\--------------\ \-----\ /-----/ /----|
\ \ \ \ / / / |
\----- -----\ \ \/ / / /| |_
| | | | | _|
| | | |\/| | ----| |
| | | | | | | |
|____| /_____\/______\ |__|
Twisted Metal 4 FAQ, Revision 1, 7th January 2000
(c) 2000 by Russ Tops - May not be transmitted or
copied for monetary compensation without offering
the original author a deal that he accepts.
Section of FAQ ............................... Area Number
Foreword ............................................... 1
Backstory .............................................. 2
Gameplay ............................................... 3
Characters ............................................. 4
Default Characters ................................ 4-1
Meter Maid
Orbital
Captain Grimm
Calypso
Goggle Eyes
Pizza Boy
Quatro
General Warthog
Micro Blast
Trashman
The Joneses
Drag Queen
Rob Zombie
Sub-Bosses and Bosses ............................. 4-2
Crusher
Moon Buggy
Super Thumper
RC Car
Super Axel
Super Auger
Super Slamm
Minion
Sweet Tooth
Weapons ................................................ 5
Pickups ........................................... 5-1
Fire Missile 5-1-1
Homing Missile 5-1-2
Power Missile 5-1-3
Napalm 5-1-4
Remote Bomb 5-1-5
Ricochet Bomb 5-1-6
Lightning 5-1-7
Rain Missile 5-1-8
Speed Missile 5-1-9
Mortar 5-1-10
Proximity Mine 5-1-11
M.I.R.V. 5-1-12
Rain 2 Missile 5-1-13
Auto Lob 5-1-14
Turbo 5-1-15
Partial Health 5-1-16
Full Health 5-1-17
Combo Attacks ..................................... 5-2
Freeze Burst 5-2-1
Rear Freeze 5-2-2
Rear Attack 5-2-3
Teleport 5-2-4
Invisibility 5-2-5
Jump 5-2-6
Massive Attack 5-2-7
Rear Massive Attack 5-2-8
Strategies ............................................. 6
Personal Strategies 6-1
Characters 6-1-1
Levels 6-1-2
Deathmatch Only Levels 6-1-3
Donated Strategies 6-2
Programmer Strategies 6-3
Special Weapon Strategies .............................. 7
Energy Ray - Meter Maid 7-1
Teleorb - Orbital 7-2
Cannon - Captain Grimm 7-3
Nuke - Calypso 7-4
Toxic Spray - Goggle Eyes 7-5
Cutters - Pizza Boy 7-6
Microwave Shockwave - Quatro 7-7
Ion Pad - General Warthog 7-8
Micro Blast - Gatlinger 7-9
Hornets - The Joneses 7-10
Flamethrower - Drag Queen 7-11
Zombie - Rob Zombie 7-12
Quasars - Moon Buggy 7-13
Megafire - Super Thumper 7-14
Ray Gun - RC Car 7-15
Supernova - Super Axel 7-16
Serpent - Minion 7-17
Henchmen - Sweet Tooth 7-18
Funny Bomb - Custom Car 7-19
Laser - Custom Car 7-20
Detnoball - Custom Car 7-21
Twintorchers - Custom Car 7-22
Close Range Combat Weapons ....................... 7-23
Lifter - Trash Man 7-23-1
Crusher - Crusher 7-23-2
Loader - Super Slamm 7-23-3
Auger - Super Auger 7-23-4
Level Secrets .......................................... 8
Default Levels .................................... 8-1
The Construction Yard 8-1-1
Neon City 8-1-2
Road Rage 8-1-3
The Bedroom 8-1-4
Amazonia 3000 B.C. 8-1-5
The Oil Rig 8-1-6
Minion's Maze 8-1-7
The Carnival 8-1-8
Deathmatch Only ................................... 8-2
The Pits 8-2-1
Nowhere to Hide 8-2-2
King of the Kill 8-2-3
Octa-Gone 8-2-4
The Citadel 8-2-5
Tic-Tac-Toast 8-2-6
The Islands 8-2-7
Son of a Ditch 8-2-8
Cheat Codes ............................................ 9
Passwords 9-1
Super Cheese Munchkin Strategies 9-2
Nifty Things to Blow Up ............................... 10
Lightning Power-Ups ................................... 11
Interview with Jim Buck ............................... 12
Bugs/Problems ......................................... 13
AI Advances ........................................... 14
Disclaimer ............................................ 15
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Foreword 1
Inevitably, somebody is bound to completely skip past this
section, and start asking me dumb questions. If you have a
question regarding anything, check to see if the FAQ covers
it or if another referenced website covers it. In light of
what you think, I was not the lead programmer and I have no
knowledge beyond what is expressed here. This FAQ is dealt
out practically, and is much more comprehensive than my TM3
FAQ. Please, do Earth a favor, and don't send e-mails that
ask for cheats or secrets beyond what I've given you. Also
read the disclaimer at the bottom of the FAQ if viewing the
whole FAQ in a page, or in the fifth part of the FAQ if you
are viewing it a little bit at a time.
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Backstory 2
With that cute intro, most is explained. This assumes
Sweet Tooth won TM3 and took over. The game engine is
quite similar with the realistic flipping, but now you
don't have to wait for respawning, and levels must be
at least 3 times bigger than they were in TM3, and all
cars in the game are playable, given time and wins. A
different taste from TM3 makes some magazines rate it
high and low, but YOU decide what you think of it. It
is a nice change with larger levels, a wider array of
vehicles, more weapons with retouching and spins on old
ones, and balancing out vehicles much more fairly, giving
extreme advantages in one or two categories at sacrifice
of others, or even characters with fairness in mind. Our
good old pal Jim Buck who only did Software Engineering
in cooperation with others, now is the Lead Engineer. I
say way to go. Hope I was your inspiration. Additionally,
the way everything got packed into this game with a limited
customisation of cars, but all this fits onto the same disc
that TM3 was on. Refining was key, and it was released
much faster because they didn't have to redo the engines
apart from touching up respawning. Also, the storyline is
somewhat better than it was, though Sweet Tooth's ending
in TM3 should have set up the sequel. So overall, a great
game, implementing a rock star, and a lot of imagination
on the design crew's part for weapons, battlegrounds, and
characters. Matches are now longer with more armor on cars
and toned-down weapons, and the inclusion of bosses for
each level, and the ability to save the game, eliminating
most passwords. Also, the unlocking feature of deathmatch
battlegrounds with plain tilesets and no textures and
allowing all bosses playable after beating the game was a
great idea. I played it the day I got it and a couple days
more and had a low opinion and even thought about saying,
"Let all those miserable gits make their own FAQs, how much
can I sell this thing for?," but now I see and it's a bit
more difficult and creative. Way to go, 989!
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Gameplay 3
Game play remains much the same, but now all menu screens
include captions so you know what you're doing, and often
the Square button allows configuration of just about
everything, passwords are ducked away, and don't add or
detract too much from gameplay. The same engines were used
as TM3 with some minor tweaking, and much more is available.
Nobody should be putting down "custom" cars because you're
limited by not setting any attributes, but you were given
freedom where just about everything in the game can be done
and every level has something secret in it, and maps take a
while to get used to, where nearly everywhere you go, it
seems like you're still playing a Hong Kong (TM2), Cyburbia
(TM1), or London (TM3) level, and you never are truly sure
which way you're going or which way to go at that split once
you break open the wall. Many more trajectory and indirect
fire weapons were introduced, and two types of remotes (one
is automatically triggered in a Goldeneye-esque style) which
do different things. You also get a great deal of weapons
that somehow end up setting a character's car on fire and a
preface to each level with a small hint or suggestion to clue
you in to the hidden weapon, if there is, or whatever ideas
the developers thought you should try.
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Characters 4
These are general stats on the characters in a quick at-a-
glance formula table, apart from Bosses, which appear to
have no stats. Please take note that SpecT stands for
"Special Type" and that the code is 8 letters long and
means this:
[H] if it homes in with even a degree of accuracy
[C] if it is close range weapon (like Thumper, Mr. Slam)
[R] if it is a rapid fire weapon (like Speed Missiles)
[V] if it is a vortex-like weapon (trapping)
[T] if it is a taser-like weapon (like Outlaw 3)
[F] if it sets someone on fire
[I] if it is an indirect fire (trajectory) weapon
[D] if it is a detonate weapon
[G] if it freezes someone
You will see things in this format:
Character Name | Armor | Speed | Handling | Weapon | SpecT
Meter Maid | A:1 | S:2 | H:3 | W:3 | -C--T----
Orbital | A:2 | S:5 | H:5 | W:3 | ---VT---G
Captain Grimm | A:1 | S:4 | H:5 | W:3 | -----F---
Calypso | A:5 | S:1 | H:1 | W:5 | H---TF-D-
Goggle Eyes | A:3 | S:3 | H:3 | W:4 | -C---F---
Pizza Boy | A:2 | S:2 | H:5 | W:2 | H--------
Quatro | A:1 | S:5 | H:5 | W:2 | -C-------
Gen. Warthog | A:4 | S:2 | H:1 | W:4 | -----F-D-
Micro Blast | A:1 | S:5 | H:4 | W:2 | --R------
Trashman | A:4 | S:3 | H:1 | W:4 | -C-------
The Joneses | A:2 | S:3 | H:3 | W:2 | H--------
Drag Queen | A:2 | S:4 | H:1 | W:3 | -C---F---
Rob Zombie | A:2 | S:3 | H:5 | W:3 | ---VTF---
Crusher | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C-------
Moon Buggy | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | H--VT----
Super Thumper | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C---F---
RC Car | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C---F---
Super Axel | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C-------
Super Auger | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C-------
Super Slamm | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C-------
Minion | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | H-------G
Sweet Tooth | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | H--VTF---
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Weapons 5
This section is devoted to the weapons of warfare and mass
destruction of your arsenal of Twisted Metal 4. The first
is devoted to Weapon Pickups and the second is allocated to
the Combo Attacks. The third section is a short note about
the exploding barrels located on all tournament levels that
end up killing you when you have 3 points of life left and
just avoided 5 MIRVs, a few Rain 2 Missiles, some Homings,
and 8 proximity mines in a small field.
Pickups 5-1
Fire Missile 5-1-1
Generic missile that has existed since TM1, with
light homing capabilities and a moderate damage
rating.
Homing Missile 5-1-2
Heavier than the Fire Missile with more homing
ability, this missile is weapon of choice for
that jumping, swerving, disappearing runt of a
car.
Power Missile 5-1-3
Also existing since TM1, this missile deals out
an incredible amount of damage to any vehicle it
may hit, but it has no homing ability whatsoever.
Napalm 5-1-4
With the homing ability of a Fire Missile and a
fair trajectory distance, the impact and fire
damage while a car burns is what does the major
damage.
Remote Bomb 5-1-5
Existing since TM2, you simply drop it on the
first attack, then you detonate it when you
press attack again while on the remote's icon.
It has a nice blast radius and it would be a
very nasty surprise if it didn't beep. Even so,
you never can tell when the bomb is easily.
Ricochet Bomb 5-1-6
Also existing since TM2, this has hit major
changes, first a push weapon, then a bounce
weapon, now it combine a little of both.
Lightning 5-1-7
Yet another oldy from TM2, this nasty attacks
only when you're in its range, and often it
has extreme range. In this game, often, you're
safe if you trigger it from where you picked it
up.
Rain Missile 5-1-8
Modified from TM3, no longer a detonate, it flies
a distance, dropping 4 or 5 flames in a row with
a light homing capability and if stops if it hits
a car or wall. It has no effect in acid pools, in
case that's what you hoped for.
Speed Missile 5-1-9
Since TM3, now without any homing ability that
I could see, this one inflicts very light damage,
but is very rapid fire and pickups now give you
30 of these babies a pop.
Mortar 5-1-10
Yet another from TM3, almost a Napalm with more
homing ability, and a larger blast radius. A
direct hit from one of these puppies does a fair
amount of damage.
Proximity Mine 5-1-11
Ah, I see we're copying from Goldeneye, or we
are splitting up the original remotes by auto
detonation. This comes at a price that a weapon
that hits it triggers it. Fortunately, you can
set whole minefields but you must be careful not
to blow yourself up, these mines aren't THAT smart.
M.I.R.V. 5-1-12
A Multiple Independently-Targeted Reentry Vehicle
flies into the air, and then sends out 4 or 5
missiles with strong homing capability, but lower
speeds. A great form of bombardment, but you can
only fire it in an open space with full effect.
Rain 2 Missile 5-1-13
A Rain 2 Missile is more advanced in that it
combines a MIRV and a Rain, dropping Homing Rain
missiles onto an opponent.
Auto Lob 5-1-14
A short-range trajectory weapon, almost a MIRV,
but shorter-ranged, and is very quick for a
drive-by lobbing.
Turbo 5-1-15
Not a weapon, this refills your turbo meter.
Partial Health 5-1-16
A blue spinning square with a white cross, it
adds 49 health, so you have 50 or more, always
fixing the look of the car which changes at 49.
Full Health 5-1-17
A spinning red square surrounded by a blue outline
with a white cross in the center, this completely
refills your health bar irregardless of how much
damage your car has sustained.
Combo Attacks 5-2
These attacks require precision timing of hitting buttons,
although often you are forgiven for delays. The only
exception is the Massive Attacks, which I find to only work
well when I use a thumb on up and the other on down and tap
fairly quickly.
Freeze Burst 5-2-1
Keys: Left Right Up Up
Cost: 40
This is a homing weapon which does quite minimal
damage because the main purpose is to stop a car
not mass destruction.
Rear Freeze 5-2-2
Keys: Left Right Down Down
Cost: 40
This is identical to above, but fires out the
back of the cars, good if you're being chased
by some relentless car.
Rear Attack 5-2-3
Keys: Right Left Down Down
Cost: 10
This fires the currently chosen weapon out of
the car backwards. It is equivalent to hitting
the fire button once. Don't waste it on the
loader/crusher-type weapons, the remote or
proximity weapons, the omni-directional weapons
nor the forced front weapons (like Drag Queen's)
Teleport 5-2-4
Keys: Up Up Down Down
Cost: 40
This returns you to the central area of the ring,
which mean you can't get into secret areas using
it, but is still very useful for getting out of
weapons like Trash Man's, or if you're falling to
your death. Additionally, you can get out of
range of most attacks sent your way. Bonus: You
can confuse your friends better than the CPU.
Invisibility 5-2-5
Keys: Down Down Up Up
Cost: 40
This cloaks you visually but not from radar. The
AI here actually acts like it cannot see you as a
bonus. In a 2/3/4 player match, a friend has to
look at your screen to find where you are.
Jump 5-2-6
Keys: Up Up Right
Cost: 10
If you have no real idea what this does, you need
to remember this one has been around (as the
trampoline-thing) since the first game and is
indispensable to avoid homing weapons, jump over
enemy vehicles or barriers, or just get a slightly
better firing angle.
Massive Attack 5-2-7
Keys: Up Down Up Down Up
Cost: 99
This launches 7 missiles, all of which but one
home in, the effect is the enemy is frozen and
hit for massive damage, hence the name massive
attack, but remember, nothing like Freeze or
Shield or even Teleport will be effective for a
while.
Rear Massive Attack 5-2-8
Keys: Up Down Up Down Down
Cost: 99
The same as above, but fires backwards.
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Strategies ............................................. 6
Personal Strategies - Characters 6-1-1
Meter Maid
She should avoid major battles as often as
possible, and only drive-by. She is very weak
but makes up for it with her vampire ray (my
nickname for it). Often, fight from above the
enemies on raised platforms, using shields to
defend against MIRVs, Quasars, Henchmen, Rain 2
Missiles, and "Serpents" from Minion.
Orbital
Use his speed to avoid short-range weapons and run
like crazy. His handling allows swerving lightly
to avoid homing missiles while being pursued. He
must avoid his own special so he doesn't freeze
himself when it explodes as a freeze remote.
Captain Grimm
His speed it fair and he's balanced, but now is
like a dead pirate? He should have a powerful
special as he has in the past 3 TMs. Additionally,
he's not the fastest nor the lowest armoured.
He's somewhat balanced with an average 3 or so on
all stats or close to it.
Calypso
The guy from the past 3 TMs is finally playable.
It makes sense that he gets the coolest (and most
powerful) special weapon as well. He should NOT
fire it when falling down forward or backward so
he doesn't hit himself. He can knock 50 points off
himself if he does this. Also, use him for ramming
a frozen opponent with momentum. Also, unlikely to
tip by ramming. Additionally, it has a small homing
ability to turn slightly in air. Detonate it if it's
not going to hit an enemy or past one, you may do a
little damage. Used best on frozen opponents.
Goggle Eyes
Also, a rammer-class vehicle, he is prone to tip
somewhat easily. His toxic spray has a very fair
range which will hit most enemies and is good when
you freeze and hold it on them, and ram them while
spraying.
Pizza Boy
With his main stat handling, and hardly any in
speed, weapon and armor, it's strange that I beat
Sweet Tooth the very first time I played the game,
with this guy. It was sheer luck as well. He
should swerve while running to avoid getting hit by
pursuers due to his handling.
Quatro
This looks a lot like a pod-racer, and "hovers"
above the ground, but is EXTREMELY prone to flipping.
Running and doing VERY light swerving is a good combo
along with drive-by microwavings hitting 2 or more
enemies, also if a vortex special traps him and a
couple others.
General Warthog
Very slow, but strong, his triple missile special has
been "donated" to The Joneses for an Ion Pad which is
a powerful remote weapon. He can take large amounts
of punishment, and is better than Calypso in respect
of speed and handling.
Microblast
Exactly where Calypso it strong and weak, Microblast is
weak and strong. He has insane speed and handling for
fast get-aways and avoiding nearly any weapons, but has
hardly any armor and his special is just a speed missile
with an added sound effect and it recharges very quickly.
He also has a small frame and is quite hard to aim at. A
massive attack will do a good deal of damage to him, if
he doesn't run away quickly.
The Joneses
The Warthog special on this car gives it a nice advantage
with great homing, but I tend to avoid this car because I
like cars with 4 or 5 in more than 2 categories. I play
them on occasion, but I think this car could be tossed out
of the mix next game.
Drag Queen
A flamethrower mounted on a drag queen's purple car. You
cannot get any more "flaming" than that, no offence to
anyone out there, but it does a good amount of damage to
frozen opponents and even more if they aren't. To the
unfortunate side, the car has terrible handling for poor
aiming.
Trash Man
This guy is fairly even, but has NO handling whatsoever
and the special is hard to hit on an enemy because he keeps
going forward when you want to brake or turn. I think he
should have had no more than 2 speed but lots of speed with
minimal handling is a VERY bad combo.
Rob Zombie
Okay, the rocker who had tracks in TM3 now has a vehicle
in TM4. He's very well-balanced and is fairly powerful.
Overall, the beginners vehicle, just don't get near your
launched special when it erupts, you'll catch fire. Also,
when running, swerving is great because he has ultra-tight
handling. Just recall that his special reloads in about 2
minutes.
Crusher - Boss of The Construction Yard
Okay, a very fair vehicle with a crushing apparatus on
front, he's quite balanced as it seems, with about 2-3
speed and handling. I can't say much for him either.
Moon Buggy - Boss of Neon City
He has one of the MOST unfair specials in the game. It's
three tasers that swirl you around, it goes through walls,
and it homes in. Fortunately, in Neon City, as the boss,
he has a very hard time catching the flying transport.
Super Thumper - Boss of Road Rage
Thumper's back with his TM2 weapon, but now he's
got a dual-flamethrower, so he is very powerful at
close-range. Also, he should freeze and megafire
the enemy, and attempt a massive attack if you used
a freeze remote to stop them.
RC Car - Boss of The Bedroom
This car has fair speed and handling, as well as
a weapon, but since he is a boss character,
remember, he's got a huge amount of armor. He
can almost go toe to toe with Minion and other
heavily armoured and heavily armed vehicles.
Super Axel - Boss of Amazonia 3000 B.C.
His special now knocks you away from him, a little bit
up, and sets you on fire. Good on "fall to your death"
levels. Also, very useful for ramming and shockwaving.
Fight him from a distance.
Super Slamm - Boss of The Oil Rig (1 of 2)
Fight him from a distance as well, and keep away from
his loader. Otherwise, on the Oil Rig, as bosses they
often jump short of the helipad. Remember, hitpoints
are lost from each slam, not evenly.
Super Auger - Boss of the Oil Rig (2 of 2)
Fight him like Super Slamm, but his special drills for
a longer time even if he misses, he can still attempt
to hit for some damage and it takes massive damage
off of armour class 1 cars at an alarming even speed.
Minion - Boss of Minion's Maze
Stay near his sides and you'll be fairly safe, but
get in front or back, you're in for a trip since
his special knocks you around a lot and freezes
you, you have little hope if you are going to fall
to your death after being hit by him. Also, he
tends to turn around very quickly which can delay
him if you force him to turn a lot. Also, he can
ram you for fair damage.
Sweet Tooth - Boss of The Carnival AKA Endgame
This guy is even more unfair than Moon Buggy. It
keeps homing in if you teleport, etc. Expect to
use about 2 shields to protect yourself from one.
A visual treat is that his fire on his head goes
out if frozen. He needs modified Rogaine for fire
loss.
Personal Strategies - Levels 6-1-2
The Construction Yard
In tournament mode, the crane breaks apart so
you cannot use it against Crusher. When you
pick someone up, they cannot teleport out, but
can still fire (e.g. massive attack). You can
drop them onto the exploding barrels first,
then grab them a split-second later. Then you
can let them fall through the very top part of
the grating, and grab them repeatedly to do
minute damage over and over again, unless they
teleport. It's humourous when the CPU turns
invisible in the beam.
Neon City
Blowing through the wall to the left of the
Auto Lob and Health, catch the transport to the
platform, hit the bounce pad, do it again, and
drop proximities (3) where you fall and take off
so you don't blow up and wait on the pad. Any
enemy taking the transport can get hit by the
lightning as it turns after the straightaway
from the platform.
Road Rage
Keep on the road with the speed arrows and circle
the level constantly, grabbing powerups often and
stay on the road. Just be aware of all the
exploding barrels all over the place.
The Bedroom
The lightning power up roasts enemies on the
floor near the center and power sockets. Also,
leaving remotes and proximities on the ramp of the
bounce pad bureau nearly always guarantees getting
hit rarely.
Amazonia 3000 B.C.
The temple with the pillar of light has a health
and the other temple in the ice fields with lots of
jumps is difficult for enemies to get to. Getting
on the center of the ring and unloading powers and
Auto Lobs is a great idea, facing the direction in
which they teleport in so they are sideways when
they land. Also, leave proximities on the inside
next to the landing spot and they land and blow 5
miles away.
The Oil Rig
The helicopter drops healths on the pad almost
constantly, so staying there should be no problem.
The secret is jumping onto the top of the silo from
the building connected to the bounce pad to the Rain
2 Missiles. Get the MIRV on top the silo before
teleporting ON TOP of the drill.
Minion's Maze
It truly is a maze and there's a platform to which
you can jump on the second level. "Downstairs" is
hard to find from the first level as the four gates
almost look like walls. The lightning on the light
pillar must be also jumped to by speeding and
jumping.
The Carnival
The roller-coaster can be accessed one of 3 ways.
One is to jump from the top of the picture room.
Another is to blow up the floor IN FRONT OF the
door with a mortar or napalm. The third is to
go through the graveyard tunnel by shooting the
big box from behind the tent with a missile.
The lightning zaps the roller-coaster. It can
be gotten by jumping onto the tent from on top
of the picture room.
Personal Strategies - Deathmatch Levels 6-1-3
Deathmatch Only Levels are unlocked one at a time
by defeating a level in tournament mode. The game
must be saved in order to keep them. They are
simply levels with no graphic textures. The blue
squares are plain land, blue with red border means
going past it causes a falling death, red tiles
blow up from attacks that hit them, green ones are
equivalent to acid pools, and yellow are bounce
tiles.
The Pits
Six red-tile pits have one weapon each on them,
and a few weapons elsewhere on the level. Axel
dominates with Minion.
The Citadel
Four teleporters to roofs, an acid tile in the
center with partial health, a raised platform
off to the side, and a circling path with a full
health over a gaping pit.
Nowhere to Hide
A simple level with no walls or anything. Just
a large platform floating in mid-air.
Tic-Tac-Toast
Small level with a few healths, and all are red
squares. Just teleport in emergency (falling).
Octa-Gone
4 octagonal bounce-away blocks surround the
central acid tiles and you can bounce back and
forth constantly. Higher handling recovers you
faster and you can often win just by running
circles and enemies bounce away. Auto Lob in
center.
King of the Kill
Rain 2 Missiles and MIRVs are opposite each
other on top of the hill with ALL edges on top
being littered with weapon pick-ups.
Son of a Ditch
Giant pit in center with red tiles until blown
up. Most bounce blocks knock you down there.
Staying near them when an enemy is near you and
them often causes them to bounce into the pit.
The Islands
In the air from a bounce pad, do not fire a
mortar in the direction you are flying. It
will force you to fall near straight down to
oblivion.
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Donated Strategies 6-2
See your strategy here! Make it at least 5 lines
long and somewhat in depth and you can make it as
long as you feel necessary, but don't overkill.
Send it to <
[email protected]> with the Subject
line corresponding to what you are writing about:
<TM4 Character Strategy: ________>
Character play, and play for a character on
certain levels. If you plan on a fairly long
article, then include "Playing As:," "Playing
Against:," and "Overall:" with about 5-10
lines on each minimum. If you want to make
it long, change the Subject line to:
<TM4 Verbose Character Strategy: ________>
Most of these will make it into the FAQ.
<TM4 Level Strategy: ________>
Regarding anything about levels, tips, secrets
or level playing.
<TM4 Weapon Strategy: ________>
Applies to weapon pickups, combos, specials, and
application of weapons in certain locations.
<TM4 General Strategy: ________>
Anything that does NOT fit into any of the above
categories, send with this title. For example, a
fighting style.
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Programmer Strategies 6-3
Jim Buck, Lead Engineer
Directly from e-mail:
"...my only style is that I concentrate all efforts
on one enemy at a time. I stick to him like glue
until he's dead... as opposed to just firing at
anything in my path and wearing everyone down at
the same rate..."
Cavan Bunting, Assistant Producer
Directly from e-mail:
"
-=- Hilite & Paste -=-
"
* The thoughts, ideas, and opinions of developers do not
necessarily represent the thoughts and ideas of 989 Studios
and were requested by me to send strategies in general on
hints and tips for levels, characters, weapons, or in
general. So sue me. Not, not really! NOOOO!
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Special Weapon Strategies .............................. 7
Energy Ray - Meter Maid 7-1
Use often, when health is less than about 85, or
an enemy has so few hitpoints that they're not
worth sparing, or it's Minion and you have a
chance to kill him like this. The fortunate thing
is that it's Omnidirectional meaning no aiming, just
ranged. If you get in the middle of a heated battle,
turn on shields, activate special, then teleport out.
It's a small health increase, but better than none.
Also, it's not 1HP -> 1HP, she increases at a fixed
rate, more so with more cars zapped at once, I think.
Teleorb - Orbital 7-2
Okay, so it's a vortex with VERY short range.
Hard to aim easily, but it explodes with an ice
blast. So a small amount of energy taken off
sets them up for combos. Or if you toss it
perfectly over the point of no return, the
computer will fall, frozen, to its death.
Cannon - Captain Grimm 7-3
A lit cannon ball with a fair knockback power
and sets someone on fire. It's still unhoming.
Be careful, hit wide-framed cars like Calypso
if they're not frozen.
Nuke - Calypso 7-4
Okay, it homes in a bit but YOU have to detonate
it. Be aware you can lose at least 50 points from
this baby if you hit yourself with it. With a nice
ceiling, you won't have to detonate it before it
explodes. It's effective that way if you hit the
ceiling above the enemy.
Toxic Spray - Goggle Eyes 7-5
I think slightly stronger than Drag Queen and
still setting people on fire, with a long range,
it's a great weapon for spinning and firing into
a crowd.
Cutters - Pizza Boy 7-6
Okay, so they home in. Each one does damage
separately so you can hit a wall with one and
lose damage against someone else. But, they
stop if aimed forward and the closest enemy is
behind, and then fly backwards, etc. They are
super-homing meaning they almost never miss
when unobstructed.
Microwave Shockwave - Quatro 7-7
A small version of the Axel special is effective
in a driveby but is most effective when you are
actually touching vehicles with the enemy.
Ion Pad - General Warthog 7-8
A powerful remote-like weapon, it's a vertical
beam and can be left nearly anywhere, but area
of effect seems a little less but more power
concentrated.
Micro Blast - Gatlinger 7-9
Gatlinger is simply a rechargeable Speed Missile.
Use it as such, close range, frozen opponent or one
you are tailing. Just beware your armour.
Hornets - The Joneses 7-10
Now the weapon is fairly weak, but is just like
Pizza Boy's Cutter, but has 3 missiles as opposed
to 2. It's also just like Warthog from the past 3
TMs.
Flamethrower - Drag Queen 7-11
Okay, if you don't have the hang of close range
fire weapons from the past 3 TMs, try this, freeze,
flame. Stay close, and don't let up. And beware
that the handling of this car is a real drag.
Zombie - Rob Zombie 7-12
It's a VERY short-range vortex that explodes as
fire, damaging all especially near center. Good
for tossing off cliffs or the edge of the ring.
It does NOT go through wall, but can affect the
other side, I think. Unfortunately, stronger than
Orbital's, it takes 2 minutes for this little puppy
to recharge. Ouch. Prepare for battle for a while.
Quasars - Moon Buggy 7-13
These three tasers home in, through walls, and
cause a semi-loss of car control and can send
you off the edge of the ring often. Fortunately,
the CPU doesn't fire these until the enemy is
fairly close.
Megafire - Super Thumper 7-14
Apply strategy of freeze-flame a la Darkside (TM3).
This is VERY powerful because he has _2_ flame-
throwers here. Stay away from his front end.
Ray Gun - RC Car 7-15
This is quite effective and sets the enemy on
fire. It also sets acid pits/pools/tiles aflame
and destroys red ground tiles. It is short-range
of about 1/2 of a Napalm.
Supernova - Super Axel 7-16
Okay, Super Axel get a souped-up knockback, fire
starting, tossing, shockwave. That's unfair.
He's not very nice with this weapon. Good on
the ring edges to kill people by off-tossing.
Serpent - Minion 7-17
Heaven knows why this is called the "Serpent,"
it sets you aflame if you don't get frozen by
one of the missiles, and the other 2 just plain
toss you around. This weapon throws you around
the rings like a rag doll. Heaven forbid you
get hit in the air, say goodbye.
Henchmen - Sweet Tooth 7-18
Okay. Three faces, one with Drag Queen's flame-
thrower, one with a taser, and the other tossing
MIRV missiles at you, all aiming at you and
constantly firing, they home in and go through
walls, and they re-home in if you teleport. Expect
to use 2 shields for their duration, or teleport and
run for it to conserve your advanced attack bar.
They also explode at the end of their duration,
right next to you. These can kill many enemies with a
couple of shots, and require no aiming specifically.
Funny Bomb - Custom Car 7-19
It's a mortar. A mortar on drugs. It's got a
point where once it hits, several more small
explosions follow. Advice is to turn on shields
and to quickly hit an enemy on the way up and
stay the duration in your car, buffeted by the
explosions. Good for hitting multiple enemies
and has a great strength.
Laser - Custom Car 7-20
Okay, a weaker weapon with very short range, the
same as RC Car, maybe weaker, probably does the
same in acid pits.
Detnoball - Custom Car 7-21
Simple, remote that travels straight from your
car and can be detonated at will. Easy, eh?
Only problem is that it moves VERY VERY fast and
you are likely to detonate it after it passes the
enemy. Also, it does NOT go through walls.
Twintorchers - Custom Car 7-22
An extremely long-range super-homing weapon that
only does a small amount of damage on impact, the
real damage is from the enemy set aflame. Don't
hit the frozen, it's a waste even though reload
time is fairly quick. It's like Pizza Boy, only
with a twist, and it doesn't go backwards, I don't
think it does.
Close Range Combat Weapons .................... 7-23
These are the weapons that affect the car by
crushing, slamming, spinning, etc. These mean
you must hit the car while the special starts
to last the duration, more damage if you start
hitting the enemy when you activate the special.
Also, you can teleport or shield when you get hit
by these to minimise damage.
Lifter - Trash Man 7-23-1
This guy's a challenge, with speed and no
handling, he'll slide past the enemy. Only
reason you should use him is for a challenge
or to see his ending.
Crusher - Crusher 7-23-2
A very good weapon, most enemies end up facing
you while you crush them, meaning they can fire
weapons into you for more damage to you as a
result. But still, he can catch some slow
vehicles fairly easily.
Loader - Super Slamm 7-23-3
Very slow, but handles okay, he hits you for a
set amount of damage on each slam, meaning a
nimble player could escape a lot of damage
quickly. It's a good weapon overall. Now,
there's no kickback or anything if you miss or
hit, as opposed to TM2. I just wish he looked
like he did then.
Auger - Super Auger 7-23-4
By far, the BEST close-range special weapon, it</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
will spin for about 5-10 seconds irregardless of
whether you miss or not, giving you more than one
chance at the enemy before it ends, being a total
waste. It also shaves off hitpoints at a fast
rate on level 1 and 2 armoured vehicles, and the
weapon takes off hitpoints EVENLY, meaning it's
a bit better than the Loader if the enemy has a
slower reaction to you sneaking up behind him and
[whirr] AAH!
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Cheat Codes ........................................... 9
I'd like to start off this section by saying that I
think the cheats were really unnecessary in this game,
since I beat it in the first tournament I ever played,
with Pizza Boy, one of the hardest, save Microblast.
Of course, that's easy mode. Cream Puff mode. :)
I haven't dared try medium until I'm more expert. I
write a FAQ and I still dare not past Cream Puff mode.
Passwords 9-1
Circle Start Left L1 Start (a) No Health/Weapons
Down R1 Down Start Circle (b) No Health Pickups
Right Triangle Right Triangle L1 (c) CPU targets P1-P4
R1 Right Left R1 Up (d) Homing Missiles
Down Down Circle L1 Left (e) Power Missiles
Up Right Down L1 Triangle (f) Remote Bombs
Right Left R1 Right Circle (g) Napalms
Down Left L1 Left Right (h) God Mode
Triangle L1 Down Triangle Up (i) Specials Reload
Fast
Left Triangle Right Right Left (j) Level: Neon City
Start Start Down Circle L1 (k) Level: Road Rage
L1 Right Left Left L1 (l) Level: The Bedroom
Circle L1 Start L1 Start (m) Level: Amazonia
Start Left Up Start Circle (n) Level: The Oil Rig
Start R1 Left R1 R1 (o) Level: Minion's
Maze
Circle Left Down R1 L1 (p) Level: The Carnival
Down R1 Right R1 L1 (q) Char: Crusher
Start Triangle Right L1 Start (r) Char: Moon Buggy
Circle Triangle Start Circle Left (s) Char: S. Thumper
Up Down Left Start Right (t) Char: RC Car
Up Right Down Up L1 (u) Char: S. Axel
Left Circle Triangle Right Down (v) Char: S. Auger
Right L1 Start Circle Start (w) Char: S. Slamm
Triangle L1 L1 Left Up (x) Char: Minion
Start R1 Right Right Left (y) Char: Sweet Tooth
Down Triangle Down L1 R1 (z) Icy Grounds
Down Down Right Right Down (!) Undet - 2P + Ally
Up Start Circle R1 Left (@) Semi-Massive Force
R1 L1 Down Start Down (#) High Trajectories
Notes:
(d)-(g) All weapon pickups are of weapon listed
(h) Doesn't protect from falling to death
(i) Special weapon recharges faster
(j)-(p) Starts tournament at level selected by password
(q)-(y) Unlocks characters for play in ALL modes
(!) Undetermined - Supposedly should do as listed.
(@) Effect from weapons that send enemies up in the
air is magnified.
(#) Weapons with trajectory (mortars, etc.) go farther.
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Super Cheese Munchkin Strategies 9-2
Most of these are not really Super Cheese Munchkin
Strategies, but since some of them are, and general
strategy is all that's required, they may seem like
it.
Rapid Fire
Load up on weapons, except remotes and proximities,
clear them out so you only have one of each, and then
freeze and enemy while you are aimed straight at them.
Tap the attack button very quickly to unload your
arsenal on them. More often than not, your special is
most devastating when fired first.
Powerful Death Remote
Drop 3 proximities as fast as you can and then a remote.
High-tail it out of there and when you detonate the
remote, it has a huge strength. It can also be used as
3 proximities dropped at, for example, a teleporter
destination so when an enemy falls or teleports onto
them, the result is a large explosion, them being tossed
many miles away and losing a lot of their life!
Neon City Death Trap
Preferably as Warthog, take the hover-transport and when
you land, you can drop 3 proximities and/or the Ion Pad.
The first time an enemy lands from the transport, they
get tossed 4 miles away. The next time, perhaps against
another strong enemy, activate the Ion Pad while they're
in the air. The fact that they are in the exact center
should do a supreme amount of damage. (I did it once to
Orbital and he blew up in the air. I like to call it
"Incineration.")
Construction Yard Timing Trick
When you have an enemy in the crane, drop them in the
flames, but catch them while they're in between the two
giant horizontal supports. If done right, you should
be able to kill them very quickly now, they'll be trapped
inside those supports. Also, you can just keep dropping
them into there but catching them several times, doing
fire damage each time.
Road Rage Runaround
Stay on the road with pairs of speed arrows and don't leave
it. Keep firing little by little and eventually you should
win. Okay, cheap and time-consuming, but it works.
Bedroom Bureaucracy
You can dominate the politics and stay FAIRLY safe, by
keeping on the bureau and dropping remotes on the ramp
while you back up and detonate at a safe range. Just
beware that the CPU is smart enough to jump from on top
of the bed to the bureau. It can mimic nearly every move
you make.
Amazonia 3000 B.C. Defensive
Stay on the center when you get there, drop proximities on
the inside next to where they teleport and it will knock
the next would-be visitor off the tower. Stay facing the
destination in the clockwise direction. You can also fire
Powers and other weapons at cars "dropping" in.
The Oil Rig All-Around Offensive/Defensive
This level features death drops, acid pits, multiple
levels, all weapons available, exploding barrels, a
helicopter dropping Healths on the heli-pad all the
time, a whole truckload of teleportals, and a small
secret well-stocked drill top. Put a freeze remote
on the edge of the helipad and activate it a moment
after an enemy jumps at you, since the effect lasts
for about a full second and a half. Those jumps have
a VERY small area in front of them to plant things and
hide. The acid pits are effective, too. In deathmatch,
some bosses end up trapped in a corner like morons.
The heli-pad is a great location to defend from and
two teleporters get you there and in the room to jump
from. The portals are a great way to lose people that
follow you incessantly. Also, take advantage of the
short range of radar (on friends) to the point where
they can't tell if you're above or below them, or where
you are in relation the them.
Minion's Maze Magic
The four gates are hidden, the green areas ARE acid so
you can napalm them to death. The floor colours change,
so you should be able to generally figure out where you
are. The three teleporters take you from points 1-2, 2-3,
and 3-1, so just take one, go forward and right and look
for a health when you need it, in a small dead-end. If
someone could tell me what those giant "X" boxes with
fire in them are, and what they do, I'd be grateful.
The Carnival's Carnage
If you use the alternate "side" entrance to the roller
toaster, almost no enemies will follow you in, but just
be ready, when Sweet Tooth comes along, he's WAY smarter
than to be hampered by a silly little thing like that.
Place a proximity or 3 in front of the door out of the
haunted house, then he gets blown back, then hit him with
a power as he comes back up out and he's still accelerating
and he should fly off. Keep picking up powers in front
of you, best facing the power missile power-up. Just
exercise caution, leaving behind a few proximities if the
roller coaster is still in operation. It'll be gone soon.
It also disappears when the big ST comes along. Remember
also that the lightning can hit you if you are approaching
the main entrance to the haunted house from the clockwise
direction. Don't forget that if it can hit you, it can
hit anyone else.
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Nifty Things to Blow Up ............................... 10
Everything that is listed here is what I can recall from
memory, but some things, like exploding barrels, are not
listed. If you have something you would like to add and
it is verifiable by me, send me an e-mail.
Construction Yard
False Blockades
Set up around the level, these guard various ramps,
they can be shot down, or ran through with no ill
effect. One leads to a ramp to a jump on the left
of a building with 3 jumps. The teleporter ahead
brings you to the area near the false wall.
Crane
Aim at the side of the crane (the longer side) and
fire to blow up the entrance to it. You can now
use it to your own devious will.
False Wall
On the right side of the area that has no way to get
to the top of (the teleport-to-only area) about 3 car
lengths from the end, shoot the wall to reveal an area
with various power-ups in it.
Vent
Above the area with the false wall is a way in from
above. Just shoot the vent from on top. It's much
easier than from the bottom, and you can't jump out
of the area through where it was.
Building 1
A few small trailers guard a MIRV hidden inside.
Building 2
A few small trailers conceal a Power, Napalm and Mortar.
Neon City
Train
Yes, the train can be destroyed, and best with a couple
of proximity mines or a remote placed on the tracks. Just
don't get hit by it. In the tunnel, if it still is running,
hug the walls TIGHTLY.
Glass
The glass on the jump to the health and Auto Lab can be run
through or shot.
False Wall
The wall to the left inside the above location can be blown
up for access to the platform on which you will be picked up
by the hover transport.
Glass
The glass to the right of where the transport drops you off
can be destroyed with a single bullet.
Glass
Turn right again. More glass. Follow procedure above.
Road Rage
False Wall 1
To the right of a speed arrow is a wall with cracks in it.
Shoot it. Access lightning. Just don't stay there when you
activate the lightning.
False Wall 2
On the other side of this passage, from the intersection of
the four roads two going up and down, is the other broken
wall.
False Wall
Across the road from a road going down is a wall with a glass
window in it. Blow up wall. Blow up window. Get many nice
powerups like Full Health.
The Bedroom
Gas Cans
Scattered around the room in about 3 places are big boxes
labeled "Gasoline." Blow them up.
Lamp
If you didn't read the level clue, shoot this up for a
while for a lightning power-up. The sources are the
power sockets and the center of the floor. Some of the
hidden area is safe, mainly the small area with Full
Health, Auto Lobs, and Rain 2.
Small Blockade
There's a small black box in the area with the only level
portal. A couple speed missiles will do the trick to get
to the secret area mentioned above.
Amazonia 3000 B.C.
False Wall
To a secret area, a false wall is in the deep area to the
left of the bouce pad. The wall is in a corner in the
direction of the temple with the pillar of light with the
bounce pad on your right.
The Oil Rig
Glass
The glass on the left side of the room next to the drill
can be broken. Don't jump through it, or you'll probably
end up falling to your death.
Glass
The glass on the right side can also be blown up. See
above.
Gate
There's a gate on the alternate road instead of the silo
on the bottom level. The first one can be blown up.
Gate
The second one can be blown up, too.
Glass
The glass guarding the bottom teleporter on the silo can
be broken.
Glass
The glass on the other teleporter inside the silo can also
be broken.
False Gate
The small gate leading up from the central area towards the
helipad can be broken
False Fence
Also the fence to the left of it.
False Fence
Also the fence to the right of the gate.
False Fence
Don't forget the fence under the ramp to the room next to
the drill.
Minion's Maze
Gate
There's one gate going down to the ultimate power-up area.
Gate
Here's another one going downstairs.
Gate
I'm seeing a pattern here.
Gate
Okay, the last one. All 4 are made to look similar to
walls and are near ramps for the most part.
The Carnival
Front Entrance
The door can't be blown up. The next best thing or two?
Mortar, Napalm, Remotes and Just plain jumping about twice
should collapse the floor in front of the doors.
Side Entrance
There's a big brown box on the wall. Go right up next to
the wall so the tent is to your right and you are facing
the box. The floor there is false. Jump or follow above
instructions.
False Wall
There's a wall that is at the end of the tunnel from above.
It's the alternate entrance to the funhouse that few CPU
players understand.
False Wall
To the extreme left once you enter the funhouse, there's a
false wall leading to a small tunnel with 2 exploding
barrels.
False Wall
The end of the tunnel above has no light until you shoot
this down.
Roller Toaster
This can also be blown up. It SEEMS to follow the inside
track, but I'm not sure if you can avoid it on the outside
track to avoid getting hit by it. Follow same strategy
for blowing up the train in Neon City.
False Door/Wall
The door to the circus tent is protected by this wall which
is quickly broken. It's guarded by the exploding barrels.
False Door/Wall
The door to the portrait room is blocked by this and 2
exploding barrels, and there's another barrel in the center
of the room.
The Portraits
Okay, you're in the portrait room, but where are the
portraits? Fire directly into the center for one. Fire
about halfway between that and each wall to reveal two
more, then fire near the center of the side walls for the
last 2. Not particularly useful, but cute.
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Lightning Power-Ups ................................... 11
Okay, so you want to be cheap. Or maybe not. Here are all
the level-specific weapons and where their area of effect
is, specifically lightning, the Construction Yard's crane
is covered in the Level Strategies (Section 6-1-2).
Neon City
Power-Up:
On the giant roundish platform where the transport
drops you off.
Effect:
The area affected seems to be the tunnel-area (perhaps
all of it) on the outside upper-level. If someone
finds the exact area affected, please notify me.
Road Rage
Power-Up:
In the hidden tunnel near the intersection.
Effect:
Unknown specifically, can hit you where you pick up
the power-up.
The Bedroom
Power-Up:
Inside the lamp.
Effect:
From all the power sockets and smack in the center of
the three ramps going up.
Amazonia 3000 B.C.
Power-Up:
On top of the pillar.
Effect:
Area below and around the pillar.
The Oil Rig
Power-Up:
Located on top of drill. Use teleporter ABOVE silo
to get to it.
Effect:
Large portion of ring near silo, ground where you
start out. Perhaps in room w/ Rain 2 power-up?
Notify me if you can find a specific area of effect
in the battleground.
Minion's Maze
Power-Up:
On separated platform with bounce-up light pillar.
Run into the bottom of the pillar to bounce up and
get it.
Effect:
Unknown. Notify me when a specific are is found.
The Carnival
Power-Up:
On very top-center of tent.
Effect:
Nearly all parts of roller-coaster track and area
on ground on sides of the black haunted house building
with the front door.
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Interview with Jim Buck ............................... 12
Recently, I conducted my second interview with Jim Buck, who now
is the Lead Engineer for TM4. This interview is intended to help
clear up some questions that you all may have, and other questions
have been asked but not published here for sake of the fine line
between public and private knowledge. You all may ask me questions,
but I intend to use up less of JB's time, so don't expect me to
give out his e-mail address or to ask him all forty thousand
questions you want to ask. These were some of the important
issues in my eyes. Additionally, he cannot give out codes for
the game due to legal bindings.
Q1: Let me start by saying the game is great and that the
creativity is up there, characters are more than well
balanced, and that the levels have exponentially increased
in size. Where did all this inspiration come from?
A1: It came from feedback that we got in a ton of places...
but mainly focus tests conducted on TM3 shortly after TM3
made it to the shelves.
Q2: The vortex-type weapons, such as the Zombie and Teleorb,
move outwards for a short distance. What's the principle
behind that?
A2: I don't specifically know, but venturing a guess, it was
probably so you could see your weapon in action. (And it
gives you an element of aiming rather than just dropping
the thing like Club Kid from TM3.)
Q3: Why didn't you bring back Outlaw in this game?
A3: We brought back the ones that were considered the "faves".
We had a vote, and Outlaw didn't make it.
Q4: Why didn't Super Slamm look closer to his original counterpart?
A4: It's just how the person responsible for modeling him
modeled him. They were probably looking for a very "core"
look that closely resembled the hard core piece of equipment
Slamm represents.
Q5: Why didn't you include, at bare minimum, the stats for the
bosses that you get once you beat the game, the pictures
can be simply "unavailable"?
A5: The addition of boss accessibility was a last minute thing,
and there was no time to go back to the company giving us the
frontend artwork to get additional screens for the bosses.
Q6: And way to go on being Lead Engineer on the game!
A6: Thanks. :)
Any opinions expressed here are purely Jim's and
not that of 989 Studios.
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Bugs/Problems ......................................... 13
These are the glitches, errors, problems or way the AI
behaves that seems quite irrational. Contribute any that
you don't see listed here that deserve mentioning.
1. Character Select Screen - Super Axel's Spikes
disappear at certain times.
2. Character Select Screen - Sweet Tooth's left
machine gun is non-existent.
3. When multiple napalms hit acid pits whether or
not you're looking, gameplay speed slows down
dramatically.
4. Gameplay slows down when characters die due to
graphics whether or not you are looking.
5. The helicopter in the Oil Rig level disappears
when it WOULD go around the building and reappears
a moment before it drops a health onto the helipad.
6. When a weapon changes automatically due to the
previous running out, the next can be fired
immediately without a weapon load delay.
7. Sweet Tooth's flaming "hair" stops flaming when
frozen just once. It will not return. No effect
when he shields himself.
8. CPU players with large cars (e.g. Calypso, Moon Buggy)
have problems with jumping over to the hover-pickup
platform and staying in Neon City.
9. The CPU tries to teleport out of the crane while stuck
in beam in Construction Yard.
10. The CPU turns invisible in the beam when in the crane
in the Construction Yard.
11. The CPU doesn't understand the concept of the lightning
pickup, nor the crane.
12. The CPU doesn't quite understand the concept of being
hit by the train and roller coaster in Neon City and The
Carnival.
13. Lightning doesn't hit everywhere it should (like the WHOLE
floor in the bedroom.
14. The CPU doesn't quite understand why it can't always hit
you when you flank it.
15. The AI doesn't open up secret passages. (Even when it needs
like a full health there.
16. The AI doesn't make a mad dash for Healths the moment they
reappear.
17. When you play a deathmatch and you choose repeat world, cars
of enemy only chosen ONCE, the game still has to load the
level all over again when you win or lose.
18. The AI doesn't understand the concept of proximity mines and
will gleefully run over them until they kill themselves.
19. The AI doesn't make use of teleport when trapped.
20. The AI doesn't use the Massive Attacks.
21. The AI will freeze you and occasionally get right up next
to your car and just keep trying to actually go "through"
your car, acting as if you weren't there.
22. The CPU will occasionally jump onto the island and back
and forth and completely ignore you on the Carnival level,
probably in hopes of the health power-up.
23. The CPU does not understand the concept of the combination
of napalm/remotes and acid pools.
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
AI Advances ........................................... 14
You didn't think I'm totally against this game, did you?
These are the great things that make the AI more
challenging. Please send in any that you don't see
listed here that are worth the space in this FAQ.
1. The AI can mimic nearly every move you make.
2. The AI can go nearly everywhere you can.
3. The AI knows multiple routes to the same place.
4. The AI makes use of open secret passages.
5. The AI doesn't open up secret passages. (Sure, it's
#15 above, but you have to find them, now.)
6. The AI lets fire burn for only a second or two and
doesn't seem to turbo off cliffs to get rid of the fire.
7. The AI doesn't set off remotes when it's in range of
the explosion.
8. The AI sets off remote bombs with precise timing whereas
you have to rely upon luck to set them off perfectly.
9. The AI fires mortars and napalm near-perfectly to hit you
even while both of you are moving.
10. The AI reverses to turn around perfectly.
11. The AI doesn't have an infinite advanced attack bar.
12. The AI starts out with all weapons that the level has
to offer, so even if you got the only Rain 2 missile
on the level first, the AI can still fire Rain 2 at
you whether or not the power-up has recharged, or
even if it hasn't been picked up before.
13. The AI makes use of teleport only when falling, and
uses shielding, invisibility, jump, and the freezes.
14. The AI could care less about weapon pickups, so you
have a slightly better chance against it.
15. The AI avoids exploding barrels fairly well, also
avoids fire as level-weapons (like Construction Yard
and The Carnival).
16. The AI can fire its specials quite accurately since
it primarily fires when you are directly in front or
behind them.
17. The AI discourages you from following it from behind
often by rear-freezing you, or firing other weapons
backwards.
18. The AI often leaves proximity mines where others will
hit it because they often follow similar unwritten
paths around levels.
19. The AI detonates remote weapons often shortly after
placement so it can use another elsewhere since it
seems nobody will run over it.
20. The AI is quite accurate with nearly all weapons so
it seems to be very conservative until a clear shot
is available.
21. The AI is much more destructive amongst themselves
and therefore is much easier for you to kill them
after a powerful battle.
22. The AI knows the exact layout of all levels making
it harder for you while you're lost in Neon City with
the computer hot on your tail.
23. There's no magic distance at which weapons that the
CPU uses will simply do no damage.
24. Okay, maybe not an AI advance, but the way that certain
objects carry sounds, such as the ghosts in the haunted
house in The Carnival, they get louder when you get
closer, the helicopter in The Oil Rig, Pizza Boy's
Cutters, the unique sounds each car makes when idling
and accelerating, The Oil Rig's drill, and the only
unforgettable sound that the three henchmen make while
circling you.
25. There don't need to be any more reasons because I filled
an equivalent number plus one to the problems/bugs.
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=-
Disclaimer ............................................ 15
I'd officially like to state that all of parts of the FAQ are
my property, anything you send becomes my property, this is
copyright 2000 by Russ Tops and those of you who would like
more hits on your site can post my FAQ and notify me, so I
can place a link back from my page to yours. Others shall
be burnt on their legs with a small feverish porcupine. I
reserve the right to force you to remove this FAQ from your
site and will do so by all means necessary including having
your account removed from the hosting server(s). I often
discover codes for games and the final two for Twisted Metal
III were mine and I deserve to be credited wherever possible.
(Like if you post it to Gamepro, put "Russ Tops" as the name
and the e-mail address as "
[email protected]" and the code)
Just don't copy or modify this FAQ in any way shape or form.
Don't sell this FAQ for monetary compensation (AKA $$$) and
don't post it without my approval. The only form you may
post it is in a link to the FAQ's homepage if you do not have
my permission to post the FAQ. Please e-mail me for the link
code. Thank you and have a nice day.
