now, if you can still train in skills, you're doing something wrong. Does your
team need a doctor? a programmer? If there's really nothing left then think
about strength or charisma. Strength will give you another buffer stat
before your precious agility is lost and charisma will give you slightly and
may I repeat, SLIGHTLY better prices when you buy or sell.
F. OPTION MENU---------------------------------------------------------
This section goes over the choices you have when using your option menu
(accessed by pressing enter outside a shop). Many of the commands explained
here are also used elsewhere, and they're all important.
1. CONTINUE ADVENTURING-------------------------------------------
You just go back to what you were doing and the menu closes.
2. INSPECT A CHARACTER--------------------------------------------
You are given a choice of characters. You choose whose summary to view. You
will want to do this pretty often early in the game just because when a
character is able to train, "X is eager to learn" is displayed on the top.
3. USE AN ITEM----------------------------------------------------
You get a list of characters to use an item they are carrying. used for
healing outside of battle etc.
4. PREFERENCES----------------------------------------------------
a. SOUND----------------------------------------------------
You are given the option to turn the sound on or off, but why would you want
to miss out on that amazing audio that Mars Saga is famous for
b. COMBAT ORDER---------------------------------------------
As in many RPGs, Mars Saga's battlefield is divided up into differently sized
squares. There are squares the size of your characters hereafter referred to
as "4s", and squared that are half as large in each dimension as your
characters hereafter referred to as "1s". there are also squares that are
three times the size of your characters that I think of and will hereafter
refer to as "64s".
The most important squares are the 1s because they are the most basic.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| _ _
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_| _
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_| |_|
a 64, composed of 1s a 4, composed of 1s a 1
The maps inside the city are composed of units of 64s, the maps in the mines
are composed of units of 4s, ad the maps of the cave are composed of units of
1s.
In the options, there is a party management option which allows you to
re-arrange your team to fit the situation. When you get a new recruit, the
game automatically puts him in a pre-determined arrangement. The order that
the game chooses is generally pretty good, but it does have room for
improvement.
When you have one character, it's simple. you just put him in the middle.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_| |_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_ _|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
When you have 2, I recommend putting them close together near the center so
that they are diagonal. that way each can shoot the most number of places
without having to move.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_| |_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_ _|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_| |_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_ _|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
For 3, try a few different arrangements. Three good ones are A) a jogged
line, B) a triangle of sorts (my current favorite), and C) a looser triangle.
I do not recommend placing anyone against the wall under any circumstances
because if they accidently shoot it, they will be hurt, and badly. Of course,
these arrangements are also geared towards letting the most friends safely
have a crack at the most enemies in the most situations.
A B C
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_| |_|_|_|
|_| |_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_| |_|_|_| |_|_|_|_ _|_|_|_|
|_|_ _| |_|_|_| |_|_|_|_ _|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_ _| |_| |_|_| | |_|_| |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_ _|_| |_|_|_ _|_ _|_|_| |_| |_|_| |_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_ _|_|_|_ _|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
If you get 4, which you shouldn't need, you could choose some sort of jaggy
line, a box, an expanded box, a triangle with guy in the middle, etc. It
gets hard to manage all your players safely and efficiently.
Of course if you have someone that you need to protect, put them in the
middle, surrounded by stronger, protective players.
c. COMBAT SPEED---------------------------------------------
you are given a choice of 0-9, representing the speed of combat. The higher
numbers represent faster action if you're getting impatient.
d. AUTOSAVE GAME--------------------------------------------
You can turn auto save on or off. It automatically saves to a special save
slot periodically when it's on.
e. SAVE MAPS------------------------------------------------
Choose "Prompt me", "Always", or "Never". it refers to saving the map each
time you save the game. I suggest you change it to "always" from the default
of "prompt me" because there's no reason not to save the map.
f. LIST GROUP ITEMS-----------------------------------------
When you select this you get a list of special items that are not listed in
the inventories. I'm not sure how its useful, but I guess its one way to check
which of the many thingies you have (see the gun lady section).
5. VIEW MAP-------------------------------------------------------
This is a handy function. you can see the map of the city or cave, etc..
This is a handy feature as it allows one to NOT get lost.
6. EXAMINE THIS AREA----------------------------------------------
This shows you a top view, combat style, of your surroundings, not very useful
except in the gun lady quest (see gun lady section in leftovers).
7. TRANSFER ITEMS-------------------------------------------------
This is perhaps the most commonly used function in the game. you end up
transferring a lot of stuff, especially when you keep a small group. Keep in
mind that new characters will refuse to transfer stuff until they get a lttle
experience.
a. ITEMS----------------------------------------------------
Here you choose a person to transfer from, then move stuff to others. it's
pretty self-explanatory.
b. CREDITS--------------------------------------------------
this one is ugly and clumsy. I don't use it much, but instead stick to the
next two.
c. POOL CREDITS---------------------------------------------
You choose one team member and all your credits go to him. This one is useful
if one character has high charisma. you can give all the money to him and
have him do all the shopping.
d. DISTRIBUTE CREDITS---------------------------------------
This one equally distributes the credits. It's useful in most of the game so
that you don't have to transfer funds before each purchase. if each person
has equal money, anyone can buy stuff when they need to.
8. SAVE A GAME----------------------------------------------------
Here, you save your games. you choose a slot, name it (just press enter again
to keep the name already there) and save away. Here is also where you go to
exit the game.
9. LOAD A GAME----------------------------------------------------
Here you load a game. also note that the auto save game is there so you can
load it if need be
F. IMPORTANT LEFTOVERS-------------------------------------------------
1. MY FORMULA FOR A LONG AND HEALTHY LIFE-------------------------
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Keep the number of people on your
team down. In my most recent game, right before the end I had only three
team members, mad skillz, and even angrier money. One might go so far as to
say bling bling. Keeping very few members on your team will keep the nastiest
people away until you can handle them and will allow you to focus on building
one character at a time.
Begin with one character (and the pre-discussed meat). When that character
can not go any farthur usefully, get another non-meat character and bring
him up to the same status. when he's done, get another. But at that point,
don't get a forth. Three is good enough to handle any baddies, and four would
only confuse combat farthur. With three members, you can kill what you need
to, carry what you need to, and still use computer control efficiently for
when you just don't feel like destroying the minions so tediously.
really the only weakness is the cargo ability. With only three characters, it
can sometimes be hard to carry all that loot back to a shop, but by the time
you really have problems carrying stuff, you'll be so rich you won't care
about lugging it around.
2. THE GUN LADY, THIS ONE'S FOR EARLY IN THE GAME-----------------
At some point early in the game, after you've looked in the computer terminal
(you don't need to hack for this one, its open to everyone) and seen the
notice from Cybil Graves, see her in the munitions shop. You'll talk and get
some money and a thingie.
The reason to do that part early is because there's no reason not to and that
money will be useful early, but not late in the game.
Don't worry about it until you're a very strong group. When you can venture
out to the surface do so. walk a ways from the exit, in a straight line so
you'll be able to find the way back, and some nomads will meet you. They'll
exchange a thingie for the thingie Cybil gave you and then leave. There will
now be a little yellow arrow that points the direction you should go. When
you follow it the arrow will eventually turn into a yellow square. When
you're there, examine the area in the options and you'll be able to mine using
the mining laser you should have picked up earlier (from the agents? I forgot.
I'll check later). You also find a dead nomad from whom you take another
little thingie which you take to Graves when you get back inside.
You'll also find a cave which you'll need to eventually explore.
3. WHY NOT TO GO TO THE POLICE STATION YET------------------------
Earlier I told you not to go to the police station too soon. That's because
there is a trigger series of events that will kill you if you're not careful.
Wait for a while.
After playing for a while, you'll be able to kill teams with multiple agents
without difficulty. When you can do that, go to the police station and look
for bounties. After you've done that, go to the university and you'll see a
"buzz of activity" then leave there and go down to the training center in the
southwest. go above it and you'll meet some agents with the specimen bottle
that was stolen. you'll fight them and when you win (aren't you glad you
waited) the specimen bottle will be broken. Stuff will happen which I do not
feel like I have to explain as you'll see it your self. You can now go on
your merry way.
4. SAVE!----------------------------------------------------------
In case you haven't figured it out yet, you must save very often in Mars Saga.
it is one of the few games in which a minion battle that goes badly can kill
you, not to mention all the other stuff.
5. TO REITERATE ON HEALTH----------------------------------------
Health is some sort of average of the three physical skills. It goes down
reasonable slowly when your character is damaged. The numbers you should
really be watching are the individual endurance, strength, and agility stats.
When a character is damaged, endurance is touched first, second is strength,
and third is agility. It's suprising how quickly damage can get to agility
sometimes, but as soon as that happens or threatens to happen, you'll want to
heal the character.
6. MED CENTERS, IN CASE YOU HADN'T FIGURED IT OUT
In case you hadn't figured it out, heal at med centers at first, until you
have a healer that can use med kits. Just thought I'd mention it.
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If you have any information to add to this guide, either put it in a message
on the Mars Saga message board on GameFaqs or e-mail me at
[email protected]
Credits to the Mars Saga and Mines of Titan manuals and games
1/21/03 Around midnight
began the endevor
1/22/03 1:28:07 AM
finished ver. 1.0.0 except for proofreading.
1/22/03 2:19:49 AM
finished ver. 1.0.1, spellchecked
1/30/03 1:18:24 AM
finished ver. 1.1.2, to be spellchecked.
I added some more leftovers, proofread fully, and added an options menu
section
1/30/03 1:41:15 AM
finished spellchecking, it has now ascended to ver. 1.1.3
Copyright 2003 Mark Soderholm
