Captain Goodnight FAQ version 1.0.0 by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net Please do not reproduce for profit without my permission. A request referring to me and this FAQ by specific name(please don't refer to me by my e-mail address!) will probably be accepted. **AD SPACE** http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762/games/games.htm has a bunch of other random stuff about old Apple games. ================================ OUTLINE INTRODUCTION GENERAL STRATEGIES BRIEFING JUST PAST THE FOREST THREE PARTS BEFORE THE FLARE POTIA INLET GRASSLANDS DESERT DESERT, ON THE GROUND THEM PESKY AUTHORIZATION CODES! SUBMARINE ODOM ISLAND MODO ISLAND HELICOPTER TIPS DOOM ISLAND VERSIONS/CREDITS ================================ INTRODUCTION This FAQ seeks to cover the basic strategies behind Captain Goodnight. I will also try to specify the amusing quotes that pop up when you get killed or are making progress. The game itself features Captain Goodnight, as controlled by you, against the evil Doctor Maybe. Although it says you have 24 hours to complete the deal, note that "time left" starts at 100:00:00 and ticks down. You lose an hour on the clock each time you are hit(game time counts one second as one minute,) so the emphasis is on surviving rather than getting through quickly. One minute on the game's timer equals one second of play, and the seconds that tick down when you're looking at the time are just for effect. There's also an amusing strategy the game uses to rush you a bit. Captain Goodnight may start yoyoing, tap a foot, look around, or look at his watch. Get going, but don't rush! GENERAL STRATEGIES If you are shot while on the ground and start walking groggily, kneel, and when you get up, you'll walk normally. BRIEFING Run left for the briefing, which is not necessary after the first time. When you fly the plane, the following messages appear at the bottom: "Cleared for takeoff on runway 019." If you try to fly into the minefield, the plane stops, and the following messages are revealed: "Emergency engine shutdown!" "Try taking off, Goodnight!" For amusement purposes, if you try to run down the runway into the minefield, the game insults you(and clues you in) a few times before it decides you're not up to scratch. "Didn't you read the signs...." "Having fun yet?" "We don't appear to be making progress." "Mission aborted! Maybe 007 is free?" After this, any mistake you make(besides getting the wrong codes) will no longer end the game. JUST PAST THE FOREST In this part there are two major air-based enemies: fighters and biplanes. Biplanes seem to be kamikazes. Fighters will fire small missiles at you. If you are killed before you get to the water, you start over at the beginning again. There are five radars that you are well advised to destroy. Cruise missiles will fly by if you fail to destroy the radar, in which case your best bet is to go VERY low. You can also take out the turret that fires from the ground, but don't worry too much if you can't. It may cost you a plane in the next scene, but losing one life is no big deal. Overall, you want to keep as low as possible, but you need to leave a little space for ducking the planes that go by. Missiles should only be used for ground gunners, planes you can't avoid, and radar dishes. In this and "three parts before the flare," getting killed will give you a "Giving up so soon, Goodnight?" from Dr. Maybe. THREE PARTS BEFORE THE FLARE If you get killed in any of these three parts, you are sent back to the beginning. POTIA INLET Don't waste your missiles here. Avoiding enemy planes should be easy here. GRASSLANDS There are three radars here. It is not necessary to kill the middle one, which is coupled with a building. There are also two ground gunners. DESERT Ground gunners are the major nuisance here. Incidentally, just before you get to the flare, you can crash into an enemy plane and the collision detection is off. DESERT, ON THE GROUND The robots are not too tough to hit here. Simply hit down and to the right and keep firing. You will have enough time to take any robot out of commision. Two hits will usually nail a robot, but you may have to use three. There's a jeep you can take to go a bit faster, but it's not really worth it. The robots can still shoot you. When you get near the submarine, you hear: "I'm waiting for you, Goodnight!" If you get killed, there are several messages: "Here's looking at you, Goodnight!"--the overhead balloon "You've got the wrong stuff!"--shot by robot "Eat dirt, Goodnight!"--run over by robot THEM PESKY AUTHORIZATION CODES! You can find the authorization codes at the following location: ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/images/games/action/captain_good night/goodnight.codes SUBMARINE The submarine is rather easy. If you go below 250 on the depth, the pressure caves you in. The total distance from left to right is 700. You can shoot the oil rigs above the surface if you want. There are two mines to avoid. If you see one to the right, you just need to go in a "U:" down right until the mine doesn't seem to be going past you, then hard right, then up and right to get close to the surface. Docking is no problem either. Take your time and make sure that the part that sticks up from the submarine touches the pier. [I've never tried to sink the pier. Try later.] If you want you can pretend the submarine is yellow since the Apple doesn't have that color. Just be considerate of your neighbors if the idea makes you feel like singing. Collision: "You're 'mine,' Goodnight!" [you start over just before the last robot in the desert] Then "Bandaged and rejuvenated, Captian Goodnight Returns to the Fray" appears on the screen, before Dr. Maybe taunts you with "You were lucky that time, Goodnight!" "Hull ruptured" if you hit the right side of the submarine scene. ODOM ISLAND "There's no turning back now!!!"/"Welcome, Goodnight. Prepare to die!"/"Give it up, Goodnight!" "Half way to Doom Island!" These appear as you start running to the right. You will face some robots, presumably Killer Robots("My killer robots will finish you!") that launch deadly grenades at you. You can actually run toward them to walk under the grenades and then the sniping is easy. However, running away soon after they appear and firing from a distance is even more safe. Again the time lost is less than if you get killed. Also you may get double-killed here; a robot may nail you and then the balloon overhead will zap you. "Have a pineapple, Goodnight!" "Nice catch, Goodnight!" "Try avoiding the grenades..." any one of these three if a robot lobs a grenade at you If you're kneeling when hit, "Your ears are ringing! Answer them!" "You've made my day, Goodnight!" if you run into a robot "Curse you, Goodnight!" after your first kill Eventually you'll get to a fence. Use the truck to ram through the fence("A sturdy fence,") and it will break("You broke the fence...and the truck!") Take the tram station(button 1--you must be perfectly aligned, which is a nuisance) to the transporter, where you hear "My killer robots will finish you!" and "You're doomed, Goodnight!" It's best to run toward the transporter and hit button one, otherwise the balloon roving above will get you, but for fun you can run past it to observe the Broderbund sign and then reverse to enter. It's OK to take the jeep in this next area, by the way, although it is only a limited help. "Here's looking at you, Goodnight!" if the balloon above aligns with you and shoots you. ANNOYING BOAT SCENE This one is depressingly random. You should probably go full speed ahead unless you can detect a plane that is at about average height; slow up a bit then. In fact, stopping fully may be your best bet. Fortunately you only need to pass five planes or so to advance to Modo Island. MODO ISLAND "The boat is drifting away!" This creates problems, because now you'll have to face the Eliminator Robots. "You're doomed!" "My eliminator robots never lose!" brags Captain Goodnight. Well, they are probably the toughest of the robots in the game. In this scene satellites from above will drop bombs on you. Running full speed ahead will allow you to avoid them. With eliminator robots, fire on sight. They take one or two hits, and it is obvious when they will fire as their turrets rotate, but their range can take you out if they are visible. The first one you take out elicits a "You're starting to annoy me, Goodnight!" from Dr. Maybe. Eventually you'll get to a tank. "Think it over, Goodnight!" But don't think twice about getting in the tank. It'll protect you, and if you go full speed ahead, you won't get nailed by the overhead bombs(but you'll miss the message "You've bombed out, Goodnight!") You can even nail the eliminator robots if you feel sadistic. If you're lucky you can avoid bombs and "Threads all jammed, Goodnight?" by going forward(it seems to depend on where the overhead bomber is) but once you get out there is one more eliminator before the helicopter. Now, if you crash the helicopter, you are up the creek without a paddle. It's the single most costly thing you can do in the game. You'll have to fight all the eliminators from the beginning of Modo Island, and the tank will be where you left it. So I put in a separate section to help ensure you stay on track. It's not too tricky, but it's worth it. HELICOPTER TIPS Obviously you can't "Go back!!!" as Dr. Maybe says, so you need to push button one to enter the helicopter. At first you'll need to keep high, then go right, as there is a laser cannon("A laser cannon!") on the hill. Once you see it, keep going right but drop down as far as you can. You can take out the satellite station("A satellite antenna station!") this way("Killer satellites disabled!") and don't be afraid to maneuver and slow your helicopter down. Be careful passing the satellite, and although you cannot shoot the laser cannon facing away from you, you can go above it, off the screen, and down. Just avoid that drum-looking thing, which will explode your copter on contact("Looks like Goodnight is finished!") After "Leave while you can" and then "You're starting to annoy me, Goodnight" after killing an eliminator(there are two more here,) you'll be told "Think it over, 'Captain!'" as well as "Go back!!!" From here, there are a couple more eliminators before you find the second plane is unlocked. Take it to cross the water(there's no way you can crash it) and when it runs out of gas, you're ready to start Doom Island. Remember the color sequence when you launch. It is used at the end of the game. DOOM ISLAND "You'll never make it in time! Ha ha!" Oh yes you will. You need to avoid the overhead bombs by a full run forward or stepping back. You'll be stepping back a lot on Doom, but it will lead to eventual progress. One good thing to remember is, if there's a blinking orange/blue light held up by white legs, there's something beyond. "Meet my Night Stalker robots!" says Dr. Maybe. On the contrary! When one appears, fire and go left. The bomb it drops will almost get you. Two or three shots should be enough, as there are two waves of two of these guys on Doom Island. "Say hello to the Tremho berserkers!" Be very cautious as you scroll right. Once you see them, duck and fire. Each takes two hits. If you are hit, you'll get walked over as well("You make a good doormat!") After a second wave, you should find an elevator. Run into it and press button one. "You'll never find me in time!" Hit button one and indicate the direction you'd like the elevator to move to operate it. There are four floors, and you're only really concerned with the third one. You'll want to watch out for Tremho Berserkers there. There should be one horde of five. Still you should be able to make it to the right side, go up, get past more Thremos, run right and find the final elevator. Go to the third floor, get past the thremo berserkers by the doomsday machine, and now I recommend a gambit. Just before you push the button to start the sequence, wait for a bunch of berserkers to come by and walk over you. More won't come for some time, and you'll have a clear route to the escape shuttle. Although it's possible to blast your way there past five berserkers in time(but barely,) it is not the easiest way. The Doomsday machine is best handled by pushing button one and nudging the joystick up or down based on whether a handle should be on or off. Now there are 16 possible letters for the detonation sequence, and again the link below should prove useful. ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/images/games/action/captain_good night/goodnight.codes Note that any letter, as the Xth number of the alphabet has (X in binary, with 1=off and 0=on) as its code. There are sixteen letters, and O is 4 ons. Using a save state for an emulator will help your sanity immensely in solving this, especially considering the potential randomness of the final scene. (end of FAQ proper) ================================ VERSIONS/CREDITS 1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 8/9/2001 Wade Clarke(bloomer on GameFAQs) for reminding me of this game.