Gotcha Force (Or GF for short.) Research Guide Legal Information Copyright 2008 Nicholas Mercer All rights reserved. Reproducing, distributing, modifying or posting this guide anywhere in any form publicly is strictly prohibited by law without advance written permission. All tradmarks and copyrights belongs to their individual holder. Only GameFAQs is allowed to post this guide. Kudos Kudos to my dad who helped fix my spelling and grammar mistakes and to my brother for getting the game, being an excellent rival and for helping me test some of the strategies. I also thanks Gamefaqs for posting this, the GF community (the board if you don't know) for the strategies and information and to you for reading this guide. This is dedicated to the GF fans and veterans of the game. Table of Contents _______ Intro @@@@@ New Stuff %%%%%% FAQ ======= Pointers ----------- Strategies ++++++++++ Borgs & Tiers *************** Maps [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Scenarios & Campaigns(S&C) ////////////////////////////////////////////////// Theories (A must read!!!) Intro This is a guide for anything I have come across while playing GF. Gotcha Force, whether or not you agree with me, actually has a lot of strategy to it and I don't mean just which borgs to have on a team. I'll go through things such as how use ALL of the borgs more effectively, how to use the terrain to your advantage, theories on the Gotcha Force world and many other things that I can find. Also, since this is a research guide I’ll be adding things as time goes by (and this will be updated often). Just to add that I play competitively so this guide is could also be thought of as a reference to all the strategies and my comments on everything in Gotcha force. Note: I test everything in the guide to make sure what I write is true (the theories are debatable). New Stuff This is where I'll say what new stuff I've put into the guide so you (and me for that matter), can keep track of what has been added to the guide since I'll updating the guide often. V.1 10/23/08: Got the guide up and everything seems in place (lets just hope I don't mess something up). FAQ I'll answer some basic questions here (see the Theories section for questions on the GF world). Q. What's this guide for? A. Read the Intro since that’s what it's for. Q. Where is the story walkthrough. A. There is another guide for that already and this guide is for things that no-one else has put together in a guide yet. Q. How, why, where, when are you a competitive player. A. Just know that I am. Q. You made some spelling errors. A. That's not a real question but, this is a big guide so not everything will be perfect. I'll fix any errors as I work on the guide. Q. Some of your strategies and stuff are not that good and you're either missing some things or need to change them. A. Sorry for that. This guide is a constant work in motion so things will get modified and added as time goes by. Q. How do I know that your stuff works? A. Again, read the intro. I test anything and everything that I can test in the game so that this information is as accurate as it can be (again, no promises on the theories). Q. Did you come up with everything in this guide? A. Not everything. Several things I came across while reading other guides and such which I then tested to see if they work. Q. What's your playing mentality? A. I prefer fast borgs that can pack a punch overall. Q. What's your favorite Tribes and Borgs? A. That's a hard one. I tend to like all of the tribes with the Ninja, Knight, Air and Wing being at the top. As for the borgs, I like Blade Wing, Kung Fu Master, Orange Fighter, Vampire Knight, Killer Girl, Double Ninja, Accel. Ninja, Fire Ninja, Beam Samurai, Beam Gunner, Imperial Knight, Dark Knight, Ruby Knight, Sapphire Knight, Gatling Tank, Anteras, Neo G-Red, Battle Girl, Tao Master, Cyber Hero, Metal Hero and a lot more. Q. How and why did you come up with S&C? A. I came up with up with S&C as a way to make Gotcha Force more replayable and fun. S&C's mechanics has some influence from Dungeons and Dragons or DnD for short. Those of you who have played DnD will noticed the similarities pretty quickly. Q. Nice info theories on the Gotcha Force world. Are you really thinking on writing a guide on what happened before the Gotcha borgs came to earth? A. Yep. Pointers There are some subjects that I will be talking about that you might or might not understand which will be explained here so that you would know what my gibberish means. Playing Mentality (Or PM for short) People have a tendency to play games similar to the game that they most (a fps player would play Gotcha Force like it was a fps game for instance). The great thing about Gotcha Force is that there is always at least one borg that fits a playing mentality. You'll see this pop up mainly in the borgs section since your playing mentality will effect what borgs you like and do well with in the game. Note: I also use a lot of terms like "knockack" that come from the other games that I have played. Kinks A kinks is a term I use for little things that I find while I was doing something in the game. You'll see these pop up everywhere in the guide and can have important information or interesting facts. My Thoughts (I'll put MT for short) This is where I'll add my specific opinions about things in the game. This can and will pop up everywhere so keep an eye out for these. Tactics The name sort of expresses itself. Any tactic I find useful will go here. These pop up mainly in the borg and S&C sections. Strategies While GF appears to just about smashing your opponent to pieces, the hidden depth of this game is one of the things that I really like about it. You may recognize many of these following strategies from other games that you have played. Unlike tactics that focus on a certain object (like a borg or map), strategies can be used by more and one thing. I'll explained each strategy in detail below. Remember that these strategies are for most borgs in general not each individual borg. That gets covered in the borgs section. Juggling When you juggle your opponent in the air you are basically knocking your opponent into the air again and again without letting him touch the ground. It works only on borgs that can be knocked flying into the air and it's kind of hard to do but very possible. You need to use a borg that has a weapon that can send borgs flying, is accurate and can fire fast enough to knock your opponent back into the air before he lands. This helps if your opponent tries to do a mid-air recovery which makes him pause for a moment. At most I've juggled my opponents with 2 to 3 hits per juggle (in other words, I've hit a borg into the air 2 to 3 times before the borg touched the ground). Dancing A kind of dodging when you fight up close. When Dancing, stay just inside your maximum melee range and wait until your opponent tries to attack (don't stand still though since that's asking for trouble). When your opponent attacks, dodge to the side of your opponent and counter with a melee attack. Note that your opponent can dodge your counter attack if the borg is fast enough (it just looks amazing when two borgs try to use this on each other and until it becomes a dance of DEATH). Duck and Cover (I like to call it "peek-a-boo".) This a very common tactic in shooters where you take a range guy and hide behind a wall to protect yourself from attacks and then “popping” up to attack when the coast is clear. It might be needless to say that this works better when using borgs with good range attacks than with melee borgs but then again, people are creative. This tactic is not as effective when hiding behind a breakable wall and it's useless against borgs that have attacks that go through walls but, those kind of borgs are few compared number of other borgs out there. I tend to use this tactic a lot so I know it in and out. Short Hop Dashing (or SHD for short) This is a fusion between Super Smash Brother's short hop and GF's air dashing. Since many borgs are slow on the ground, air dashing is a great way to get around. Two problems though, a lot of borgs have a booster instead of the normal air dashing which means they can't stay in the air as long and certain borgs (such as the Flame Ninja for one), needs to be on the ground to use their more powerful attacks. This is where SHD comes in. To do it, just jump and then air dash so that your borg is just right above the floor but not touching it and there you have it. Since you are not high off the ground you can land almost instantly and either repeat or do something else right after. This is another move I use a lot. Kinks: Dashing Certain homing attacks (like the Fortress beam attacks) lose track of you if you constantly dash, run, dash, run, etc. Mastering this can make it a lot easier to dodge these annoying kinds of attacks (though you also have the explosion to deal with also). Borgs (like Gold Hero), can cancel their air dashes with a attack and then air dash again. Borgs that can boost or fly can also do this by dash, rise and repeat which is faster. By doing this, you can dodge the attacks without worrying about the explosions that they cause. Comboing A combo is a chain of attacks that you do in a row to cause a lot of damage without getting hit by your opponent. A basic combo is just pressing the B-button over and over to hit your opponent. A complex combo involves using different kinds of B-attack (like dash attack, standard attacks) and X-attacks. A combo stops when you stop constantly hitting your opponent. Borgs that can be good at doing combos are "combo-active" (remember that name). Team Strategies Since I'm doing a Strategy section I might as well make ones for teams. These strategies will deal with using two borgs as a team to get things done. While I know it might seem hard to keep track of where your teammate is as well your opponent's position remember that you can press the Z-button to look at where your partner is. Cover Fire A fps tactic where one guy fires at the enemy so that they can't attack while his partner gets in close for the k.o. Needless to say, this works well with one melee borg and one ranged borg. Have your ranged borg pin a enemy borg down with shots while your melee friend gets close to attack him without worrying about that borg. Bodyguard In this strat, you have one borg protecting a "One-hit-Wonder"(or OHW) borg (ICBM tanks, Ultimate Cannon you get the idea). This strat is still experimental and has some MAJOR flaws. The first problem is unless everyone you’re fighting against is a CPU, it's highly likely that everybody will be focused on getting rid of the OHW borg first. The bodyguard borg should be focused on knocking the other borgs off their feet in order to let the OHW fire off some of its big shots. The second problem and the one that makes this plan useless is when there is a Fortress borg in play. Since they have a lot of HP and can't be knocked over your bodyguard is rendered useless. The 5 Rules I might as well show the 5 rules that you NEED to know in order to be a good GF commander. Veterans might want this to read just in case I say something that you didn't know about. 1. Know what your going against and plan ahead. Also a rts rule as well. If your going against fortress borgs then it's best to use a range borg that can dash well etc. Which leads to our next rule. 2. Dash a lot and don't stand still. This goes to those of you who also play Armored Core. Try not to stay still unless you have a "good" reason to (such as when you’re using the peek-a-boo strat), and when nobody is shooting at you since it's dumb to stand there and get hit by an attack that you could have dodged (unless you can't move). I also can not put enough emphasis on the word """DDDAAASSHHH!!!!""". It is THE most vital part of your defense, offence and means of quick travel. 3. Avoid being overwhelmed by numbers. A quite a few borgs have trouble fighting against several borgs in melee at once (like the Imperial Knight). A group of borgs is simply called a crowd. To deal with a crowd you can do one of four things. The first thing you can do is to defeat each borg from far away but some borgs can't fight from a distance well. Second, you can break up the crowd by sending borgs flying to separate them. The third is to use crowd control moves (in other words, moves that can hit several guys at once like Ring Angel's charge-B attack). The last is if you are a veteran with a borg then you can dance around your opponents and take them out that way (or you have some sort of "uber" borg). 4. Know your borgs inside and out. It is important to get use to how your borgs works. You'll find that understanding how a borg works will help you figure out which borgs you're good with (I've heard tales of people who defeated entire armies in story mode with only a Shield Witch, though how big those armies were is a mystery, but, it's just to give you an idea). 5. Avoid doing something really risky. In other words, try not to do something that your borg may not survive unless you have "KNOW" what you're doing, you’re crazy or you just want to see your borg get fried which means you’re being a jerk. A lot of battles depend on out living your opponent (especially when playing a scenario but that’s for later.) The Guide To All Things Borgs While some are claimed to be better then others, almost all borgs are just as powerful as the next (I don't count that cockroach bug). This section is dedicated to figuring out ways to use every borg more effectively. I'll organize borgs into their respective tribes which I'll also talk about. Note: The personal borgs for most of the characters in story mode like Sasuke and Nao will be explained as separate borgs because they have some noticeable differences. Type Unlike in GF which classifies each borg in an almost useless way (such as support or all-around), I'll put each borg into types that are more useful and will give better clues on what the borg does. Each type is explained below. All-Around (or AA for short) As the name says, AA borgs are made to handle most situations and are usually the most used type of borg. A perfect example is G Red. Melee Borgs that focus on getting close to you and smashing your borgs into dust. These borgs tend to lack any good range attacks if any at all. A perfect example is the Normal Knight. Range These borgs prefer to blast you from far away than get close to you. Most range borgs don't or can't fight well up close. A perfect example is the Normal Tank. Caster The new and "better" type for the originally called "support borgs". These borgs rely on using their powers (spells, curses, whatever), on other borgs to win the fight. Winged Borgs with wings. These borgs tend to be speedy and can fly through the air making them very maneuverable. A perfect example is the winged soldier. Aircraft Aircraft are the most restrictive type since it only includes planes and all fortress borgs. As such, all aircraft borgs are considered similar to a ranged borgs except that they are always in the air and only 1 of the aircraft borgs has a melee weapon. A perfect example is the Orange Fighter. Note: Many borgs have two or more types which will be shown like this "Winged Caster". Transforming borgs will have a “/” to split and show what type is each transformation like in the example: All-Around/Aircraft. Tier I have created a tier system for the borgs to list how good they are against other borgs. These tiers represents how good a borg is in a variety of situations. Each borg will have two tiers. A overall tier to measure how a borg performs against other borgs in general and a tribe tier to measure how well a borg performs against other borgs in its own tribe. I decided to do this to know where a borg stands with the other borgs in the game. I won't measure the cost of a borg because a borg that you are good with will go a lot farther and is worth more than what the cost might say. The tiers range from one to five and each tier has it's own meaning explained below. 1 = The Low Tier Borgs in this tier will have trouble standing up to other borgs and requires practice and the right playing mentality to do well with them. 2 = The Low-Mid Tier These borgs can fare well but are at a disadvantage against a rather large majority of borgs. 3 = The Mid Tier These borgs are neither weak or strong. 4 = The Mid-High Tier These borgs can do well against most borgs and have little weakness. 5 = The High Tier The most powerful borgs in the game and take skill to defeat. Note that this is just in general and that someone who has mastered a borg in one of the lower tiers can still take on the higher tier borgs in the game. ************** The Knight Tribe ************** Basic Playing Mentality: Rpg gamers and Lord Of The Rings fans bring your Axes and Pikes (sorry, just had to.). Mainly for those who like bashing others at close range. Knights like to get up close to bash you with their swords, axes and whatever pointy things that they can poke you with. Most knight borgs don't do well at range so they have a special tool unique to their tribe which is the shield. Shields can block non explosion shots but, it can take some practice to use it effectively. Some melee attacks can be blocked while others can go through the shields (odd since shields are usually meant to protect you from swords and such). Since most knight borgs are slow in more then one way they can be easily overwhelmed by a crowd. While most Knight borgs take some practice to use well they can be a force to be reckoned with. Kinks: While you may or may not have noticed, all shots (and attacks for that matter), aim at a borgs heart or the chest if you will so you want your borg to face at a angle so that your shield takes the brunt of incoming shots. If you've played with knight borgs long enough you'll notice that knights stick their shield in front of themselves in the direction that you’re moving and dashing. While it's not recommended to charge straight towards your opponent, you can do so to block the shots with your shield and dodge anything your shield can't block. Melee attacks are still being debated as to what kind of melee attacks can go through shields. The Normal Knight Type: Melee Overall Tier: 2 Tribe Tier: 2 The basic Knight borg. The Normal Knight is can easily get overwhelmed by faster borgs or great numbers and it’s slow at recovering after attacking and the lack of far range weapons doesn't help. This borg does very well in 1 on 1 melee battles where it’s very combo-active and it's shield grants protection against most attacks if you know how to use it well. All in all, it’s good when you are fighting up close early in a battle but, don't expect it'll handle as well once the more powerful borgs get on the field. Tactics: If you’re fighting one borg at a time and get close enough, start to dance around your opponent and throw your shield when you’re near your opponent to stagger him and then short hop dash and unleash an air B-combo at him to cause some damage. If he's still close to you, throw your shield to stagger him and repeat. Don't B-dash on the ground since that attack will knock your opponent far away from you which isn't a good thing. Always air dash to get around since the Normal Knight is slow and clumsy on the ground. When you are engaging your opponents, make sure to keep your shield between you and your opponent at all times and only throw your shield when no-one is attacking you at the time. My Thoughts: The Normal Knight is an "advanced" borg which means that he takes skill to use. In order to use him well, you need to be able to put his shield between you and any incoming attacks, which takes practice. The best way to do this is to just go into Vs. mode with P1 with a Normal Knight, P2 with some other borg (a Normal Ninja would be great for this) and no CPUs and just practice blocking attacks with your shield. Once you've mastered using the shield you'll now be in business. The Sword Knight Type: Melee overall Tier: 2 Tribe Tier: 3 The Sword Knight is an upgraded version of the Normal Knight and as such he still has the same strengths and weaknesses. On the bright side, his B-attacks are stronger and has more range thanks to energy waves that comes out to cover extra ground. His shield is also bigger so he can block attacks more easily. Overall, he's better but still requires a good amount of practice to use right. My Thoughts: If you like to use Knight borgs then I suggest using this borg over the Normal Knight because his strengths out weigh his problems. Chainsaw Knight Type: Melee Overall Tier: 3 Tribe Tier: 3 His attacks can take big chunks out of a borg's hp and instead of a shield, you get a grappling hook that can catch most borgs and bring them in close so that you can cut them to ribbons. Oh, the Grappling Hook is fast and has good range so you won't have much problem catching borgs with it. Tactics: First off, you need to get close to your opponent which is what your Grappling Hook is for. After you get close, you should not use your normal B-attacks unless you have no-one else to worry about and try to attack your opponent from the air in order to stay on the move. My Thoughts: If you like Chainsaw Knight then you should try to get the alternate color version since it makes him look like a dark knight of DOOM. +++++++++++ The Ninja Tribe +++++++++++ Basic Playing Mentality: Who doesn't like Naruto and being a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. Mainly for those who like to be fast and versatile. Ninja are all about not getting hit and are usually well rounded. A ninja's main weakness is that they don't usually have a lot of hp but, you shouldn't be getting hit by attacks anyway (otherwise you need more practice since the Ninja borgs' speed gives you no excuse). Oddly enough, their most basic ninja is by far one of the most common and best “go to” borgs in the game. The Normal Ninja Type: All-Around Overall Tier: 3 Tribe Tier: 3 The Normal Ninja oddly enough is one of the better borgs in the game because he's fast, has good attacks for any situation and can handle even higher tier borgs. His only weakness is that he has low hp but since he can dodge almost any attack this isn't a problem. The only thing keeping him from getting into the fourth tier is that it take a while to defeat the high hp and defense borgs. The Normal Ninja is great for just about anything. Tactic: When being chased by a borg you can let them get close and then throw a bomb into his face and send him flying. The Normal Ninja's B-attack when right above a borg is a powerful downward sword strike that can cause some big damage to your opponent. You can also dance, peek-a-boo, juggle and combo your opponent if you’re good enough. My Thoughts: The Normal Ninja is usually used in competitive matches since he can take on nearly anything that comes at him and is cheap. The Double Ninja Type: All-Around Overall Tier: 3 Tribe Tier: 3 The Double Ninja is the exact same as the Normal Ninja except for one important thing. He can make a copy of himself. The "clone" always stays right next to you and copies your every move. This one thing makes him more powerful then the Normal Ninja since his power is now doubled. If you get knocked flying, though, it will disappear but you shouldn't be getting hit anyway. This guy is perfect for those who want an upgrade from their Normal Ninjas. Tactics: He has the same tactics as the Normal Ninja. Use your clone ability when no-one is trying to attack you since there is a delay while he's creating his clone that others could take advantage of. My Thoughts: I’m still debating his Tier since he's not easy to hit, does well at any range and can double his own attack power which, in the hand of a good commander, can defeat most other borgs. The Teleport Ninja Type: All-Around Overall Tier: 3 Tribe Tier: 4 Teleport Ninja focuses more on melee and dodging and takes some more skill to use well. His main ability is that he can teleport a small distance which makes him harder to hit (especially against the more pesky attacks). He teleports in the direction he's moving and how far he teleports depends on how fast he's moving. His Teleport Slash is powerful but is hard to hit with so only use on borgs that are not moving. Overall, he's a good defensive borg and dancing melee borg though is not as strong with range attacks. Tactics: Teleport to dodge attacks that you couldn't otherwise dodge (make sure to teleport while dashing so that way you can teleport farther). Once close, dance around your opponent and attack when you see an opening. Teleport Ninja also can use the Normal Ninja's B-air attack when he's above your opponent's borg which is a plus. My thoughts: He's another debatable borg since his teleporting ability enables him to take on Fortress borgs without taking as much damage (though it would be a long battle). The Acceleration Ninja (Accel Ninja for short) Type: All-Around Overall Tier: 3 Tribe Tier: 4 The Accel Ninja is the FASTEST borg in the game. He literally uses and is the epitome of the phrase "hit and run" since that’s his main form of attack. His X-attack makes him dash at super speed and will cause damage to anything he runs into. His range attacks are mainly used to turn him around so that he charge at his opponents again. His speed alone is fast enough to dodge most attacks which make him hard to hit with range borgs though melee borgs can time their attacks so that they hit the Accel Ninja (so be ready to jump). If he has to have a weakness then I have to go with flying borgs since it's hard to hit a borg in the air with his main attack (though his kinks seems to counter this somewhat). Kinks: The Accel remains the only borg to be able to damage other borgs by simply air dashing into them (its actually more of a glide than a dash). Tactics: There's a combo that Accel Ninja can do where he charges through his opponent then jumps into the air while firing off a shot to turn him around then repeat. Since Accel Ninja's main attack is to charge at his opponents, they will be expecting it and will try to attack you before you can get to them so you'll need to dance around your opponent's in order to throw them off. My Thoughts: This guy was based on Sonic so Sonic fans will like him plus he does ballet (dash on the ground as him and you'll see what I mean). ========== The Gun Tribe ========== Basic Playing Mentality: All of you shooter fans who like to blast everything in sight. Mainly for those who like to stay far away from their enemies. Gun borgs are the "people like" ranged borgs in the game and all gun borgs are boys. Gun borgs are good middle of the road borgs for their ranged abilities while still being fast enough to dodge most attacks. Gun borgs (and most ranged borgs for that matter) are usually preferred when fighting borgs that you don’t want to get close to (such as fortress borgs). >>>>>>>>>> The Girl Tribe >>>>>>>>>> Basic Playing Mentality: Well, I don't have anything more to say other than “GIRL POWER!!!”. Honestly, this tribe has borgs that could go into other tribes (mainly Gun), each girl borg might have a different playing mentality. As the name suggests this is a all girl tribe. Many Girl borgs focus on range attacks just like the Gun borgs do though you can tell that they have a different style. While Gun borgs are more straight foward and Girl borgs focus more on "hit and run" tactics (mainly where you dash around, fire off a few shots then repeat). Girl borgs can be very tough to deal with if your borg is slow. //////////////////////// The Musha Tribe //////////////////////// Basic Playing Mentality: Three words, "samurai are legendary". Mainly for those who like Knight borgs but who want something a little faster. All samurai, all the time. Musha borgs are faster Knight borgs without shields and have good range attacks. Anyway, while Musha borgs are mainly melee fighters, they can fight at range and can't be as easily crowded (and for good reason, have you seen some of the Musha borgs X-attacks, they can hit anyone thats right next to them). My thoughts: I wonder why do almost of the musha borgs have two long katanas instead of one long and one short (sorry, I can't remember the name of the short sword). ()()()()()()()()()()() The Wizard Tribe ()()()()()()()()()()() Basic Playing Mentality: Oh what the world would be like if you could put a spell on someone. Mainly for those who like to, well, curse someone. Don't be fooled by the name of the tribe, the wizards are actually all witches ( which is very odd that they didn't name it the Witch tribe instead), which is kind of disappointing since I would have loved to have a Gandalf borg. Back to the point, though. The Witch borgs (well, there are no wizards so it makes sense), are one of the most underestimated tribes in the game. Their strength lies in using their spells to maximum effect while employing "hit and run" tactics in the extreme since their melee attacks are weak and their shots only do 10 hp of damage. I suggest getting used to fighting in story mode before using these borgs. One last thing that I forgot to mention is that all Witch borgs have a special powered up version of themselves, though this seems to be only true with their spells. ????????????? The Idol Tribe ????????????? Basic Playing Mentality: Just look at the Wizard tribe because this tribe is the same except that this borg is a singer. Now this was a odd idea. Why put this one borg (yes one), into a seperate tribe since it's the same as a Witch borg. I'm not even gonna bother putting anything else here since all you to need to know is in that one Idol borg's description (I wonder though if they had to put her in or else she would kick their butts, oh well). &&&&&&&&& The Nurse Tribe &&&&&&&&& Basic Playing Mentality: Well, this is a fighting game so you'll need all the healing that you can get. Nurse borgs are the same as Witch borgs except that these borgs are focused on healing other borgs. These borgs are more for when you’re teamed up with a friend in vs mode rather than in story mode since your partner would be a CPU (and we all know how well they play). In vs. mode, they can be a life saver in dire times (like when fighting a really tough opponent). Kinks: Did you know that you can jump in the way of a Nurse borg that is trying to use her heal power and have her heal you instead? I've been saved more than once by a opposing CPU's heal attack. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ The Wing Tribe \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Basic Playing Mentality: Anyone who has played Armored Core 4 step up to the plate. Mainly for those who like flying all over the place. Wing borgs are Gun borgs that fly and can stand a fight up close. Really, one of their top winged borgs will tear your borgs apart (no normal sized borg is safe from him *shiver*). Most CPUs don't do as well with Wing borgs (well, all borgs anyway). Fight against Sho early in story mode and you'll feel my pain and what a threat Wing borgs can be. A Wing Borg's weakness is that they are usually not the best in any catagory (unless you're fighting... "that" borg). /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ The Angel Tribe /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Basic Playing Mentality: For those girls who like to fly. Mainly those who like more offensive, flying Wizard borgs. Angel borgs are are the wing version of the Wizard tribe and are better (or at least easier to use) then their walking counterparts. Angel borgs are better fighters (both in range and melee), can fly which makes them faster and can cast spells (except for one but she has a good reason for not doing so). Just like the Wing borgs, Angel borgs be very dangerous in right hands. OOOOOOOOO The Tank Tribe OOOOOOOOO Basic Playing Mentality: For those who like to be the "heavy" artillery. Mainly for those who like to trade speed for more fire power. Tank borgs are like slow Gun borgs with heavy-duty firepower. They have a good amount of hp and have powerful ranged attacks while sacrificing speed and except for a few exceptions, no melee attack (not much of a worry though since most Tank borgs can easily send borgs flying). Speed is their greatest weakness since they can't easily dodge big attacks. ################ The Machine Tribe ################ Basic Playing Mentality: Who ever likes Mechwarrior, Transformers or just robots will be in heaven. These borgs are also kind of different from each other. The Machine tribe is the biggest tribe in the game and they have some of the more powerful borgs in the game. One thing that stands out with them is that the more robotic looking borgs can turn their upper body 360 degrees which means they can shoot while walking backwards. The two other things that are unique to the tribe is their more powerful borgs can transform which means you can have up "3 DIFFERENT BORGS AT ONCE" and the final thing is that some of the borgs can fuse to make a super borg which is as tough as a fortress until they defuse after a set amount of time. I can't really put a weakness on the tribe since many of the robots are just plain different from each other (though the Transformer looking ones are tough as it is). @@@@@@@ The Hero Tribe @@@@@@@ Basic Playing Mentality: For comic book and Darth Vader fans (no that wasn't a typo), beware of the dark side. The borgs are too different from each other to say for sure. There are only five borgs in the Hero tribe. One who acts like a Power Ranger, one who turns into Darth Vader, one who acts like a wing borg, two similar heroes that makes you say one thing when you play as them, "cool", and a Shadow the Hedgehog looking guy (plus, he acts like him so he's neat). !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Air Tribe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Basic Playing Mentality: You aces finally get your new and improved jets. Mainly for airplane lovers. A tribe of jet fighters, bombers, UFOs, something in between and a dragon head (strange but true). All air borgs do very well from extremely high up in the sky and have a unknown advantage that is explained in the kinks below. I have taken on entire non-Fortress borg armies (near the end of the story mind you), with only one of these borgs just to show what they're capable of. One last thing, they're unaffected by spells. Kinks: While many have said that you can shoot a borg from any distance and that is true. Most, if not all ground borgs have a lock-on that can only hit a dodging borg in a certain range. Going beyond that range and the red lock on will be just a thin circle and your weapons shoot at the borgs current position not where he'll be. Any Air or Fortress borg doesn't have this problem so they can shoot well at any distance. /D/D/D/D/D/D/D The Demon Tribe /D/D/D/D/D/D/D Basic Playing Mentality: Who ever likes skeleton masks look here. There are 2 musha like borgs and two "very" unique Wing like borgs so you decide. Nothing else to say here. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ The Fortress Tribe $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Basic Playing Mentality: For those who like to use huge capital class space ships. Mainly for those who don't get bored easily and like to use something BIG. Ah, the legendary Fortress borgs. These huge flying borgs can take out anything and are very tough to beat. There are only two that can actually move and even then all of the Fortress borgs are very easy to hit (something must be wrong for you to not hit them). Honestly, there are only a few borgs that can stand or dodge someone who is a veteran with them (only 2 of the Fortress borgs have easily dodgable attacks), and can do a lot of damage to them in a few hits. While it's not hopeless, it’s not easy to go against a Fortress borg. NEVER fight them with slow or melee focused borgs since a Fortress borg will tear them apart (oh yes, did I mention that they are also unaffected by spells). Kinks: The Fortress borgs that can't move can be pushed across the field by using a fortress borg that can move. _______________ The Knuckle Tribe ---------------------- Basic Playing Mentality: If you like kung fu, swimming or using magic swords then this is the place. Nothing else to say beyond that these are some of the faster and somewhat melee focused borgs. The only major thing that all of the borgs share is that they fight with their fists when in melee combat. Like the Hero tribe each borg in the group is very different in the way they fight (besides the fist thing that is). %%%%%%%% The Death Tribe %%%%%%%% Basic Playing Mentality: Cheap and weak and I repeat, cheap and weak. Nothing else to say here since almost all of these borgs act like borgs from the other tribes. The Death borgs are cheapest borgs around. Most of the death borgs are very similar to the most basic borg of most of the other tribes but with a lot less hp and cost to use them. Like the Wizard tribe most of the Death borgs have 2 more advanced forms and in this case it does make them somewhat more powerful though at a slightly higher cost (though not by much). If you can fight with a certain kind of borg without getting hit often then it might be a good idea to put these borgs to use as long as you "don't" get hit (this is important since they can't take much damage without getting k.oed). vvvvvvvvvvvv The Bug Tribe ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Basic Playing Mentality: No butterflies but they're insects to say the least. Those who like something more unique than your everyday borg. Bug borgs are, well, interesting to say the least. They are hard borgs to use right off the bat since they do well only in the air and they do in a way that can throw you off. They have almost no dodging ability (which is bad), though they can stay in the air much longer then most other borgs. Like the Witch borgs they have a more powerful version of themselves and it is those borgs that you need to use in order to do a lot of damage (plus, they have twice the hp and you’re going to need it). They're not the worst borg I've seen (that cockroach is the worst borg), so if you want to use them just practice a lot since they're not for someone who wants to see results right away. <><><><><><>< The Dragon Tribe <><><><><><>< Basic Playing Mentality: DnD anyone? Well, for dragon lovers I guess (though I'm not sure about these dragons). Dragon borgs are almost like super Bug borgs with fangs, scales and bad breath that could KILL you. Just like bug borgs they have trouble moving around on the ground and should stay in the air. Their attacks are powerful but, while they have a lot of hp it can be reduced rather quickly if under a constant barrage (no wonder why dragons went extinct). While I'm not saying that Dragon borgs are bad, they take some time to get used to using them. Maps This section is about the terrain on the maps and how to use them. Knowing how to use the terrain is very important so this will point out things about different things on a map. Walls, Pillars, Etc Hiding behind these is usually essential when using borgs that need to recharge their shots or charge one. It's also important when you’re low on health. It's important to move from one wall or pillar to the next since opposing borgs will always be attempting to move to a position to attack. If you’re using a range borg then you can use the peek-a-boo strat (see the strategy section), if you’re using a melee borg then walls can be use to lure other borgs closer to make it easier to attack. It's important to note that certain beam attacks can go through objects so don't count on wall complete safety. Breakable Buildings These buildings are used in the same way as a wall except that you and(or) your opponent can break them. High Places (tables, cliffs, you know what I mean.) Being on high terrain acts similar to a wall in that you can protect yourself from other borgs but better yet is that it can be used to separate a borg from it's group allowing you to fight in a secluded area. Air Being in the air lets you get around faster then you could on the ground but, sacrifices the cover that you could use to protect yourself. A lot of combos are done by mixing attacks that are done in the air with ones that are done on the ground. Scenarios & Campaigns (also known as S&C) I created S&C to fill in for the "missing" multiplayer story mode. Scenarios are battles between two or more players using specific borgs, maps and rules. Campaigns are groups of scenarios that create a branching story line. As you get used to playing S&C you can come up with your own and play those. I'll treat S&C as a separate mode in GF even though you are using Vs. mode to play it. Those of you who play DnD can consider the scenarios as encounters and the Campaigns the same as adventures. Scenarios Each Scenario is separated into borgs, map and rules. Each player will have a designated force, team, and team rules which they must follow. Breaking the rules will result in that player being disqualified and cannot continue to play or his teammate will be disqualified also. Completing all of the team rules called objectives will result in a win for that team. If in a uneven number of players are playing such as when 1 player is fighting 2 players the lone player can have up to twice the number borgs on the Force that he is using such as if a force has 4 Gun borgs then the lone player can use up to 8 instead. One more thing, if anything feels unbalanced or not right in a scenario then feel free to change it. I will continue to tweak each scenario until they are as balanced and as perfect as can be. Alright, now with that out of the way lets begin. Custom Scenario While I'll come up with my own scenarios, you'll sooner or later want to make your own scenarios to play. So, this will take you through how to make your own (after all, I'm going to be busy with the rest of this guide so this won't get updated as often. Just follow the steps and you'll be making stuff in no time. Oh, and make sure to write the scenario down so you don't forget anything about it. Step 1: Come up with an idea. First off, what is going to happen in the scenario, what’s it about, who's fighting who, and things like that. If you already have a scenario then go to the next step. Step 2: Choosing a map and how many players are playing. Choose a map that bests fits the scenario that you are creating. Also choose how many players are allowed in the scenario. Step 3: Objectives and rules. Now that you have a scenario you need to set what each player or team needs to do in order to win (such as staying alive for a certain time, capture a certain area or just beat the heck out of your opponent). You'll then need to set the rules that the players must follow (such as no jumping, only attacking in a certain area or staying close to your partner. If a player breaks the rules then he can be disqualified and if a player or team completes their objectives then the game stops and they win. Step 4: Creating forces. This very important step. You now need to create the teams of borgs that each player and team will use. When making a team, make sure that the teams are as equal as can be though feel free to add or subtract borgs if a novice is taking on a veteran player. Step 5: Test it, fix it. Now to test your map and then fix anything that seems wrong or unbalanced with it. Special Effects The scenario that you make might not be in line with things in the game, the maps or music. Never fear since I have come up some solutions to your problems. Nighttime Most of the maps in the game are in daytime and you may want to have a more nighttime feel to it. To fix this, you can set the brightness of the TV to low so that the game has a more nighttimish feel. This is not a perfect solution but it works... somewhat. Music The music in Gotcha Force might not fit the mood or setting of your scenario. The easy way to solve this is to mute the TV and play whatever music fits your scenario better on a music player. I get annoyed when I come up with stories in GF set to some epic music only to hear the GF music which shatters my thoughts on the GF story (not to say that the GF music is bad, it just doesn't match the story I came up with). This is also the best way to keep G-Red from yapping when his personality doesn't match his personality in the story. My thoughts: Music can play a vital role in setting the tone for scenarios or to any given battle (just pit Gold Hero vs. Blade Wing on the Stone River Map set to the music that was used during the battle between Obi-wan, his master and Darth Maul during the Phantom Menace to see what I mean). Campaigns A campaign is a set of scenarios that is set to a story. Scenarios are called missions in a campaign. Most campaigns have some sort branching storyline which, depending on who wins the mission, will change what happens in the story and what the next mission will be. Those of you who play table-top games like Dungeons & Dragons will be used to this mode. Long campaigns can take a while to go through, though that’s where the story comes in. A good story drives a campaign and make it worth playing through. As I said before, who wins each mission will change the story, sometimes in drastic ways. In some campaigns, the story could even be affected by the little things that happen in the mission rather then just who wins the mission. Borgs in a campaign are called characters and each borg can have a name other than the that they have in the game (a Normal Knight could be a hero called Strider for instance). A story can be changed by what happens to the character during a mission (such as if Strider gets defeated during a mission could mean that Strider dies a heroic death so that his team could defeat the enemy in the story). This can really engage players if something happens to a well known and well liked character during a campaign. Things could not just be affected through the missions alone, the players could also decide what their characters do in the story which in turn, affects the missions that are played. Campaigns themselves can have their own objectives that a player or players must complete in order to win the Campaign, though this is optional. Many campaigns can go on for a long time. Some campaigns might not have an ending if the players playing the campaign like the world and story a lot and don't want it to end. Custom Campaigns Making Campaigns is hard but rewarding work. A campaign has a story and missions. Unlike scenarios, missions tend to be small at the beginning of the campaign and get bigger as story goes along. Campaigns are much more complex to make because there are more things to handle. There are different kinds of campaigns which I'll go through. To counter this new complexity, missions can be simplified by having "World" rules which are set rules that are used through most if not all missions so that new rules don't have to be made for each mission and so you can focus on the objectives. There are two kinds of campaigns which are full campaigns and the template campaigns. A full campaign is a campaign that is that has a complete story, world, missions and such. A template campaign is a purposely incomplete campaign that includes an already made world, characters and such which leaves the players to either finish the campaign or come up with it as they play it. Step 1: Making a story. A good story is what drives a campaign. While not necessary, they make a campaign worth going through. There are several parts to a story which are the worlds, characters and sides. Each I go through and explain. The World Where and when is the campaign is taking place. The world can be anything from ancient Greece to some fantasy world. The campaign can start from the rise of a hero to being in the middle of a great war. I can't be of much more help here since the world would comes from your imagination not mine. Having a well developed world allows you to know what's happening on a large scale while more undeveloped ones allows more creativity. The Sides A side is a faction, nation, team and/or people (you know what I'm getting at) that work together in the world and story (such as Rohan in the Lord Of The Rings). In most campaigns, sides are usually controlled by the players. A side is usually made of characters (like Kou and Mana are on the Gotcha Force side for instance). The different sides are usually either allied or against each other (though this is not always the case). Some sides are simple while others are complicated. The Characters A character is person that has some important role to play in the campaign and story. In the game, a character is a borg that has a unique name and personality (like G-Red in the Gotcha Force story). A campaign can have many characters or just a few. All missions should have at least one character in them even though the character might be a minor one. Their are three different kinds of characters which will be explained here. Personal Characters (PCs for short) PCs are characters that are controlled directly by their players. As such, the players decide what their characters do in the story. These characters are usually created by their players and are like the player's self in the story. PC characters are usually seen in template or similar campaigns that gives the players the freedom to affects the story by their in-story decisions not just what happens in the mission alone. PCs will appeal to players who want to make their own mark in the story though more freedom comes at the cost of there being more to handle in the story. Story Driven Characters (SDC for short) SDCs are characters that are controlled by what happens in the story instead of the players. These characters are usually only affected by the players through the missions. These characters are easier to handle and are good for players who want to focus more on the missions though they won't give them many choices. Half-Half Characters (HHC for short) HHCs are characters that are a mix between PCs and SDCs. HHCs are controlled mainly by the story but lets players to make certain decisions at points in a story. These characters are structured towards the story but allows some additional freedom for the players. A campaign usually has a mix of these characters. Making a character A character consists of a personality and a body. Each will be explained here. Personality A character's personality is who determines what the character will do. The character's personality affects the story and in turn affects what the mission will be. A character's personality will decide things such as what side the character is on and might later join (for instance: Strider was once a thief and belonged to the thieves guild which in turn puts him in player one's control but then leaves the guild and becomes a knight which then puts him under player two's control). The character also represents the character's power and experience in the story. The character's borg also affects how the character is played during the mission. Step 2: Mechanics Of A Campaign Now that we have gotten that out of the way, I'll now focus on how the mechanics of a campaign works. There are several mechanics to a campaign which are explained here. Player Objectives In certain campaigns, each player might have his or her own objectives that must be completed in order to win the campaign. This is usually only seen in full campaigns. World Rules These are set rules that are used in every mission in the campaign with minor exceptions. These rules involve what you can and can't do in a mission (no-one can jump more than once in the air and dash around in the Lord Of The Rings unless they had wings for instance). Recruiting In some campaigns players may have a certain amount of points that they can use to recruit new borgs or characters to fight in the missions. The amount of points that are given to each player can be determined by the number of missions played, the number of cities or land captured in the story and things like that. Again, this is not necessary since campaigns and missions can have can have set characters and armies (borgs that use their original names) that can't be modified. Teams Players can join forces in some campaigns in order to accomplish a certain goal. In more complex campaigns, players can "betray" their partners and turn on them (usually done during a mission by pressing the Z-button to lock onto their supposed teammate in order to attack them. This can make for some surprising twists to a story and campaign. Step 3: The Missions A mission is just a scenario that is tailored to the events in the campaign. What the mission is depends on what happens in the story which in turn affects the story. Unlike scenarios, missions are usually simpler in design since a campaign usually has many of them. A mission usually occurs to settle a battle situation in the story. The result of the mission (what happens in the mission) can greatly impact the story and in turn the campaign. That’s about it for the custom campaign. These rules might get adjusted so that you can understand it better and to add or explain more things that can be done in it. Theories Any thoughts and questions about the Gotcha Force world. World Theories This is where I put my theories on the world of Gotcha Force. I might also write a journal or book on what life was like on Mega Borg and the war that took place on it. Why can’t the Gotcha borgs be defeated by anything besides other Gotcha borgs? This was tested in vs. mode with me controlling one borg and the other left just standing idle. If you may have noticed, all shots that are fired at a borg go for the borg's "heart" and that a borg explodes when defeated. This may mean when enough damage is done to a borg's heart or core, the heart malfunctions, resulting in the borg exploding. The Gotcha Box keeps a blue-print of the borg that includes everything the borg has seen and knows and then "recreates" the borg as if it was never destroyed. Then why can't they be destroyed by anything else? It might have to do with the weapons that the Gotcha borgs use. While many of the weapons look like something you can find on earth, they could be made out of different materials. The swords that they use might be made out of a special kind of metal, the powder used in the explosions might have been made using different substances. The most interesting thing is the guns that the borgs use. When a borg fires a gun, it shoots out a glowing object. This object might be a laser, plasma or something of the like. Who knows, we could have something that could destroy Gotcha borgs that G-Red doesn't know about. Why does Galactic Emperor have a brain? Simple, he's Andross. Well, not really. It's most likely that during the war on Mega Borg that GE might have once been some sort of giant borg until his body was somehow permanently damaged beyond repair so he decided to build a new body which is what you see today. Why are some gotcha borgs human like? Gotcha borgs are not really toys. They are "toy-like" which means they could be similar to humans (GE's brain is proof that this could be the case). If so, then why do many of the borgs look the same? As the war on Mega Borg went on, the Gotcha borgs had trouble standing up to the number of Death Borgs that GE had at his command and decided to start cloning the borgs (borgs like the Machine borgs were made rather then born). This is the reason why a lot of the borgs look similar though, as we have seen, there are different color borgs and borgs like Sasuke and Nao. This also points out that there were or are ways to modify the way a borg looks in the blue-prints that I was talking about in the first theory. GE might have been the one to have created the cloning technology and the plans for making and using might have been stolen for the Gotcha borgs own use. Wait, if the borgs are clones then what happen to the originals and the other borgs that weren't cloned? That is an interesting question. They might have traveled from Mega Borg in a different direction. Maybe Sasuke, Nao, Musashi, Isaac, Jack and the rest of the unique borgs that have partnered with the kids might be some of the original borgs. G-Red doesn't say much about Mega Borg so it's possible. Another thing is that there is no clue on how long the war went on so it's also possible that as the war was coming to an end that the majority of the borgs alive were clones so they may not remember, know or considered the fact that they are similar and the originals and the uncloned borgs are just no longer around. What is the Gotcha Force box and how and why does it makes capsules and new borgs? The GF box is more than just a spaceship. The box itself is designed to be a home for its passengers and in order to keep more Gotcha borgs from dying it's possible that it was designed to recreate borgs that lived in the box that got destroyed (the so called blue-prints). Since when Mega borg was destroyed the people that made the ships might have known that some of the GF boxes could have gotten stranded or destroyed and made some kinds of borgs go extinct and since GE also made clones of the same kinds of borgs they gave the box the ability to scan borgs that the passengers came across and gather information on that borg. Once it finished a blue-print a borg, it would then create that borg (though it had to do this over and over with each borg it came across and couldn't just make copies of the same borg). Some borgs had blue-prints that were to complicated to finish in one go so it created capsules that held a part of a blue-print needed to complete the blue-print of the borg. Why do some borgs have different colors? This could be a mistake the GF box made when creating a blue print. This is why capsules with this kind of glitch can only fuse with other capsules with the same glitch. These glitches could also affect the different colored borgs in other ways as well. If borgs can change size, why don't do this in every battle? As you can see with Planet and Star Hero and the size changing witch borgs this is possible. The problem is that it takes a lot of energy and only a few borg can do this on their own. As G-Red said, the Gotcha borgs needed the energy of the kids to change size and GE also said that he was draining energy from Orachi (which is mainly the reason why he hypnotized her). Why does Sho hate all borgs and but, has Garuda on his team even though he is a borg too. Sho has a story of his own that needs to be explained. In the beginning, Sho did not act like the way he did during most of the story mode until GE did something, though I'm not sure what. GE's actions caused Sho to hate all borgs though he didn't know that GE caused it. Garuda also hated borgs and he and Sho struck an alliance to get defeat all of the borgs no matter whose side they were on. Sometime later, Sho discovered what GE had done and decided to team up with the Gotcha borgs to defeat him. As for what made him hate all of the borgs I can't say since I know little about who he is. What about Orachi? Orachi (I don't know her real name) was a very out going and energetic girl. The energy that she possessed got GE's attention when he first arrived and decided to use that energy for his plans to conquer earth. So he kidnapped and brainwashed her and made her into a commander of the Death Force. Now while using her to command his army, he was secretly draining her energy to create more borgs to do his bidding and possibly for more evil purposes, though he was stopped before he could complete them. Later in the story, Orachi starts to regain part of her original self and started to break free of GE's control though she only became fully freed when GE was defeated. Who is G-Red? This is a question I came across when I was thinking about the story in story mode. G-Red and GE seem to know each other pretty well and G-Red got his true power back after attacking the Death base which means that he lost it before he came to earth. There also isn't another G-Red since you can only get another G-Red "after" you finish the story which means that there is only one G-Red (unlike a borg like Sasuke where you can fight "during" the story). G-Red also knew a lot about Gotcha borgs. He could have been one of generals during the war on Mega Borg and was made to be very powerful in order to fight off the waves of Death borgs (which would explain why he can bash almost every other borg). He and GE might have met on the battlefield more then once and may have been part of the reason that GE is now nothing more then a brain. It may even be possible that G-Red and GE were once on the same side (they might not have been friends) before GE took on his now known name and tried to take over the planet. Sometime during the war, G-Red might have been gravely injured and lost some of his power as a result which might also have happened in the same battle that wreaked GE's body. GE took that power and kept it so that G-Red could no longer be as big of a threat as he once was. Once on earth, GE then stored that power in the Death base to keep it away from G-Red. The G in G-Red might be short for General. Who knows, G-red's full name might be General Neo Red (neat, huh). So what do you think? I'm really thinking about writing a guide on the Gotcha Force world and history.