FAQ Sheet/Walkthrough On a mildy defensive note, there have been one or two complaints
that the FAQ is inaccurate. This is not, strictly speaking, true.
Some of the solutions may not be the best way of passing the puzzles
to which they refer, but they all work -- none of them are actually
dangerous or outright *wrong*. It does have, of course, my own
biases in terms of combat style and puzzle solutions, which may
differ from those of other people, and while readers may disagree
with me on some solutions, those given here *do* work.
That said, there have been sufficient changes to warrant a new
full posting, rather than an addendum. These include a different
route through the teleporter maze (the route that was given worked,
it just took a lot longer), some further combat notes, and several
more minor changes. As always, send me suggestions at
david_reevely@magic-bbs.corp.apple.com, and they'll be included in
an update, should it be warranted.
These follow a rough chronological order within the game. Of
course, because there are several different ways of working your way
through, some might not apply to you or may be out of order.
This list is packed with spoilers, which is, after all, the
point. Read it at your own risk.
1. The manual talks about talking to dead people. Why can't I
talk to the German soldier? -You don't have the yellow crystal yet.
It's behind a locked door on the level above, "Never Stop Firing."
When you find it, double-click on it to activate it, then press TAB
while standing on the body.
2. What's the point of that blue rune? Why can't I open the doors
at each side of the hall? -You need to play the Alien Pipes while
standing on the blue rune in order for the doors to open. The Alien
Pipes are found on the Ascension level.
3. What do the chains do? -They open doors in other parts of the
pyramid. Pull each chain you run across once, then forget about
them. Check the map of the level you're on before and after you pull
it, paying special attention to the doors that are closed before you
pull.
4. The manual makes such a big deal about conserving ammunition,
but I haven't had any problems. Why should I pay attention to that?
-In the earlier levels, you're fighting the easiest monsters in the
game. Use the survival knife whenever you're dealing with two or
fewer zombies or headlesses. It'll force you into learning some
battle tactics that will prove useful when you move up in weaponry.
Furthermore, there's a very limited supply of Walther ammuntion, and
there are two occasions when you'll need a lot of it; on the
Ascension level, fighting your way to the Alien Pipes; and after
you've used the Pipes on the ground floor and monsters are revealed
beyond the doors.
5. I keep getting killed on that level where I come down the
ladder and am immediately surrounded by zombies. What's the best way
to get past them? -Once you've killed one zombie, start moving. Get
out of the starting chamber as soon as you can, and move down into
one of the corners of the hallway surrounding that room, so you've
got walls on two sides. The zombies can only come after you two at a
time and from one-fourth of your viewing area, instead of four at a
time from all sides. Use the Walther here, picking your shots
carefully.
6. How do I kill those black spirits that don't seem to get
damaged by weapons? -Use the blue crystal, in the same way you'd use
the yellow crystal.
7. Where's the blue crystal? -There's a two-square hidden chamber
just to the south of one of the dead German soldiers on They May be
Slow. He'll direct you to it, if you question him closely enough.
Enter the chamber by walking south from the soldier's body and
through the wall. Pick up the blue crystal by stepping on it, just
like any other item.
8. After I've used the crystal a few times, it recharges more and
more slowly. How come? -All crystals but the yellow one will run out
of power eventually. After you've used them a few times, they'll
slow down. Eventually, they shatter. There is no way of preventing
this, besides not using the crystal unless you absolutely have to.
Don't use the blue crystal on regular creatures, if you can possibly
help it.
9. Can I do anything useful with the silver bowl? -No. Its only
purpose is as treasure. There are several such items in the game,
and they should all be kept, since they increase your point totals
at the end of the game. They're heavy, but they don't affect your
performance in any significant way, besides cluttering your
inventory.
10. What's the best way of dealing with the roomfuls of monsters
on Ascension? -Tackle them one room at a time, resting as often as
you safely can. Use the knife whenever possible, and try to keep
headlesses and zombies in rows so they can only attack you one at a
time. Another neat aspect of this strategy is that the headlesses
with fire their goo at you but will hit one another in the back
instead, causing damage to one another. Have the blue crystal ready
when you enter the northwestern room; there's a banshee that's going
to come after you.
11. What do I do with the Alien Pipes? -Use them on the first
level while standing on the blue rune. The doors to the east and
west will open, releasing some monsters. You'll want the Walther for
this one.
12. How do I best deal with the grey things? -They're ghouls. If
there are only one or two of them and your vitality is relatively
high, you can attack with the survival knife. It will take about
five hits, but the blows will keep the ghouls off-balance and unable
to retaliate.
13. Which ladder down should I take -- the one to the west or the
one to the east? - It doesn't *really* matter. The western ladder
will take you down to Wrong Way, which it isn't. The entry chamber
in that level is packed with ghouls, but nothing more serious than
that. The eastern ladder will take you down to Feel the Power, which
is filled with marauding packs of three oozes, which are nasty. With
your firepower, you're probably better off taking the western
ladder, since ghouls are much easier to deal with than oozes. Come
back to Feel the Power later, when your weaponry is more impressive.
14. How should I deal with all the ghouls in Wrong Way? -It'll
probably take a few tries to get past them. Use similar tactics to
those given in question #5, and never stop moving, except to shoot.
15. Why can't I get those doors to open? -They're locked. You
need the Silver Key, found on the level below, Welcome Tasty
Primate. It's near the northeast corner of that level.
16. What does the orange crystal do? -It's basically a more
powerful version of the blue crystal. It takes only one blast from
the orange crystal to kill a banshee, instead of two. Of course, the
same use limitations apply -- use it too often, and it'll shatter.
That is definitely something to avoid.
17. Where should I go from here? -It would probably be a good
idea to go back up to the Ground Floor and then take the other
ladder down. Fight your way past the oozes up to the northwest
corner, then take the ladder down to A Plague of Demons.
18. What keeps hitting me? -There are invisible wraiths that will
do you damage, if only slightly. The major danger here is when more
than two set upon you, and you have trouble finding one or more of
them. Regular weapons are effective against them, and they make a
kind of hollow gasping sound when you kill them. Around the
north-center section of the level, you'll find a dead American
soldier. A search will reveal a pair of infra-red goggles. Put them
on and you'll be able to see the wraiths just fine. Don't forget to
turn off your flashlight to conserve the batteries.
19. What's the point of this level? -In the southeastern section,
there's a silver door (you have to pass another door that will open
to reveal a small horde of creatures, so make sure you're fully
rested and properly armed). Beyond the door, there's a cedar box,
the inside of which is "slightly warm to the touch."
20. What does the cedar box do? -It will duplicate any ammunition
you put into it. It will work once per minute, assuming you remember
to remove the second clip or magazine. It is probably the most
useful item in the game.
21. Now what? -Go back up through the Ground Floor and down
through Welcome Tasty Primate. Take a ladder down from near the
north center to We Can See in the Dark, Can You? Turn out your
flashlight to make the bugs go away. Use your infra-red goggles to
see well. Find your way down to Happy Happy Carnage Carnage.
22. What do I do on Happy Happy Carnage Carnage? -Use your
Walther and all the ammunition you've generated using the cedar box
to fight your way up to either the northeast or northwest corners.
Go through the door just to the east or the west, depending on which
corner you're in. You've found the remains of the German expedition.
Question and search them all thoroughly.
23. How do I deal with all the monsters? -Maneuver yourself so
that you're facing parallel to the wall with the three doors, with
your back to the rune. Back over it and go until your back hits the
wall. Never stop shooting once the monsters start to come through.
Use a red potion to speed yourself up so you can dodge missile
attacks, and a blue potion if you need one. Be prepared to try this
level a few times.
24. What does the Red Cloak do? -It slows down your metabolism.
The world around you passes more quickly than your body moves, so
wearing the red cloak *except at particular moments* is something to
be avoided.
25. What does the brown potion do? -It's a poison. Don't discard
it . you'll need it later.
26. Why can't I open the gold door on Beware of Low-Flying
Nightmares? -You don't have the gold key. You won't run across it
for several levels, so don't worry about it now.
27. How can I navigate the Labyrinth? -Although its exact layout
changes every time you enter it, the essential features remain the
same. There is a ladder in each corner. The one in the northwest
corner leads up to Happy Happy Carnage Carnage, the northeast corner
leads up to Beware of Low-Flying Nightmares, the southwest corner
leads to Need a Light, and the southeast corner leads to Lasciate
Ogne Speranza, Voi Ch'Intrate, which isn't a typo. Most importantly,
there's a violet crystal in the approximate center of the maze,
which you absolutely *must* get. There isn't really a very good way
of dealing with the electric orbs besides shooting them from up
close -- knifing them takes too long, and you're almost always
facing more than one. Afterwards, take the ladder in the southwest
corner to Need a Light.
28. What was it that killed all those soldiers? -A very nasty
flamethrowing monster. Have the orange crystal and a lot of
ammunition ready, because it'll start moving towards you as soon as
the door shuts behind you. Fire at it continuously with your machine
gun, and when it gets ready to fire, run around a corner so that its
missile attack hits a wall instead of you. Alternatively, use the
blue or orange crystal to freeze it briefly and just keep shooting.
It is possible, though somewhat tricky, to freeze it in one of the
wider parts of the corridor and run past it, so you don't actually
have to kill it. Be very careful if attempting this manouevre, and
don't forget that the monster will be coming up behind you. As
always, be ready to try this level several times. Make sure you
question all of the soldiers about the bomb and search them.
29. Why can't I get past the little cross-legged guys? -They're
generating force fields that prevent you from passing or firing
through them. You need to use the green crystal (located a level
below, on Watch Your Steps) to quake down their barriers.
Interestingly, projectile grenades can pass through the barrier and
harm skitters that are behind the sentinels, though they won't do
anything to the sentinel itself.
30. What are the jumping lizards? -Just what they seem .
unshootable annoyances. If you walk over enough exploding purple
pods, you'll kill them all.
31. How do I get out of the chamber that locks me in? -Put on the
red cloak and wait for three hours until the doors open again. As
long as you're there, make sure you use the cedar box to
mass-produce munitions of all kinds.
32. How can I get past the green oozes? -They'll leave you alone
if you're already poisoned, which is where that brown potion comes
in. Make sure you use it in a place where they won't be trapping you
when they stop moving -- they won't move, but you can't walk through
them.
33. How do I kill the purple monster? -You can't. Put on the gas
mask and it can't hurt you, but it will block your path. You just
have to maneuver around it. (There has been some debate about
whether or not the gas mask is helpful against the purple monster's
breath. It stopped me from taking damage, and it's difficult to
fathom any other purpose the programmers may have had for it.
Nevertheless, there are many people who report that it does no good
for them. If you find you're one of those people, all you can really
do is try to run around past it and trap it in the room whose doors
close behind you.)
34. Why don't my shots harm the blue greater nightmares? -They're
resistant to regular ammunition, including HE (High Explosive)
bullets. Use armour-piercing (SABOT) rounds for the AK-47 (ideal) or
grenades (wasteful and inefficient for use against only one monster
due to the long reloading time).
35. How do I get through all those teleporters on Don't Get
Poisoned, Please Excuse Our Dust and But Wait! . That's Not All!
-Patience. On Don't Get Poisoned, take the south teleporter in the
first room, the east teleporter in the following room, and then the
teleporter in the southern section of that area to get to Please
Excuse Our Dust. On PEOD, take the south-center teleporter in the
first room, then the northernmost teleporter you find there, then
the easternmost teleporter, then a teleporter in the southwest
corner to move onto BW.TNA. On this level, you have to use every
teleporter before you can move on.
36. What about the teleporter rooms on Where Only Fools Dare
Tread? -This has been the subject of some discussion. The ideal
route seems to be as follows: Enter maze. Kill greater nightmare.
Advance to middle of room. Turn right. Take teleporter. Kill greater
nightmare. Go straight. Take teleporter. Kill greater nightmare.
Advance to middle of room. Rest a lot. Make ammunition (frag
grenades recommended, along with quite a lot of AK-47 SABOT and HE).
Turn around. Take teleporter.
37. Is there any quick way of getting rid of all those monsters?
-No. Shoot them, fire grenades at them...generally deal with them
like any regular monsters. On the up side, this is the last army of
monsters of any consequence you have to fight, so you can deplete
your entire arsenal, if you feel the need. Crystals may be used
indiscriminately once you've eliminated the banshees (the violet
crystal is especially good for this, since it has an area effect).
Save a few clips of ammunition, since you'll have to work your way
back up to ground level and will undoubtedly face a few monsters in
the process. There are also some ghasts to get past just before you
leave, but they're neatly lined up in a row in a 1-square wide
corridor, so they're not too much trouble.
38. What's that red floating thing in the middle of the room? -A
manifestation of the alien god. You can't get rid of any of them
until you've faced the roomful of Greater Nightmares, at which point
a couple of MP-41 shots will do in the last one. This is the place
to deposit the nuclear device. Set it to detonate as shortly before
the estimated waking time of the alien god as you safely can, in
case your time is very tight or you get held up somewhere on your
way to the surface by some monsters you missed.
39. How do I stop the Alien Gemstone from hurting me? -Put it in
the lead box from Warning:Earthquake Zone. The crystal is
radioactive, and the box will shield you from its effects. You need
it to escape the pyramid, which is done by going back up to the
ground floor and walking directly south from the blue rune.
40. Anything else I should know? -That should about cover it.
Don't forget to revisit the gold door on Beware of Low-Flying
Nightmares to retrieve the gold ingots, now that you have the key.
Some combat tips: -If you can do so safely, back up as you shoot nightmares. Their
energy attacks will take longer to reach you and you won't be hurt
by their acidic juices when they explode. This may seem like a good
idea with oozes, but it's not. There's more advantage to getting an
ooze dead quickly than there is in trying to run away from it, and
the best way to do this is to shoot from up close.
-There has been some debate on whether grenades or bullets are
more efficient in terms of damage per second. I prefer even MP-41
bullets to grenades, but I don't think that it really matters,
except to the extent that you're likely to have more clips of
ammunition than you are to have grenades. To speed up grenade
reloading, particularly when facing large groups of monsters (and
most particularly when you're dealing with skitters, who can shoot
"through" each other to get to you), do it manually by clicking on
the inventory window, moving a grenade into the launcher, then
clicking back on the game window. This is a good two to three
seconds faster than waiting for it to happen automatically. The
exception to this is the fragmentation grenade, which is good for
doing damage to a large number of creatures, which can then be
dispatched with many fewer rounds of MP-41 or AK-47 ammunition, and
is also good for the first one or two rooms of Who Else Wants Some?,
since headlesses and zombies are relatively weak.
On the subject of secret rooms, you can get through the game
having found only the one with the blue crystal in it. Other rooms,
however, contain things like potions and teleporters that make it
easier and quicker. It's generally fairly obvious where a room might
be (look for small, blank sections of your map and try to walk
through the walls surrounding those blank sections), and you should
also look for pillars that you can see with your eyes but not on
your map. If you find one, try walking "through" it.
Good luck!
A great deal of credit for this walkthrough/FAQ sheet belongs to
whoever is behind the e-mail address of st2c9@jetson.uh.edu at the
University of Houston, the author of a more basic "PiD Survival
Guide" that helped me get through PiD myself and provided a little
of the source material, though all errors are, of course, entirely
mine. Also useful is "Pathways into Cheating," a little app written
by Alain Roy that lets you modify your character considerably. Both
files are available via anonymous FTP from mac.archive.umich.edu, in
the game utilities subdirectory of the Mac section, along with some
maps of each PiD level. Credits also to Russ Taylor,
(rtaylor@cie-2.uoregon.edu) for comments on the subject of
ammunition and secret rooms, among other things, and Jake McGuire
(MCGUIRE@FCRFV1.NCIFCRF.GOV), for the infinitely more efficient
route through the teleporter maze.
Last Update: February 2, 1994
David
Reevely (david_reevely@magic-bbs.corp.apple.com)
-Never put yourself in a position where you
have to fight more than two monsters at a time, especially when
you're dealing with skitters and nightmares. If you can, back
yourself into a one-square alcove or short passage, so only one can
attack you at a time. Failing that, back into a corner, so you at
least don't have to worry about your back. If no corners are
available, at least put your back to a wall.